by Jeremiah Davis

St. John Bosco continues to innovate by bringing new courses to campus. One such class that is taking the school by storm is Hip-Hop: Formation, Structure and Production.

St. John Bosco High School has always had a curriculum that is ever evolving and always open to the acquisition of new courses. The new hip-hop class, taught by Mr. Martin Lang and Mr. Ramon Villanueva, had students lining up for the opportunity to learn about one of America’s most significant and influential music genres.

The class has only one available section, but it is filled to capacity with 28 kids. The main goal for this class is to help students learn to write their own lyrics while also teaching them how to record and produce a song from top to bottom. The class instruction is exactly like the students would expect from the name: “Formation, Structure, and Production.”

“The students have particularly enjoyed the overall dynamic of what we are trying to teach them in this class which makes our job easier,” said Mr. Villanueva, Bosco’s Band Director and one of the hip-hop course instructors.

The class was introduced on campus this year and instantly gained interest from a lot of students.

“The class has been very interesting, and I have enjoyed every second of it. Mr. Lang and Mr. Villenueva have been a great help to our learning process in the course,” said D.J. Henry, a senior in the hip hop class.

One of the aspects in the course that has been a favorite for the students is the process of creating their own beats. 

“The purpose of students creating their own beats would be to help them to realize that the beat is the starting point of the entire song.  Without the beat, the lyrics are, in fact, meaningless.  This has also been a very interactive activity which the students have enjoyed sincerely,” said Mr. Lang, Bosco’s Media Production Pathway Coordinator and hip-hop class instructor.  

A couple of students in the class have already begun making their own beats in their spare time. Matayo Uiagalelei, a junior at St. John Bosco most known as a two-way star on the football team, has made his own fair share of beats in the past, including a song that is already out with rising artist, Cuuhraig, titled “Brown Skin.”  

“Having Matayo in the class has been a really cool experience.  Just to see someone who makes beats as much as he does really helps me to elevate my beats on another level,” said senior Jeremiah Belton.  

Overall, in its short time of existence at Bosco, the class has been a major success and many students have taken full advantage of the course and all its opportunities. The diversity of the course has been a major factor in attracting students from a variety of different grade levels as well.

“I think the coolest thing about the course is that, although it is an elective that involves mostly seniors, there are students from the sophomore and junior classes that are interested in the course as well,” said senior Malachi Finau.  

All students are welcome to join the course next semester. The popularity for the course seems to be on the rise every day, which only means that more and more participants are ready and eager to join.