COV Records/ Turf Unity

Cov Records is a community based music and video production center in Oakland, California. Cov Records Media offers free services to youth and young adults (ages 13-24). The project helps youth learn music production, sound engineering, video production, and promotional marketing skills. Hundreds of youth artists come to the center to produce their solo-artist CD's, create music videos, and organize community arts shows. Cov Records has a group of youth artists that organize community music events, and has done countless presentations at schools, community centers, and organizations. Cov Records has organized multiple Stop The Violence shows in Oakland with the Art in Action organization (www.artinactioncamp.org) and Silence the Violence collective (BayAreaSilenceTheViolence.org). Cov Records has also produced many music videos that have been aired on television, internet sites and DVD’s. Youth working with the project have also made many documentary films about using music to unify neighborhood turfs throughout the bay area. Many of the youth artists survive off CD sales and shows, and are now using their hustling skills to start cooperative music businesses.

Cov Records joined the Turf Unity project of Silence the Violence and Art in Action and has been part of a project unifying rappers from rival neighborhoods through music, and organizing a Turf Unity shows that bring together rappers from different turfs for non-violent hyphy hip-hop shows (with 2232 MLK community venue in Oakland, California). Some of the rappers at Cov Records have been shot and they are using their music to tell their stories about growing up homeless and on the streets, and they are now promoting unity and social justice. Cov Records also uses music to help people grieve after shootings, and to intervene before retaliation occurs. The turf unity project has worked with many youth music organizations, such as BUMP Records, Weapons of Mass Expression Collective, OneFam Radio, and many more. Cov Records is available for hire, and open to collaborations with other youth organizations and music/video production companies. Refer to the image to the left on this webpage to see hours of operation and contact info.