For the second year in a row, Jack Daniel’s Honey presents, “Art, Beats & Lyrics” drew a large crowd for its Kentucky Derby weekend party at Louisville’s Ice House.
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)
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.
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.
Nine 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.
Art-Beats & Lyrics essentially turned Louisville’s Ice House into 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 Honey 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.
Kentucky Derby weekend 2016, was the first year that the tour hit Louisville and it was so successful that organizers were eager to return to recreate the magic.
This year’s event was even more successful than last year. The Ice House reached capacity around 10:30pm and the line outside was still at least a block long.
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 Jodeci, Mystikal and Debarge.
Other highlights of the evening included musical entertainment and comedic relief from the event’s Master of Ceremony D.R.E.S. tha BEATnik.
Around 1a.m., Dj Mannie Fresh, formerly of Cash Money Records, took over the turntables and rocked the party with Southern hip-hop classics from the 90s and early 2000s.
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