Learning about hip-hop, impactful poetry and life come together in one package for local youth.
Bulkley Valley music duo Mob Bounce will bring their interpersonal skills and their rhythmic communication skills to Prince George for a day of workshop and performance.
Travis Hebert (aka Heebz The Earthchild) and Craig Edes (aka Craigy Craig or The Northwest Kid) have been dropping beats as Mob Bounce for the past eight years, but they have also developed a youth mentorship side to their music careers. They call their youth interaction session Hip Hop and the Sacred Space and it's happening March 1 at the Omineca Arts Centre (OAC) located at 1119 Third Ave.
A spokesperson for OAC called this special appearance by the reputable rappers "an interactive workshop that provides participants the opportunity and experience to learn Mob Bounce's approach to combining traditional and spiritual Indigenous culture with contemporary methods of musical and artistic expression. Through this process, youth will hear both Craig's and Travis's story of how hip-hop music went from being their outlet of self-expression to then becoming their own personal medicine. To Mob Bounce, a sacred space is where we get to connect with our spirit, personal power and potential. This is the space where intention and prayer meet goals and dreams."
The duo explained that their workshop would "involve lyric writing and beat making as the tools of contemporary storytelling, drumming, singing, and dancing. We will teach the skill of lyric writing and beat making while incorporating the intention that creates a sacred space."
The workshop is free to attend and runs from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Then, at 8 p.m. Mob Bounce and local music group The Khast'an Drummers will provide a performance to put all the theory into action. Admission is by donation.
Space is limited to 50 people, there is no age restriction, so organizers advised hopeful participants to arrive early.
Mob Bounce has become famous for incorporating the recognizable framework of hip-hop with the ancient performance traditions of Aboriginal culture. Chanting mixes with electronica, oral storytelling blends with urban emceeing.
Edes is Gitxsan and Hebert is Cree/Metis. They grew up in the Bulkley Valley towns of Smithers and Houston.
Their appearance in Prince George will be followed the next day by the opening of a related art show at the OAC with a special appearance by musician and Lheidli T'enneh First Nation elder Marcel Gagnon.
For more information and contact option, visit the Omineca Arts Centre page on Facebook.
