{"id":306223,"date":"2025-10-15T20:16:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T20:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/306223\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T20:16:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T20:16:15","slug":"phoenix-school-of-hiphops-afro-grooves-fundraiser-lights-up-arizona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/306223\/","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix School of HipHop\u2019s Afro Grooves fundraiser lights up Arizona"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1240\" height=\"757\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/phoenix-afrobeat-orchestra-2025.jpg\" class=\"article-thumbnail-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"A group of 13 musicians standing in front of a gray wall.\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"  \/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoenix Afrobeat Orchestra is scheduled to perform at the Afro Grooves fundraiser.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Danny Upshaw<\/p>\n<p>Catching <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.phoenixnewtimes.com\/?s=Phoenix+Afrobeat+Orchestra\">Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra<\/a>, the Valley\u2019s most dynamic and compelling live act, in concert is reason enough to attend any event. But Saturday\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.phoenixnewtimes.com\/event\/afro-grooves-fundraiser-40611425\/\">Afro Grooves<\/a> fundraiser at Arizona Center has an added benefit that only sweetens the deal: it also supports Phoenix\u2019s School of HipHop.<\/p>\n<p>The benefit event from 6 to 10 p.m. at <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.phoenixnewtimes.com\/best-of-phoenix\/2025\/fun-and-games\/best-roller-skating-22741930\/\">Zoni Girls <\/a>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.<\/p>\n<p>PAO\u2019s Camille Sledge says Afro Grooves helps the school provide art education and cultural enrichment for African American and BIPOC youth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s our annual fundraiser that we do,\u201d Sledge says. \u201cIt allows (the school) to teach students about the elements of hip-hop and help spread and appreciate its culture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a mission the school has been on for more than a decade.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"704\" width=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/school-of-hip-hop-phoenix-student.jpg\" alt=\"A female African-American child sings into a microphone.\" class=\"wp-image-40611463\"  \/>A student of the School of HipHop.<\/p>\n<p>Provided by School of HipHop<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Sharing knowledge and appreciation of hip-hop\u2019<\/p>\n<p>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 \u201csharing knowledge and appreciation of hip-hop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe help students who have been disenfranchised or live in neighborhoods that aren\u2019t very close to a lot of nice music schools (locally),\u201d Sledge says.<\/p>\n<p>The heart of the school\u2019s curriculum is the four core elements of hip-hop: DJing, graf art, MCing, and dancing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe use these cultural aspects of hip hop and how they\u2019re culturally related to these youths and where they come from,\u201d Sledge says. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"794\" width=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/phoenix-school-of-hip-hop-student.jpg\" alt=\"An African-American youth sitting behind a drum kit.\" class=\"wp-image-40611460\"  \/>A student of Phoenix\u2019s School of HipHop at Crescent Ballroom in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Provided by School of HipHop<\/p>\n<p>The school also teaches music education and adds a fifth element of hip-hop culture to the mix.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe call it \u2018overstanding,\u2019 and it relates)a knowledge and understanding of the business side of music,\u201d Sledge says.<\/p>\n<p>The School of HipHop also plans to expand beyond workshops. Last year, it was <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.radioworld.com\/news-and-business\/business-and-law\/fcc-names-tentative-selectees-for-93-mx-applications-in-2023-lpfm-window\">awarded an FCC license <\/a>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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe radio station\u2019s just going to give us another vertical to reach the community even further,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Saturday\u2019s Afro Grooves fundraiser will help make that a reality.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"683\" width=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/govote2018_melissafossum-1-39.webp\" alt=\"An African-American woman in a red dress sings into a microphone.\" class=\"wp-image-40201477\"  \/>Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra\u2019s Camille Sledge.<\/p>\n<p>What to expect at Afro Grooves<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s the scary season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe 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,\u201d Sledge says.<\/p>\n<p>The AfroDisco skate party will take place at the Zoni Girls roller rink while performances occur outside in the Arizona Center\u2019s plaza. Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra won\u2019t be the only ones taking the stage at Afro Grooves. School of HipHop students will also join the band and the Valley\u2019s Lerato dance crew will also perform.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re like a young Afrobeats dance crew and they\u2019re awesome,\u201d Sledge says.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Afro Grooves Fundraiser. 6 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 18, at Arizona Center, 455 N. Third St. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/givebutter.com\/c\/AG2025\">Tickets <\/a>are $25-$40.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra is scheduled to perform at the Afro Grooves fundraiser. Danny Upshaw Catching Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":306224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,14839,1589,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-306223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-hip-hop","12":"tag-phoenix","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-united-states-of-america","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115380026757177849","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}