- 21 productions
- 23 other programmes
- From Monza to Taranto
Since 2013 Kiave has brought Rap writing workshops to prisons, schools, youth centres, day centres, paediatric wards, neighbourhoods and beyond, working with teenagers and young adults. He works within the framework of Hip Hop Pedagogy with ForMattArt and is part of Keep It Real, the national network that brings together Hip Hop arts educators in Italy.
The guiding phrase of these programmes is “Hip Hop is a means, not an end” (Esa). The end is people and their stories, and the words are theirs, from the first sheet of paper to the record. Recording those songs means gathering testimonies of our time through music. The goal is to feel part of something again, as Hip Hop culture has always made possible.
The method
When someone takes the floor, everyone listens.
Bars, syllables, metre and rhyme are not rules: they are canons and guides. They let everyone speak the same language inside the workshop and, outside, find their way in a studio or on a stage. Then each person bends them to their own voice. At the root lies the promise Hip Hop has made since the Bronx: to turn energies that could have become destructive into something creative.
It is the pact every workshop rests on: whoever raps or opens up in front of the others deserves respect, and that moment is theirs. The workshop is a space without judgement, held together by the original values of Hip Hop and by constant attention to racial, social and gender discrimination. Kiave does not come in as a teacher but as a rapper alongside the people who write, and shares what Rap has given him.
-
Writing
10 to 15 sessions: the pact, the history of Hip Hop, the technical canons, then listening, writing and rewriting, in groups and alone.
-
Recording
The tracks are recorded where the workshop takes place or at Macro Beats Studio. Kiave handles the artistic direction, mixing and mastering.
-
Public outcome
The programme can end in public, with a concert or a presentation, and live on in a record on streaming platforms or in a video.
Productions(21)
21 productions, newest first.
Spunti di VistaKeep It Real, Comunità in cammino #2 · ForMattArt
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 2025 Dare forma e voce al futuroIC Console Marcello · Fondazione PIME, ForMattArt
-
-
- 2023 HUGIC R. Pezzani · ForMattArt
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 2015 Potere alle Parole – Expo GateExpo Gate, “La Milano che cambia” workshop
-
-
Other programmes(23)
Workshops, masterclasses and meetings, newest first. Some are still running.
-
Keep It Real – new season
The workshop continues every Tuesday.
-
Milano (T)Rap City
Meeting with young people from the Unione dei Comuni Savena-Idice, on a trip to the places of Milanese Rap.
-
Training Live and FringeMI
Stage and performance training programme. From 27 to 29 May, 3 nights at FringeMI featured more than 20 young artists from the workshops, followed by the final night on 27 June at Circolo San Luis in Corvetto. ForMattArt’s page
-
Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori
Rap workshop with young patients on the ward.
-
Voci Spiegate – new edition
Ongoing Rap writing programmes in prison, every week. ForMattArt’s report
-
Centro Family Coaching
Rap writing workshop with the youngest participants, ending with a live show on 25 April at Save the Bobby alongside the writers of N.I.E.N.T.E.
-
Scuola Bottega
Rap writing workshop.
-
Sabbioneta
4–5 May 2024: Rap training for artists and educators, and a workshop with the young people of UpToYou.
-
Rap coaching – Civica Scuola di Teatro Paolo Grassi
May–June 2023: Rap consultancy and music coaching for Bertolt Brecht’s Terrore e miseria del III Reich, directed by Ben Naylor. A Hip Hop adaptation of the introductory verses and work with the Acting students on breath, rhythm and flow.
-
Fanciullezza day centre
Rap workshop run for 3 years in a row.
-
Me, myself & I – Tavernelle di Panicale
14–15 December 2022: 2 sessions writing rhymes to a Rap beat.
-
Move On Up
Music masterclass with Roberto Marrone (Fenix Music) for young singers, producers and musicians, followed in the evening by a showcase with the project’s crew.
-
Black & Tube
Hip Hop afternoon with the Street Arts Academy artists: djing, MCing, breaking and writing.
-
MaTeMù
Rap masterclass: writing, performing and recording your own rhymes.
-
Bada Ki c’è – Figline Valdarno
19–20 July 2018: Rap workshop over 2 afternoons at the Kurousagi Comics & Games comic shop.
-
The creative process in Rap
Conversation with Kaso, open to anyone in the audience who wanted to have a go.
-
Musica contro le mafie – Rossano and Corigliano
June 2017: educational project in 3 schools, using music to talk about the rule of law, social justice and active citizenship.
-
Converse Rubber Tracks
Workshop with Mistaman for 20 young MCs: metre, writing and mic technique.
-
Tour Music Fest
Rap teacher at the campus for emerging singers and rappers, for 2 years.
-
Potere alle Parole – Scuola Holden
Workshop over 3 afternoons with Amir Issaa against stereotypes and discrimination, for teenagers from Borgo Dora.
-
Villaggio Molise
Rap writing and djing workshop before the live show.
-
La biblioteca è una bella storia
Meeting with inmates in the library, with Rap, readings and a mural.
-
Potere alle Parole at school
Workshop session with students on Rap as a tool against discrimination. The video
Talks and conferences
The Keep It Real national network, conferences, talks and his role in ForMattArt.
-
Keep It Real
Three-year project in 5 cities, with 6 rapper-educators (Kiave, Kyodo, Aku, Oyoshe, Low-dato, DonGoCò), 5 associations, teachers and researchers. Promoted by ÀP – Antimafia Pop Academy with ForMattArt, Caracò, Maestri di Strada and Strade di Casa, supported by Fondazione Alta Mane Italia.
-
Sapienza University of Rome
24 October 2025: Keep It Real network meeting. 2 September 2026: talk on Keep It Real at the IV International Conference of Scuola Democratica.
-
It’s Enough! – Talk to Cult
22 March 2025: Alvin Osei interviews Kiave during the anti-racism week of the Giro del Cielo cooperative, at the Orti Spallanzani in Reggio Emilia. The video
-
Hip Hop Education – Festival Connessioni
15 June 2024: talk on Hip Hop in education with music journalist Greta Valicenti at nòva, Novara, with the presentation of the documentary SuperNova Crew – Anno zero.
-
ForMattArt
Responsible for designing and running the programmes linked to Hip Hop Pedagogy.
Partners
The associations, institutions and foundations the workshops were born with.
- ForMattArt
- Street Arts Academy
- Il Razzismo è una brutta storia
- 232 APS
- Cooperativa La Strada
- Cooperativa Intrecci
- On Impresa Sociale
- ENAIP Lombardia
- Fondazione PIME
- ARTvocacy
- Fondazione Angelo e Mafalda Molinari
- Repubblica dei Ragazzi
- APS Rublanum
- Noi e Voi Onlus
- Impresa Sociale Con i Bambini
- ÀP – Antimafia Pop Academy
- Fondazione Alta Mane Italia
- Gatto Pirata Dischi
- Cesare Beccaria juvenile prison
- Monza prison
- Varese prison
- Como prison
- San Vittore prison
- IC R. Pezzani
- IC Console Marcello
- Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori
- CAG 500
- La Feltrinelli
- Centro Family Coaching Viadana
- Giro del Cielo
- Scuola Holden
- MaTeMù
- Unione dei Comuni Savena-Idice
- Fondazione di Comunità Milano
- Azienda Speciale Consortile Oglio Po
- Fondazione Arca
- DaSud
- Restart Festival
- Villaggio Molise
- Tour Music Fest
- Bada Ki c’è
- Biblioteche in Viaggio
- Civica Scuola di Teatro Paolo Grassi
- Festival Connessioni / nòva
Bring a workshop to your community
Schools, youth centres, day centres, prisons, festivals.
Write to Kiave with the venue, the period and how many people would take part. The programme is built together, starting from the people who are there.