We had the good fortune of connecting with Doc and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Doc, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
As a starving artist in 2006, trying to scrape out a living as a community-minded hip-hop artist, I didn’t know where to begin. I just knew that the principles of loving your neighbor could be lived out through the hip-hop cypher. I lived on East 115th Street in Glenville, a historic Cleveland neighborhood, with my wife for 13 years. During that time I built friendships with the grandmothers who were cornerstones in the neighborhood and fought for it’s safety and success. I also built friendships with the youth on my street. There was a lack of jobs in the summer time for youth, no healthy food access and the social determinants of health were wrecking havoc on families. I knew that by creating a youth mentoring group that helped teens have fun creating hip-hop music, we could bring people together for possitive change. We brought youth voice to the community conversations around safety and health through the song lyrics they wrote. Does this sound like a good business plan? Ha ha. . . it wasn’t. This was pure passion. It was casting faith as small as a mustard seed. But guess what. . . It worked!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have been fortunate enough to have personally helped 10,000 youth in Cleveland write, record and perform their own songs. This represents a LOT of songs. I’ve been able to experience that transformational moment that usually happens in the recording booth when a student realizes for the first time how good they sound. They have made the exact type of music that they love and listen to each day, rap/hip-hop. The only difference is that many of them realize how it’s possible to make postive music that nspires us to heal and to be more, not just glorify sex, money and violence. Hip-hop at it’s begining was about peace, love, unity and having fun. And like President Obama said, “Today’s hip-hop is insightful.” Education, therapy and community building can all benefit from hip-hop when approached as arts and culture, not just entertainment and industry. 99% of the concerts I’ve performed in my career were to audiences young and old who never saw me or heard of me before. That is a much different experience than a famous rapper performing for their fans. I enjoy, building new bridges at every concert and I enjoy giving youth the experience of doing the same.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Get up early to grab a Rosemary w/ Sea Salt Cleveland Bagel with Thyme Blackpepper Horseradish schmeer on your way for a stroll at Edgewater Park. Then, find a cozy seat at Ready Set Coffee for there Salted Carmel Latte before heading across the street to Oceanne (shameless plug for my wife’s boutique where you can get a forever bracelet for your lady). The Hip-hop at 50 exhibit at the Rock Hall is educational and inspiring. You might even get to try scratching the turntable. If 10K Movement has a dance battle when you are here, you MUST go. They build bridges between dancers from many states and continue to honor hip-hop’s rich history and solid principles. Finally, I would end up at Market Garden Brewery or Great Lakes Brewery, or both. They are right down the street from each other. You can enjoy a tasty brew along with a variety of cuisines. If it’s 1st Friday, you can be a part of the live studio audience for the filming of a hip-hop show, “Live from the Underdog.” This is run by a great non-profit, Ifilm, who teach adults the art and industry of film.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I must send a shoutout to Jeremy Bryan aka Quill the Messenger and Lee Harrill. Jeremy, has been a thought partner for two decades. After running his own hip-hop non-profit in Milwaukee for many years, he moved to Cleveland to join Refresh Collective as our Director of Hip-hop Pedegogy to help us continue to grow. His newest album, “Midlife Crisis,” really speaks to me right now as a 47 year old MC/DJ. I still believe that I have music to make and will be putting out my album, “Trust Belt City,” this year thanks to his encouragement. Also, I must shout out to my brother Lee, who was the first full-time employee at Refresh Collective after myself. He has helped us grow a 2nd base in Cincinnati and pioneered our first full-time studio classroom in Cincinnati Public Schools. We now have 18 team members and expect to serve 800 young people this year. He just released a song called, “Behind Walls,” that was created in 2016, along with students in Cleveland, on our Drop the Lead project that dealt with lead poisoning, gun violence and the racial divide. The artistry and commitment of each of these leaders has supported me in SO many ways and has increased the quality of what we are able to help youth accomplish.

Website: deejaydoc.com

Instagram: deejaydoc

Linkedin: deejaydoc

Facebook: deejaydocincleveland

Youtube: deejaydoc

Other: Spotify/Apple Music/All streaming channels “Dee Jay Doc” Non-profit Organization: refreshcollective.org Record Label/Curriculum Publishing Company: cypherstyle.org

Image Credits
The photos of me are Tony Hughes Photography The photos of the students are Abby O Photography

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