Career Readiness Through Development

guide how individuals should be prepared. For instance, a medical doctor has a specific path of educational activities that are prescribed before an individual may function as a physician. An electrician would be required to complete required courses and hands-on training to gain the necessary competencies.

In most professions there are specific outcomes that can be measured to assess the knowledge and skills of an individual. To document the training and development for professionals there must be a community of professionals who account for how well newcomers to the field are able to function with the appropriate knowledge in a specific field of practice. Knowledge is enhanced if the individual has an opportunity to be engaged in the context of practice and is accomplished through a designed apprenticeship.

Chatham County and its surrounding counties are expanding, and new professional opportunities are emerging. We must maintain our focus on apprenticeships and training programs that develop young professionals to be well-prepared. Educational curriculums must be designed with both career and technical learning opportunities. The opportunities arising from warehouses, skilled-labor, and other careers require our educational institutions to prepare our workforce to be sustainable for long-term career experiences.

Savannah Savannah Hip Hop

By: C.J. Smith, PhD Candidate

When you step into the Savannah Hip-Hop scene as an outsider, you find yourself asking, where is it, where do I find Hip-Hop? You gravitate to none other than Hip-Hop Night or for locals, “Ole School Hip-Hop Every Tuesday Night Y’all at the Jinx.” Now, although the Jinx closed, Hip-Hop Tuesdays continued in 2022. Traveling all around the South, as a break-dancer, you’ll discover fans even among Hip-Hop dancers (who are iconic fans of Hip-Hop Night) quote the number one MC & Host, Basik Lee.

Like all local Hip-Hop legends, Basik Lee & Dope Knife, you find mentors & originators to those who paved the way before the local Hip-Hop Masters of Greatness. Recently, I had the fortunate coincidence to see the Original-Original, Crook in action.

Over a decade ago, gravitating to each other through the love of Hip-Hop a group of introverted-artistic SCAD students created the original Tuesday Hip-Hop Night. No universal coincidence, two freestylers and roommates, Zone-D and Crook both freestylers in the craft, conveniently worked at the Mellow Mushroom on Liberty. Mellow Mushroom was the Hip-Hop spot. After work, Zone-D and Crook would convene with other SCAD Hip-Hop artists in a cipher. There…Hip-Hop Night was born at the Mellow Mushroom.

Tuesday Hip-Hop Night developed over time at Mellow Mushroom. In an interview with Jason, he recalls, “Tory, Justin, Ryan Hanks, Britten Carr, Josh and Zone-D started integrating Hip-Hop Night into Trivia Night with Freestyle.” Each person would rap-n-freestyle with cue cards from a deck. Each person had to spin the wheel and would get a cue card for the subject. You mess-up, the next person was-up. However, you spin the wheel and battle against the MC, Jason (Crook).

From a music standpoint, Crook is known in his crew, Dope Sandwich and among fans for his lyrical cleverness. Crook credits, the rap group, Dope Sandwich came out of Tuesday Hip-Hop Nights. Crook also gives credit to Basik Lee, Dope Knife; and says, “Tuesday Hip-Hop Nights, karaoke, highlights repower beats and shit,” lit the Savannah Underground Hip-Hop scene.

Savannah

Savannah Hip Hop

Crook came on the Hip-Hop scene in high school in 1994. Jason Darby started rapping in his hometown of Virginia Beach. Crook had a fire in him to Rap beginning in rapbattles. Crook went to the oldest of his rap group to seek guidance. The advice he got from the oldest member of the VA-beach group was, “to fill-up lyrics in a notebook.” Jason said, “starting out, I wasn’t good, and I wasn’t horrible.”

Jason got his name at a House Party introducing himself on the Mic speeding-spelling his name, “Crooked Letter, I’m Rapper Ja-Crooked Letter,” which then became, “JaCrooked.” Then in Savannah among his SCAD peers, “Crook,” for short as someone introduced him as, “Yo this is Crook!”

Before attending SCAD, Jason free-styled in the Atl Hip-Hop scene at the notorious Open Mic@the Apache. Apache was Jason’s first rap-battle. Jason became known for his free-style music-skills. Crook was able to free-style to any genre of beats. Jason says, “I was an aspiring rapper back then, not a relic or a hermit in a cave. I carved out my skills as a free-styling rapper.”

Crook admits he was not a founding member of the Dope Sandwich rap-group, which took off after his time at SCAD. Crook was instrumental in founding Hip-Hop Night at Mellow Mushroom. Jason attests, “Everybody was going to SCAD. All or most performers were SCAD students. Dope Sandwich all came out of HipHop Night.” Dope Sandwich took the Savannah Underground-Hip-Hop to the next level. Dope Sandwich was the evolutionary part of what Hip-Hop Night was-a mixture of the creation, “of karaoke, repower beats and battles.”

Crook was an outsider to Savannah’s other Hip-Hop scene. Savannah’s Underground HipHop Scene originated from a divine synchronistic timing of talented SCAD students, coincidentally observing-either Savannah’s Hip-Hop scene was nonexistent or not established. Jason says, “we were art students. We went to an art school. This Savannah Hip-Hop collective is not identifiable. Its own unique style. A whole unique personality. We definitely, all were what we were. What we knew. We were-Savannah’s Hip-Hop scene as far as we knew. We were doing Hip-Hop together.”

Jason was in Atlanta, when Hip-Hop Night moved to the Jinx. Jason recalled the organic nature of the Savannah scene, stating, “I didn’t know what it turned into.” Jason praised Basik Lee and Dope Knife for what Hip-Hop Night became.

Crook recalls, “Jury Shawl, Nick Stern, Bad Ben, Zone-D, Rodney, Adam Harris, Bus, Deny OS,” all had tracks circulating on Myspace. Crook was gone by 2004. Jason remembers he was older. Little did Crook realize he had also turned into an underground Freestyle legend in the Downtown Savannah Hip-Hop scene. His Trac, “Verse 4-11.” circulated on Myspace. Jason stated, “someone said to me, your track on Myspace is circulating down there. They're playing your shit!” He never met the younger members of Dope Sandwich. He says, “I guess, I was planting seeds.”

Savannah Savannah Hip Hop

Jason was always involved in kickball and other sports outside school, career and Hiphop. Jason was active in a New York kickball tournament once a year. Once the other players found out he was well-known, “Crook,” in Savannah, he was asked to bring his posse, Dope Sandwich, to the tournament. Jason says, “they were together meeting people. Our own Wu-Tang Clan.” He recalled, he and Dope Sandwich were asked to come back several years to New York to perform when Savannah Hip-Hop was cool.

Then, Dope Sandwich invited Crook to join them on tour about 16 to 18 times. “We went everywhere to New York, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Atlanta…hosting events from all over the country.” Crook and Dope Sandwich went on tour for almost two (2) years.

In 2022, Jason re-launched his career in film and TV production. While here for work, I sat down with Jason for an interview. When Jason told me he was planning to go to the re-launch of Hip-Hop Night at Victory North in 2022, he said, “I don’t know what to expect. I’ll see what it’s like. Flyers are everywhere.”

Finally, I ask Jason, what were your most nostalgic moments as Crook, you can remember? “Setting the scene,” he says, “there was this place, Turkey’s west of Brooklyn, and there was a weird Irish guy, John Lee McCorin, known as, ‘Swindler Sword,’ or ‘Arabian Night’ or something. He wanted to battle, and I…Murdered it.” Jason had broken his collarbone and went to the emergency room after the park earlier that day, “I don’t know how I did it.”

Nostalgically, Jason also goes on, “I worked at Mellow Mushroom as an orientation leader, there was a live Jam Band, ‘Perpetual Groove,’ at JJ Cagney’s after work.” After the first set, another live band, DoodleBug played in the second set. After talking to the Live Band about Hip-Hop, Crook was asked to Rap with the Band. Adrenaline rushing through his body, he says, “you could hear the crowd going through the rafters.” Crook was in his zone. “Everything was aligned. Great night. Great lyrics.” Jason was in control, while the audience hung on all the words, “going-off, in-tuned, just rapping.”

(Jason) Crook’s switch was fueled, while he was on that night-lit!

Although Crook only has one recorded track, Verse 4-11 is fierce and permanently on my Spotify and YouTube Playlists. Like any underground Savannah Hip-Hop legend, Crook is humble. Crook has true-real raw talent, matched with-rhythmic passion, love, and light infused with raw, rough and original old-school flow that can be matched anywhere. Jason is known as the most talented freestyler in Savannah Hip-Hop. Jason, He is also one of THE original-original founding-MCs of Savannah’s Tuesday Night Hip-Hop, and Father of Savannah’s own Underground Hip-Hop.