Global 2019
In May 2019, eight international Hip Hop artists—dancer Rafael “Kike” Garcia Alanis (Mexico), dancer Jemima Angulu (Nigeria), MC Mirrah Fay-Parker (Australia), MC Fredy Chávez “D’Lak” Escobar (Guatemala), aerosol artist Ernest Ibe (Nigeria), visual artist Hazal Kaya (Turkey), DJ Khlola “DJ Loreen-KIM” Kim (Uzbekistan), and beatmaker Dionis “Don Music” Rivera Rincón (Dominican Republic)— traveled to Washington, D.C. and New York City as part of the Next Level Global program.
The first week of the residency was held in Washington, D.C., with the majority of daily workshops and programming taking place at Meridian International Center. This week consisted primarily of professional development programming, which included workshops with Next Level and Meridian staff on entrepreneurship, conflict transformation, community programs development, and crafting grant proposals. In addition, the team visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the US State Department for a presentation by Junious Brickhouse and Mark Katz and was given a private tour and lecture on the arts as cultural preservation at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
The second week was held in New York City, with daily artistic skill-building workshops taking place at the Scratch DJ Academy headed up by Next Level Alumnus Dan Chaves aka Dirty Digits. The sessions divided the artist group by discipline, and a Next Level Alumni was the instructor for each. The Next Level Alumni mentors included MC Corey “ILLSpokinn” Lima, Aerosol Artist Danielle Mastrion, Dancer Melanie Aguirre, DJ Kevin “DJ Kevie-Kev Rockwell” Carson, Beatmaker Anthony “Buckwild” Best, and MC Tarik “Konshens” Davis.
Throughout their U.S. residency, the artists performed for diverse audiences, collaborated with local artists, and honed their respective crafts through workshops and practice. This Next Level Global team is part of a Next Level international contingent of MCs, DJs, beatmakers, and Hip Hop dancers recruited from Next Level countries.
Dionis Rivera
Rivera created a project as a result of a lack of cultural and social values seen in his Dominican Republican community. His proposed project, Boca Chica Activa Academy is a recreational studio and radio station that gives youth the opportunity to learn and empower themselves, with a legacy of non-violence and honesty to provide better opportunities for the participants’ future. The academy is available to students – 14 students each 7-14 months – at no expense, so they can learn, produce, and show their talents with little to no limitations. Rivera created a webpage to present the academy’s work.
Hazal Kaya
Kaya’s program, Next Level on Wheels, will provide access, work areas, and materials to local artists and disadvantaged children through a 4-5-day mural workshop. Each workshop will produce at least two pieces, one to be placed in the village and the other to be created for a concluding exhibition. The goal of this program is for Kaya to travel to various remote locations in Turkey, providing participants the opportunity to express themselves and build their skills. Upon her return to Turkey, Kaya met school principals and non-profit organizations, such as TEGV and LÖSEV, to discuss the program. Upon their recommendation, Kaya will begin her program during the school year.
Mirrah Fay-Parker
Fay-Parker proposed a three-week intensive workshop series, consisting of four-hour sessions for 3 days for ages 10-12-year-old participants to take place during school holidays. The program will build the next generation of youth to raise awareness and respect for other cultures, races, and the LBGTQ community. Fay-Parker will partner with local organization Benevolent Society and their afterschool program called iMatter to further amplify her project. The local partner work with diverse groups within suburbs of Western Suburbs, NSW, and Victoria, Australia to connect young girls with each other and inspire confidence through their responsive, high-quality, trauma-sensitive self-protection programs.
Ernest Ibe
Ibe proposed a project centered around youth empowerment and research. His program will train youths on self-actualization, art training in aerosol/graffiti, and provision of accessible art materials for execution. The program will also seek information from trained artists on how aerosol/graffiti and hip hop has helped in conflict transformation in various ethnic communities. This research and analysis will then be processed and modified to have a better visual representation capable of transforming conflict amongst youths of diverse ethnicities.
Jemima Angulu
Angulu proposed the program, For the Love of Hip Hop (FLOHH), as a training and mentorship program to serve as a Next Level extension. In September 2019, FLOHH took place where Angulu chose 2 dancers from each of the three geopolitical zones in Nigeria but was also open to dancers across the country. The program included dancing workshops and instructive talks on hip hop culture and structures, leadership, and creative entrepreneurship. Next Level Director Junious Brickhouse attended the event as an instructor and support the final community performance. Jemima recruited 25 participants, six dancers who were alumni participants of Next Level Nigeria, five experienced artist-educators to lead panels, and successfully confirmed local media coverage and partnerships with The National Television Authority and DanceFam TV. A main focus of the event was sustained networking, so Jemima created a WhatsApp group for attendees and created an email list to update the group with future opportunities and activities.
Fredy Chávez Escobar
Escobar proposed a program based on the teaching of the elements of hip hop and how to use them to educate, inform, and teach about Mayan culture to a new generation of youth that live in an “Children’s Village,” centers that house orphans or very low-income children. This program will work with children and youth aged 15 to 18 years who will be selected after an initial presentation or a workshop on the four elements of hip hop, culminating in a presentation in the Children’s Village. This would consist of a break dance performance, a rap and beatbox concert, and the creation of a collective mural. The program took place between November 11-25.
Khilola Kim
Kim’s program will be presented as four events and a six-month workshop for children from orphanages. This program will support creative and artistic young people by providing a platform to express themselves. The goal of the program is to unite people through hip hop, and it will be structured to create a creative wave among the youth of Uzbekistan through the basic elements of hip hop.
Rafael Enrique
Garcia
Alanis
Alanis proposed the continuation of the Festival of Urban Art “Sharing Culture,” a celebration of hip hop culture, where the values of teamwork, respect, peace, and fun are reinforced through recreational activities inspired by the four artistic elements of hip hop culture: Djing, MC, Graffiti, and Breaking (Dance). This festival will be focused around the Day of the Dead. It spanned a two-day schedule in early November and was attended by Next Level Director Junious Brickhouse and Next Level alumni Rizqi and DJ Nebraska.