Community Mixtape Project

The Community Mixtape Project harnesses the power of media and technology-based arts education to amplify the individual and collective stories of Pittsburgh-area youth.

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After a long wait, we’re finally releasing our 5th WC&S Community-Sourced Mixtape Podcast! As always, we’re featuring new youth-produced tracks -- from catchy outer-space pop to politically pertinent hip-hop. Enjoy!

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We're in the studio recording a new podcast! We probably won't be releasing this one for at least a few weeks, but we will drop a preview track early in January. Stay tuned!

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"The kids who come in here are so diverse, and some of them come in here really eager to write, really eager to express themselves," Jess observes. "Others are a little bit hesitant at first but once they get going, have a lot to share, and it’s really wonderful to see them get that spark."

We were featured on WQED’s Remake Learning series this month. The report includes a minute long video that aired on TV, plus a nice write-up with more content and information. Thank you to WQED and the Remake Learning Network for all of your support!

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This is a special episode of our podcast. DJ Thermos has created an hour long mix of all the music that we made over the first year of the WC&S Mixtapes project, complete with unheard tracks and interviews with all the WC&S Mixtapes program staff.

Tracklist: 1. Intro 2. Riding My Bike 3. Hoggle Beat 4. Polite 5. I Like Doing Math 6. Let It Go 7. Get It Right 8. Jungle Cat 9. Always Be Ill 10. Chris interview 11. Beans and Rice 12. MVP 13. Freestyle 14. Beat 15. Tinkerbaby 16. Christmas Morning 17. Jess Interview 18. Take Me Home 19. My Unrestricted Image 20. Kill Track 21. Peer Pressure 22. Creepy Beat 23. My Nightmare 24. Let It Go 25. Amos Interview 26. Gotta Go Hard 27. Party In The USA 28. Move To the Beat 29. You’re Fancy 30. Sunny Skies 31. Shadow In The Mirror

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Community Sourced Mixtape Project lets traumatized kids express themselves | Pittsburgh is Kidsburgh

The Community Sourced Mixtape Project gives teens and tweens at the Women's Center & Shelter a creative outlet to express themselves.

The WC&S Community-Sourced Mixtape Project is featured on Kidsburgh today!

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It’s been a while since we dropped a new track, but we were waiting for the right moment. The wait is finally over, though, and we’re back with one of our catchiest songs to date. We’ll be shocked if DJ Lone Ranger’s The Beats (Earth Is A Spaceship) isn’t stuck in your head on repeat by tomorrow. 

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What are you up to this weekend, Pittsburgh? We’re going to be running a Community-Sourced Mixtape workshop at the VIA 2015 Block Party this Saturday! You can join us for some family-friendly, all-ages poetry and beat-making fun from 6-7 pm. See the VIA website for more details!

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Our zine is finally here!

After much anticipation, we’ve finally released the WC&S Community-Sourced Mixtape Project Zine! For a free PDF download of the zine, click the link below. If you’re interested in getting a print copy of the zine, please contact [email protected] for more information.

http://tinyurl.com/wcszine

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Our podcast is now on iTunes!

You can now subscribe to the WC&S Community Mixtape Podcast with no muss and no fuss. Just click this link:

Subscribe on iTunes

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Podcast Episode 3

We’re back with another half hour of new songs written and recorded by teens, tweens, and their parents at the Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh. This episode includes these tracks: DJ Cupid - Shadow In The Mirror, King Dutch - Kill Track, TS2 - Christmas Morning, TS1 - Polite, DJ Steel - Peer Pressure, DJ Kalis - I Like Math, and much more. Make sure that you listen to the whole episode because this one ends with “Gotta Go Hard”, one of our most powerful songs yet!

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Podcast Episode 2

Are you ready for the 2nd Community-Sourced Mixtape Project Podcast? This episode includes: DJ Kalis - Gotta Stay In School, Sunny Skies, DJ Cooler - Graduation, DJ AKA - Take Me Home, and much more!

Click here to subscribe in iTunes

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Podcast Episode 1

We’ve finally finished the first official Community-Sourced Mixtape Project Podcast! Listen to some of the incredible tracks written and produced by youth at the Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, and feel free to share.

Click here to subscribe in iTunes

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We had a great time recording MVP, a track co-created by DJ Strawberry, DJ Peanut, DJ Boss Life, and DJ Gamer. These DJs all have different hobbies, but they bonded over finding confidence through sports. Each DJ wrote a few rhymes about a favorite sport, and then the group worked collaboratively to create a catchy hook that brought it all together. The results are awesome.

For more background on the inspiration behind MVP, check our first full-length podcast!

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DJ Gravity was an incredibly confident writer, and he wrote 3 poems at our first few workshops. He was a little less sure about recording at first, but he ended up doing an amazing job with that too.

my unrestricted image By DJ Gravity

sometimes i spit my flow running around from different places like a restricted goal it’s a 4-way street someone tell me which way to go pick a way to success in my needs and not hit the floor one day i’mma really turn big taking care of others as if they were my own kids i live my dream float in a boat but stopped in a stream like a new cover photo as if i changed my scene you tell me who i really am but i don’t know what that mean my momma tell me she love me so let's keep it a bean you will never catch me on the news making some steam but if you disrespect the fam then i'mma have to make you scream

respect my people along with they name

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DJ Dancer wrote Move to the Beat and Sometimes as two connected poems, but she ultimately decided just to record Move to the Beat. We've included the text of both poems below.

According to DJ Dancer, these poems are about the power of music and the inner strength that keeps her going, even when life is hard.

Move to the Beat / Sometimes By DJ Dancer

I hear the piano I hear the drums I feel my fingers On the guitar, they strum I feel my feet As they move to the beat I dance to the rhythm I sing a song It plays in my heart All day long

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Sometimes I feel up Sometimes I feel down Sometimes I feel bound Sometimes I feel low Sometimes I feel high

Taking a big stroll in the park Skipping down the street I fall and hurt my knee But I get back up on my feet And I move to the beat

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Here's a picture of our sweet little studio set up at the Women's Shelter. We lead a few workshops every month to train teen and tween residents how to use all the equipment.

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My Nightmare DJ Freddie feat. DJ Kruger

Verse 1: I was walking One day To a haunted house I heard a sound I thought it was a mouse Suddenly I heard The skeletons rattle Then I heard The witches cackle Then I saw The ghosts leaping Then I saw the goblins creeping Then I felt the monsters march Then I ran to an arch Then I got knocked down Then they took me forever To Ghost Town I got really scared Then they told me That’s what they like to bear Verse 2: I heard creepy sounds I heard rattling chains I was in a boat at night in the rain I was all alone I saw Freddie Kruger Creeping and Sneaking and Peeking and Creaking Boat started leaking I ran away quickly I felt really sick Then I realized they were all plastic