Danny Upshaw
Audio By Carbonatix
Catching Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra, the Valley’s most dynamic and compelling live act, in concert is reason enough to attend any event. But Saturday’s Afro Grooves fundraiser at Arizona Center has an added benefit that only sweetens the deal: it also supports Phoenix’s School of HipHop.
The benefit event from 6 to 10 p.m. at Zoni Girls roller rink will be headlined by Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra. It also includes an AfroDisco skate party, b-boy and b-girl performances, art displays and prize raffles.
PAO’s Camille Sledge says Afro Grooves helps the school provide art education and cultural enrichment for African American and BIPOC youth.
“It’s our annual fundraiser that we do,” Sledge says. “It allows (the school) to teach students about the elements of hip-hop and help spread and appreciate its culture.”
It’s a mission the school has been on for more than a decade.
Provided by School of HipHop
‘Sharing knowledge and appreciation of hip-hop’
The School of HipHop was co-founded by Sledge and her husband, William Feggins, in 2014. Based at Phoenix Center for the Arts, the local nonprofit began as an afterschool program for African-American and BIPOC kids. Its instructors lead hands-on workshops at the center and local schools that Sledge says focus on “sharing knowledge and appreciation of hip-hop.”
“We help students who have been disenfranchised or live in neighborhoods that aren’t very close to a lot of nice music schools (locally),” Sledge says.
The heart of the school’s curriculum is the four core elements of hip-hop: DJing, graf art, MCing, and dancing.
“We use these cultural aspects of hip hop and how they’re culturally related to these youths and where they come from,” Sledge says. “We use the DJ elements to teach about technology and how music is moving forward today. And we use the dance element with the b-boys and b-girls for movement and exercise.”
Provided by School of HipHop
The school also teaches music education and adds a fifth element of hip-hop culture to the mix.
“We call it ‘overstanding,’ and it relates)a knowledge and understanding of the business side of music,” Sledge says.
The School of HipHop also plans to expand beyond workshops. Last year, it was awarded an FCC license for a low-power FM radio station. Feggins says the station, set to launch in 2026 or 2027, will help the school spread hip-hop culture to an even wider audience.
“The radio station’s just going to give us another vertical to reach the community even further,” he says.
Saturday’s Afro Grooves fundraiser will help make that a reality.
Melissa Menzinger
What to expect at Afro Grooves
As Sledge describes it, the Afro Grooves fundraiser will feature high-energy live music, skating, dance battles and community fun. Costumes are also encouraged, since it’s the scary season.
“We have a lot of kids that do music with us, and we thought a skate party around the time of Halloween with costumes and dressing up would be pretty fun,” Sledge says.
The AfroDisco skate party will take place at the Zoni Girls roller rink while performances occur outside in the Arizona Center’s plaza. Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra won’t be the only ones taking the stage at Afro Grooves. School of HipHop students will also join the band and the Valley’s Lerato dance crew will also perform.
“They’re like a young Afrobeats dance crew and they’re awesome,” Sledge says.
Afro Grooves Fundraiser. 6 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 18, at Arizona Center, 455 N. Third St. Tickets are $25-$40.
