Carolina to the Congo: a Beat Making Lab Experiment

What happens when a Beat Making Lab lands in the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Maybe you can help answer that question.

Beat Making Lab

The Beat Making Lab is an innovative course offered in the Music Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Professors Pierce Freelon (of hip hop/jazz quartet The Beast) and Apple Juice Kid (producer/drummer/DJ) explore the art of beat making from three perspectives: the practical, the cultural and historical, and the entrepreneurial.

Yole!Africa

With your help, UNC's Beat Making Lab curriculum will reach 16 Congolese youth this summer. Yole!Africa will host the lab at their annual cultural arts festival, SKIFF (Salaam Kivu International Film Festival). Founded in 2000 by Congolese filmmaker Petna Ndaliko and Dutch anthropologist Ellen Lammers, Yole!Africa is based in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. With a mission is to "promote peace through art and culture," Yole is a vibrant center for artistic creation and cultural exchange.

Fundraising

$5000 will cover the expenses to set up a fully functioning studio in Goma: including laptop, headphones, speakers, external hard drives and beat making software, as well as instruction and travel. Fundraising for Yole!Africa kicks off April 20th with free concert/beat battle in the Mandela Auditorium of UNC Chapel Hill’s FedEx Global Education Center from 6PM-9PM. The event will feature student-led panels on Hip Hop history, a keynote by Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian, a beat battle featuring UNC's Beat Making Lab, and a performance by Ghanaian emcee Blitz The Ambassador. Students will solicit donations online, through an artwork auction and by selling t-shirts and other items. All donations go to Yole!Africa and are tax deductible. 

Fundraising kick-off event co-sponsors include: CUAB (Carolina Union Activities Board), Black Student Movement, Movement of Youth, Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, African Studies Center, African and Afro-American Studies Department, Music Department, Carolina Connects, Thrill Life, Thrill City and The Thrill at Hectors. 

Why?

Apple Juice and I are also the co-founders of ARTVSM (pronounced Artivism) - a company, which merges art and activism to promote innovation and healing by any medium necessary. We are bringing the Beat Making Lab to Goma to explore possibility. We can't wait to hear what these 16 young Congolese beat makers produce, and share it with you. Thanks for your support!

-Pierce