The name "1200" is known to many around Louisville but carries a different meaning to everyone.

For some, he is a genre-defying musician. For others, an award-winning educator. Many know him as a community motivator and organizer. Jecorey "1200" Arthur, 26, sees himself as the in-between, the connector of the different parts of our community that make Louisville unique.

“I’ve sat on boards and in rooms with the mayor’s staff and I’ve been in housing projects with people who are addicted to crack,” Arthur said. “I’m the middle road. I have to do what I can to bring both sides together.”

Arthur spent most of his youth in the Parkland neighborhood of western Louisville, which always felt like home. He remembers family friends who lived up the block, kids playing with one another, barbecues and a close-knit atmosphere.

“A lot of people consider west Louisville, all nine of our neighborhoods, to be the ‘bad’ side of town, but I didn’t know until I was an adult that it was considered a place that people were afraid to go,” Arthur said.

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His teen years were spent moving around southern Louisville in predominantly white neighborhoods before returning to the West End. These moves, he believes, contributed to who he is both in music and in education, from teaching in the East End at Hite Elementary School in Middletown to leading the Young Composers Club at the Shawnee Boys and Girls Club.

“I’d say, more than anything, as opposed to me code-switching, I’m just all the codes,” he laughs. “I’m every possible code. I’m the bridge. I’m not X, Y, or Z. I’m in-between all of them.”

The influence of his varied experiences and interests is evident in his new album "ARSNOVA," Latin for new art, a style of music created in the 14th century. The album, which will be released June 1, pulls from Arthur’s percussion background, his classical music interests and his experiences growing up as an African-American male. All of that is merged together in tracks that discuss everything from gentrification to self-hatred.

The song “Youth” combines legendary composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s "Symphony No. 4," the blues styling of Louisville's own Tyrone Cotton, Arthur’s rap vocals and kids from the West End.

Arthur said he is attempting to create a new genre, a new perspective, with his upcoming album.

“You turn on the radio right now and listen to hip-hop, you’re going to hear a lot of the same vocabulary, a lot of the same subject matter and most of it lacks substance,” Arthur said. “And we promote this to kids. Kids soak it in. Then they want a big fancy watch. Then they want a big car. Then they objectify women. It’s a toxic cycle and I’m trying to break it the best way that I possibly can.”

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His genre-fusing music hasn’t always been well-received. He was almost kicked out of college, he says, for trying to fuse hip-hop and classical music, a pivotal moment in his life.

“I had to choose,” he said. “Make classical music, be a teacher, be very strict in this European tradition, or try and be a hip-hop artist. I felt like I had to choose or fuse. From then on out, I made it a point to show people that not only is there relevancy between these two worlds, but that they can work together.”

As an educator, Arthur believes his students in western Louisville have the right to experience all varieties of art, from the orchestra to the ballet, in their own backyard.

“That’s definitely why I’m still here in west Louisville,” he said. “It’s important for them to see and have these experiences in their own neighborhood.”

One of the many education programs Arthur has spearheaded is the 90.5 WUOL Composers Club with the Shawnee Boy and Girls Club, where he works with high school and college students over the summer to help them notate and write music for the piano.

“We could have easily sat down and said we are going to learn about William Grant Still — he was the first black man to compose a symphony for a major orchestra,” Arthur said. “That’s so important for them to know, but what’s so much better than taking that knowledge, is being William Grant Still and composing that music.”

He encouraged each student to add a personal element to their music to instill ownership in the piece. It's about making something of value, he said, not just making music for the sake of music.

At the end of the program, each student had their piece performed live by Nada Loutfi, a renowned concert pianist from Lebanon. They each stood up, spoke about what inspired them in composing the piece, and told the audience what they'd like them to think of while listening.

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Alisha Mitchell, a senior at Central High School, named her piece "Ripple," she said, "to show all the rippling effects love has on the brain."

She asked listeners to think about the first time they fell in love during the sweet, subtle piano piece.

“They didn’t even know they were composers, but then we sit down and we notate and you show there’s no division,” Arthur said. “Composers aren’t just dead Germans. You’re a composer. You can be anything you want. You don’t have to be a rapper or an athlete. You can compose music.”

Arthur credits his success to his passion for music from a young age. He hopes to instill that same passion into kids in his community as well as through his music education programs.

“Music definitely saved my life,” Arthur said. “If I wasn’t passionate about teaching music, performing music, composing music or organizing events that centered around music, I don’t know where I would be. If I didn’t have music, I might be in the graveyard or I might be sitting in a jail cell.”

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Reach visual journalist Nikki Boliaux at nboliaux@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @nicolerboliaux.