NEXT LEVEL LIVE!
May 7, 2020
The first of a four-part virtual program series, Next Level Live!, kicked off on Thursday, May 7, with Next Level Director, Junious Brickhouse; and Next Level Founding Director & Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Mark Katz; moderating a discussion with Next Level alumni, MC Toni Blackman, and a performance by beatmaker DiViNCi.
As a cultural diplomacy initiative of the U.S. Department of State, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Meridian International Center, Next Level uses hip hop to create connections around the world while promoting conflict transformation, entrepreneurship, artistic and professional development among younger and underserved audiences.
Program Highlights:
Hip hop diplomacy and community: Blackman was asked how her work in hip hop diplomacy has been informed by her work in local communities. Blackman believes that the “true essence of hip hop culture is to use your energy to make the world a better place, where the collective is more important than the individual”. She applies this mindset to both her local and global community. “To do diplomacy work, you’re reminded constantly that you are a global citizen and our role in this world is to take care of the world, not just the Americans.”
Next Level, a global partnership: DiViNCi echoed the program’s theme of community that is cultivated through hip hop. “Next Level taught me that others were invested in the same pursuit and were living it - my life pursuit which is expounding on what hip hop taught me … to be involved with my community,” said DiViNCi. As a member of Next Level Honduras, DiViNCi found the experience life-changing as he witnessed the ability of hip hop to forge a global community.
What’s the mission? For Webb, the goal of his Next Level experience was to teach. “Ultimately the goal is to share the mentality and respectful methods that have been passed on to me.” The second piece is to help artists find themselves and how to incorporate their own cultural heritage.” Richards echoed Webb’s sentiments and added, “Every time I leave a country I walk away with a piece of them..that’s going to come out in my music.”
May 21, 2020
The second of a four-part virtual dialogue and performance series with Next Level Director Junious Brickhouse and Next Level Founding Director & Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Mark Katz; featured Next Level alumni dancer Ryan “Future” Webb and DJ Skeme Richards.
Program Highlights:
Hip hop as a service to your country. Brickhouse started the discussion by speaking of his time in the armed forces and his transition to serving his country through the Next Level program. “As a vet, for me, there was a period of reacclimatizing to civilian life. Now, as a servant to this community, working with Meridian, I get to serve communities abroad in a different way, with a different toolkit and different experiences,” said Brickhouse. “The community of hip hop I grew up in taught me how to serve and right now I’m trying to be the person in communities that I had wanted to support me artistically and personally.”
Reading the room. Richards, a DJ known for bringing hidden gems to audiences all over the world, carried that to his workshops during Next Level Ethiopia. “I’m just following a long line of DJs that came before me, the idea that a DJ educates the listener and plays new music that’s not known.” A second skill Richards brings to his art that follows in DJ tradition is the ability to read a room and “give them something deeper”. “ When people are in a good mood I can play off of that,” concluded Richards. “ It comes with time and experience.”
June 11, 2020
The third of a four-part virtual program series, Next Level Live!, took place on Thursday, June 11, with Next Level Director, Junious Brickhouse; and Next Level Founding Director & Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Mark Katz; moderating a discussion with Next Level alumni and dancer, Melanie Aguirre, and beatboxer Baba Israel.
Program Highlights:
Black Lives Matter. Brickhouse began the program by addressing the nation’s unrest:
“Though this moment is pressing on us, we would be remiss to pretend that this moment is something new. Four hundred years of systemic racism is not something we just noticed. It’s sensitive and personal in a lot of ways. As a black man in the United States I do this work everyday. At Next Level we do this work, not just here but abroad. At Next Level, we're looking at the way we operate and how we can do better. The solution comes from all of us working together and creating standards to remove racism and not tolerating it.”
Creativity in Lockdown. Israel, who has been teaching virtually for many years, felt uniquely prepared to help his current students during the pandemic. “Despite this barrier of space and time we can use tools to stay connected,” Israel said. “For my students, writing and art can be a release, a catharsis and it’s part of a self care system.” Israel applies his own teaching methods on his art: “I freestyle to understand my own consciousness. As a white person in hip hop I’m trying to model my process and be open and have uncomfortable conversations.”
Hip Hop’s Origins and Future. As Next Level programs travel to countries like Turkey and Croatia, it provides opportunities to share the history of their hip hop community in the United States. For Aguirre, “it deepens the understanding and essence of the art. It brings value to whomever is learning it and I remind my students of their contribution to this history”. As students learn about the context of hip hop in American history and add their own story, “it’s how we sustain and create legacy,” concluded Brickhouse.
June 25, 2020
The final installment of Next Level Live! took place on Thursday, June 25, with Next Level Director, Junious Brickhouse; and Next Level Founding Director & Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Mark Katz; moderating a discussion with Next Level alumni MC Divinity Roxx and MC “G” Yamazawa.
Program Highlights:
Cultural Ambassadors. Roxx, who has toured internationally as a musician, believes that trained her as a cultural ambassador before she participated in Next Level Dominican Republic. “Once I was traveling all around the world as a black woman playing hip hop, I was a cultural ambassador wherever I went representing a huge community of people,” said Roxx. “It wasn't that different going to the Dominican Republic in that capacity.” Yamazawa agreed and shared how his experience growing up in the southern United States as an Asian American fostered an innate sense of being a cultural ambassador. “I was familiar with the idea of being your authentic self in a space that doesn’t look like it's meant for you,” remarked Yamazawa. “That's what hip hop is able to do. It’s a back-and-forth that builds dialogue.”
The Source of Hip Hop. As part of Next Level Indonesia, Yamazawa partnered with a local organization that empowered LGBTQ community members and raised awareness about HIV. “You travel thousands of miles and I felt the intent and rawness of how hip hop was functioning over there was closer to the source of what hip hop was supposed to do,” Yamazawa reflected. “It’s pure politics and social justice material. Every time they opened their mouths it’s going to be about injustices. I thought, ‘This was what hip hop was like before I was born,’ and it was incredible to witness.”
The Future of Next Level. When asked about the evolution of Next Level, Brickhouse said, “The program is still evolving as our world does. Hip hop is one of the most powerful ways that we can reach communities and these art forms and it’s still changing and growing.” The next iteration of the program, Next Level 7.0, will travel to Ghana, Haiti, Laos, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Ukraine.