The Washington, D.C. Chapter of GRAMMY U attended a GRAMMY SoundChecks With Lalah Hathaway featuring an exclusive interview and live mini-concert taping at BET J Studios. The students were given a tour through the station's control center, visiting the editing and production areas including the master control room. BET staff explained their job duties to the students and fielded questions.
As the live taping began, the students were escorted onto the soundstage and were treated to a mini-concert by Hathaway who encouraged GRAMMY U to sing along. The Stax recording artist then spoke to the students about her musical influences including her late father, R&B legend Donnie Hathaway. The mini-concert will air on the BET J channel in the coming weeks.
The students in attendance gained valuable advice from the BET staff which included current college interns and newly-hired staff. They provided insight on how they took full advantage of their internship opportunities and were able to successfully transition into full-time positions. The tour addressed the interests of GRAMMY U students from a local studio engineering program and revealed music opportunities in the broadcasting arena. This was the first event of several with the purpose of strengthening the Chapter's relationship with BET and offering more studio programming exclusively for GRAMMY U members.