By Henry Johnson AB '18

Lucia Brawley AB ’99 is a producer, actor, and writer. In addition to appearing in movies and television shows such as World Trade Center and ER, she has written about arts and education for The Huffington Post. Lucia currently serves as the Vice President of Communications for amp.it, a digital media company founded by her husband, Derrick Ashong AB ’97, PhD '09 (photo below by Jane Feldman). Derrick is an artist and entrepreneur who has hosted programs on SiriusXM, Al Jazeera English, and Fusion. He recently created Take Back the Mic, an interactive hip-hop show that airs on amp.it. The show, hosted by Derrick and produced by Lucia, was an Emmy finalist in 2015.

Q. How did you come up with the idea for Take Back the Mic?

DNA. I was at a cypher at a place called Bus Stop in my hometown, Accra, Ghana. Everyone is taking turns freestyling—I got up did my thing, all is good. Then this one kid gets up, and does a rhyme in English, no biggie. All of a sudden he flips it and starts freestyling in Twi. Then he switches it up again and starts flowing in Ga.

It’s hard enough for most people to improvise in one language and this guy just did it in three. That’s when it hit me that the most interesting stuff happening in Hip Hop is not necessarily happening in the US. And I thought it would be so cool to have a show that highlights the best of the best in Hip Hop from around the world. That was almost 12 years ago.