Written July 12th, 2009

I am in Brazil with filmmaker Rob Adetuyi (creator of Stomp the Yard) scouting for our next film together and putting together pieces of the first international collaborative Hip Hop soundtrack featuring socially conscious artists.

The film, Beat the World, is the story of young people from around the world coming to the US to compete in the International Hip Hop Dance Competition. The film will shoot in 5 countries (Rio, Tokyo, Berlin, Toronto & Detroit) and gives me an opportunity to highlight and unite the top talent from those regions who are working to make a difference with their music.

Brazil is a great place to start this journey, because for the major artists I met in Brazil, giving back to their communities is more of a pre-requisite than an option. As I meet these artists, I can’t help but share my admiration for their work with you.

I mentioned MV Bill earlier when I met him in LA. Yesterday I reconnected with his people in Rio. Some of you may know part of MV Bill’s incredible story from the film City of God (where he still lives) or his documentary Falcão - Meninos do Tráfico. MV Bill is one of the most important activists in Brazil; bringing hope and opportunity to children of the favelas. Here is a bit more info on MV Bill, and a video clip our friend Sol Guy directed for his show 4REAL featuring Mos Def and MV Bill on a journey through MV Bill’s work inside City of God.

MV Bill is a Brazilian rap singer and co-author of the best-selling book Falcão - Meninos do Tráfico. MV Bill, whose real name is Alexandre Barreto, is an advocate for getting the Brazilian youth out of the drug trade and into some other forms of self uplift. He began a network of NGOs located in Rio, which strive to teach hip-hop skills, graffiti, and break dancing to children, alongside educational classes, such as computer training. MV Bill has also funneled his passion towards social injustice into a book, “Cabeca de Porco”, that he co-authored with Celso Athayde and Luis Eduardo Soares, one of Brazil’s foremost social anthropologists. The book, published in 2005, revolves around the issue of social injustice and violence in Brazil and discusses what must be done to solve the problem. His Teen Center is somewhat like the Brazilian version of ‘THE VIADUCT’ located in Tacoma Washington.

This has been a great week for hearing and meeting conscious artists from around the globe. I flew up to the Harmony Festival in Sonoma to connect with Michael Franti and Somalian Hip Hop artist K’Naan. It was a beautiful festival (www.harmonyfestival.com) and great opportunity to reconnect with Michael and his crew and hear both he and K’Naan inspire and move the crowd. Michael is one of the artists on my upcoming Yoga Revolution CD. K’Naan and I will be working together on my soundtrack for Beat The World. K’Naan is also touring this summer two other great voices of note - Nas and Damien Marley.

Back in LA, KNaan performed at the Wiltern with Matisyahu, where we were joined by Brazilian top rapper and social leader, MV Bill. Bill lives inside City of God and helps countless youth there and throughout Brazil to use music, dance and art as alternatives to gangs, violence and drugs. He is a hero to fans and peers alike. I look forward to visiting him again in Brazil in a couple weeks, seeing him in action and collaborating with him on a song for Beat the World.

Finally, last night Nigerian superstar Femi Kuti lit up the Hollywood Bowl with amazing music, dance and social insights. He really reminded me again that one of the greatest things we can help people realize in their lives is joy - through the music, through dance, through celebration and rejoicing in the global community. Femi makes it quite clear that sharing and expressing joy in no way means that the issues confronting many in the world are less than serious. We need to address the issues, to do the hard work AND to instill joy into the hearts of ourselves and others along the way. Femi, like his late father Fela Kuti, believes that the gift of music comes with a responsibility to use that gift for the good of the people.

For more info, check out: http://knaanmusic.ning.com/

MV Bill & KNaan in LA

K’Naan \”Soobax\” Music Video

Excerpt from Femi Kuti interview before Red Hot & Riot AIDS Benefit

Femi Kuti \”Beng Beng Beng\” Music Video

Last night I attended the launch event at Fox studios for a new organization called GATE (The Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment) with my friend Garry Shandling. It was an amazing collection of creators and producers of conscious entertainment (500 in attendance) united to discuss new ways to “Transform the World by Transforming Media and Entertainment”. It was truly inspiring to see the Hollywood community coming together to look at ways we can direct the unmatched reach and power of the media machine toward a higher cause. Among the speakers and performers were Jim Carrey, Melissa Etheridge, Eckhart Tolle, Donovan, William Arntz (Director of “What the Bleep Do We Know!?”), Scott Carlin (President, HBO TV Distribution), John Raatz (GATE Founder) and many more. Here is a beautiful short film about Gratitude that was part of the evening as well as the music video of the song Melissa performed live (her Oscar-winning theme for Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth”. As Sandra Hay said: we have reached a place in time, with the talent and the technology, where if we can imagine it - we can make it happen.

New Music in the White House

We’ve all heard how change starts at home, so I was happy this week to learn that there is some musical change happening in the White House that just might plant another seed to greater acceptance and understanding of cultural diversity.

Since moving in in January, the Obama family has hosted music ranging from pop starts to mariachi bands, including our friends and voices of change Sheryl Crowe, Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, Alicia Keys and Fergie (Black Eyed Peas). This week however, they hosted their first Poetry Jam with a culturally diverse range of poets, actors and spoken word artists accompanied by pianist Eric Lewis and bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding.

The shift is happening and music is going to continue to be an essential component in bring us all together.

Esperanza Spalding at the White House / Photo by Ozier Muhammad, NY Times