Published:
By Amy J. Barry
It was in the cards. A party game for hip-hop lovers, created by two women who met at Central, gained national distribution in February. It was fortuitous that this substantial boost to the women’s brand — University of Dope — coincided with Black History Month and the kick-off of the worldwide 50th anniversary of the celebrated musical genre.
A.V. Perkins '08 and Marian Andoh-Clarke became friends in 2004 as fellow members of the pep squad and floormates in Vance Hall. Perkins was a communications major and Andoh-Clarke was majoring in Business. After graduation, Perkins returned to her New York roots and now lives in Brooklyn, where their business is based. Andoh-Clarke remained in Hartford, where their warehouse is located.
“Our friendship took on a new life post-grad,” Perkins recalls. “When Marian would come visit me in New York. We went to dinner one night and I asked her if, after consuming adult beverages, she could name all the members of the Wu Tang Clan. There’s a lot of them — who can do that? She did, and we googled whether a Wu Tang drinking game existed, and it didn’t.”
The women toyed with the idea of creating a quiz card game more broadly based on one’s knowledge of hip-hop but put it on hold for a while.
“I’m a media personality and Marian is an event planner for Hartford,” Perkins explains. “We were busy with our individual careers.”
But the encouragement from enthusiastic family and aficionados of the music propelled them to go full force in 2017 when they released University of Dope: A Disrespectful Party Game for Lovers of Hip Hop.
Shortly before the game’s release, retailer corporation Target committed to investing $2 billion in black-owned businesses. Among its investment projects was national distribution of University of Dope.
Perkins says she and Andoh-Clarke didn’t intentionally set out to start a black-owned, women-led business.
“We realized we are our own target audience,” she says. “We’re black women and members of our team are other women of color professionals in two male-dominated industries — hip hop and gaming.
“It’s been phenomenal,” says Andoh-Clarke. “It had been a goal (to get Target to distribute us) but to see it come to fruition is amazing.”
Playing the game
Its creators say University of Dope is not a trivia game but a strategy game geared toward people with a working knowledge of hip-hop music. It intends to encourage passionate discussions and bridge the gap between old-school and new-school fans. It’s been played by the biggest names in hip-hop, including Method Man, Redman, and FunkMaster Flex, among others.
“People love it because they can play it intergenerationally,” Perkins notes. “Parents use it as a tool to teach their children about the music they grew up with. People are playing it in all different parts of the country. They’re playing it on military bases. We’re shipping it all over.”
U of Dope recently traveled a bit further back in music time and released the Anatomy of RnB expansion packs. Future plans include a special edition deck for the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
Movers and shakers
Even the pandemic couldn’t shut down University of Dope.
“During the quarantine we had the same supply chain issues as everyone else,” Perkins says, “so we created a virtual game show the very first weekend of having to shelter in place. It got us out there — another stream of revenue — doing corporate and private events, including hosting a game night for Spotify employees.”
“And when the world opened up, we created University Dope Live,” she continues, “a real live interactive game show that we’re packaging to do at festivals and through Hip Hop 50 and beyond,” Perkins says.
Up next, the women plan to produce a TV or live streaming game show.
Perkins and Anoh-Clarke never imagined when they first met at Central all those years ago that their friendship would evolve into this business partnership.
“A.V. has always been my friend I would call when I needed a good laugh or to vent,” Andoh-Clarke says. “When we thought of the idea, I knew we would be excellent partners because she handles things I have no interest in and vice versa. A.V. is very quick-witted and a marketing whiz and I love business logistics, such as inventory and accounting.”
Perkins concurs that it’s “black girl magic” that keep powering them forward.
"Sisterhood is the glue that keeps our company together, and I am grateful to have a friend that I can create a legacy with,” she says.
Learn more and shop at www.universityofdope.com.