DJ Spin Doctor and DeeJay OM managed the first-class curated by DJ Shawn and Bhupen. The class had 50 students from the locality who actively participated and showcased their talent. It was interesting to see an amalgamation of talent and expertise at one place. The highlight of the evening was the presence of the renowned DJ Shilpi Sharma who provided valuable information to the students.

The Dharavi Dream Project started #AfterSchoolOfHipHop to encourage and sustain an environment, which gives the under-resourced hip-hop talent a chance to be educated and enhance skills. The project targets under-resourced areas around the country to help talented individuals acquire skills in Hip-Hop. The Dharavi #AfterSchoolOfHipHop is the only school across Southeast Asia to focus on cultural aspects of the area.

Speaking on the first class, DJ Spin Doctor said, “Our parents don’t have that much money to spend for something like DJ’ing, It took me a lot of courage to leave my medical career behind for this art form. Hustle is part of our lifestyle and here we are giving the knowledge for free to these kids with big dreams in their eyes.”

The Dharavi Dream Project | TEDxBocconiUMumbai

Samir Bangara, MD & Founder, Qyuki Digital shared
Thrilled to introduce 5th dimension to our AfterschoolofHiphop in the form of DJ’ng as a core element of Hip-hop which dates back to the origin of Hip-Hop and the legacy it has built-in the ecosystem. This element will further enhance and add value to our amazing talent and give them more avenues to express themselves.

Devraj Sanyal, MD & CEO, India & South Asia, Universal Music Group said “The ability to create beats & mix different kinds of sounds to come up with a fresh sound to the TDDP creative vision is a definite step in the right direction. The sounds will change, the vibe will get better and the quality of hip hop will immensely improve as a result of this. I’m thrilled about this new development & hope it takes our kids & their music to the next level. “

Dolly Rateshwar, Co-Founder, TheDharaviDreamProject speaks The feeling of incompleteness was finally over when Deepak one of the evangelist of our initiative in the US donated DJ’ng equipment to the school. DJ’ng being a core element of Hip-hop will see future DJ’s from our school playing very soon at different gigs and grooving everyone around in the community. This definitely serves the purpose of empowering under-resourced talent and helping them to follow their passion.

Radio City has launched a promotional campaign to stimulate this initiative and will follow up with on-ground promotions and unique activities for children conducted in slum settlements by radio jockeys and other personnel.

The idea for Candy Class was developed in partnership with GREY group India and looks to impact 3,000,000 children nationally. ACORN Foundation India, affiliated to ACORN International, is partnering on the activity in order to help build a sustainable model to popularise and scale up this project in Dharavi.

Speaking about the initiative, Radio City 91.1FM CEO Abraham Thomas said, “Candy Class is an ambitious project and we have rolled out the first phase. Dharavi, as one of Mumbai’s largest slums, seemed to be the right place to start our efforts to give back to Mumbai in a special way under the ambit of Rag Rag Mein Daude City. Using the power and reach of radio to make a difference to the lives of these children might help them gather a lifeskill that they might not otherwise have been fortunate enough to get”.