About HHN2L

Hip Hop Into Learning (HHN2L) is a Creative Youth Development organization that centers youth voice, culture, and creativity as essential to learning and well-being. Through hip hop, youth-created media, and trusted mentorship, we create spaces where young people feel seen, valued, and empowered to grow.

Our work bridges education, mental health, and creative expression helping students build skills, confidence, and connection through experiences that are relevant, affirming, and meaningful.

Our Mission & Vision

HHN2L's mission is to use creative expression and mentorship to support youth development, belonging, and confidence through meaningful art experiences. While our vision is simple: Youth who belong, learn and grow with confidence.

As a youth-serving organization, we believe talent is intelligence, culture is honored, and youth are supported to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally through learning that centers their voices, lived experiences, and creativity.

Our Story

What do you do when students are more interested in the lyrics of Tupac’s Dear Mama and Kanye West’s Hey Mama—written on chart paper behind you—than the math lesson you're trying to teach?

You teach that lesson.

That moment of clarity sparked something powerful. At Wheatley Elementary, five fifth-graders in Mrs. Clayton-Taylor’s creative writing class asked if they could rap. Used to encouraging self-expression through poetry and storytelling, she took it one step further by asking her husband, Antonio, to book the students studio time so they could record the song— and then challenged them to perform their song live at school, honoring Phillis Wheatley.

They accepted.

They performed.

And the room felt different.

That wasn’t just a class project. It was the beginning of HHN2L—a movement where hip hop meets purpose, and students learn to read, write, and rise through rhythm.

Our Youth Create REAL Impact

Across HHN2L programs, young people move beyond participation into leadership. Through creative expression, mentorship, and student-led learning, youth have:

Contributed to cultural and policy conversations, including youth-led work connected to the passage of the CROWN Act
Led community and policy conversations through the Where My Bus At? campaign, contributing to the reinstatement of busing for more than 2,000 students
Presented and performed original work at the Can’t Stop Hip Hop Conference at Harvard University
Presented student-led learning and creative work at the EF Global Leadership Conference in Berlin
Written and starred in the youth-created film The Last Hit, using storytelling to spark dialogue around substance use, belonging, and mentorship
Presented at the DOJ on behalf of Brown v. Board of Education

About Our Founders.

About NyRee Clayton-Taylor. Co-Founder & Executive Director

NyRee Clayton-Taylor is an award-winning educator and nationally recognized advocate for youth voice. After more than 20 years in public education, she transitioned to lead Hip Hop Into Learning (HHN2L) full-time—growing a classroom-rooted idea into a nationally engaged movement.

A survivor of abuse and a former struggling student, NyRee draws on her lived experience to shape every program she designs. She pioneered an approach to Hip-Hop Based Education that helps young people transform challenge into creativity, voice into leadership, and expression into meaningful change.

Awards & Recognition.

2024 Achievement Award for Rep. Morgan McGarvey
2022 Men of Quality Presenter Award
2021 Community Service Award
2020 Kentucky Teacher in the Know Equity Award
2019 Valvoline Kentucky Elementary Teacher of the Year
2019 Kentucky Teacher Achievement Winner
2018 Louisville Defender Professional Achievement in Education Award
2018 Hilliard Lyons Achievement Award
2011 Louisville Metro Council Black History Celebration Community Service Award
2011 Jefferson County Teachers Association Service Award – Character College

Despite numerous accolades, NyRee considers her greatest achievement to be her ability to build authentic relationships—with students, families, and communities. Through HHN2L, she continues to amplify student voice and power—transforming challenges into anthems, and trauma into testimony.

About Antonio Taylor. Co-Founder & Program Director

A former foster child, music was always in Antonio “T-Made” Taylor’s blood. He began performing as a way to escape the poverty and violence of Joliet, Illinois. When his mother graduated from nursing school, she moved the family to Louisville, Kentucky—where Antonio’s creative journey truly began. In high school, he started a music group that was later signed by the legendary Heavy D. That early break would lead to a career that blended artistry, mentorship, and purpose.

As a hip hop historian, music executive, and storyteller, Antonio has turned adversity into artistry. From producing at Def Jam Records to collaborating with icons like Queen Pen and Heavy D, and releasing The Truth under his own label, The Verdict Records, Antonio has always used music as a form of truth-telling and transformation.

Now, as Co-Founder and Creative Director of HHN2L, he brings industry-level experience and deep community commitment to every beat, session, and stage. Whether in the studio, on stage, or in the classroom, Antonio shows youth that their stories matter—and that hip hop is a powerful way to own, share, and celebrate those stories