Tonight, Blockade, a collection of nine 13-17-year-olds, celebrates graduation from the Hip-Hop School with a concert and CD release party at the Arts Scene (201 S. Maple, NLR). For 12-weeks, Localist publisher TJ Deeter and a crew of local hip-hop folks — DJ g-force, Epiphany, 607, G-Mack, Lil Mack SJ from the 4X4 Crew, Coffee from the Urban Hang Suite — have led an after-school program on the four elements of hip-hop. In early classes, G-Mack talked on the origins and early days of the genre. Later, Piph and 607 did a class on MCing and the business of hip-hop. g-force did one on DJing; SJ led a dance class, and so on. In later sessions, the kids worked with Dat Heat to record tracks. Tonight, Blockade, as the kids named themselves, will show off the songs those sessions yielded. Plus, they’ll be choreographed dancing, props and a pre-show DJ set.

Download the group’s impressive title track here.

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Doors open at 8 p.m., a pre-show DJ set kicks off at 8:30 and the concert starts at 9 p.m. sharp, $6.

Look for more in-depth coverage in the paper in the coming weeks.

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