Today’s Future Sound, in partnership with Bayokyo and Youth Spirit Artworks (YSA), is excited to announce the return of the #BERKELEYBEATCYPHER! 🎧💥
Official flyer for the #BerkeleyBeatCypher on Saturday, Oct 17th, 3–8 PM at Youth Spirit Artworks.
Event Details:
📅 Date: Saturday, October 17th, 2026
🕒 Time: 3:00 PM – 8:00 PM (Open AUX starts at 3:00 PM)
📍 Location: Youth Spirit Artworks — 1740 Alcatraz Ave, Berkeley, CA 94703
🎟️ Admission: ALL AGES | NO COVER (Free)
Featured Lineup & Host:
🎤 Host & YSA Lead Instructor: Da Rap Nerd (@darapnerd)
🎛️ Live Beats x Turntablism/Scratch DJ: SpyderBeatz x Fugwel (@spyderbeatz x @fugwel)
🔥 Featured Beat Sets: J.A.A.D (@og_jaad) | Teru (@terudafunkjester) | Kig Bid (@kigbid) | Imaginary Other (@_imaginary_other)
Intergenerational Connection & Real-World Learning
Returning to Youth Spirit Artworks—a venue where we have previously hosted impactful beat cyphers—holds deep significance for our mission. This event is intentionally structured as a two-generation, intergenerational space where youth, emerging producers, and veteran artists come together to collaborate, build community, and learn from one another.
We are inviting students from across our programs, including youth from Youth Spirit Artworks and Solano County, to experience a live, real-world music-making environment. Hosted by Da Rap Nerd—who acts as both a featured artist and the lead music production instructor at YSA—this cypher directly bridges classroom instruction with community participation. Teaching students how to navigate, organize, and perform in these spaces is a core aspect of the Today’s Future Sound curriculum, empowering youth to see themselves as active contributors to local culture and art.
Beat Cyphers as Community Mental Health Interventions
At Today’s Future Sound, we have long viewed beat cyphers as essential community mental health interventions. Beyond our direct work with youth in school and juvenile justice settings, public cyphers extend our Therapeutic Beat Making (TBM) model to the broader community.
As Dr. Elliot Gann and Dr. Alex H. D. Crooke write in our book chapter, Global Inclusion and Healing Through Therapeutic Beat Making (Oxford University Press, 2023):
“Performing and presenting their music in front of peers and being given physical and metaphorical venues where they can perform their beats decreases the level of anxiety for beat makers, who ‘speak with beats’ and share similar passions and sensibilities… The live events and virtual cyphers, battles, and showcases have been a place to gather and commune, leading to friendship, comradery, collaboration (artistic, social, and professional), networking, knowledge exchange…”
Beat makers—who often create in isolation—benefit immensely from the relational and expressive safety of the cypher. Rhythmic music creation helps regulate the nervous system, lower anxiety, and reduce feelings of isolation, creating an inclusive space grounded in social connection and shared learning.
From the #GlobalBeatCypher to Local Roots
Our understanding of the cypher’s power grew significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic with the launch of the #GlobalBeatCypher. Designed as a weekly virtual cypher to combat isolation, anti-Asian racism, and xenophobia during lockdowns, the #GlobalBeatCypher provided a vital mental health lifeline. It united producers from around the world, building an international community that eventually transitioned into global, in-person gatherings and collaborative international initiatives.
Bringing this model back to local physical venues like Youth Spirit Artworks honors both our global reach and our deep local roots. It ensures that our Bay Area students and community members continue to have a safe, vibrant space to connect, share knowledge, and heal through sound.
How to Participate
Whether you are an established producer, a student taking the stage for the first time, or a community member who loves live Hip Hop, you are invited!
Open AUX starts at 3:00 PM.
To reserve a spot in the cypher: DM @todaysfuturesound on Instagram or email wearebayokyo@gmail.com.
Come build community, share your beats, and support the next generation of sound makers! 🔊✨