Eminem called himself a “modern-day Shakespeare” in 2001. Now the Royal Shakespeare Company is trying to further bridge the gap between rap and the writer: They’ve created an app with Samsung, “RE: Shakespeare,” which remixes Shakespeare through a hip-hop lens.

This is Suzi Analogue here. If you’re now tuning in, ki kati from Kampala, Uganda. I am here, live in East Africa, from NYC (by way of a handful of other dope East Coast cities) instructing a beatmaking class at a cultural center here for youth. My background is a producer/songwriter. The class is a part of a cultural diplomacy program called Next Level that shares hip-hop around the world as a way for us to promote peace and understanding worldwide.

F.T.R is one of six international artists chosen to take part in a two-week residency in the United States. The team has been in Chapel Hill for the week to conclude the program, which will feature a showcase concert Friday.

People getting all bent out of shape by the idea of USAID funding Cuba’s underground hip-hop scene need to drink a rum and coke and relax, according to a figure at the center of the controversy.

“For Muslim youth, music [is a way] to proclaim your identity, to proclaim your politics, to explain who you are, to mobilize, to build community,” Hisham Aidi told chief arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown.  In his new book, “Rebel Music: Race, Empire and the New Muslim Youth Culture,” Aidi explores the cross-cultural trends in political activism and movements throughout history, and how it’s all brought together with music.

In this podcast, Rockower and 2-Tone explain the value of hip hop as a form of cultural diplomacy, and give first person accounts of their experiences in India. This is a rare glimpse at some of the creative work the United States is doing overseas, complete with audio samples of 2-Tone’s work.

In September 2009, Charles Rivkin, the U.S. ambassador to France, drove to northern Paris for the unveiling of a mural at the Collège Martin Luther King, a middle school in the suburb (or banlieue) of Villier-le-Bel.