Hat’s off to the Levi’s Music Project with Skepta

23 November 2016

From the 4th-6th November, the V&A were celebrating the culmination of their Levi’s® Music Project in partnership with Skepta. Create Jobs were lucky enough to get 30 free tickets for the final showcase performance to share with young Londoners who love music. Here’s the scoop…

If you haven’t heard of the Levi’s Music Project, it’s a global campaign by the clothing brand to support music education in communities around the world and inspire young talent by working with people at the top of their game. Other projects in the US have worked with Alicia Keys and Vince Staples to name a couple. Check out NME’s coverage of the project launch back in September (just days before Skepta won the Mercury Music Award) here.

Levi’s approach to the UK launch has been to go small and deep. Twelve young talented musicians were recruited on to a six week music programme delivered in a community music space built just next to where Joseph Junior Adenuga grew up in Tottenham. The project was delivered in partnership with Haringey Shed, a quality local theatre company providing opportunities for local, young talent. Rather than going big and flashy, they kept it small, meaningful and local. Just how we like it :)

If you know anything about Skepta, you’ll know that this project wasn’t about PR either. It meant something to him. “Greatness”, as you always hear him say – isn’t something that other people bestow on to you. It’s a way of operating that’s in your power to adopt. It’s not about how many social media likes you get. And it’s not about pounds in the bank.

To paraphrase his words at the end of the night: If you believe you’re an artist. You’re an artist. You validate yourself.

We think this is a great message. It’s scary out there sometimes.

When your Instagram following isn’t giving you the creative validation you need. When it feels like all the skill and inspiration in the world won’t break down doors into the old boys clubs that rule the creative industries. Opportunities to really connect with someone at the top of their game like this are rare.

Hats off to everyone at Levi’s, the V&A, Haringey Shed, Tim & Barry, Skepta’s team and all the amazing talented young musicians for pulling it off.

It was a real treat to be there to share it.

A massive thank you to our friends at the V&A for their generosity in all their projects. If you’d like to find out more about this project, contact Leanne Manfredi.

To find out more about Create Jobs and opportunities to get involved, email createjobs@anewdirection.org.uk or call us on 020 7608 2132.