Microphone Sessions

This Weeks Topic: Passion!!
The artistic birthplace of Tupac Shakur, step inside Microphone Sessions, the powerful workshop where educator Leila Steinberg puts the heart back in art. In the fall of 1989 an Artist could no longer tolerate the pain of a silenced generation. She decided to make a difference. Out of her small Bay Area living room she birthed a movement using poetry, rap, song, dance and theater. Her name was Leila Steinberg. Her vision was to transform the roll of artists from entertainers to world leaders. Her call was answered when a soft spoken 17 year old walked through the door. His name was Tupac Shakur.. With each weekly session Tupac questioned, challenged, and debated the words of his mentor. So began the rise of a legend. Since Tupac thousands have experienced the sessions. These are their real life stories. This is not a shot at pop stardom. This is the workshop of a generation. Each one teach one, each one reach one. “You want to own the world? You want to be a star? You have to own the mic. The Microphone Sessions is a workshop... an opportunity, a platform for new artists to develop.” Leila Steinberg. Leila gives weekly writing assignments that the students must turn into a rap, a song, or a poem... their piece, their art, and they better deliver. The Microphone Sessions will follow 8 students for 12 weeks as each student uses their real life issues as artistic fuel in weekly performance sessions. Not only will audiences be witness to the creative process inside the session, the series will also go behind the mic and give the viewer a glimpse into the harsh reality of the everyday lives of our students and how these realities fuel their art. During the 12 week series the students will be visited by Terrance Howard, Mos Def, Fiona Apple, Kanye West, and Marilyn Manson. They will be subjected to the same scrutiny and debate all the students go through. These are the stories of real life artists. These are the Microphone Sessions.