Hampton Graduate DJ BabeyDrew Wins Grammy

A Hampton University graduate and acclaimed DJ for artists like Chris Brown and Beyoncé, won his first Grammy award this week as a contributor to the winner of the Best Dance/Electronic Album category.

Andrew Bisnaught, the 2002 Hampton graduate, attributed his success to a pipeline that began deejaying parties on campus and throughout the area, which led him to positions at Hampton’s radio station and beyond.

“I produced a song, sat on it for a year, then finally decided to do something with it, and within two months of me putting it out, I got contacted on behalf of Diplo and Skrillex,” said BabeyDrew. “The message here is, if you have an idea… Do it! When you lay a brick, a house eventually will come!”

DJ BabeyDrew has performed in more than 20 countries, and is a radio personality featured on stations in Virginia Beach and Atlanta.

Morehouse Sets Out a Hop, Media Buys into Stereotypes

The men of Morehouse’s Psi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. did exactly what college brothers are supposed do—serve as public and proud ambassadors of their school and fraternity. That’s part of the allure of HBCU culture—joy and celebration can be found in any assembly at any moment, because we’re all happy to be earning degrees, improving our lives and our world in a place made for us to do just that.

But when that joy is taken out of context, and packaged in a way that throws HBCU culture into weird space to defend its mission and the intentions of those who live it out, then it becomes a problem for our schools and Black America at large. Ques stepping at a political rally can be part of the story, but it isn’t the story. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first time a frat has set it out on the HBCU campaign trail, or if Bernie Sanders himself likes to get hype for “Atomic Dog;” all of that is more appropriately found two or three grafs after the lede; and not as a headline on the Huffington Post, ABC News, or any other national outlet.

For more, read HBCU Digest.

Bernie Sanders vs. Hillary Clinton: Who Is the Real HBCU Candidate?

If student reception in the AUC is any indicator, Omegas stepping at Bernie Sanders’ Morehouse rally gets the nod over Hillary Clinton being interrupted at Clark Atlanta.

If platforms for HBCU funding make a difference, Clinton having the support of a HBCU political action committee seems a lot more promising than a federal legislator criticizing Sanders’ lack of reach for private HBCUs.

Both candidates are making a strong push to engage with HBCU communities, a direct response to the lack of connectivity between black colleges and President Barack Obama. Determined to maneuver around the blight on Obama’s higher education and race records, Sanders and Clinton have put HBCUs in national headlines in the same way Obama did in 2008, but against a rising subtext of pro-black awareness.

But there’s little reason to believe that, if elected, Clinton or Sanders will do what Obama in some cases would not, and in most cases could not do for HBCUs. The promise of earmarked appropriations which will require long-shot Congressional approval to be activated is less than promising. And the only thing deserving more side-eye than the promise of phantom appropriations, is the notion that students will only get the money in states which agree to help foot the bill for tuition subsidies; another blue sky scenario for red states where most HBCUs are stationed.

For more, read HBCU Digest.