Supply: Vance Corridor / different
Within the vibrant world of hip-hop, the place beats, rhymes, and tradition collide, the College of Dope is making waves. This modern card recreation, designed to discover your ideas and information about hip-hop, has change into a success sensation.
It has been performed by artists and DJs together with Methodology Man, Raheem Devaughn, Chrisette Michele, D Good, Peter Gunz, and Redman amongst many others.
Radio and TV persona Jazmyn Summers sat down with the co-creator of the sport, A.V “$upreme” Perkins, to debate the importance of hip hop’s fiftieth anniversary and the inspiration behind the College of Dope.
A Cultural Milestone: Hip Hop’s fiftieth Anniversary
“What makes this recreation so important on this yr is that we’re the kids of hip hop. Like we don’t know life earlier than hip hop,” A.V. Perkins remarked, highlighting the monumental event of hip hop’s fiftieth anniversary.
She continued, “To develop up within the style and see our greats nonetheless capable of contribute to the style and us to create our recreation, and simply have all of that synergy is mind-blowing.”
The 2 girls have navigated two male-dominated industries gaming and hip hop to success. Perkins says they felt like artists do when listening to their tune on the radio for the primary time when College of Dope received picked up by Amazon and Goal. The sport is now accessible on walmart.com and quite a few different websites and shops in addition to at a reduced value on College of Dope’s web site.
The Start of College of Dope: A Hip Hop Consuming Sport (or not)
The origin story of College of Dope is as distinctive as the sport itself. A.V. Perkins revealed that the sport got here into existence throughout an informal dialog together with her enterprise accomplice Marian “Skinni Bee” Andoh-Clark.
“Me and my enterprise accomplice, we don’t have backgrounds in gaming, so we didn’t got down to create a recreation,” she mentioned. “It was actually our personal love for the style and the love between us.”
The sport was born throughout a dialog concerning the Wu-Tang Clan, one in all hip-hop’s most iconic teams. A.V. Perkins and her accomplice puzzled if there was a Wu-Tang ingesting recreation, and after they couldn’t discover one, they determined to create it themselves. This preliminary thought developed into the College of Dope, a recreation that pays homage to hip-hop’s wealthy historical past.
There are two variations, one that features having to take photographs of alcohol when your reply doesn’t win and one other family-friendly model that excludes any ingesting. There may be additionally an R&B model.
A Numerous Illustration of Hip-Hop Legends
College of Dope stands out not just for its distinctive gameplay but in addition for its various illustration of hip-hop legends.
The sport options a variety of artists, from golden period legends like Rakim and KRS-One to newer icons like Drake, J. Cole, and Cardi B. A.V. Perkins and her group made certain to strike a stability between honoring hip hop’s historical past and embracing its modern evolution.
Bridging Generations with College of Dope
One of many distinctive points of College of Dope is that there are not any proper or unsuitable solutions, making it a recreation targeted on debates and discussions. A.V. Perkins shared her motivation behind this strategy: “It’s about connection now, and we by no means wished anybody to really feel ignored.”
It has already been performed by among the artists featured within the recreation “I’ll say it is extremely rewarding to see Methodology Man and several other different celebrities who’ve performed. After they hear their title, their response is de facto priceless. Methodology Man was actually humble about being included,” A.V revealed.
College of Dope Takes Hip Hop on the Street
Along with the tabletop card recreation, College of Dope is taking hip-hop to the streets with their upcoming occasion referred to as “The Kickback.” The occasion is ready to kick off in Miami throughout Artwork Basel in December and can function a singular fusion of celebration, recreation night time, and dwell polling.
“We need to take recreation night time and put it on its head,” A.V. Perkins shared. “We’re bringing the nostalgia of old fashioned hip hop and updating it with tech, making it an expertise that connects folks.” The occasion will make the most of real-time voting and have interaction the whole crowd in selecting winners and individuals for pop quiz challenges.
Hip Hop and Connection: College of Dope’s Legacy
College of Dope is greater than only a card recreation; it’s a testomony to the ability of hip-hop in connecting folks throughout generations and backgrounds. A.V. Perkins and her group have created a enjoyable and fascinating strategy to have fun hip-hop’s fiftieth anniversary whereas conserving the tradition alive and thriving.
“Should you can not play spades, you will get your Black card again by taking part in College of Dope,” she jokes.
This recreation isn’t just about hip-hop; it’s about connection, laughter, and the timeless energy of music to deliver folks collectively.

Supply: Vance Corridor / College of Dope
Article and interviews by Jazmyn Summers. Please don’t overlook to subscribe to Jazmyn Summers’ YouTube. Comply with her @jaztalk1 on Instagram and Fb. She is not utilizing Twitter as a result of elevated racism on the location which she believes is a results of Elon Musk’s insurance policies.