Senior Joileeah Worley first got involved with the show Generation Rap, a segment on the Kansas City radio station Hot 103 Jamz for 30 years, after attending a seminar for emerging leaders through the Black Caucus of Kansas City at the University of Missouri. She heard Councilman Jermaine Reed, of the third district of Kansas City, mention that he had gotten involved in politics through Generation Rap and that they were always looking for young people to help out with the show. Worley approached the politician after the seminar and he referred her to the station.

“I had heard kids on the radio before but I would always just turn the channel and never really listen,” Worley said.

Seniors Moriana Jaco and Lauren Graves became further interested in being a part of the show after hearing Worley frequently talk about her experiences at school. Jaco and Graves mentioned that they were interested in the show and Worley told them to come to one of the weekly Wednesday planning meetings.

On Jaco’s first Saturday show, while she was still shadowing, Jaco asked a question on air and got acknowledged for her accomplishment by everyone on the set.

“I went to one Wednesday planning meeting and I absolutely fell in love with it,” Jaco said.

Once the girls had decided they all wanted to commit their time to the show, they all received mentors that help them along the way. But, for the most part, Generation Rap is run and produced by teenagers. They run the Wednesday planning meetings where they come up with topics to discuss on air every Saturday from 8 to 9 in the morning.

“The Wednesday meetings help us to plan out the whole show and make sure everything is lined up and running smoothly for airtime,” Graves said.

Because of the freedom the GRappers have to produce and organize the show, they choose which topics they want to discuss, not shying away from controversial ones. Some topics they have chosen to tackle in the past have included the Black Lives Matter movement, police brutality and a whole show on black culture including film, music and fashion and its evolution over the years.

“I was really interested in having a fun show about black culture,” Jaco said. “So I sat down with my mentor and we came up with the three segments we wanted to talk about the most.”

Another important part of the show are the mentors the GRappers work with to keep the show on target and teach how broadcasting works. One mentor, Jim Nunnelly, better known as Grandad, has worked with Hot 103 Jamz for 30 years. Nunnelly has been in the business for many years but Worley, Jaco and Graves impressed him from the beginning.  

“In my 30 years as Grandad on the show and after mentoring some 1300 teenagers, this trio ranks in the top 10, individually and collectively,” Nunnelly said. “They exude young woman power in the highest sense of the phrase.”

Since working on the show, Worley, Jaco and Graves have taken away many important life skills. For Worley, her ability to think quickly on her feet while on-air has been one of the important experiences for her. Worley hopes to pursue a career in acting and believes this skill set will benefit her in the future.

“I feel like I can walk into a room and no matter who is in it I will feel completely comfortable leading a conversation,” Worley said.  

Graves experiences on Generation Rap and on the air has helped her develop a new fluidity in how she speaks. Graves hopes to take this development to become even better at public speaking, which will help her in the future as she wants to be a social activist.

“Your mission can really be thrown away or put to the side if you aren’t strong with what you believe in,” Graves said.

Jaco has picked up skills from prepping for the show such as making an outline, staying organized, getting guests together and on the show and sounding politically correct on air. This will help Jaco focus on a career path in communications with an emphasis in public relations.

“[Generation Rap] has really helped me a lot,” Jaco said. “I’m not trying to be on the radio for a living but I do think it really has influenced what I want to do.”

For all three girls the importance of the show in

their lives goes beyond just meeting influential people from the Kansas City area or being featured on Kansas City Live.

“[Generation Rap] gives a teenage voice to the social and cultural issues that we are having in America today,” Worley said.

Along with life skills Generation Rap has given Worley, Jaco and Graves, they have also had opportunities to meet people like Tech N9ne, Emanuel Cleaver II, and even Big Sean. However, big names like these aren’t the ones that have lasting impressions. The other GRappers that work with the girls to put on a successful show have had a huge amount of influence on their lives.

“Getting to go to Generation Rap where it is a bunch of different types of kids from all over Kansas City helps you get really involved with them and helps you understand where everyone is coming from and their perspectives,” Graves said.

For fellow GRappers like Kalan Hooks, working with Worley, Jaco and Graves has been a great experience because he gets to work with people who have the same optimistic mindset as himself. Inside and outside of the studio the relationship they have expands everyday.

“Whenever they are in the studio it seems like they dazzle the show with their irreplaceable characteristics,” Hooks said. “The effect of those three is fictional because you’ll never find a pod of sisters from another mister that have that type of connection with each other.”