ABOUT LIFE CHECK
OVERVIEW
Life Check is a Durban based non-profit monthly Hip Hop event run in association with The BAT Centre youth development program. Using the resources provided by The BAT centre together with funding provided by REDBULL SA Culture department, a platform has been created for Durban youth to express themselves through Hip Hop culture and related performance styles.
On the first Saturday of every month youth from the Durban metro area gather at The BAT centre, located in the city Yacht Basin, and express themselves through Rapping, Dancing, Poetry and Music in a safe and controlled environment. The event runs for approximately 5 hours.
HISTORY
Life Check is the result of another non-profit Hip Hop event called BLING FREE that ran successfully for three years before being forced through various circumstances to shut down for a period of time. BLING FREE took place on the first Saturday of every month at the Albert Park indoor soccer court in Durban Central. The walls of the court were legalised for use by Graffiti artists, a sound system was sponsored by a local store to provide DJs with equipment to play music while the artists worked, the event took place during the day and was free for the public as an environment to enjoy Hip Hop music and artistry. The event was intended to provide an area for Hip Hop appreciation outside of nightclubs and parties as well as to encourage the youth to reclaim the city centre as their own. The Albert Park area has become a notoriously poor section of the city and BLING FREE intended to give the area upliftment through regular Hip Hop activity. The event attracted a large number of Hip Hop supporters and youth from both the inner city and Durban’s numerous surrounding locations/suburbs.
BLING FREE has now moved from Albert Park to The BAT Centre and has been reincarnated as LIFE CHECK.
PROJECTS
Life Check has hosted and continues to facilitate various Hip Hop based events, through the support of The BAT Centre and in association with various outside projects including 2ON2 BBoy Battles, REDBULL BC One, REDBULL Street Style, REDBULL Music Academy, POETRY AFRICA, and HYPE Magazine Sessions.
The flagship project for Life Check every year (for four years now) is The LIFE CHECK ALL ELEMENTS BATTLE OF THE YEAR, a Hip Hop competition that takes place in August where rappers, break dancers, graffiti artists, beat boxers, producers and DJs compete against each other for the title of Durban no1 and the resulting prizes. Each year the main prize has been an all expenses paid Hip Hop road trip for all winners who travel to a significant Hip Hop event outside of Durban. 2007s event was the World One on One Breakdancing championships (REDBULL BC One) held in Soweto, Johannesburg. The previous years have seen the winners travelling to Cape Town for the South African Hip Hop Indaba.