USC Bass Lab introduces “Lunch & Learn” series with industry professionals
Melanie Cherry hosts USC Bass Lab’s first Fall 2023 lunch and learn session for students.
Lessons Learned from 50 Years of Hip Hop
“Hip hop has basically been with me all of my life.” - Melanie Cherry
Communication strategist Melanie Cherry opened the USC Bass Lab’s first lunch and learn session in early November. Cherry, who is also the associate director of USC Annenberg’s undergraduate public relations and advertising program, gave an hour-long talk to students, faculty, and staff sharing 5 takeaways from fifty years of Hip Hop.
Know Your Audience - good PR is always listening and engaging
Tipping Point - Good PR can leverage the law of the few
Standing Out in a Crowded Media Space - Good PR is creative, thinks beyond the press release, and leverages owned media
Building Your Brand Over Time - Good PR will play to the brand’s strengths to win over time
Building Authentic Partnerships - Good PR succeeds with honesty and connection
Cherry underscored these lessons with case studies pulled from major moments in hip hop history. She began by recalling her early career working for Timberland footwear in a role which called on her to “outfit” Missy Elliot in the brand’s new 14-inch boot for her Pass That Dutch music video. Cherry would later place the product on Big Boi for the cover of Outkast’s Speakerboxx/Love Below album. These were shining examples of the crossfade between music, fashion and culture that’s so often associated with hip hop. Other shining examples referenced were LL Cool J’s impromptu call out of FUBU during a freestyle for a GAP add, the crossover appeal of Blondie having Fab 5 Freddy featured in a music video, and the trajectory of hip hop as a whole, which was once banned on the radio, and has now been awarded a Pulitzer Prize.
AI and Ethical Storytelling
For the second lunch and learn session hosted by the Bass Lab, USC Libraries’ director of web and automation technologies, Mike Jones, presented on AI and ethical storytelling. Jones opened the presentation with an explanation of key terms to define the current landscape of AI technology, distinguish it from “machine learning”, and define what is meant by “generative AI”.
“Great storytelling thrives on human creativity and soul. And that’s something that AI has yet to replicate.” - Mike Jones
Jones next discussed the opportunities and challenges presented by emerging AI technology. For instance, the prevalence of deceptive “deep fakes” or the risks of copyright infringement associated with generative images and narratives which “scrape” from existing proprietary content. On the contrary, with transparency and consent, AI can be transformative, as seen in Disney’s The Mandalorian, which used an AI age regression for Mark Hamill to present a young Luke Skywalker.
In closing, Jones demonstrated The Second Draft Project, an AI-powered interactive interview collaboration between the USC Libraries’ the USC Bass Lab. Students observed a recording of Lora King, daughter of Rodney King and founder of his namesake foundation, as she responded to prompts from Mike Jones as if the conversation took place in real time. This demonstration displayed the vast potential of AI to aid educational and cultural dialogues.
For the final lunch and learn series of the semester, Bass Lab founding director Dr. Allissa V. Richardson will host a conversation about “radical authenticity” with author, journalist and host of Crooked Media’s What a Day Tre’Vell Anderson. The event will take place on Tuesday, November 28 and lunch will be served.