Higher Learning

"We are the next generation of hip-hop. We are doing this for the culture that gave us everything. SHHO is higher learning through hip-hop." These three sentences give you the essence of the Student Hip Hop Organization (SHHO) that was birthed at Virginia Commonwealth University and expanded to seven other chapters at surrounding collegiate campuses. In 2006, SHHO surfaced at VCU and then traveled down the road to the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia in 2007. And this is how Blair Ebony Smith became the only female co-founder in this ever-evolving organization.

Blair Ebony Smith obtained her Bachelors of Science in Sociology with a minor in Community Studies from the College of William & Mary in May 2011. She is currently pursuing her PhD at Syracuse University. Beyond the Lyrics had the opportunity to interview this ambitious scholar and visionary. 

Blair started the SHHO chapter at her school as a freshman along with two male students, Bobak Kasrai and Lamar Shambley. SHHO took off and it was a whirlwind for a freshman still getting adjusted to a new life, but Blair assiduously pushed forward. When asked how she kept up, Blair bolded stated, “I just did me”. Doing her allowed her to flourish and she remained the only female president up until 2010. Blair diligently worked within a small black community to create a stir at William & Mary, and it worked. Two years after SHHO was founded a member, Nolan Chao, started the “B-boy Club”. William & Mary and the George Mason University chapters are currently the only two chapters with female presidents, but Blair still stands as the only female co-founder and it was only right to delve into the bold claims of the female MC in Hip Hop being non-existent today.

“It depends who you are, who you listen to and who you know about in regards to Hip Hop”. This was Blair’s response to the thought of the ‘lack of female MC figure’. For Blair, it was nothing more or nothing less. She said she has had numerous conversations and interviews with underground female MCs and majority of them were not concerned with such claims. “Just because you’re not making it in the mainstream realm, doesn’t mean you’re not making it”. I couldn’t agree more. Hip Hop is more than what mainstream produces and it embodies what individuals, like Blair, contribute. 

 

“I don’t like when people call it a ‘game’. Lately, I’ve been thinking critically about word usage and it just sounds like we’re playing with it. That words sounds like a competition and Hip Hop is more than that to me”. In one word, Blair describes Hip Hop as love. This love that the culture represents and the love she has for it allows her to continue to use her achievements and accolades to build the Hip Hop community. Blair Ebony Smith is taking this love and finding ways to integrate it in academia. Remember, "We are the next generation of hip-hop. We are doing this for the culture that gave us everything. SHHO is higher learning through hip-hop."

For more information on the Student Hip Hop Organization, click here.