Music has always been seen as a universal language. A translation of emotion and meaning into a rhythm that needs no translation.
This is seemingly at the core of the Next Level Academy. A celebration of hip hop culture that uses collaboration to brings together a global community. These past two weeks a team of five hip hop artists from the US was in Zimbabwe for a cross-cultural creative exchange.
Artist-educators Lady Beast (Dancer), Dee-1 (MC), Nick Neutronz (DJ), and Krithi (Beatmaker) joined Site Manager Aysha Upchurch in workshops and collaborations with a cohort of 80 Zimbabwean artists. The residency was brought together by Jibilika, the US embassy Zimbabwe and Meridian International Zimbabwe.
The 10 day residency held workshops on the various elements of hip hop as a genre and a culture, and culminated in a concert at 7 Arts Theatre. From the new US ambassador to Zimbabwe, Tremont, dancing to “Not Like Us” on stage, to Dee-1 rapping over the mbira, the event was a showcase of hip hop’s ability to break barriers. That and how talented Zimbabwean artists are.
The showcase was almost equal parts dance and music. A hip hop event that displayed the Zimbabwean interpretation of the genre. Donne Jovi, Banshee, Noluntu J, Dingo Duke and Dough Major, to name but a few, had memorable performances and the cavier is we might be getting all the music from the performances officially released.
The 2024 Next Level Academy Zimbabwe was the first edition of the hip hop residency to take place in the country in 9 years. A showcase of what we’ve been missing out on for almost a decade. A beacon for hip hop and overall collaboration that needs to happen more often.
