Next Up: Beats & Bars

Nissan kicked off the 2022 BET awards by spotlighting the rich contributions and inspiration that Black musicians have had on the electrifying sounds of Rock & Roll with our Next Up: Electric Beats campaign. The Next Up program, Next Up: Afrobeats, was thrilled to put the faces of the innovative and flourishing Afrobeats genre in the spotlight with a three-part digital mini-concert series. New and up-and-coming Afrobeats artists had a chance to be voted fan favorite.

For Hip Hop's most spectacular night, we continued to partner with BET to bring thrilling storytelling, exciting content, and moments that take place during the night of this year’s BET HIP HOP AWARDS. Additionally, we added to the thrill of the evening as celebs arrived & fans watched red carpet content.

Nissan is happy to announce the winner of Next Up: Afrobeats’ contest, Mannywellz. The 2022 BET Hip Hop awards aired October 4th, 2022. 

Nissan partnered with BET to launch the ‘Next Up’ Program. With the help of 7x Grammy-nominated hip-hop producer Just Blaze, three up-and-coming music producers were handpicked and mentored using the latest technology to take their sound to the next level. The winning producer, King Fresh, had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have his track premiered on the night of the 2021 BET Hip Hop Awards!

This program was designed to educate aspiring artists in audio engineering and provide mentorship as they work on a new track. Overall, the program is an extension of our longstanding commitment to increase representation of African-Americans in STEAM careers of Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts or Math.

Black Girls CODE is an organization that carries the mission of empowering girls of color ages 7-17 to become innovators in STEAM fields, leaders in their communities, and builders of their own futures through exposure to computer science and technology. With their focus in the digital space, Black Girls CODE is working to provide African-American youth with the skills to occupy the constantly expanding tech sector. The organization already has trained 3,000 girls in seven chapters in cities in the United States, and has one chapter in Johannesburg, South Africa, with plans to add chapters in eight more cities.

As a company that democratizes tech and believes in innovation, Nissan feels strongly about empowering the Black Girls CODE organization. An organization that promotes coding to African American female youth.