As a Grammy District Advocate, Stuyvesant faculty member Harold Stephan met with Congressman Jerry Nadler (a Stuy alumnus!!!) this past Thursday to advocate for music rights. There were several important bills being discussed, but the most urgent is the Restoring Artistic Protections Act (RAP) – This is the first bill of its kind at the federal level. It would protect all creators from unfair bias. Over the last 20 years, we have seen rap lyrics being used as evidence in over 200 documented criminal trials. The lyrics are being taken literally in an attempt to get a conviction. It shows a profound misunderstanding of the rap genre. This bill would limit the use of any form of creative expression (lyrics, film, television, poem, book) as evidence in a trial and raise the threshold of being able to admit that as evidence.
The Stuyvesant hosted All-City Modern Music Project has officially partnered with the NY Chapter of The Recording Academy to bring Grammy members to Stuyvesant on Saturday mornings throughout the school year to inspire and collaborate with student artists. Our first guest artist, Lyric Christian – a recent graduate of the NYU Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music – will be visiting this weekend.
The next Songwriters Hall of Fame Master Session at Stuyvesant High School will take place on Oct. 19th, from 5-6pm, and is now accepting song submissions from Stuyvesant students. See poster. (photos courtesy of Mr. Stephan)
