Hip Hop moves forward by sampling sounds from the past. Like Hip Hop artists over the past five decades, Chesapeake Heartland: An African American Humanities Project records, digitizes, and samples from Kent County history, interpreting and passing on the past for both the present moment and future generations. 

In the process, high school interns build on Kent County’s history to craft a unique sound and style. They draw from music and interviews in Chesapeake Heartland's digital archive to produce their own beats and musical compilations. They create cover art reinterpreting historic image and craft lyrics and poems highlighting Black heroes in our region's past. Additionally, they speak to the significance of history, family, and community in their own lives while providing their own perspectives on Kent County's past, present, and future.

Each Hip Hop Time Capsule summer program records and produces a series of demo mixtapes that provide insight and inspiration to all current and future generations of Kent County residents (not to mention Hip Hop fans everywhere)! Please click on a year below to view each program’s mixtapes and hear their work.