A former drug addict turned hip hop activist is giving youngsters a chance to learn about the music industry free of charge.
Alex Cupido, from Mitchells Plain, is the founder of BruinChild Media, and together with various partners hosted the Smartist hip hop workshops at the Champs Musical Coffee Shop in Eerste River last weekend.
The workshops, which featured lectures by Afrikaans rapper DOEP, DJ Eazy from GHFM and industry professional Celeste Mitchell, also include life skills programmes.
BruinChild Media NPC was started in July 2020 by Alex who says: “BruinChild media continues its work with talented young people that do not have the resources to become professionals and succeed in their craft.
“We work with hip hop artists, singers, producers, beat-makers, aspiring actors and much more, identifying the next generation of talent.
“We had 10 young aspiring artists from Cape Town, four from Bredasdorp and one from the North West province come to the workshop to learn about their craft from industry professionals.
“We wanted them to go from being an artist to being a Smartist, because we focused a lot on the business side of music, the technicalities of hip hop writing and producing, and branding and marketing themselves in order for them to become self-reliant as well as earn a living from their craft.”
DJ Eazy taught the artists the ins and outs of radio play and says he was pleasantly surprised by the amount of talented participants.
“It’s also inspiring to see the youth invest their time in activities that will be beneficial to them, especially those who wish to pursue a career in music.”
Celeste Mitchell from Rebelution Music & Media spoke about what record labels look for in an artist, and shared some inside tips on how to submit demos.
The students will graduate in a special ceremony this weekend.
venecia.america@inl.co.za