The US consulate in Jeddah, in cooperation with American Music Abroad and Jeddah Comedy Club organized a hip-hop musical night as part of their cultural exchange program recently. US band Dangerflow performed live in the consulate premises.

US Consul General Todd Holmstrom welcomed the audience consisting of both Saudi and American music lovers and introduced comedians Shakoor and Hameed from the Jeddah Comedy Club, and members of the US band. He said the musical group has been perfecting their unique fusion of hip-hop, rock and dance rhythms since 2007. “They are here to give us insight into what’s happening in the youth music scene. Jeddah is the first stop in their Saudi tour, which will also include Dhahran and Riyadh,” he said.

“Dangerflow is not only an excellent example of our musical creativity but also of the American passion for community service. The members of the band all collaborate with various organizations to conduct workshops to raise awareness about social issues that confront today’s youth,” he said.

The group includes Angel “Ocean” Alvardo MC, DJ and recording artist; Eric Stinnett, a soulful R&B singer and song writer, and Kevin Callo, guitarist and DJ. They performed several numbers from their latest album “Fall Before you fly” that was released in 2015. The band collaborated with Miami Heat to develop promotional videos and perform at Miami Heat games, including the NBA final. The band’s debut album “Win lose or die” released in 2011, featured popular singles that were featured on several networks including MTV and ESPN.

Dangerflow enthralled the audience with positive hip hop music while performing their songs “The Crown”; “Fall Before you fly”; “New day”; “Roads goes”; “Live Life”; “Win Lose or Die”; “Star is born” and much more.

In an interview with Arab News, Angel “Ocean” said that for the past seven years, they have been building toward one vision. “We wanted to write songs that moved people and we wanted to share them with as many people as possible.”

Along the way, we’ve received so much love from people all over the world and that support keeps pushing us to get better. We believe our best days are ahead of us and we have an obligation to keep creating music that uplifts spirits and connects with people from all walks of life,” he said.

“That’s why this project means so much to us. Right now, we have the opportunity to share our music with a much broader audience and take Dangerflow to the next level in a way we’ve never done before. Our dreams are growing wings and we want to inspire more people to fly with us.”

The band got together around seven to eight years ago as they wanted to do something unique by merging two different worlds of hip-hop and R & B and wanted to do live shows. The band was created by Kevin Callo, Eric Stinnett, Mauricio “MO” Estrada, a drummer and percussionist, and Nate Stanford, a pianist.

“We have the same goal of creating positive fusion of hip-hop music ever since we are together,” the group said in a statement.

They are writing their own songs and lyrics to keep them original and to keep the music positive so that people from all walks of life can enjoy them. They have been all over the world. A 34-day Asian tour was their first tour, where they had a chance to bring music to the people and places they didn’t know. “It was an indication that no matter what language you speak music is a universal language that can be understood by everyone,” said Stinnett.

This was the first time they visited Saudi Arabia but after visiting the Kingdom they said they changed their thinking about the people and the place.

“I have a few friends from Saudi Arabia and know that people are friendly and nice, and they are always working on computers. We were a bit scared about issues that we might have to watch out for, our family and friends told us to be careful, but after coming here and meeting the people of Saudi Arabia we now know that the reality is completely different,” said Stinnett.

The group expressed appreciation for the hospitality shown to them by the locals and loved everything from food to its people. They said that the ground reality is totally different from what they hear about the Kingdom in the news. “We are able to go back home with a new image of Saudi Arabia and its people, and we will tell everybody about the experience we had, which is very much different from what people hear about in the news,” he added.

He mentioned their latest album “Fall Before you fly” that was released in March 2015. It is an infusion of different sounds and has an indigenous feel to it.

“The music and songs took us to our roots, it took us two years to release but it is a very different music album,” said Angel.

Kevin Callo said that the main aim of the Kingdom tour and performing at the US consulate was people to people interaction and sharing music and feelings through songs. He said music is an excellent experience and a great way to understand others’ cultures and traditions.

—

Email: [email protected]