Hello beautiful people and welcome to Kaiya’s Korner. As we round the korner of a new year, I think we must take the time to reflect on the new heights we have reached this year.
At a glance, 2021 was nothing short of amazing for Girls Make Beats! The organization was able to perform for major events, forge new relationships with industry titans, and collaborate on campaigns uplifting young girls worldwide! The girls handled each of these new opportunities with grace, cheering on their other GMB sisters along the way.
Here is a glimpse into just some of GMB’s most memorable events the year:
2021 Nike Air Max Day Campaign
In March, Abby Jahaira and I represented Girls Make Beats as the faces of Nike’s Air Max Day campaign that centered itself around female empowerment. For me, this was a bucket list item I never thought to write.
It meant so much to feel seen, to be given such a large platform through Nike and Foot Locker,
to express what it is to be a young woman entering male-dominated fields. The campaign especially lent emphasis to Black and Latin X women as this was an opportunity to kick down the door into spaces we have been historically shut out.
Girls Make Beats Movie Placement in Coming 2 America
Girls Make Beats brought its movement to the big screens with a song placement in the long-awaited sequel film Coming 2 America on March 5th, 2021. The opportunity came about while working on the Girls Make Beats compilation album entitled "She is Queen'' which is a medley of songs highlighting women in various cultures composed and performed by the women and girls of GMB. The funk-influenced song "Queendom" produced by our beloved founder, Tiffany Miranda, featuring MEANGIRL received a placement in the major film. To see Girls Make Beats make it to the credits of such an acclaimed film is proof enough of our Queendom’s impact here at Girls Make Beats.
Native Instruments Community Drive Charity Pack
Girls Make Beats had the honor of partnering with leading industry Native Instruments on this year's Community Drive Charity Sound Pack. In support of the next generation of producers, artists, and engineers, #CommunityDrive is a donation-based charity sound pack with contributions from amazing artists and producers. Our very own GMB girls contributed 33 samples and loops and 1 construction kit to the pack!
The Community Drive was extremely successful, committing over $30,000 to support our mission to increase the female presence of music producers, DJs, and engineers in the music space and creating real-world opportunities to break the barriers within the music industry. This would not have been possible without the contributions of SOFI TUKKER, !llmind, Flohio, Telefon Tel Aviv, Saltyyyy V, Phase Fatale, The Pocket Queen, Miss Tahloulah May, Wize, Jamie Lidell, Zola Jesus, Stichiz, and MEANGIRL. The collective efforts of these artists have culminated in a robust sound pack, full of idiosyncratic vocals, synth presets, samples, and loops made to blend seamlssly into your own productions. This sound pack is still available here.
Girls Make Beats DJ at Missy Elliot’s Hollywood Walk of Fame Inauguration
Yes, you read that subtitle right – GMB deejayed Missy Elliot’s celebration in honor of her inauguration into the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This star-studded event included everyone from LL Cool J, Ciara, Lizzo, Janelle Monae, and the icon Missy Elliot herself. It was a full-circle moment to have the girls DJ for Missy who has served as a trailblazer and role model for decades.
DJ Mak 10 and DJ Bleu kept the party-goers on their feet with their upbeat tracks. They were even surprised by Grammy-Award-winning singer Ciara as they spun her viral track “Level Up”.
GMB DJs The Premier Of New Disney Film Spin
On August 13th, Girls Make Beats was invited to DJ for the premiere of Disney's new film "Spin". But these princesses didn't show up in tiaras or glass slippers, instead, they sported headphones and fresh kicks! They had the chance to meet Disney Spin star Avantika Vandanapu on the red carpet.
The girls even had a conversation with Avantika, co-star Michael Bishop, and director Manjari Makijany on Episode 10 of the Girls Make Beats podcast!
Spin follows the adventures of 15-year-old Rhea Kumar, an Indian American teen who discovers her passion for creating DJ mixes but must find the courage to follow her true inner talent much like our talented girls at GMB.
Girls Make Beats Joins Forces with Barbie
This year Girls Make Beats truly became Barbie girls in their Barbie world! We were excited to join forces with Barbie, MTV, and Grammy Award-nominated music producer, songwriter, singer, and actress Ester Dean to inspire more girls to explore a future in music production.
With women making up less than 3% of music producers, Barbie has committed to introducing girls to this underrepresented career possibility and removing the barriers that might prevent girls from reaching their limitless potential in whatever they do – because whether they choose to be Music Producers or anything else, Barbie is all about marching to the beat of your own drum. As part of the collaboration, Barbie is funding Girls Make Beats scholarships to give more girls access to pursue a future in music, and together with Ester Dean hosted a live webinar to empower girls to take their place as the next generation of music producers.
It doesn’t stop there! One of our multi-talented members, Sparkle, lit up our screens with her performance of her original song "You Can Be Anything" produced by Girls Make Beats on Barbie's YCBA YouTube series featuring Ester Dean, Laurie Hernandez, and more.
The reach our organization has been able to achieve never ceases to amaze me as it is ever-expanding. Many of these real-world opportunities have changed these girls' lives including my own. It takes discipline to go home after a long day of school, complete homework and other responsibilities, then still choose to carve out time to nurture your passions. It takes confidence to fearlessly go after your dreams. It takes mentors like Tiffany Miranda, Whitney Taber, Abby Jahaira, Stichiz, DJ Candi, and so many others who’ve dedicated their time and energy to pour into the next generation of DJs, producers, engineers, artists, and entrepreneurs.
In 2012, Tiffany “Delilah” Miranda started Girls Make Beats which consisted of her, her laptop, one DJ controller, and one Ableton Push MIDI-Controller, along with 25 girls in a classroom. Nearly ten years later, Girls Make Beats has been able to supply girls across the country with equipment to launch their very own home studios with classes to optimize their software and hardware at the highest capacity. GMB has garnered national attention receiving notice from even the CEO of the Recording Academy giving girls real-world opportunities to turn their passions into full-time careers.
Tiffany channeled her frustrations in a male-dominated industry into an opportunity to launch other girls into music careers with their own sense of creative control. She has used her knowledge as an accomplished DJ, producer, engineer, singer, and leader to create a comprehensive curriculum to teach young girls worldwide. If she had given up on this vision, many girls would have continued to be overlooked and discouraged rather than empowered, silenced rather than amplified. As we enter 2022, I encourage us all to model our mentality after GMB’s founder to relentlessly follow our dreams to align them with reality. Look at what can happen in one year!
Next year is sure to be an even more exciting and successful chapter for Girls Make Beats. Keep up with it all by continuing to follow us on all our social media outlets @GirlsMakeBeats and if you have a young girl in your life who would be interested in this program feel free to register here. I am wishing everyone a prosperous 2022!
See you in the new year,
Kaiya Nyasha (@kaiyanyasha) ❤ 😇
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