In 2015, 206 Zulu hosted Beat Masters on the Seattle Waterfront for the first time in front of the Great Wheel with the viaduct standing tall nearby. Eleven years later, the competition returns to the waterfront for the 15th anniversary—this time to a fully redesigned Waterfront Park.
To mark the return of Beat Masters to the waterfront, we asked 206 Zulu Beat Master Leads to reflect on where the event has been, how it has transformed and what it means to bring it back to the waterfront for the 15th anniversary.
Then (2017)
What do you remember about those early years at the Seattle Waterfront Hot Spot near the Great Wheel?
Kazuo Oki: One of the things I remember most was how exciting it was to move the Beat Masters event to an outdoor venue at the Seattle Waterfront near the Great Wheel. It gave beat makers the opportunity to share their music with a much broader audience beyond the core hip-hop community. Before that, the event was held indoors, and most of the attendees were people who were already interested in beat making. Hosting it on the waterfront completely changed the atmosphere.
Read full article at Friends of Waterfront Park blog!
