BHM: Highlighting Groove City

CAMBRIDGE, Md. – Groove City, an area known in Cambridge is keeping African history alive.

“That hip-hop thing was new nobody believed it would last, they thought it was a fad,  but now they see it’s got more influence than any genre or music motion that has ever existed,” said Mike Bryan, Founder of Groove City.

Cambridge is known for its rich history, but it’s the beat of its drum that connects it to its African roots. That is Groove City. “In the 40s, 50s came through with Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, big-time entertainers on Pine Street and it was a time where they called Cambridge little New York because of the styles of fashion and every one of these areas came to Cambridge for those big entertainers coming through,” said Bryan.

Mike Bryan, a founder of Groove City says hip hop has changed over time for better or worse. Hip-hop is an art form that tells a bigger story. “It’s an expression of the young folks that we’re going through a period of unrest and gangs were rapping in New York and some of the music guys. Some of the guys that were into DJing decided to get together and combat some of the violence through music, expression, fashion, dance,” said Bryan.

Bryan says with hip-hop came the good and the bad. It started off positive, but the negative messages were uplifted because drama makes more money. Bryan says the community has to get back to those positive messages throughout hip-hop to strengthen future generations. “We need the programs, we need people standing up and going against the things that push the kids in the wrong direction. We need men, we need men to be men that’s where we are failing in our community,” said Bryan.

Big Daddy Kane and Jay-Z also grooved through the city. You can visit the  Ubuntu studio in Cambridge for more information about Groove City. Bryan says to keep children engaged they work with local schools for their Turn Around the Beat program.