Using Hip-Hop to Make Grassroots Change: New Outside Projects from Next Level Artists
“I’m now a Land Ambassador for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.”
…is not necessarily a sentence you would expect to hear from a Hip-Hop MC, but why not? For Team Morocco’s Konshens the MC, it happens to be true.
As a Land Ambassador, Konshens works in a variety of mediums to raise awareness of desertification, defined as “the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas,” which can lead to significant economic, social, and political problems, particularly since it can severely restrict communities’ ability to grow their own food. In response to this problem, the UN developed the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which they describe as, “the first and only internationally legally binding framework set up to address the problem of desertification. The Convention is based on the principles of participation, partnership and decentralization - the backbone of Good Governance. It now has more than 180 country Parties to the Convention, making it truly global in reach.”
One component of Konshens work in this area is to lead educational workshops, including a recent one with students in Washington, DC, where the group created an anthem paying homage to the earth, titled "Born from the Land." It debuted on World Desertification and Drought Day 2021, and you can see a recap of the entire process here.
Konshens has also completed an album entitled Funk The Earth, which he describes as a “fun, hip-hop-influenced kids’ album addressing the World Sustainability Goals as issued by the United Nations. The project features Grammy Winning Indian Composer Ricky Kej, Baba Maal, Lonnie Park and Cory Collins aka Dr. Noize to name a few.”
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An important part of what makes Next Level’s Hip-Hop diplomacy possible is the talent and creativity that its participants bring to the table as individual artists. Konshens’s work is just one example of how Next Level alumni have used multiple Hip-Hop art forms to serve diverse grassroots communities in innovative ways. With that in mind, we are taking some time this month to highlight some projects that our alumni are involved in outside of Next Level.
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Substantial, the MC for Team Haiti, writes, “I recently became an author and published my first children's book. I also put together an album as well to go with it that celebrates fatherhood.”
The book, entitled She Sees, is described as, “…a Black father's observation of the world through the eyes of his two young daughters. This picture book takes readers on a journey of a father who witnesses his daughters, Serenity and Destiny, begin to make sense of the world around them and their place in it. The book is illustrated by Mierra "Lunabunneh" Nelson and edited by Rachelle Etienne-Robinson.”
The book is bundled with an album of music that it inspired.
You can find more info about both here.
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Meanwhile, Team Senegal’s beatmaker, Phillipdrummond (a/k/a Dr. Elliot Gann) continues to be a leader in developing therapeutic uses for hip-hop. He writes: “The Phronetic, Unlearn the World, Lisa Vazquez and I were all at and part of the two day #TFTFT (together for the first time) #GlobalBeatCypher two day festival I organized a few weeks ago. People literally came from all over the country before who had never met before in person.”
Overviews of both days can be found here:
He continues: “I also helped organize recently a comprehensive overview for the trauma research foundation/31st annual international trauma conference on therapeutic applications of hip-hop with my Hip Shop Therapy colleagues that included a comprehensive hour long overview video and article/blog entry.”
For those that are interested, he also sent along links to two of his presentations on Therapeutic Beat Making (TBM). In these videos, Gann - who in addition to being an experienced Hip-Hop producer is also a licensed clinical psychologist - makes some very deep connections between the two pursuits.
Session 1: Feeling the Beat: An Introduction to Beats, Breaks, Beat Making and Hip Hop Music
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Finally, inspired by his Next Level residency in India, DJ 2-Tone Jones has completed a new album called Contraband from India. “The album features a range of producers who sampled from Indian records that I picked up during my NL trip to Kolkata, India during the inaugural year of the program.”
It is available on Bandcamp, Spotify and through the website Getondown.com
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Although Next Level’s primary mission is to promote international hip-hop diplomacy, the shared experience of doing this work has helped Next Level coalesce into a community of its own, full of committed, thoughtful and creative hip-hop artists. And, needless to say, we are proud of what that community has been able to accomplish. Though these projects address a wide range of subjects, they all reflect a commitment to using hip-hop to make grassroots change - socially, spiritual, emotionally and even environmentally. From artists’ children’s literature to cross-cultural musical collaborations to Black fatherhood to environmentalism to emotional healing, all reflect the best of what Hip-Hop has to offer.