About Us

Flocabulary, a brief history

The idea for Flocabulary first came to founder/lyricist Blake Harrison in high school. A good student who still struggled to memorize facts for tests, he wondered why it was so easy to remember lines to his favorite rap songs but so difficult to memorize academic information. Blake realized that if a rapper released an album that defined SAT vocabulary words, students would have a fun and effective way to prepare for the SAT.

After studying English at the University of Pennsylvania and working on his rapping at gatherings around Philadelphia, Blake moved out to San Francisco. In San Francisco, he met Alex Rappaport, a talented musician and producer. Alex had studied music at Tufts University, and was now writing tracks for indie films and TV commercials and producing ring tones for cell phones. Both he and Blake found jobs at a local Italian restaurant to help pay the bills.

During a game of basketball before work one day, Blake mentioned his idea of vocabulary rap to Alex. Alex gave the typical response: “That’s a great idea.” But he also added: “Let’s do it.”

A month later the duo had a demo recorded, which they sent around to various educational publishers. When Sparknotes, the world’s largest educational website, commissioned two songs, Blake and Alex realized they were on to something. Deciding that this was the kind of opportunity that often comes only once, the two invested their life savings to start the company. The name practically invented itself: Flocabulary.

In November 2004, they launched Flocabulary.com. By April 2005, they had completed their first full-length album, featuring 12 songs that define 500 SAT vocabulary words. By the fall of 2005, Flocabulary had appeared in the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Fitness Magazine, and on MTV News. Soon after, Alex and Blake relocated to New York City and began a school tour, performing shows up and down the East Coast.

In April of 2006, Flocabulary: The Hip-Hop Approach to SAT-Level Vocabulary Building hit bookshelves worldwide thanks to a deal with Cider Mill Press and Sterling Publishing. By September, ABC News reported that Flocabulary had helped to raise average SAT scores at one high school by nearly 60 points. Soon after, Flocabulary was featured on CNN, Fox News, NBC Today in New York, and Geraldo At Large. Geraldo himself exclaimed, “I don’t care if it’s hip-hop or opera, as long as it works!” That same spring, Flocabulary was awarded first prize in Columbia Business School’s Outrageous Business Plan competition in the social value category.

Flocabulary followed up the success of their SAT book with Hip-Hop U.S. History in December 2006. The project, which aims to teach students American history through fact-filled narrative raps, was praised by Cornel West and Howard Zinn as "extraordinary" and "necessary." To complete the project, the duo teamed up with some of New York City’s most talented underground rappers and artists including April Hill, Akir and Grey. The album's single, "Let Freedom Ring," which features the voice of Martin Luther King Jr., became an internet hit.

As news spread of Flocabulary's mission, various artists and academics began to throw their support behind the movement. In March 2007, Flocabulary got a chance to work with Grammy award-winning artist 9th  Wonder on their Shakespeare is Hip-Hop project. The album features an array of new artists, many of whom came together for a CD-release party and show at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

In the three years that followed, Flocabulary assembled a team of sales reps, hired Vlad Gutkovich as an account manager and marketing director, and published programs for math, science, and world history. Most notably, they published a groundbreaking, multi-leveled vocabulary program called The Word Up Project. Word Up uses best practices in vocabulary instruction and features story-based rap songs to teach essential vocabulary to students in grades 3-8. In 2009, Dr. Roger Farr, former president of the International Reading Association, conducted an independent study to test the efficacy of The Word Up Project. In the first phase of the experiment, Dr. Farr found that the program significantly increased vocabulary proficiency among students of diverse backgrounds. In the second phase, he found that students using the program had higher scores on state reading tests than their academic peers. Dr. Farr promptly noted that he had never seen such positive results from a vocabulary program.

After proving the efficacy of its programs, Flocabulary continued to expand in new directions. In fall 2008, Flocabulary launched The Week in Rap, a free current events resource for teachers and students. Each Friday, Flocabulary artists produce a 1-2 minute music video that summarizes the major news stories of the preceding week. In early 2009, Flocabulary partnered with Channel One News, an in-school news service that delivers programming to over six million students on a daily basis. The resource has been praised by students, educators and the press.

More recent accomplishments include a distribution agreement with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, partnerships with educational initiatives like Get Schooled and After-School All-Stars, and an appearance on The Today Show. Additionally, Flocabulary co-founders Alex and Blake were honored by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz for their contributions to the borough of Brooklyn.

Today, Flocabulary programs are being used in more than 12,000 schools, and Flocabulary.com is visited by more than one million people each year. Looking ahead, Flocabulary will continue to expand their educational offerings and has plans to take their music into the visual medium by creating engaging videos for TV and DVD and the web. Defined as much by their success as by their committed social mission, Flocabulary is poised to reach more students than ever, putting smiles on their faces and A’s on their report cards.