50 Next
“A multi-media time capsule of what was, what is and what’s next…”
50 NEXT: Seattle Hip-Hop Worldwide is an online interactive experience including music from Seattle and Northwest Hip-Hop artists; featuring a short film by Avi Loud and is presented by Big World Breaks & The Town Entertainment with The Seattle Center Cultural Programs and Festál.
Seattle Center Cultural Programs & Festál had an inspired vision of aligning the Next 50 celebration with a unique project to honor the past, present and future of the Hip-Hop community in the greater Seattle area. This project was developed over a two year period (2010-2012) and involved an incredible amount of talented people including the 50 Next Seattle core team comprised of Steve Sneed, Aaron Walker-Loud, Jazmyn Scott and Avi Loud. The film score was composed and produced by Big World Breaks.
50 Next: Seattle Hip-Hop Worldwide honored the Seattle Center at fifty years by generating and promoting inter-cultural, inter-generational and international connectivity. Built to immortalize the collective works of the powerful Hip-Hop community in the greater Northwest, this project was designed to support cultural programs, events and projects at the Seattle Center.
This project was also made possible by the generous support of: 206 Zulu, A Real Grip, Arts Corps, Global Heat, Massive Monkees, Sire One, Washington Hall, the Black Heritage Society of Washington State, LNix Mastering and Blend.
The 50 Next: Seattle compilation includes 76 tracks, including works from various artists such as:
Emerald Street Boys, Draze, B-Boy Fidget, GMK, Silent Lambs Project, DMS, Maroon Colony, Grynch, Royce The Choice, Ready N Willin’, D-Black, Julie C, Khingz, JFK, Fatal Lucciauno, Henny and Parker, Candidt, Fleeta Partee, Orbitron, Beyond Reality, Sista Hailstorm, Ghetto Children, Spyc-E, Black Stax, Dyme Def, Blue Scholars, Yirim Seck, Alpha P, Piece, Graves 33, The Good Sin, The Flood, Xperience, Spac3man, Big World Breaks and more…
THE LEGACY OF SEATTLE HIP-HOP
Get to know the people, places and events that make up one of Seattle’s most vibrant cultural communities in The Legacy of Seattle Hip-Hop.
Curated by Seattle natives Jazmyn Scott (LANGSTON) and Aaron Walker-Loud (Big World Breaks), this award-winning interactive exhibit immersed visitors in the sights and sounds of our region’s growing Hip-Hop culture through audio recordings, photography, artwork, artifacts and more. The exhibit explored many facets of the Seattle Hip-Hop scene, including graffiti, deejaying, breaking, production, emceeing and fashion, linking our region to the continuously evolving global Hip-Hop movement. Throughout, the exhibit brought the first-person narratives and experiences of Seattle performers and artists to the forefront, creating an intimate and human look at this dynamic art form.
Visitors to the exhibit had the opportunity to view iconic clothing from the closets of some of Seattle’s most well-known Hip-Hop artists such as Raz Simone, Macklemore and Massive Monkees, and viewed vintage production equipment from legendary producers Jake 1, NastyMix Records and Tribal Productions. Highlights from the careers of Seattle’s world famous breaking crews along with long forgotten or never before seen mix tapes from the vaults of Seattle deejays with an international following – DJ B Mello, DJ Topspin and Kun Luv were also on display. This exhibit had an interactive production studio where visitors stepped behind the scene to mix their own tracks using unreleased beats from Grammy Award Nominee Jake 1 and the venerable Vitamin D of The Pharmacy; and a dance floor on which to flex their moves. In addition, local artist Specs Wizard created a custom mural as an exhibit centerpiece hung alongside rare graffiti pieces by DVS, Keep One and King Khazm of 206 Zulu.
Curated by: Jazmyn Scott & Aaron Walker-Loud
Produced by: Museum of History & Industry
The Legacy of Seattle Hip-Hop exhibit at MOHAI, with over 31,000 attendees and 20 co-produced events between 9/19/15 –5/1/16, won the 2016 American Association of State and Local History Leadership in History Award, “the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history”.
The Legacy of Seattle Hip-Hop exhibit was made possible by the generous contributions of:
Able Fader, Apaul, Avi Loud, B-Boy Fidget, Benito Ybarra, Big World Breaks, BlakKat, Boss Crew, Brainstorm, Brysen Angeles, BYC, Candidt, Carlos Overall, Central Intelligence, Chris Gambol, Colleen and Pele’ Ross, Damani “Dee-Love” Williams, D-Sane, DJ B Girl, DJ B Mello, DJ Scene, DJ Gumbeaux, DJ Kamikaze, DJ Kun Luv, DJ Soul One, DJ Supreme LaRock, DJ Topspin aka Blendiana Jones, DVS, Earl Parker Sr. / Damico Parker, Elevated Elements, Emerald Street Boys, Fever One, Fleeta Parte, Florentino Francisco, Fred (Beezie-2000) Byrdwell, Georgio Brown, Gifted Gab, Grynch, Half Crows, Hews, Jaycee “KMTK” Coleman, Jake One, Jerome Aparis, Jonathan Ortiz, J Pinder, Julie C, Kassa Overall, Kate Fernandez De Leon, Katie Fulford, Keep One, King Khazm, Kitty Wu, LaRue, Liz Rowe, Macklemore, Martin Sepulveda, Massive Monkees, Melissa Darby, Miguel Rockwell, Mikael Makaii Urban Couture, “Nasty” Nes Rodriguez, Nick Crespinel, Njuguna Gishuru, One Family Inc., Phillip Hines II, Randy Engstrom, Raz Simone, Reigncity, Rey One, Rob Castro / ATB Studio, Rodericko Francisco, Ryan “RC” Croone, Ryan Lewis, Sneke, Snzaman Beatz, Sonicsgate, Specs Wizard, Spekulation, Sportn’ Life, Steve Sneed, Tazeke, The Flood, Tricia Davis, Upendo Moore, Victor Alfonzo, Vitamin D, Vivian Hsu, Vivian Phillips, Wizdom, Yirim Seck, Zach Quillen and Zachary Self.
And through support from our partners:
Dr. Daudi Abe, Devon Manier, Margo Jones, the Nordic Heritage Museum, 206 Zulu and the Coolout Network
And by funding from:
4Culture, ArtsFUND, Arts WA, KUOW and the Office of Arts & Culture
Steve began his career at the age of 15 as the Leader of the African Drum and Dance group the OGUNDA’S. For seven years, the group performed at festivals, prisons, colleges and a various special events in the State of Washington. He later studied theatre arts, music and advertising at the University of Washington, worked as an equity actor in Seattle, produced and directed plays in Seattle and co-founded a local Production company called SNECO Productions. Steve served as the Director of the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center for 11 years. Currently he is the Managing Artistic Director of Cultural Programs at the Seattle Center, Managing 20 Cultural Festivals called Festal and other general entertainment at Seattle Center. Steve has served as a Washington State Arts Commissioner and in 2001 was the Recipient of the Corporate Council for the Arts (now Artsfund) “Unsung Hero Award”.
Festál is a year-long series of world cultural festivals and events hosted at The Seattle Center that honors and preserves community cultural traditions. Through a wide variety of events, installations and activities including music, dance, exhibits, ceremonies, crafts and food, Festál showcases the region’s rich and diverse cultures, promoting understanding and cultural kinship in the Pacific Northwest.
photo by Sol
Avi Loud is a photographer, designer, musician and a dj, born and raised in Seattle. Immersed in artistry since a young age, his passion for creativity has guided him through life. His earliest extra-curricular mentors exposed him to world of Hip-Hop and laid the foundation for his future. The local Hip-Hop scene is where he began his photography career, working with many budding and established artists alike. During his time at the Commercial Photography program at the Seattle Central Creative Academy, his focus shifted towards working with local clothing designers, helping further establish and document a newly developing fashion scene. Working with so many different types of people expanded his range of taste and style while deepening his multi-cultural understanding. Carrying forward the knowledge from his mentors, peers and teachers, he has empowered himself to structure his passions for art, music and hip-hop as a way of life. Since graduating, he founded a photography studio on Capitol Hill, fostering a shared home for likeminded photographers and visual artists. Working alongside fashion designers, Loud began to work on his own designs, launching pop-up clothing & music experiences.
These events were the start of his immersion in the underground music scene, where he helped start several dance parties with a variety of collaborators, celebrating a more eclectic and intersectional local sound. He has worked with a wide range of clients including Alive & Well, LoveCityLove, Likelihood, Totokaelo, Nordstrom, Meme Kidswear, Capitol Hill Block Party, Beats By Dre & LA Fashion Week. Avi’s work has been published by Nylon Magazine, Gray Magazine, The Seattle Times, City Arts Magazine, Seattle Met Magazine, Rolling Stone and Hypebeast.com.
photo by Stanton Stephens
Jazmyn Scott is the owner and operator of The Town Entertainment (est. 2009), co-founder of 50 Next: Seattle Hip-Hop Worldwide (est. 2012), co-curator of The Legacy of Seattle Hip-Hop exhibit at MOHAI (September 19, 2015 – May 1, 2016), program manager for the newly developed arts & culture non-profit organization LANGSTON, whose mission is to strengthen and advance community through Black arts & culture, and an avid supporter and member of the Seattle music and arts community.
photo by Atuanya Priester
Aaron Walker-Loud is an artist, band director, composer, producer and educator. He is the founder and director of Big World Breaks (a production company built for performance, studio and education), that has shared stages with Janelle Monae, Kool DJ Red Alert, Digable Planets, DJ Qbert, Macklemore, Reggie Watts, Saul Williams and many more. B.W.B. has also produced live show backing for various artists such as: Grammy Nominated vocalists Wayna and Rocky Dawuni, Sy Smith, Zo!, Dynamq, Choklate, Kimberly Nichole, Massive Monkees, Khingz and Xperience. Aaron is a proud alum of the CD Music Factory: Washington Middle School Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Mr. Robert Knatt, and Garfield High School Jazz Ensemble / Drumline, under the direction of Mr. Clarence Acox. Aaron began working with youth and families in 1999, eventually becoming the Education Director for Seattle JazzED (2010-2016), a teaching artist for Arts Corps (2008-present), as well as the drumline director for Washington Middle School (2008-2016) and O’Dea High School (2012-2018). Through Big World Breaks, Aaron now designs and leads several on-going youth and family empowerment initiatives; primarily in Central, South and West Seattle. Most recently Walker-Loud co-founded 50 Next: Seattle Hip-Hop Worldwide (est. 2012), became a member of the Creative Advantage roster in 2014, founded the award-winning intergenerational BWB Drumline in 2015 and co-curated The Legacy of Seattle Hip-Hop exhibit at MOHAI (September 19, 2015 – May 1, 2016).