What happens when five musicians who have never met before and haven’t performed in person since the start of the pandemic get together in Abu Dhabi? Music, magic, and lifelong connections through “hip-hop culture.”

In the first part of this hip-hop diplomacy story, the ExchangeAlumni team of Next Level artist-educators and Next Level Director Julian Brickhouse chop it up on music and mutual interests, and the breakthroughs they made in the United Arab Emirates.

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No one ever talked to me about soft diplomacy. No one ever talked to me about being able to go to another country and peacefully talk to people about who I am and gain friends. I'm a vet. I served 10 years in the army and three different combat zones. And also 11 years as a defense contractor still working in that same environment. And I found out about this stuff far too late. I'm proud of my service to my country, but I think there's a lot of ways to serve.

Sounds great. And hello again, everyone. My name is Aaron Meyers. I'm a dance artist educator specializing in the dance form, locking, dating back to the 1970s at, uh, Los Angeles and was very fortunate to be a part of this team, Team UAE that went to Abu Dhabi, but also hit up Dubai before returning to the U.S. back in November of 2021. And now over to the rest of the crew, maybe I'll go to you Junious–

Peace and blessings. My name is Junius Brickhouse. I'm a, a dancer, artist, educator, folklorist, and I am the Director at NextLevel. And it's great to be here to see all these wonderful faces. I was able to conduct a site, visit an extended site visit and, and spend a, a good amount of time with the team in country. So glad to be here and see your faces and, and chop it up with you guys today.

Hey everybody, I'm Brown Jewel. I'm an educator, beat maker, composer. I was the resident beat maker for team UAE, and it's always good to see, you know, everybody's faces and thank you, Asha and Maria for setting everything up for us

All good. So my name is Jazzmyn Red, I am an MC, singer and hip hop activist. And my role with Next Level was as an MC. So I went with Next Level as an ambassador of hip hop to Abu Dhabi and Dubai and we taught at Berkelee in Abu Dhabi. And I taught a class based on how to MC, the history of hip hop, respecting the elements, that was the overall class that I taught.

And artists aren't necessarily doing it to improve (laughs) like the state of the world. They're, they're, sometimes they're saying it to comment on the world or simply to connect with another person. Um, as you, as you were describing, you know? It's a great vehicle for just feeling connected and resonance around, um, a common feeling or sentiment about something that's going on and what to do about it at times. I think that's what it can inspire.

I think sometimes when you are constrained, I don't know if you guys have felt this in your s- your careers or what you're doing outside of work, but when, somehow when limitations are placed upon you, it really forces your hand at being creative and thinking about what's a new innovative way to, to do something or pursue my passion and my interests, to make things happen in spite of all things. And when you love it enough, you'll find a way. Um, so I think that's-

[inaudible 00:25:51]

... Yeah, that's hip hop. (laughs) That's true. Yeah. That's the spirit, that resiliency, right? From which it was born. Yeah. The Bronx was burning when hip hop, you know was created at-

... w- everything was crumbling around them and yet they found this within them drawing on the different cultures and melding them, uh, they found a way to rise above it all and create something that's forever changed the world, I think.

Mm. Mm. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I love it. I love it. For me and quintessentially for the for- this, the dance form that I do, it's James Brown. In James Brown, there's a line that runs through locking, you know from the funk error in the '70s to hip hop today, and that he's the most sampled artist by any given, i- in hip hop's history (laughs), more than anybody, they sample James Brown. So that's the synergy, the connectivity between like the early precursor dance that I do and then hip hop generally.

So I would highlight him, but I would also just say that, what's great about it is if we bring in Jazzmyn Red, the MC who went, and Brown Jewels is that they both have original compositions and songs. Like, Jazzmyn Red has one that is so uplifting that we finished the, the Expo show with [a song] called, We're Gonna Make It. And it's an amazing song. And then, Brown Jewel has incredible original beats. In fact, during our presentation at Expo, what happened is that one, uh, one set from one of the artists, um, on, for that performance would sort of overlap with another one. So before I did my individual piece or segment, I did something together with Brown Jewel to one of her original beats. I came out and I did my style of dance but in a way that fit with her, her beat.

we all were fortunate to have this opportunity recently at the end of 2021, albeit in the middle of (laughs) a global pandemic, to travel to the United Arab Emirates and Abu Dhabi and then Dubai to share and exchange and ultimately co-create with other artists who have the same love that we do for our different specialties within hip hop.

In my case that's dance. And I live here in Boston, Massachusetts. Uh, I'm a part of a, a crew that is called BeanTown Lockers. We specialize in what is considered by some to be America's first street dance, a really important precursor to early iconic hip hop styles of dance like breaking and popping. And the style of dance, or dance form that I do is called locking. And, and it was something created by a guy called Don Campbellock Campbell by mistake. But he turned that mistake into its own dance form. He took it onto shows that were popular in the day like Soul Train which is where I first saw it when I was growing up. And then created a group, toured the United States, and even took it to different parts of the world.

And so it, it's a dance that, um, by nature is very joyful, it's very, it has a lot of character and, and persona to it and is very interactive. So I hope that gives you a good sense of what locking is all about.

So, I got exposed to it, uh, through initially the show, Soul Train, but I didn't know what I was looking at. When I would see reruns of that show that, what started at the same time that the dance was born, around 1970 in Los Angeles. So that show ran all the way into the 2000s and I would see reruns of the show growing up and then, speaking of rerun - no pun intended, there was a guy who was a member of this original group that pioneered the dance whose name on a TV show, What's Happening!!, his name was Rerun. And he was very - had a very colorful personality and he incorporated dance into his character on the show, What's Happening!! which even after Soul Train perhaps wasn't as popular or seen as often at least during regular viewing hours, this show, What's Happening!!, was and it gave additional exposure to the dance.

From there, and in Boston, it was through by being part of the Floor Lords which is a breaking dance group that is now 40+ years old. So these street dances that include breaking, popping and, in addition, locking, there's a lotta synergy between them, the communities overlap, and so it was through the Floor Lords that I started to see people doing locking here in the community where I live and I began to learn from them. And subsequently there was a group formed here specifically dedicated to locking called Beantown Lockers in 2010. That's now been a dozen years or so, and that's the group with which I've been dancing. It's trying to share here in Boston and beyond all that we've learned from those who have come before us to celebrate and then keep alive the legacy of dance they created. And Next Level then gave me an opportunity to take that to the part of the world where there's been very limited exposure to it and then to share my joy and my knowledge and what I've learned so far, uh, from locking with all of them.

We all travel, we all connect with different hip hop communities, but we're learning something different in this cultural diplomacy space. You know, the work that we're doing at home in our own communities informs how we connect with other communities. And, you know, I was super excited about that possibility and I'm glad to still be involved in to see it. Actualized artist educator is the, the term that we use for people who are artists and teachers, you know, so that, that terminology was out of respect because we felt that artists sometimes are people see them as performative. They don't see the work that they have to do to get to that point. And it's also inspiring in a way that says, how do we get them to optimize sharing what they know? So for me, artist educator is the appropriate term because we're not just artists, we're, we're educators, you know, in this space and we're also learning. Right. And, you know, and I think one of the most important things that an educator can say is, I don't know, right? So that's the, that's the, that's the part where being able to connect with other communities are important. So that's kind of like what we want people involved with Next Level to always keep in mind that we value you as a artist, but we also value your ability to, to teach and, and share your art forms.

At Next Level. What we, what we do is we put a call for applications for artist educators, and we select four artist educators, also a videographer and a, and a site manager to visit each location. Our primary goal at Next Level is community. So our goal is to build extended communities through hip hop culture, but also using some themes like conflict transformation, entrepreneurship, and professional development, cultural sustainability, to kinda as our watch words as our foundation for how we do this work responsibly. So this team was, was chosen, not randomly. It starts with looking at their, their backgrounds and knowing what each knowing what post wanted and needed. And most importantly, what the communities there could need. And what we found is that there was a lot of, well, there was some work to do to connect communities and identify people in country that were interested in these forms.

So these artists, educators were selected and there was definitely a need for a site manager that was experienced enough, you know, to take on this type of residency. And I, and I wanna say that that's important mostly because this was in November of last year. So it was in the pandemic. We had a freeze on all of our travel. So it was our first residency since March of 2020. I was in Bolivia with that team and we went racing to the airport before they shut things down. So we worked really hard for this one protocol was important for COVID 19, and that was our watch word, you know, protocol, what is this gonna look like? The goal is to get this team there, connected, let them strut do the things that they do and, and come back, hopefully well, and we were able to accomplish that. And yeah, so this, this effort was back in, this is what we had to do to make that happen. But Dan was key in, in managing this and, you know, not only dealing with, with my crazy, but also connecting with the artist educators to make sure that they were able to do what they do best. So that's, that's the pretext so to speak.

Yeah. So I think to directly answer, we were really connected for the first time through Next Level. I think there were some outside connections before that happened. I know myself and RTST are both DJs. We originally met in Cincinnati in 2016 at a DJ battle. Maybe it was 2015. I forget the year, RTST. You might have to help me out with that one, bro. Six 14, my God. So we've actually battled a couple times before. So we know each other from the DJ battle circuit. And so we had this rapport that we were fortunate enough to be able to continue and spread throughout the, the UAE residency as well. I'm not sure if the other artists had any previous connection. I was under the understanding that we really didn't. We just initially connected for Next Level and kinda used our background in hip hop and what has taught us and, you know, had this common vision from the very beginning, we were able to spread throughout, but I want, I want everyone else to speak if they wanna chime in as well. Yeah.

I just wanted to add that while Jazzmyn Red and I are based in the same state, I had to go all the way to UAE to connect with them, but it was worth a trip. Now I feel like we're forever bonded in unique way as I am with other members of this team. And I wanted to compliment Jazzmyn Red in that she's continued to be an ambassador for hip hop. She recently organized an event through big brothers, big sisters, an organization with which she works, it focused on hip hop and how it can be a tool for healthy lifestyles and engaged me along with some other standout artists from, from our state here. And so from a worldwide level to a local level, as she continues to put in that work. And so had talked to you Jazzmyn Red and thank you.

Yeah. To add to what she was saying. Like, I really didn't know anybody out of all of them. And I think I started connecting with artists on Instagram cuz I saw he was from Chicago and I'm from Wisconsin. So Chicago's like one hour drive from my hometown. So I was like, okay, at least I got like a little connection with artists before we get there. But as Jazzmyn said, I thought she was mean and I mean just, she looks so serious. I, I couldn't figure it out. Yeah, yeah. We all know that now. But at the time, like I was like, oh, I don't know how this, how, how this group is gonna be. You know? And I think I expressed that I think to dirty and jus as well, I was like, I was really shocked really at how much of a synergy we all had, you know, we would have dinners and lunches together and talk for hours.

And we would like literally shut the restaurants down just with conversation, you know? So it was just really a great experience, you know, that we all, you know, despite not really knowing each other was able to connect so strongly overseas for me, there was a fellow resident, Philip Drummond or Elliot G. He had told me about the opportunity cuz through the pandemic he was holding like online beat CERs. And so I was part of that. And through that he made like an announcement one day, like, you know, there's this program I was part of, it was really amazing. I would've, you know, encourage everyone to apply, you know, for this, for Next Level. And I had never heard of it. I didn't even know the U.S. government, you know, did anything like this and you know, so I looked into it and it, I was like, oh wow.

Like this is really, this is really a dope opportunity, especially to be able to facilitate in your craft. Like I, I did it just a little bit with music production in the Bronx for doing a after school programming, after school program there. But I had never like done it overseas. I've taught English overseas, but never beat making. And so I just thought, oh, like, this would be really cool to do. So, you know, through him and you know, him, you know, guiding me through like, you know, how to apply and stuff. I just went ahead and submitted, thankfully got accepted. So

Yeah. So I didn't know about Next Love at all. So I'm part of the DJ battle circuit. And I wanna give a shout out to Christy Z who has one of the most kind of widest networks out her email blasts. Yeah, there we go. D, look at RTST’s shirt right there. She runs the DMCs for us. She's pretty much the person that you, you get to know she's super connected with people and she lets people know about other events. Her network is inspiring. So I think the day before the deadline, it was like the, the last day that the applications were due for the 2.0 cycle, she set on a blast like, you know, last day please fill out. And I had nothing to do that night. So I was like, all right, let me just take a little bit of time, a little bit of background.

And what inspired me to sort of pursue that is, as I mentioned earlier, I work at Scratch DJ Academy in New York City. And I was running a program with DJ Beverly Bond called Black Girls Rock and Black Girls Rock is essentially an outreach program that teaches we had 12- to 14-year-old girls were just the, the, our form of DJing, but really teaching them confidence and everything else that goes along with that. So I was, I kind of thought, well kind of what I'm doing with Bev works really well with what's going on at the Next Level. So I took my night and I didn't put too much thought into it. I didn't try to like overthink it or anything like that. And I, I put the application out there and I think I got it in like right before midnight, it was like 1158 or something like that.

I was all right, let's see what happens. I'll leave it up to the universe kind of thing. And luckily enough, I was, I was accepted for the 2.0 cycle. So I was brought in as a DJ. I think I was originally accepted for the El Salvador residency. And then I requested there was a Thailand. So I always wanted to go visit Southeast Asia. And it just so happened that another artist had a conflict with the dates. So they put me on board with the Thailand team. So I got to do my title residency in early 2016 with MC Doomy Wright, B Maker, Renee Soul and B Boy Toys, or us. And that was crazy inspiring sort of life changing experience. So, you know, I've been really thankful to be able to continue my work with Next Level after the 2.0 residency. And this was my first time as a, as a site manager with this, this amazing team here. So it's, it's cool to see the work go on and, and other people pick it up and, and spread it around as much as we can. So, yeah, like I said, it was really sort of this, this lucky thing. I wasn't really overthinking it too much, but it was meant to be, you know, I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. You know,

For me personally, maybe I wanna say pre pandemic, I saw my guy excess and another fellow Chicago artist, a Billy Free for, I mean, she's not based here anymore, but like they, they went to Asia if I'm not mistaken. And that was like, you know, I saw them, you know, teach and like see all their Instagram stories like, man, how do I get involved with that? And, you know, you know, jumped to like December of 2020, you know, I, I post, you know, random videos of me scratching on, on Instagram and former alumni also lives in Chicago and just is involved with the Chicago hip hop scene, pinky ring. She commented and she's like, yo, you should apply for Next Level. She tagged the, the Instagram page and what not. So, you know, I applied on a whim honestly, and the deadline was maybe like a few weeks, you know, before it was before. Excuse me, it was a few weeks before deadline and yeah. You know, lo and behold, a few months later I got word that I got in and it was, it is wild. So ended up at UAE with, with these guys

For me, what I think was the, perhaps the biggest, I dunno if it was a breakthrough, but it was certainly some giant steps or major strides that I saw the student collaborators as we call them the participants in the academies that we led in Abu Dhabi make, was being able to be more confident in free styling. I think free styling is really important to mention of hip hop, the ability to, to come up with your own way of articulating your craft sort of spontaneously before an audience or before your peers. And so that was something that none of the dancers were that comfortable with in my particular academy, they all came from the world of studio dance work. The emphasis is on choreography, on prestructured routines set to a specific song. And we through a series of different exercises. We began to build that muscle as to how to feel more comfortable, free styling, spontaneously to the music. And so to see them grow in confidence, in comfort, being able to do that, I also feel is living up to one of the core values of hip hop. And I just see them based on their post since we spent that time together, when they're just freeing and posting videos that the different student collaborators, how they continue to progress on that front. It just makes me so proud.

I think for me personally, one of my, one of my favorite, oh, was Jewel, sorry. So I think one of my, my, my favorite moments was coming together, our opening performance. So when, once we first came in, we had a residency at Berkeley school in music in Abu Dhabi. And of course going in with C and everything else, we have to worry about all these restrictions and everything just to sort of stay in alignment. And so going in there, we had the expectation that we couldn't do an opening performance is what we typically do, how we open all our residencies, but with COVID guidelines, we couldn't have that much capacity in a room at a time just for safety precautions. So we didn't plan on it. And it's something we talked about and it's something we sort of briefed on meetings like before we all got together.

But as it turns out, once we got there, the, the guidelines changed. We were allowed to sort of all assemble together in a room. And we didn't know about it until we got on site. And so literally, probably like 10 to 20 minutes later after we got this information, we're like, we need to put a show together. We need to get something together. And this is like, the team has been together for maybe 48 hours at most. We're still getting to know each other. And just the second we set it off, we're like, okay, Aaron, you're gonna do this, Julie, you're gonna start with this art, like two minute meeting with quick little powwow. And then we put this together, this like dope performance, like extremely proud of our ability to be sponsoring, like to, to run things off the top of our head and to adapt and to really adjust and, and kind of step up to whatever was needed. I think that set the tone for the entire residency, but that's just one of many, many moments throughout the whole thing that was really remarkable and has kind of stuck with me since, since we left. And that's all credit due to the team, just being able to come together, not put themselves first, put the team first and really show improve. Like we do, you know?

Yeah. I was gonna say one of the memorable moments for me was really the last day, because one thing that Next Level does is, you know, we get like an equipment list for anything that we need, any supplies that we need for the program, but at the end, we get to donate them to, you know, community center or in this case, we got to donate them to the students. And one of my students, you know, Berkeley School of Music, they had like all of the stuff already there pretty much, but, you know, I still had like my smaller controller for the music. And that was also what I requested for, for them. They hadn't known that though. And my, my youngest student, you know, he kept asking, you know, like how much does a controller like this cost? You know, maybe, maybe my dad can get it for me.

I, you know, I'm not sure, but like that last day after them performing, having them come back to the room and be able to say like, you know, with the new box and everything and give them those things, like his face, just seeing his face, like light up, like, wait, I can take this home. And I'm like, yeah. He's like, wait, did you, you know, all along? And I was like, yeah. And he was like, so you let me ask these questions. And it was just, it was just really nice, you know, it was just really wonderful. And my other students, you know, got, got as well, like the same thing. And it was just, it was really beautiful to be able to give back too in that way and just catch them off guard like, yo, no, you can take this. This is yours. And to see them creating now, cuz they're on Instagram and they're posting stuff and it's just, it's beautiful to see them continuing to build with each other.

Yeah, I kind of build off that. Yeah. The last day it was amazing. We saw the, the student performances and then yeah, we also, you know, gave, we gifted our students, you know, equipment and it was just like, you know, witnessing Christmas. But for me personally, I think the biggest thing for me, the biggest concern leading into it is that we had a short amount of time and DJing in DJing. There's like a, you know, a wide amount of technique that you can teach that takes like years. And so it's like the big challenge is like, how are they gonna learn this in 10 days? So, you know, first few days, you know, people were kind of, you know, you know, they were on their bike and they were falling off and getting back up and you know, kept going. But like maybe by like day three or four, they just kept riding and riding. Like, I was just kind of like finding each student's strength and kind of just building on that and just to see them absorb this amount of information in such a short amount of time a and to utilize it in their final performance is kind of conspiring, frankly.

Yeah. I, I just wanted to say there for me, as, as a director, everything I'm looking at everything, I have all these, you know, these performance points and like all of these notes that I'm taking and to, to try to see how we can improve what it is that we do here at the Next Level. And one of the things that I enjoyed about this particular team is that one of the hardest things to teach is how to be selfless, you know? And, and well, you can't teach that, you know, people just have to have it and you know, in hip hop culture, we also have this, you gotta hustle, you know, you gotta get what you gotta get, you gotta get yours, you know, and this is one of the things in cultural diplomacy, you know, you have to roll that back a little bit. And, and this team was, was wide open to be in service. And it was just happening all the time. Every time, you know, I watched them interact with student collaborators or speaking with, with staff, you know, it was always, what can I do? How can I help? And that was inspiring. And I don't know if, if I've said this to you all openly, but I really appreciate that.