UMAC - THE DUO

AMINA & COOLOUT
Urbanized Music is the veteran Chicago-based Hip-Hop duo of Amina and Coolout Chris. Their mission is to entertain, educate, and inspire audiences through their music and advocacy of Hip-Hop as a vehicle for progressive change.

BIO

A duo since the late 90s, Urbanized Music has spent the past two and a half decades creating music that celebrates the golden era of Hip-Hop rooted in lyricism, deep basslines, breaks, and boom-bap rhythms. Amina is an emcee/songwriter, organizer, and educator, and Coolout Chris is a producer, engineer, emcee, and DJ. Both are respected figures in the Chicago Hip-Hop community. Urbanized has performed extensively, featuring on prominent stages like Steppenwolf Theater, Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Navy Pier’s Skyline Stage, the Chicago Cultural Center, Double Door, The Vic, Metro, and Promontory. They rocked stages and sat on panels alongside notables like Tef Poe, Fat Joe, DMC, Killer Mike, Dres (Black Sheep), Slum Village, Guru, Rakim, Chris Rivers, Bodega Brothers, MC Lyte, and Large Professor; And featured at festivals like Uptown Unity Fest, African Festival of the Arts, Silver Room Block Party, CIMMFest, Antioch Hip-Hop Convergence, Paint Louis, and the St Louis Underground Music Festival. In 2003, Urbanized Music founded the Chicago Hip-Hop Initiative, a Hip-Hop empowerment collaborative; later that same year they co-founded Chicago Hip-Hop Heritage Month, an official observance recognizing July as Chicago Hip-Hop Month. In 2010 they were selected to serve as United States Cultural Envoys in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa, where they performed, conducted workshops, and helped foster an understanding of American culture while encouraging young people to use Hip-Hop peacefully. This experience was chronicled in their independently produced documentary "Keep It Moving-The Movie: Chicago Hip-Hop to Cote d’Ivoire", which premiered at the Chicago International Movies and Music Festival in 2011.
Listen to: A DAY IN THE LIFE on Spotify

activisT & U.S. CULTURAL ENVOYS

In 2003, Urbanized Music founded Chicago Hip-Hop Initiative, a Hip-Hop empowerment collaborative; and Chicago Hip-Hop Heritage Month, an official observance in July that celebrates Chicago Hip-Hop. In 2010 Urbanized Music was selected to serve as United States Cultural Envoys in the West African nation of Cote d’Ivoire where they spent 2 weeks touring 7 regions of the country. They performed, conducted workshops, held discussion forums, and helped foster an understanding of American culture while encouraging young people to use Hip-Hop peacefully. This experience was chronicled in the indie documentary "Keep It Moving-The Movie: Chicago Hip-Hop to Cote d’Ivoire".

EDUCATION & COMMUNITY Engagement

Urbanized Music also hosts youth and community workshops and events that educate, entertain, and create platforms to share knowledge about Hip-Hop culture, its history, and aesthetics. They've presented at Governors State University, University of Chicago Lab School, LaSalle Language Academy, Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago, and at libraries in Skokie, Addison, Warrenville, and Aurora. They've also hosted several after-school and neighborhood dance parties and performances on The Culture Coach, a mobile touring stage.