Who is Phillipdrummond aka Philthy aka Dr. Beats and what does he do?
#TalesofaTravelingBeatDoctor / #TherapeuticBeatMaking
A licensed child and adolescent clinical psychologist by training, Dr. Elliot Gann aka Phillipdrummond is a long-time beat maker and Executive Director of Today’s Future Sound (TFS). In the past ten years he has performed live beats and arranged beat battles/beat cyphers in 25+ countries across six continents, including 9 national tours of Australia, and working for the US State Department as a Hip Hop ambassador (Senegal 2015, Poland 2022) as well as organizing the longest-running monthly beat battle in the Bay Area (and world) for over a decade. He has also organized give US-State Department-funded Hip Hop Diplomacy/professional development exchanges with the TEAMBeats project including South Africa, Chile, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia.
Growing up in NYC in the Golden Era of Hip Hop, he is informed by the East Coast 90’s sound with touches of G-Funk and West Coast flavor, as he now resides in Oakland, CA. Currently working on a concept album and a beat tape, as well as releasing a string of singles with DJ Ammbush (Oakland Faders/Drums and Ammo) under the alias for the production duo “Illinger,” “Philthy,” as many know him, fuses obscure samples lifted from dusty vinyl dug from across the globe with retrofuturistic synths and garbage-can snares and rhinoceros charlie horse kick drums, laced with hi-hats drenched in kisses of the Gods of Rome.
He has a steady output of beats and artistic works (having completed the #365beatchallenge and currently doing the #BeatADay challenge on his social media channels), including frequent live beat performances and curating monthly beat cyphers/live beats showcases in Oakland and across the globe. Dr. Gann has been working with TFS in Bay Area schools and community settings, and across the globe using Hip Hop beat making and culture as a mental health, educational, social justice and cross-cultural intervention. He has worked with more than 100,000 youth on six continents in the past six years through TFS and is currently developing the Therapeutic Beat Making (TBM) Model.
His motto, “have beats, will travel,” bring the Traveling Beat Doctor to your venue, school, juvenile hall, corporate function or community and experience Dr. Beats in person with his Today's Future Sound team! Check out the TFS summary video to better understand Dr. Gann's work.
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