Next Level: Argentina

In July 2022, five Hip Hop artists traveled to Argentina as part of the Next Level program. Bboy Kareem, MADlines, DJ Spictakular, AirLoom Beats, and Krate Digga, joined Site Managers Kane Smego and Pinqy Ring to perform for audiences and collaborate with local artists to promote cross-cultural creative exchange and conflict transformation.

The two-week Next Level Argentina Academy was held at the ICANA Argentine-U.S. Binational center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and partnered with Suena Eh!, Paula Rivera, Estudio Urbano, FDL Crew, Miloo Moya, Zai Forte, Frescolate, and Cachitas Now! cumbia band. The residency focused primarly on microphone techniques, rising and falling energy during shows, loop station work, scratch and party-centric DJing, software aptitude, hardware proficiency, lyricism, knowledge of self, performance and stage presence.

On entrepreneurship day, Team Argentina led workshops on art as a business, the importance of being on time, treating others with respect. Their activity titled “Money Moves”, provided tangible techniques for cultivating a life as an arts-entrepreneur, basic examples of a three-tier sales funnel, and the triple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit. To round out the workshop, El Instituto Nacional de la Música joined the group to discuss music publishing in Argentina and different methods, programs, and grants for creatives to make money from their art.

During the second week of the program, Team Argentina was joined by Bboy Samuka, a former Next Level participant from Brazil. Samuka taught a guest workshop where he shared his personal story in breaking and challenged participants to think deeply about their bodies and about ability/disability.

Over the course of the residency, the team attended prominent local music events such as PAN and AfroMama Jams and take a tour led by the city of Buenos Aires cultural department of the Recoleta Cultural Center. In addition, the team also participated in additional programs at Suena Eh!, La Bomba de Tiempo, La Grande, and Compton Jams.

The culminating event, which was hosted by Surdo SRD, took place at Teatro Sarmiento and “sold-out” a few hours prior to the show. The Ambassador opened with remarks and every participant and element was represented. Participants in the Next Level Argentina program were very high level in their skill, so the final show resulted in a great representation of what the two-week program encompassed. Next Level participants collaborated with Breaking Tango to fuse the art of Tango with Breaking, demonstrating how cultures can intermix and still keep their authenticity. Team Argentina is part of a larger Next Level cohort of American MCs, DJs, beatmakers, beatboxers, and Hip Hop dancers seeking to create a global community through Hip Hop culture.

Learn more and watch the program here.