BALTIMORE — In an effort to provide more exposure and hands-on learning opportunities for the students in the Beats Not Bullets program, the program coordinator, MC Bravado, has launched a new monthly live performance showcase.
"It's kind of a reward and an opportunity," MC Bravado explains.
"Every month, we feature a different group of students on the 'Beats Not Bullets All-Stars' lineup. We reward the ones who have earned it for that month, and then do the same thing the next month."
Last month's sold-out show featured a few students demonstrating their talents, and this month's lineup will include Tom Revis, a former student of the Beats Not Bullets program.
"I've been with Beats Not Bullets since 2021, my freshman year in high school," Revis shares.
"I love engineering, and I also have some new songs that I plan to perform for the first time," he says.
Revis says he is excited about the live performance opportunity.
"I'm very proud to have been brought into the program, and now I get to work with them to provide this opportunity to other students. I feel that the expansion of it is only a beneficial thing for the youth in Baltimore," says Revis.
Beats Not Bullets showcases student talents with monthly live performances
Bravado plans to make the showcase a permanent monthly event, with the goal of creating a consistent hip-hop staple in the city.
"We haven't really had a monthly hip-hop staple like this since before COVID," he says.
The partnership with Judy's Island Grill has provided the perfect environment for the showcases, with good food, drinks, and live entertainment.
But MC Bravado says the heart of the owner is what truly makes it special.
“So I just have a passion and a heart of giving and anybody that I could align myself with to bring what we do very well and which is bring out food and our drinks and things like that it just allows us to kind of give back in that way through love," says Freka Scott.
The two organizations have agreed to host the Beats Not Bullets Showcase every third Thursday of the month for the foreseeable future.
"So they're gonna expect to have an amazing time with good food, good drinks, good people, and then we're gonna make sure that we help get more awareness about their organization and what they're doing out there to help them continue to grow that," says Scott.
The next Beats Not Bullets Showcase is this Thursday, April 17, starting at 7 PM at Judy's Island Grill.
