We recently sat down with Academy of Contemporary Music graduate Krystal Raney to talk about how her education at ACM prepared her for life as GM of one of OKC’s most premier venues, The Criterion!
Check out more testimonial videos on our YouTube channel. Schedule an ACM campus tour at get.info@acm.uco.edu or check out our virtual tour.
Learn more about enrolling at ACM@UCO at acm.uco.edu.
Jennifer Tindal is a graduate of Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma. She recently visited our downtown Oklahoma City campus, and shared how ACM@UCO helped her develop her career in the music business.
Visit acm.uco.edu for more information and to enroll today!
A message from University of Central Oklahoma President Patti Neuhold-Ravikumar:
Consistent with governmental action designed to slow the spread of the virus, the UCO physical campus will close to all but essential employees at 5 p.m., Thursday, March 26 through at least April 15.
Please read the full update on our UCO website: uco.edu/coronavirus.
Hear and read about local band The Sweet Talkers’ newest single “Mixed Signals,” available for streaming and download. Make Oklahoma Weirder says of the tune:
Groove is in the heartache. At least, that would seem to be the case on the darker side of The Sweet Talkers’ disco ball moon. The OKC band is no stranger to nocturnal beats and misty synths, sounds inspired by past tides of alternative rock in the 2000s and new wave/post-punk in the ’80s. … The Sweet Talkers are back with “Mixed Signals,” a new single that further explores the band’s taste for glam and gloom. It officially drops everywhere tomorrow, but you can stream it now at the player below in this Make Oklahoma Weirder early premiere.
Check out the full blog and hear the new song at MakeOklahomaWeirder.com.
The band also features ACM alumni Tyler Branstetter & Dakota Green.
The Space Program, a hip-hop collective of more than two dozen Black, collegiate artists and entrepreneurs from across Oklahoma, recently released the album “Curriculum of the Mind,” which was celebrated April 25 with a showcase at ACM@UCO Performance Lab.
Christopher G. Acoff, aka Original Flow
Among others, the TSP collective features UCO-tied alumni and students, including audio engineer Myles Adams; Christopher G. Acoff, aka Original Flow, who earned a Music Business degree at ACM@UCO; ACM Contemporary Music Production graduate James Curd, aka Deezy; and UCO student Makeen Khalifa, aka Makeen.
Portions of TSP’s debut video for the album’s title track were recorded on the UCO campus in Edmond.
“The true essence of this dissertation album was the ability to see the progression of students, particularly ACM students (e.g. artists, poets, rappers, producers, audio engineers, etc.), come together and masterfully create something that will forever be timeless, both in the hip-hop and educational communities,” said TSP’s CEO, DJ and producer Dr. View, aka Stevie Johnson, who is also the former Assistant Director of Diversity Retention in the Office of Diversity & Inclusion at the University of Central Oklahoma.
Stevie Johnson, aka DJ and producer Dr. View
“Many studies do not allow students to authentically express themselves in ways that speak to their epistemological and ontological perspectives. The fortitude, resilience and innovation of these students developed a new avenue of hip-hop scholarship that academia not only has to respect, but that will be used as a blueprint for educators for years to come,” Johnson said.
“In short, these students is helping the world recognize that hip-hop and education can and will work together for the betterment of creating social change,” he added.
The Space Program celebrates its first showcase Thursday, April 25 at ACM@UCO Performance Lab, 329 E. Sheridan Ave., in Oklahoma City. Doors open at 7 p.m. and showtime is 7:30 p.m.
Admission is only $5 at the door! Learn more at acm-uco.eventbrite.com.
Come out and support the collective as they put on not just a dope show, but a dope experience. Merch also will be available.
Formed in 2017, The Space Program (TSP) is a Black collegian hip-hop collective from higher education institutions across the state of Oklahoma. It creatively disrupts anti-Black, anti-Semitic, imperialist, white, patriarchal institutions that oppress Black people, through the creation and production of a hip-hop album, Curriculum of the Mind.
The name stems from the track “Space Program” by A Tribe Called Quest, which makes the argument that “There ain’t a space program for ni**as.”
The Space Program Collective sonically, empirically and ingeniously provides a new “Space Program” for hip-hop scholarship and praxis, both in the academy and the community at large. The Collective additionally provides for a community of Black males that currently attend, have graduated, or stopped out at historically white colleges within the past 10 years, who also identify as artists, rappers, musicians, producers, poets, activists, b-boys, disc jockeys (DJ’s), audio engineers, historians, entrepreneurs, graffiti artists, graphic and web designers, campus leaders, scholars, photographers, videographers and/or hip-hop collegians.
New generations call for new voices, and new areas of inquiry, and this is your notice that class is in session. For Dr. View and the Space Program Collective, it always has been.
• Stevie Johnson, DJ and producer
• LaVelle Compton, artist
• Original Flow, artist
• Thomas Who, artist
• Deezy, artist
• Worm, artist
• Jacobi Ryan, artist
• Willie G, artist
• Beety, artist
• think.progress, poet
• Mac Woods, poet
• Day’Quann, poet
Hosted by Jim Conway! Let’s go! #TSP
THE SPACE PROGRAM collective hosts its first showcase 7 p.m. April 25 at ACM@UCO Performance Lab, 329 E. Sheridan Ave., in OKC.
Cover is $5 at the door!
INFO: https://t.co/xmyzdRHbrn!@tspalbum #CurriculumoftheMind @Ok_Sessions @UCOCFAD @wOKelahoma @_Bricktown @DowntownOKC pic.twitter.com/F0bbEp32U9
— ACM@UCO (@acmuco) April 17, 2019
ACM@UCO Student Organization hosts a Friday album release show for ACM alumnus Ciara Brooke as she debuts her new project “Diva Diaries.” Special guests include Rozlyn Zora and chasertheprince.
The event is 7-10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, at ACM@UCO Performance Lab, 329 E. Sheridan Ave., in Bricktown. Admission is $5 at the door or FREE with valid UCO student ID.
Like and follow Ciara on social media:
facebook.com/ciarabrookemusic
instagram.com/ciarabrookemusic
ciarabrooke.com
Hear her new album, “Diva Diaries” on Spotify!
Garrett Starks, ACM alum 2014 and owner of Castle Row Studios, sat down with The Oklahoman to talk about his roots and opening his own business in Del City. Read the full interview.
ACM alumni The Ivy and Mallory Eagle will be performing at the Citizens Bank of Edmond’s “Heard on Hurd” festival Saturday, March 17.
Heard on Hurd prides itself on being an authentic block party-style festival open to the community. Food trucks, shopping and live music are hosted once a month through March-October. Family and pet-friendly, the goal of Heard on Hurd is to promote community involvement and bring in diverse vendors and audiences.
Learn more about Heard on Hurd here.
OKC-based indie pop band Haniwa recently released a new album titled “Violent Sun.” The LP was recorded and mixed at the ACM@UCO studios by ACM@UCO student Caleb Gray and mastered by ACM@UCO faculty member Kevin Lively. Additionally, band member Dylan Walling is an alumnus of our program. Congratulations to all those involved in this amazing new record. To listen to “Violent Sun” visit https://haniwaband.bandcamp.com.
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