Our Story
In the summer of 2011, Alexander “Cost One” Acosta began mentoring at the Whitefoord Intel Computer Clubhouse in the Edgewood neighborhood in East Atlanta. The teens at the clubhouse had been externally labeled “at-risk” because of the number of factors surrounding and influencing their potential outcomes. As a professional photojournalist, Acosta originally signed on to mentor and teach the teens photography but quickly found a better way to connect.
At the heart of the clubhouse, there was a recording studio where the teens would work on music projects. However, Acosta saw the real magic happening outside of the studio when they would form organic freestyle cyphers after their recording sessions. As an avid practitioner of Hip-Hop culture since his teenage years, he understood and often times jumped in to participate. In these cyphers the teens would open up in ways they would not normally be comfortable, especially with adults. Acosta heard tales of violence and abandonment. However, he also heard hope, aspiration, and the desire for a new set of outcomes. He then realized the power of these ephemeral sessions – Teens were unlocking the healing power of their words and manifesting new destinies.
Simultaneously, Acosta was making his rounds in Atlanta’s hip hop community and also cyphering with some of his close friends at this time. These friends Wahid Khosravani, Mark Montgomery, and Majorica Murphy were gifted young professionals with skills inside and outside of Hip-Hop. With a desire to connect generations and provide consistency of these cypher sessions, Acosta formed a team and began writing a proposal to a local arts center named Wonderroot. The arts center agreed to host the bi-monthly rap cypher in their basement.
On February 26, 2012, Soul Food Cypher held its first freestyle cypher in the basement of Wonderroot. Soul Food Cypher as an event was born.
After hosting several cyphers, the core team of Soul Food Cypher received an email from a mysterious individual named Zano Bathroom. In the message, he spelled out his intent on starting his own freestyle cypher on the same date(s) but wanted to reach out because bad blood was not his intention. The team responded by inviting Mr. Bathroom to their next cypher.
At this next cypher, they were blown away by Mr. Bathroom’s lyrical delivery, wit, and ability. They all agreed, he was the piece they had been missing. After a short time, they invited him to join the team. Upon Zano’s joining, Soul Food Cypher as an organization was born.
Since it’s founding in 2012, Soul Food Cypher has:
Successfully executed 200+ cypher events, performances, and activations impacting more than 10,000 individuals.
Awarded $50,000 Creative Placemaking grant from ArtPlace America to extend work and address gentrification in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood in Atlanta, Ga.
Featured in Sprite’s Winter Cranberry Spice commercial in the winter of 2019 and helped relaunch the ‘Obey your thirst’ campaign in 2015
Became the first Hip Hop group to partner with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra during the ‘Mother/Leap’ a cultural symphony in two parts.
Created WordShop, an afterschool program at the Kindezi Schools that place on their campuses throughout Metro Atlanta.
THE Cypher
The cypher is a community - a place where lyricists, under the guidance of meter and rhyme, share stories, exchange knowledge and speak freely. Soul Food Cypher proudly celebrates and facilitates cypher culture, and emcees are challenged and rewarded for their quick-wittedness in lyrics, depth in content, and personality in presentation.
To add to the spirit of camaraderie and display of skill, cyphers consist of a series of exercises which test an emcee’s ability of teamwork, mental agility, and creativity. These segments not only add to the fun and richness of the experience, they often pair emcees together in explosive combinations, and highlight the adeptness of participants. Writing assignments also make up a big part of the cyphers, which challenge lyricists' writing techniques and encourage exploring content outside of their comfort zone to present to their audiences.
Membership
Soul Food Cypher is more than an event. It is a family that operates inside the spheres of respect, responsibility and knowledge. It is because of our commitment to family, and our willingness to give and build that we have created a membership program. Membership within SFC is a process of mindful selection, as we not only seek skilled lyricists, but also future leaders and mentors. Unlike a roster, being a member means being part of a family that eats together, meets together, and critiques together.
Members also gain knowledge, experience, and eventually become experts in the fields of multimedia, business operation and event coordination. In providing members with such training and responsibilities, we prepare and supply them with the proper tools and skills to carry along in their future careers. All members are ambassadors of SFC, charged with the duty of passing on our message of respect, responsibility and knowledge to their local communities. As the individual grows, so does the SFC family, and ultimately the community as a whole.
community outreach
As mentioned, Soul Food Cypher understands the importance of the emcee’s role in transforming their community. In recent years, we have noticed a growing gap in education, local activities, and after school programs for youth in Atlanta. One of our aims is to diminish this gap and lack of attention to the youth's needs.
Membership in SFC reaches beyond the cyphers and our members are provided opportunities to serve as mentors working with at-risk youth. Members serve as positive role models, guiding teens in their fields of interests including history, literature, and music production.