About The Cipher - History & Mission

In 1999, formerly homeless teen Chris 'Kazi' Rolle created the Hip Hop Project through New York City's Art Start program. Despite common struggles faced by inner city youth, the participants produced their own collective hip hop album, and in the process, gained confidence in their abilities, higher knowledge, and life skills towards a positive future.

A documentary of The Hip Hop Project (produced by Bruce Willis and Queen Latifah) released in spring 2007 has inspired other cities to create similar programs.

Complementary to the original, the mission of The Cipher - Austin's Hip Hop Project is to build a community of young leaders and socially-responsible hip hop artists and to strengthen the East Austin community in multiple ways.

The purpose of The Cipher is to provide participants with the means to envision their future optimistically despite a challenging environment that includes high levels of school dropout and teen pregnancy. The creative expression and public performances encouraged through "The Cipher" create a group of confident and engaged young people. They leave our program empowered, tolerant and more socially responsible. The program provides these young people with positive learning experiences through which they gain new skills and competencies, build self-esteem, improve academic performance and expand possibilities for their futures.

PROGRAM GOALS:

• To promote and preserve the East Austin community's cultural traditions and build positive associations for the unique character and strengths of the neighborhood by focusing on the experiences of youth.
• To strengthen the East Austin community through the infusion of cultural pride and creativity generated by the project.
• To promote youth-directed learning through active, positive social dialogue across boundaries of age, race, gender, culture and sexuality.
• To address the negative aspects of hip hop music - misogyny, violence, and homophobia - and give youth new ways to think critically about culture and social messages.
• To offer youth opportunities to share their stories and promote social change through productive expressions of hip-hop
• To provide access to Austin's plentiful community resources and also exposure to professional resources in Austin's music industry
• To expose East Austin youth to positive role models and mentors
• To expose the wider Austin community to the life experiences of the youth of East Austin
• To foster their personal development by teaching negotiation skills, providing leadership opportunities, clarifying values, promoting teamwork, and modeling healthy relationship techniques
• To create a culturally relevant and inviting community of young adults in Austin.