This story is a good look from Stephanie Carr. Stephanie got this during a recent trip to Tampa, Florida. It’s good to see that others are making a positive difference with the creative energy of Hip Hop.

With so much pessimism surrounding hip hop, how does one manage to rockaway the stereotype? Unsure, well one Far Rockaway native, Jamar McNeil seems to have the answer. It all started when McNeil was attending The University of Maryland when a concept, creative vision, and contest changed his life forever.

McNeil’s idea was simple, but yet ideal. It was to create an eatery that was influenced by the prototypical fifties soda pop shop look blended with good hip-hop, and sprinkled with the most up-to-date online video gaming.

The core of the Hip Hop Soda Shop’s concept design is an 11,000 square foot area that includes a health food menu, large gaming areas with more than 35 HDTVs’, Internet connected Xbox 360s’, and even a state of the arts recording studio. The Hip Hop Soda Shop combines and uniquely blends two of the most modish aspects of pop-culture today, hip-hop and online gaming.

In 2003, McNeil entered a business concept competition held at George Washington University, titled “Ideas Happen Live”, sponsored by Bank of America and Visa. McNeil and his partner, Brian Peters, a Bronx native, presented their soda pop shop and hip hop idea and won in a landslide. The pair received $2,500 in cash for their concept.

Instead of taking the money and spending it on new kicks, gear, and bling, McNeil decided to use the money wisely and make the vision a reality. Being savvy businessmen the partners knew that things wouldn’t take off easily, so they decided that the first thing to do was to incorporate their company, which would catapult their launch into the restaurant business. They founded the company “Halls of Hip-Hop”, formerly known as H3 Enterprises and went public with the company, dubbing the slogan “Hip-Hop Meets Wall Street.” Halls of Hip Hop made history by becoming the first hip-hop enterprise in the world to be publicly traded on the stock market.

Once they had incorporated the parent company of “Hip Hop Soda Shop,” McNeil and Peters had to find a way to establish, build, and maintain their corporation. So McNeil and Peters devised a game plan, which included several key people including fashion mogul and Def Jams Records, founder Russell Simmons and former NAACP president, Dr. Benjamin Chavis.

In June of 2007, McNeil named Chavis, the H3 enterprises, Chief Executive Officer. Shortly, after Chavis taking the position as CEO the company began to take shape. Under Chavis leadership they opened their first Hip-Hop Soda shop in Tampa, Florida with plans on franchising and opening up several more locations throughout Florida in the next few years.

McNeil’s Hip Hop Soda Shop is more than just a business, they are role models for today’s youth and prime examples of what can happen with a little ambition and creativity. H3 Enterprises’ is managing to rockaway the stereotype of ill hip hop by providing a positive face for hip-hop and its’ culture.

Like McNeil and Peters the Youth Entertainment Studios is striving to make a difference in young peoples’ lives. YES is a, youth development program that surrounds teens at risk with positive ideas, digital multimedia studios, and positive people. In 1991 the youth leaders challenged a group of teens from a public housing community to work together to make a music video with a positive message. They did. The teens’ music video, Steppin’ into the Light, was so powerful it aired on Black Entertainment Television (BET), The Family Channel and other national networks. This success then sparked the birth of YES in 1994.

The Virginia based company was founded by S. Harry Young, Danene Washington, Mark Reeves, and Sandrie Serrano.

YES is at the forefront of youth development and offers a model that is productivity driven, rather that activity oriented. YES helps teens to set goals, work on them goals and then make them goals come true. While providing teens a safe place to work, hands-on media production experience, and spiritual growth.

Portions of this article were provided by www.hiphopsodashop.com and www.yesamerica.org.