Hustle and Grind

Award-winning video series portrays aspiring rappers and the owner of a small recording studio where they write, record and hang out -- and stay off the streets.

This small recording studio is a creative space—and for the aspiring rapper it is their lifeline out of the neighborhood. This space may be helping to save the lives of these aspiring singers by keeping them away from the diversions of the street. Individual videos on the performers and studio owner/manager show us their struggles as husbands and fathers. One of the artists describes a “grinder” as someone who gets money by any means necessary. This studio gives these performers a shot at making it legally. An introductory video shows a studio where aspiring rappers can write, record and hang out. In four additional videos we meet the studio owner and three artists who see the studio as a refuge from life on the street.

This project won the gold prize in the multimedia project category in the College Photographer of the Year competition in 2007.

Photography, audio: Jeff Giraldo, Western Kentucky University

VIEW: http://www.cpoy.org/62/winners/multimedia/C62-16-GiraJ-01/index.html