Mal Jones – cultural ambassador of the arts. Hip Hop Artist, Emcee, Master Folk Artist, Founder of Lyricist Live, Arts Educator, Visual Artist, Author.
We sat down with Mal Jones, Jacksonville’s 1st cultural ambassador of the arts who uses hip hop culture as his platform to bridge the gap between culture and education. Jones is both a dynamic public speaker and lecturer that advocates for arts education through the lens of Hip Hop culture.
Whether it is the subject of writing, speaking, or the visual arts, I see all things through the lens of Hip Hop culture. This gives me a voice that the youth of this generation want to listen to. As someone who wants to reach young people in their very own schools and communities, it gives me an advantage when it comes to educating them on subjects that otherwise would be difficult to get them interested in. Speaking to them in their language has been the most fulfilling and effective way I’ve found to reach the youth of today. Hip Hop culture combined with education blends disciplines and creates an art form all its own, and I love giving our youth that same lens to discover the world.
– Mal Jones
In 2019, Jones was invited to host a TEDxJacksonville Talk on his founding of The Lyricist Live show and his ode to Shakespeare “Hip Hop Shakes” that has garnered his movement worldwide notoriety.
Jones is the founder of The Lyricist Live, a community freestyle rap cypher and educational workshop that encourages youth to use self-expression freely without the usage of foul language by focusing on the broad landscape of the literary arts. His award winning improvisational show has been the main event of Jacksonville’s Art Walk for over 10 years. For his works, Jones has been recognized as a visionary. Starting in 2011, he has taken his street rhyme cypher into the classroom by developing a Hip Hop inspired curriculum that speaks directly to students and educators On the importance of writing and literacy.
In 2016, Mal Jones became the first Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville Ambassador of the Arts bringing his poem “Hip Hop Shakes” to Bristol England to represent Jacksonville for their 400th year anniversary of Shakespeare celebration.
In 2013, Mal Jones became the first Hip Hop artist in Florida’s history to be labeled as a Folk Artist by The Florida Folklife Program and Division of Historical Resources for his traditional skill of improvisational freestyle rap. Two years later, Jones made history again by starting the first state funded Freestyle Folk Rhyme Apprenticeship Program that teaches the traditional skills of freestyle rap as an official state Folk Art.
IN THE NEWS
“Mal Jones Africana Studies lecture at UNF” https://firstcoastnews.com/embeds/vid…
“Through Our Eyes” art exhibit at the Ritz Museum | River City Live https://www.news4jax.com/river-city-l… Folklife Council Calls On Jacksonville Artist To Teach Younger Generation https://news.wjct.org/post/folklife-c… CULTURAL AMBASSADORS JACKSONVILLE’S EXCHANGE PROGRAM https://www.firstcoastnews.com/video/… SPREADING THE GOSPEL Mal Jones is 23 years into his mission of enhancing Jacksonville’s hip hop scene, one rhyme at a time http://folioweekly.com/SPREADING-THE-…
“LOST ON THE STACKS” with MATT MOYER interview https://soundcloud.com/mal-jones/lost…
Florida Folklife Program At The Peck Center https://www.ameliaislander.com/2013/0…
MAL JONES MAKES HISTORY WITH HIP HOP http://www.vibesandvino.com/mal-jones…
SOCIAL MEDIA
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mal-jones…
https://www.facebook.com/pg/MalJones9…
https://vimeo.com/user46601405/about
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1Z4…
