The Hip-Hop Xpress is a mobile classroom and sound studio that collects, creates and teaches knowledge about Hip-Hop concepts and oral histories. Previous iterations of the Xpress functioned out of converted trailers. This new version is a full-sized school bus. The mission of the Xpress has evolved over the past nine years with the following objectives: (a) prepare P-12 teachers and music education students with practical experience (b) collect and share data that reflect how cities in Illinois became archives of Black aesthetic genius with music traditions; (c) show how that content can be used to develop scholarship that connects domestic and international students across all three campuses; (d) build on the success of courses offered by the project directors, and finally, (e) provide Illinois students with public engagement opportunities to participate in arts and humanities research projects. Operating as a visible installation of the power of Black cultural wealth in context, the Xpress will serve as a connector among multiple constituencies. 

When the Hip-Hop Xpress arrives at a site, its programs will need power. This bus will have computers and tablets, speaker and lighting systems, and tools for designing and making that all require power. By installing solar panels and other relevant equipment, this team can power the programming for the Xpress with renewable energy. Funding will be used to design and execute the bus’s construction through low-impact, up-cycled, and reclaimed building materials. Deployable solar generators will be integrated with the bus’s power system so as a mobile classroom it will not rely solely on shore-power or its diesel engine to supply the heavy demand for various systems. Lastly, both passive and active temperature control systems will be integrated so energy use is minimized while providing necessary control to protect valuable equipment on board. A shared course among Architecture, Music, and Technology Entrepreneurship students and faculty will meet to design and build the interior of the Hip-Hop Xpress during the Spring 2020 semester