RahRopa - No Facade

If y’all came for the magic show you’re in the right place but the only illusion here is the way Rah is turning words into wonders, ain’t no fronting over here just that real sugar honey ice tea with his new single “No Facade”.

“Thinking bout money, need a bank roOoOollll” is the mood of the century cause man me too. If you’re ever just for some odd reason giving away a Benz I’m totally available for that position to accept! The flow so heavy and beat so hot we need oven mitts to take them joints out the oven *insert ooo wee meme here*, lyrics not too shabby either, he’s just over here serving us the whole buffet, you go boy!

Take a step towards your metaphorical bag by listening to this new banger and giving him a follow on his socials, it’s like having a bank roll but more of an ear and heart joy instead of a pocket joy but just as fun!!!

/CW Maxp

Juggman Ice - Juggman of The Raaq

Allllll the way from Chicago, Juggman Ice is coming at us w “anotha f****** hit bi***”!! Nothing is better than trying to better yourself and it’s hard to knock someone’s hustle when it’s working for them, you don’t gotta understand you just gotta respect it. The beat rocks and it’s apparent in the music video that they be calling him Dora the way his bag talkin. 

Good things happen to those who hustle.

Open your ears for this right quick and let Juggman Ice who really got the juice.

/CW Maxp

Bronzeville Week - Black Friday Music & Marketplace August 13th 2021

WE STAND FOR ALL THINGS URBAN.

As an unapologetic group of creatives, CopyWrite is in business to change the community. Our promise is to always remember where we started from. We do this by telling the stories that need to be told, showcasing the unrealized artistic potential throughout our community, all while doing what we love: create.

As a true reflection of our mission, our partnership with Bronzeville Week encapsulates many of the ways in which we highlight the creative community. For this year's events the /CW team has curated the August 13th music lineup, including local up-and-coming and established artists. We also are directly linking our communal pool of creative freelancers, who are well versed in creative content making who often don’t get the recognition they deserve. From photography to videography, journalism to creative directing, the essence of Bronzeville is still alive and our team will be capturing that moment. With our pilot office recently opening in the neighborhood, we carry the history of our community with us and know that we stand on the backs of giants who sparked our entrepreneurial freedom. We live here. We work here. We play here. To contribute to the narrative of Bronzeville Week is an honor and of course it will always be for the culture.

/CW

/CW APPROVED MUSIC LINEUP

GENESIS RENJI

DONNA RENEE

NO SEATBEALTS

CLAYTON

SHADI

The Phoenix - Sober Festival [August 7th, 2021] | CW Interview w/ Byron Thompson & John Cunningham

Festivals are the pulse of a Milwaukee summer! On Saturday August 7th, 2021 a new type of festival will grace our community supporting a good time with sobriety in mind. /CW Editor-in-Chief, Lexi S. Brunson spoke with organizers of The Phoenix - Sober Festival, Byron Thompson & John Cunningham on the first time sobriety community event and why we all should be there!

Learn more at https://thephoenix.org/

/CW

Out Of The Box [Week 6 Schedule]

Redefining “Street" Art | #CROSSWORDSNORTH Community Interview

There is art in these streets. LITERALLY!

Beautification projects have been popping up all over Milwaukee. Sculptures, murals, installations, and more have become a part of the growing public narrative that art has a significant impact on the community.

However, even though some forms of art create aesthetic dialogues, others work as functioning methods of civic engagement. A new street mural project between the crosswalks bordering North Avenue, on Palmer St. and Hubbard St., addresses a real problem we all have noticed; reckless driving. 

The project entitled Cross/Words/North “is a unique community-based art project that brings together students and families from nearby St.Marcus Lutheran School, neighbors living in the Harambee and Riverwest neighborhoods near North Avenue, and several community organizations, to create four pieces of crosswalk-framed art that express their feelings about the neighborhood.”- their press release noted. 

Each crosswalk features an image that is symbolic of a distinct word: Empowerment, Love, Unity, and Diversity. Throughout several weeks of virtual workshops with partnering organizations Artists Working in Education (AWE) and Safe & Sound, the words and images were selected in collaboration with community stakeholders including students, parents, and residents. CopyWrite joined this amazing group of community members on installation day (July 17th, 2021) to see why this form of street art is more than what meets the eye. 

Three youth artists D.J. White, Joshua Fuentes, and Jazale Hill gave us their perspectives on why the Cross/Words/North project is worthy of their time and space in their community.

CW: “You are all here working very hard on this community project. Why did you decide to be a part of this?”

D.J.:  “I really like art. I like all of the colors and how the pictures tell a story.”

Jazale: “I decided to be a part of this to address the safety of driving. It’s also something positive to do in the summer that I actually like.”

Joshua: “I just really like helping.”

Not only did these youth artists help in the physical application of the painted murals but also were extremely involved in the design of the crosswalks. Both Joshua and Jazale released artist statements about their designs. 

"The houses represent Diversity, as we live in a community where we are all individuals but we are uniquely different. The houses I drew are all homes but each is unique. I wanted to include details such as the porches because, in neighborhoods like mine, this became a space during the Covid-19 Pandemic of togetherness. We were able to talk to our neighbors from the porch and wave to each other while being safer at home,” - Joshua Fuentes

“I feel that the infinity sign and lotus flower conveys the word empowerment well. The infinity sign symbolizes a forever bond. As a community even through tough times we will always be together and work things out in order to live better. The lotus flower symbolizes the work that still needs to be done that will eventually bloom into a greater City of Milwaukee, a better place for us. As a resident of Milwaukee, I want things to be better for my younger siblings, family, friends, and even just people in general. I want my work to make a difference and empower others to feel safe during their everyday life. Being involved by addressing safety concerns of reckless driving in Milwaukee is a start to doing that. This way I know I helped people I care about be a little more safe. I know my work is a part of something bigger than myself.” - Jazale Hill

D.J added that though he was originally coerced into being a part of the project once involved he began to understand how the project could be a service to others and enjoyable.

DJ: “This project matters because you get to be creative while helping against reckless driving. The project was inspired by ourselves and what we wanted to see. It’s important because we are drawing them and that makes it personal.”

As reflective as these youth were about the visual imagery of the project they also had thoughts on the safety of their community when it comes to “trendy '' dangerous driving habits plaguing our city. The colloquial word for reckless driving is baselining. The act of baselining and increase of delinquent car theft has made fatality by motor vehicle and incapacitated injury surge over the last few years. Milwaukee’s Traffic Safety Unit (TSU) reports that year to date there have been 215 incidents that have drastically changed someone's thread of existence, with harm or death (2021). 

Joshua: “I usually feel safe but at the same time I don’t go outside a lot because there have been two accidents by my house already.”

CW: “Why would that keep you from going outside?”

Joshua: “I’m afraid that I might get hit.”

Though the narrative may always unfold with negative statistics tabulating real-world issues as numbers, this “street” art is a reminder to ease up on the speed, the dangerous maneuvers, and focus on the world around us.

Jazale: “I think it will inspire people to slow down in a positive way and look at the beauty.”

But what sparks this plan for communally combative street art?

Greg St. Arnold, a resident and “avid biker”, too had noticed the risk of traveling on city streets. People swerving in and out of traffic, near misses, and stories of collisions are all enough to make any commuter wary. Listening to the City-County Carjacking and Reckless Driving Task Force report, Greg realized that the issue was something that needed actionable attention and could possibly be addressed through collaborative means. He then reached out to Mark Lisowski, community organizer for Safe & Sound, to see how they could create something in the neighborhood that would make the highly traveled streets more bike and pedestrian-friendly.

With a solid idea in hand, they were awarded the City of Milwaukee’s Reckless Driving Mini-Grant, which allowed them to facilitate creative community development workshops through AWE and Lead artist Stephanie Krellwitz. 

Greg: “From there on I was a participant in the process. The Zoom sessions were awesome and a good discussion of what each community stakeholder would like the art to represent.”

In the same way, the youth artists were reflective of reckless driving in our community, Greg too shared thoughts on the impact it may have on them.

Greg: “Who are the people that are reckless driving? It’s young people. So what better way to address that than have them involved”. 

He also cited that projects like this have been pitched in other parts of the city-backed by real research that suggests arts ability to curb more dangerous driving activity. However, not all projects get approved and many people want to know why. 

Greg: “Some people don’t think that the money the city is giving out to address reckless driving is enough. But as a community member, I’m excited to get a grant like this even if it's small. This is an opportunity to directly connect with local government and do something that can actually serve the community.”

As stakeholders in the creative community and supporters of the local, we had to ask Greg if he too has noticed an increase of public art in Milwaukee as a method of civic engagement and where it may be coming from.

Greg: “I have noticed more public art and I’m seeing more murals around. I think there has been an uptake in awareness, engagement, and activism. There seems to be a link between that and now people are more continuous on how it creates impact. I hope that's the case. I hope I'm not just imagining this.”

As society shifts into more public acts of accountability, so must the way we combat negative actions like reckless driving and practice acts of social responsibility. A part of this shift is using language and symbolism to communicate what we stand for as communities. Redefining “street” art as a way to slow down baselining, bring comfort to our residents, and save a few more lives, is just one way we can cross the road together.

See you in these streets.

Lexi S. Brunson /CW

Milwaukee Police Department Traffic Safety Unit. (2021, June 9). TSU Statistics. Traffic Safety Unit. https://mpdtsu.org/tsustatistics/. 

Out Of The Box [Week 5 Schedule]

The Color Block | CW Fashion Feature

Alexa Play “Hey, Mr. DJ by Zhane.”

The song that highlights the energy we represent in The Color Blocking. 

 2021 has brought back a trend straight out of the 70’s. Color blocking started during the age of disco by a black man named Stephen Burrows. Burrows was able to spread this trend throughout Europe and the US. This trend has now been brought to life by designers throughout the world. 

 Color blocking in its simplest form is taking two to three contrasting colors and placing them in the same outfit. Wearing so many colors at once can seem overwhelming and can look messy but Stylist Kyndal J. and Vato Vergara make it look easy in our Color Pop spread.

 CopyWrite Magazine invited Funk 2 Fashion created by Kyndal J.  to bring her knowledge of style and accessories to collaborate for this “Color Pop” spread. Her jewelry is all made by hand and inspired by her creative lifestyle. Vato and Kyndal approach the trend with intention, giving these colorful ensembles structure flow. 

Photographer: ShotbyBasi

/CW

NŌ STUDIOS ANNOUNCES PHOTOMKE CALL FOR ARTISTS

* info provided by Corey Fells of NO Studio

NŌ STUDIOS ANNOUNCES PHOTOMKE CALL FOR ARTISTS

 First annual outdoor photography festival to tell stories of Milwaukee neighborhoods

WHAT: Nō Studios today announced a call for photographers to be featured in its first annual PhotoMKE festival in early September. Nō Studios PhotoMKE will activate six Milwaukee neighborhoods – Clarke Square, Harambee, Layton Boulevard, Lindsay Heights, Metcalfe Park and Muskego Way – with outdoor photo galleries. The galleries will feature photography from residents representing what love, beauty, resilience and happiness looks like to them, where they live. By inviting locals to reclaim and represent their communities through visual art, Nō Studios PhotoMKE aspires to affirm the value of these Milwaukee neighborhoods through the lens of those who live there. 

WHEN: Photo submissions are due July 31.

HOW: For information on how to submit a photo, visit https://www.nostudios.com/photomke. Photographs should be uploaded digitally at 300 dpi and include the story behind the image. Nō Studios will host a virtual real time Q+A Monday, July 19 at 6 p.m. to answer questions about the submission process.

DETAILS: Photographs must represent one of the six participating neighborhoods. They can be new or existing images covering a variety of subjects, including but not limited to buildings/architecture, people, objects, historical landmarks, elder statesmen, or an event/moment. Eight photos will be selected to represent each neighborhood by community leaders and MIAD faculty. Winners will receive a $300 stipend, along with 50% off rental equipment from MKE Production rentals.

Artistic support for Nō Studios PhotoMKE has been provided by True Skool and MIAD.

ABOUT NŌ STUDIOS

Founded by Academy Award winner and Wisconsin native John Ridley, Nō Studios is both a member-driven physical space based in Milwaukee as well as a digital platform geared toward artists and art lovers. Nō Studios is dedicated to supporting talent, elevating artists, and most importantly to bridging communities through the shared appreciation of interpersonal expression. www.nostudios.com

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Ooka - Slide fa me [video submission]

How many of us have gone through a struggle? Safe to say it’s not at all easy and the only thing you could possibly do is do what you have to do and try to do what’s right for you and those around you. 

Ooka tells his story through melody and truly opens up his heart in song, lets us have the chance to see him so vulnerable and we still don’t even know the whole story. Through all of the pain and sorrow there’s always a light on the other side. “Embrace the struggle & let it make you stronger. It won’t last forever”. And judging by taking a long hard listen to the lyrics that’s absolutely what it did for Ooka. The struggle is a piece of the story.

Give a listen and let us know what you think.

/CW Maxp