This Tuesday we bring you Urbanized Music with Amina and Coolout Chris!  Founders of the Hip Hop Initiative!  Tune in this Tuesday and jump in the chatroom!  Check out their bios below:

Amina –   Amina is now an internationally recognized voice of grassroots hip-hop activism. She is a writer, performing artist, filmmaker, and hip-hop practitioner who has spent the past 20 years involved in the preservation of Chicago’s hip-hop culture and community. Amina is Executive Director of Chicago Hip-Hop Initiative, a hip-hop community empowerment collaborative; and Co-Founder of Chicago Hip-Hop Heritage Month, an officially recognized annual observance since 2003 that celebrates Chicago’s local hip-hop arts and community throughout the entire month of July. She’s also a respected emcee, poet, and founding member of Urbanized Music, a production duo of Amina & Coolout Chris, and collective of Chicago-based true school artists who’ve performed internationally promoting the aesthetics of hip-hop culture Amina has sat on panels alongside Gloria Steinem, Fat Joe, Dr. Carol Adams, Billy Wimsatt, DMC, Bakari Kitwana, WaterFlow (Senegal), Harry Allen, Jeff Chang, Joan Morgan, among many other activists, entertainers, and academics.  Amina currently teaches a course on Hip-Hop history at Columbia College, Chicago. She also lectures, writes, and performs hip-hop, and spoken word around the country.

Coolout Chris – Producer, DJ, Emcee, “Coolout Chris” has been rocking Chicago since he was an 18-year-old and formed the 90’s era rap group Spalaney’s, with his friends Riff-Raff, Snap, and Tony Baines.  For the next several years the group, performed widely and toured the US for the next 5 years, including showcases for Giant/Warner Bros., E.M.I., and Def Jam. They were also
featured at the A.S.C.A.P Music showcase in Los Angeles, on tour with DJ Quik, and met and performed for Prince’s at his former nightclub Glam Slam in Minneapolis. Their ’94 song ‘Universal Language’ was featured on the now classic compilation “Talent Fest” produced by Beathole Records, the first nationally distributed Chicago hip-hop compilation.  Coolout later took his experience as a performer-producer-lyricist and teamed up with Amina, a hometown emcee/poet who was by this time, beginning to organize local artist events.  Together they would form Urbanized Music (a production & songwriting duo), he would also go on to form his production company BeatQuarters.  Coolout is currently touring and promoting his latest cd release UMAC: Urbanized Music, Amina & Chris, working on several studio projects and collaborating with artists around the world, and continues to mentor new artists and producers.
For more info visit www.urbanizedmusic.com