“With Hip Hop constantly changing and evolving, it is easy to forget the history and legacy that precede it,” Q-Tip, Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Hip Hop Culture, said in a press release. “I want to begin at the beginning of the Culture to help people see its roots, better understand its present, and responsibly create its future.”
In honor of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ forthcoming Hip Hop Culture series, rap legend Q-Tip has been named the program’s first artistic director. The Tribe Called Quest veteran will curate the series at the Washington D.C. center, which will explore the culture across deejaying, emceeing, breakdancing, graffiti writing, and knowledge of self.
“With Hip Hop constantly changing and evolving, it is easy to forget the history and legacy that precede it,” Q-Tip, Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Hip Hop Culture, said in a press release. “I want to begin at the beginning of the Culture to help people see its roots, better understand its present, and responsibly create its future.”
The prolific DJ/rapper/producer will also be working in tandem with the visual arts organization Hi-ARTS, which has been collaborating with the Kennedy Center for the past 15 years in developing the DC Hip Hop Theater Festival as well as co-producing the Center’s 2014 One Mic: Hip Hop Culture Worldwide festival.
See the 2016-2017 Hip Hop Culture Season schedule below.
July 12-16, 2016 — Family Theater, Concert Hall — Brave New Voices Youth Summit
October 12-16, 2016 — Family Theater — All the Way Live!
November 3-5, 2016 — Terrace Gallery — Words, Beats & Life Teach-In
November 5, 2016 — Grand Foyer — Top Notch
May 23, 2017 — Eisenhower Theater — DJ Spooky: Rebirth of a Nation
June 5-11, 2017 — Family Theater — /peh-LO-tah/ [Billboard]
