Waterloo Makes Music: Refresh Collective with Dee Jay Doc and Friends

Dee Jay Doc is a hip-hop artist, youth cultivator and founder of the Refresh Collective (refreshcollective.org). Voted one of Cleveland’s 30 Most Interesting People in 2017 by Cleveland Magazine he uses hip-­hop to increase health and neighborhood vitality. In his 30 years as a hip-hop artist, he has performed hundreds of shows and helped over 10,000 students write, record and perform their own songs. He created the Fresh Camp neighborhood summer hip­-hop program in 2011 in his own neighborhood of Glenville in Cleveland, Ohio. Now, it has grown into Refresh Collective, an arts and youth development non-profit organization serving students in Cleveland and Cincinnati. Although, this work started in his home, he has opened educational recording studio programs for aspiring young artists in schools, hospitals, drug rehab centers as well as community centers. He architects hip-hop programs and empowers the next generation of leaders to do the same.
http://www.deejaydoc.com/

…Zach is a rapper, writer, and artist from Cleveland, OH. As a hip-hop journalist, his work has appeared in DJBooth, Noisey, Rolling Stone, and more, having interviewed artists over the years such as Ghostface Killah, GZA, 50 Cent, Kehlani, Mike Dean, Metro Boomin, Young Chop, and more. He is the marketing manager and a lead teacher at Refresh Collective.

Nate Willard is a Cleveland-based Artist/Producer that blends multiple genres into his songwriter-style production. Inspired by electronic dance genres, jazz-soul-funk-disco, and indie music his versatile production defines his own genre but also caters to the artist he works with. Whether he’s working his office 9-5 or rocking the stage his motto is the same: “I’m not here to be the best but to serve the best.”
https://www.facebook.com/natewillardmusic

Quill the Messenger is a hip-hop artist, author and educator from Milwaukee, WI with a background in youth work and nonprofit management. His Master’s thesis about the art of emceeing was featured in “Hip-Hop(e): The Cultural Practice and Critical Pedagogy of International Hip-Hop (Adolescent Cultures, School, and Society)” which won the 2014 AESA (American Educational Studies Association) Critics Choice Award.

Refresh Collective is an arts and youth development organization with recording studios + screen printing shops in Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio. We are music producers, songwriters and screen printers who harness the power of music and fashion to equip youth and uplift communities. Our neighborhood recording studios and screen printing shops offer workshops, summer camps and in-school programs that have helped over 11,000 youth and adults write songs and design t-shirts that address social justice, education, and health concerns. Youth grow in confidence and character as they craft their message and build strong relationships. Young adults develop transferable employment and leadership skills while planning, producing, and promoting our collaborative work. Professional artists develop new work, perform community concerts and mentor youth in the heart of the city.
www.refreshcollective.org
https://www.facebook.com/refreshcollective/
https://www.instagram.com/refreshthecity

Special thanks to Cuyahoga Arts and Culture for supporting this program.