Jack Daniel’s sweetened up a Kentucky Derby weekend party with a touch of Honey. On Saturday, May 7, 2016, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey sponsored Art-Beats & Lyrics at the Ice House in Louisville, Ky.
The free event was the first of its kind to take place in Louisville and was uniquely different from the hundreds of other parties that took place in the city over Derby weekend.
JACK DANIEL’S TENNESSEE HONEY PRESENTS ART-BEATS & LYRICS IS AN EVENT WE’VE SPONSORED FOR ALMOST 10 YEARS BUT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT WE’VE BROUGHT IT TO LOUISVILLE… WE THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE SO GREAT FOR DERBY BECAUSE EVERYBODY IS SO USED TO THE TRADITIONAL DERBY PARTY – AND THIS IS REALLY THE NON-TRADITIONAL DERBY PARTY. ONE OF THE OTHER FUN THINGS ABOUT THE EVENT ASIDE FROM THE ACTIVITIES IS WE HAVE GREAT DRINK MENUS SO PEOPLE CAN ENJOY JACK DANIEL’S TENNESSEE HONEY COCKTAILS.” – TRACEY JOHNSON (MULTI-CULTURAL MARKETING FOR BROWN FORMAN)
(left to right) Tracey and Stephan Johnson
The theme of the event was to essentially capture the original “4 Elements of Hip-Hop” which were established by 80s hip-hop pioneers such as KRS-One and Afrika Bambaataa to name a few.
Those 4 elements are:
MCing – master of ceremony or rapper
DJing – the art of Djing a party with two turn-tables (record players)
Breakdancing – the art of breakdancing
Graffiti Arts – the art of “tagging” (graffiti style urban spray painting)
Dubelyoo (red sweatshirt)
Atlanta natives Dubelyoo and Jabari Graham created the concept of Arts-Beats & Lyrics out of their deep love and admiration of modern art and the hip-hop culture.
“THE EVENT IS A TRAVELING URBAN ART EXHIBITION THAT FEATURES HIP-HOP ART- URBAN ART – GRAFFITI – STREET ART MURALS AND MIXES IT WITH LIVE PERFORMANCES AND DJS.” – DUBELYOO (ARTIST & CURATOR OF ARTS-BEATS & LYRICS)
Blossoming from its modest beginnings eight years ago – Art-Beats & Lyrics has grown into a major platform for many urban artists and Djs to display their talents to the masses nationwide.
Dubelyoo and Graham decided to create the artistic musical collaboration when Graham was abruptly laid-off from his marketing position with a circus group. Instead of wallowing in misery – the pair got together and decided that they both were in search of new careers.
Graham formed a collaboration comprised of a group of local artists and Djs from the Atlanta area and started putting on shows. Dubelyoo quickly realized the growth potential and gave the venture a boost by booking future shows at local museums.
Eight years later – Art-Beats & Lyrics has expanded and is currently touring across the country, hosting shows that feature established urban artists as well as major label rappers & Djs.
During the Louisville leg of the tour – popular urban artist and Louisville native, Charles Rice, had several pieces of artwork on display at the event.
“I HAVE A FEW ORIGINAL PIECES OUT HERE… I’M JUST TRYING TO SHOW MY SKILLS… SINCE I’VE BEEN ABOUT FIVE, I’VE BEEN INTO PAINTING… WHEN GOD BLESSES YOU WITH THE TALENT AND YOU DO IT FOR THE LOVE THEN EVERYTHING ELSE IS GOING TO COME INTO PLACE AS LONG AS YOU GET YOUR EDUCATION TO SUPPORT WHATEVER YOU DREAM OF DOING – AND THAT’S WHAT I WANTED TO DO WAS PAINT.” – CHARLES RICE
Charles Rice
Art-Beats & Lyrics essentially turned Louisville’s Ice Houseinto an urban art gallery featuring urban artwork from local and national artists. Many of the pieces were murals of popular hip-hop artists or tributes to hip-hop culture.
The doors opened at 8pm and partygoers were provided two free Jack Daniel’s mixed drinks to sip on while viewing the art displays. To further infuse the hip-hop culture – seven Djs captivated the crowd throughout the evening with popular hip-hop records from the 80s, 90s and early 2000s.
Louisville residents Felisha Short and Kendra Sweatt stopped by the venue to check out the artwork and were so blown away that Short purchased a piece.
“Jack Daniels, Art and fun brought us out tonight” said Sweatt. Short added, “Well I actually brought a piece of a young lady with some bad shoes on – holding a bottle of Jack.”
Around 11 pm – the dj’s cranked up the music and the dance floor instantly became flooded with people elbow-to-elbow, jamming to old school classics like Doug E. Fresh and Dj Kool’s “Let Me Clear My Throat”.
Other highlights of the evening included musical entertainment and comedic relief from the event’s Master of Ceremony D.R.E.S. tha BEATnik as well as a performance from Chicago rapper Twista.
Louisville’s Soul Lounge was also a contributing sponsor of the event.
Brad Harrison is a journalist/motivational speaker/entrepreneur and on-air personality. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications with cum laude honors from the University of Louisville. In October 2015, he started UrbanMaxx Magazine to provide positive role models for Urban residents that reside in at-risk-communities and lack positive leadership in their lives.
For booking or advertising – contact Brad Harrison at bradharrison@urbanmaxx.com
