I recently finished a series of recordings for an upcoming feature film called Beat the World. The film, written and directed by my dear friend Robert Adetuyi (Stomp the Yard), is a drama about young people coming from around the world to Detroit, To compete in the International Hip Hop Dance Competition and features some of the top dance crews on the scene today. The film was shot in Rio, Berlin, Toronto and Detroit.
Having done so many Hip Hop soundtracks, I told Rob that I wanted to do something special with this one. First, I wanted to choose socially conscious artists from around the world who had something of substance to say and were walking the talk. Second, I wanted to do collaborations between artists of different countries, to make the strongest global statement about the positive influence the music and artists can have.
I was pleasantly surprised, actually inspired, to discover many amazing artists within the global Hip Hop scene, who were also great humanitarians – really working to create a cultural shift through their music and work. I will talk about some of those artists in more depth in my upcoming blogs, but a few to keep your eyes on are: KNAAN (Somalia/Canada), Nneka (Nigeria/Germany), Sway (Ghana/England), Talib Kweli (US), Mos Def (US), the Roots (US), MV Bill (Brazil), Bajah + the Dry Eye Crew (Sierra Leone/NY), Les Nubians (Camaroon/France), Lina (US), KRS-One (US), Nas (US), Damien Marley (Jamaica/Miami), Ziggy Marley (Jamaica), and Wyclef Jean (Haiti/US).
Much of the exploitation of Hip Hop and Rap in the US since the mid 80’s has given Hip Hop a bad name, especially with the widespread success of Gangster Rap and other negative-stereotype-reinforcing lyrics. Since it is the largest global music culture among our youth today, I believe it is also a critical tool for reaching young people and conveying more socially conscious ideas. I am not alone in my beliefs. The artists I have just mentioned, and that I will be discussing in these upcoming entries, take their role in the world quite seriously. These are our modern day messengers, just as Dylan, Lennon, Marley, Fela and others were during the social transformations of the late 60’s.
The music for Beat the World and the film itself reveals another very important aspect of Hip Hop culture – all culture, for that matter – dance. Although not the focus of my work or EarthTones, dance is a very important part of creating greater joy and unity throughout the global youth culture. The film also introduces Parkour into the dance routines and features #1 Parkour (Free Running) performer – Chase Armitage. Beat the World will be released as a film in over 20 countries between May and July 2011. Unfortunately, I cannot share any of the footage prior to the release. As a teaser, I have included a video by the famous German dance crew, The Flying Steps, and the Parkour video that inspired the infusion of Free Running into dance for the creation of Beat the World.
