Hip-Hop Awareness Week features keynotes speeches, fashion and workshops
Hip-Hop Awareness Week takes a look behind the beats and the music to really dissect the culture surrounding the genre.
The week long of events beginning Monday includes events to represents the different elements of hip-hop culture from discussions of business to fashion.
“I think most of us, when we think of hip-hop, we probably think of commercial rap music … the larger politicized aspect of hip-hop gets overlooked,” said Akil Houston, assistant professor of cultural and media studies who will be a part of the panel discussion on Tuesday.
Hip-Hop Awareness Week allows a deeper look into the active roots of hip-hop and the potential embedded in hip-hop to evoke change in society, Houston said.
But the events are not to simply learn about the culture, but to create discussion about bigger societal issues, said Ayesha Hardison, associate professor of English and part of the co-sponsoring theme, Between Love and Hate.
“And maybe (it’ll start) a conversation that doesn’t feel as threatening or overwhelming as if you had initiated a conversation by saying, ‘What do you think about race?’ ” Hardison said.
Monday’s keynote speaker, J. Rawls will discuss the intersections of hip-hop and education and gives students the opportunity to learn from someone who has worked with well-known artists, Houston said.
Tuesday’s panel includes Regina Bradley, the founder and host of Outkasted Conversations. The discussion is set to include how people understand hip-hop culture, Bradley, a Georgia native, said.
“(I hope people get) a deeper appreciation for southerners’ contributions to hip-hop, the idea that northern hip-hop and southern hip-hop aren’t necessarily oppositional but they’re actually in conversation with each other,” Bradley said.
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Bradley hopes the panel will open up greater conversations about hip-hop and its connection between regions, she said.
“I think those conversations will really give people something to think about and not just hip-hop but in terms of the intersections of hip-hop,” Houston said.
Other events in the week to engage and celebrate hip-hop include a workshop with local DJs, a deeper looking into fashion in the hip-hop eras and a concert, Hardison said.
Typically the DJ workshop is a hands-on event that incorporates traditional ways of DJing on vinyl and more contemporary elements that integrate a computer, Houston said.
“Hip-hop may get reduced to the one rapper, but there are all these components that compose the culture or influence the culture or drive the culture,” Hardison said.
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