Rapper Jenniah Brown uses rap to decode council policy for young people

Jenniah Brown, a poet and rapper from Croydon, is using rap and spoken-word performance to translate local council policy into something young people can understand. The 32-year-old previously worked for Croydon Council’s highways team, inspecting dropped kerbs and handling complaints, and he says that experience pulled him into governance, including MP inquiries and borough-level decision-making. Brown has won Arts Council England funding for a program called Connecting Dots, which turns policy documents into performances and discussions. He argues that “policy” is usually associated with jargon and lacks creative dimensions like color, rhythm and storytelling. The initiative targets comprehension and engagement for younger residents.