the black august coalition debut and benefit for Rashaun Pope
October 10th 2018
6pm-9pm sharp

Be ready for musical lightening and thunder to hit on Wednesday 10th of October in Muchmores, the Brooklyn area and beyond. Two power houses bring two eclectic band sets in the form of xspiritmental afro indigenous maroons (spiritchild)and Electric Red (David Dovo). They share the stage again after 9 years and joining forces as Mental Notes.

A freedom singer from the South Bronx by way of Brooklyn, spiritchild uses the arts to cultivate a cultural revolution throughout the world. This artist’s eclectic and experimental fusion of true school Hip Hop, funk, electronica and jazz continues to break the boundaries of the music scene. As he channels the frequencies of J Dilla having tea with Sun Ra, painting the silhouettes of Nina Simone remixing El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz also known as Malcolm X, no one shares the time and the space without being moved in body, mind, heart and soul. spiritchild will be performing his new album black gold blue gold. black gold to connect us to our purpose, our roots & ancestry. who we are and what we are as a people. blue gold to connect us to the feminine, nurturing and evoking our creative souls for a necessary transformation.

With Electric Red, David Dovo brings music for the eclectic listener, the dance floor, as well as the stark raving mad. Electric Red's creation of groove oriented thought provoking music dipped in a shallow but potent bed of psychedelia is uncompromising, unrelenting, and unprecedented.

This show is dedicated to and a benefit for the black august coalition, a memorial fund and bail fund for our young people on Rikers island. a new black arts movement, Urban Art Beat, commusaic and xspiritmental initiate this fund, an offshoot inspired by the October 22nd coalition against police brutality. this effort will focus on a more preventative nature intervening and bridging our young with a strong international support youth reentry network that will provide resources and just as important, mentorship to our young. The coalition support the family of and honors Rashaun Pope, young powerful creative soul, lost to gun violence this summer and the legacy of freedom fighters such as George Jackson.

The black august coalition is a powerful expansion of Urban Art Beat’s ‘beyond beats and bars’ successful process for our youth behind enemy lines on Rikers Island. Since black august 2017, UAB has been creating & recording with the youth, working on music production, performance technique, and lyrics throughout weekly workshops. The aim of the program is the artistic, personal and leadership development of our youth. UAB has been rooted in the NY community for over a decade and providing creative workshops and programs utilizing the power of hip hop culture. Since 2006 we have created over 50 youth-centered shows, ran 6 successful Hip Hop for Social Justice summer camps and have worked with over 40 partners such as cultural centers, schools, NGOs, and youth detention facilities.

“This program helped me open up, taught me that I am talented
and gave me a better perspective on life.”
– participant, UAB workshops on Rikers Island