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The creation of Bread Me Out Family, a band comprising five Hunters Point Family youths, is a wonderful example of how a youth-driven program is successfully developed so that participants learn new skills including business skills, math, project management, design and more.
The Bread Me Out Family began as a ploy to keep some of the agency’s most “high-risk” teen male participants alive. These boys often roamed the streets until late at night. They were deeply immersed in the dangerous street drama that usually ends in death or long jail sentences for so many young African American men in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point community.
Hunters Point Family staff had implemented a variety of enrichment programs in an attempt to capture the youths’ attention; however, the boys didn’t show a sustained interest in anything. In desperation, then Bayview Safe Haven Program Director, Troy Pope, invited the boys to describe their passions and asked what types of programs would inspire them. The boys’ answers were unanimous: “Music-We want to be rappers.”
This presented a quandary for staff, which had always focused on programs that promote education and viable career opportunities. They feared that to encourage this group of youth – who were failing the majority of their classes and regularly cutting school – to pursue the career of a rap star would be contributing to their false expectations about the world, and ultimately to their downfall.
After much consideration, the staff agreed to try an experimental rap music project. Bayview Safe Haven contacted the Global Education Partnership (GEP), a non-profit organization that specializes in teaching youth entrepreneurial skills using a product of their choice. The GEP representative who facilitated the classes was a musician. He worked with the boys to record music, while helping them through the process of creating a business plan and filing for a business license for what would become “Bread Me Out Records.”
Bread Me Out Records is co-owned and managed by all of the Bayview Safe Haven boys who initiated the project. Their first CD was produced and recorded by the infamous Bay Area hip-hop mogul “JT The Bigga Figga,” who released Bread Me Out’s first album, entitled “Live from Hunters Point” on his label Get Low Records. The album was a major success locally. The boys sold all of their 1,000 copies and gained a loyal following. They are currently working with Tone Capone, one of the most accomplished producers in the Bay Area, to produce their second album, scheduled to be released by summer 2006. Four of the songs from the album already have been purchased to appear on the next album on the Dope Game rap group and the boys will tour with the Dope Game, which has a nationwide distribution and fan base.
In addition to their musical success, it is important to note that all of the current band members (now young men) either have finished or are in the process of finishing high school. All are working at least part time (some full time), all have stopped hanging out on the street corners, and all go to the studio to develop music under the tutelage of Tone Capone at least twice a week. The Rap program has given the boys confidence and a sense of identity outside of their street reputations. More importantly, the project has given them hope and something inspiring to live for.
All of the Bread Me Out Family members are proficient at utilizing state-of-the-art studio equipment, all are business co-owners of their own record label, and all are active members in running the business. They are leveraging skills including budgeting, working with industry representatives, designing their album covers, learning about publishing rights and percentages, and more. The experience with Bread Me Out has also taught the boys discipline, maturity, and marketable skills. Whether or not they make it as rap stars, they are well-prepared for jobs in the entertainment industry, including as studio technicians or producers.
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