At TXST’s CREATE Research Lab, Hip Hop is a vehicle for reducing stress and aiding positive development

The camp included mindfulness sessions before diving into Hip Hop listening sessions and an exploration of empowerment dimensions. The cohort then discussed how they relate to these themes of empowerment within Hip Hop culture. These reflective opportunities for self and social awareness are known in Hip Hop as “knowledge of self.” These reflective music experiences tie back to Travis’ research and area of focus. The active form of music experiences, or music creation, started once the students began personalizing the concept to their own lives. It started with simply creating together — in a cypher. “It’s not the pressure of asking a student to spit a rhyme on the spot,” Travis said. “It’s about making sounds together. Someone could start with a beatbox, then someone adds a sound with a pencil, then a sound from their mouth. By the end of this, we’ve got a group of students making music together. It’s a way of building a safe community.” Next, each student was tasked with creating an artistic profile to include their stage name, favorite artist, and personal goal of the process so they could create their own narrative within how they want to see themselves. Then came creating the...