Philadelphia: Under the Skyscrapers
About Us
Utilizing first hand sources and our own personal experience, our team has explored the world of urban Philly and the culture that surrounds it. We have compiled information about the hip-hop culture and movement, Philly’s historical culture and how urban hip-hop culture has integrated itself into Philadelphia. We feature written research throughout our website, as well as extended interviews and a trailer of the documentary.
Samantha Winston is a 20 year old, New Media Journalism major attending Arcadia University. Though her formative years were characterized by frequent relocation, Sam finds stability in writing, and identifies most with her home city Pittsburgh. Her brush with urban culture came about through random and constant change of cities, and really established itself when she began attending university on the outskirts of Philadelphia. Her earliest encounter with hip-hop was a viewing of the scandalous “Milk-shake” Video. Her interests revolve around baked goods and reckless driving.
Jedidah Flores is a 19 year old, aspiring Visual Anthropologist currently attending Arcadia University. She comes from a turbulent beginnings and background that ultimately has inspired her interest in self-identification with in subcultures and a captivation with the creation of visual narrative as a means to bring about clarity. Her first brush with urban culture came from a mixture of house jumping that stemmed from the impoverished urban areas of New Jersey, to the Suburbs of Miami, and frequent visits to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Her introduction into hip hop came from Japanese producer Nujabes as many of his tracks contained samples of Bossa nova and other ethnic music. Her interests include effective road rage techniques, plantains, and world cinema.
Nakie Uzeiri is a 19 year old Global Media student currently attending Arcadia University. Growing up right across the Hudson from New York City, she has always been infatuated with the urban setting and all it has to offer. Throughout her teens she spent her time and minimum wage paying job-money on concert tickets and live performances all over the city. While studying in London, she discovered her admiration for street art and the tone it set for certain parts of the city. She enjoys a hot cup of coffee at any time of the day, listening to horrible throwbacks on spontaneous roadtrips, and getting lost in foreign cities.
Jessica Stimely is a 20 year old English major attending Arcadia University. A ballet dancer who grew up in a small town in central Pennsylvania, urban culture is all but foreign. Her first encounter with the life of a city started in Tampa, Florida and later Philadelphia. Where she finds passion in writing, she also values any form of art that is used for self expression, bringing about her study in urban arts. Her long history as a dancer also initates a fascination for the urban dance culture of Philadelphia and the hip hop genre. Her goal is to become a high school teacher, in which she finds it critical to be culturally sensitive to better understand future students.