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[Piano music]
- Narrator: It's Tuesday night and it's time for chess club.
A game of strategy, intellect and rigor.
And...
[needle scratches]
[hip-hop music] - Whoo, yeah!
Milwaukee's hottest hip-hop beats.
? Wave your hands if you wanna hear me go down ?
? So what gets you into your mind when you realize ?
? That you ain't never moved the checkmate to the side ?
- People always say like, "What, hip-hop, chess. How does that go together?"
? Yo, the is the hip-hop chess club ?
- Narrator: Brandon Kitts is a music producer
and co-coordinator of the Hip-Hop Chess Club of Wisconsin.
? It's a blessin' and a lesson? 'Cuz you' messin' with their knight ?
- I love hip-hop; I just love it.
? See, this is how we do it ?
? It's all about the art, love, the movement ?
We live it; we breathe it; the chess comes into play
and it's a great experience, I feel like.
[Hip-hop music beats]
- Narrator: Once a week, the club meets in the back
of a Milwaukee salon.
The goal?
Provide kids and adults a place to make beats and moves
on the chess board.
- Basically, they come here to learn how to play chess,
and then we listen to hip-hop beats
and people can cipher,
which is a freestyle session and learn how to rap
and learn how to make beats.
? You think I go to wrap around the edges of my life ?
? Because my daddy didn't ?
- Narrator: This is likely Wisconsin's loudest chess club.
But for these kids, it's also the most fun.
- You have to come check it out.
Then you'll be like, oh, okay, I get it.
Once you see everyone getting along and just the vibe
and the energies there, you'll understand.
- Narrator: Brandon says there's rhyme to the reason,
and not just on the mic.
- ? Insane Hip-hop chess club lane ?
- He hopes chess is teaching these kids valuable skills.
- If my piece was right here, you could've attack from diagonally.
Yeah, I could take that rook right there, but
do I wanna lose my queen in the process?
Nah, let's take a step back
and let's figure out a different way.
Ooh, good job, man, good job.
We hope that they learn how to see the bigger picture,
think about their actions,
the consequences of their actions.
That's what chess does, I feel like.
Put hip-hop in the mix, whew.
You can definitely reach a lot more people.
- Narrator: The plan is to expand the organization to offer
other hip-hop-focused programs.
- We really hope to impact the community for the better
and make a positive impact for kids
that might not otherwise have a creative outlet.
- Narrator: For Brandon, it's not about chess or music,
but about giving people a space to get together
and move forward, one square at a time.
- ? C'mon c'mon ?
I love the fact that all these people are coming
from different walks of life within our community.
And we're all getting along.
I look forward to this every Tuesday.
It's like my favorite day.
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