This weekend, in conjunction with Art Matters 2004, Concordia will be hosting the 3rd annual Symposium on Hip-Hop Culture at Sir George Williams Campus.
The event is the brainchild of Students for the Advancement of Hip-Hop Culture. It aims to provide an arena for critical discussion on the social and political issues relevant to the Hip-Hop community.
These topics will be addressed through a series of lectures, discussions, and screenings. In the end, the symposium hopes to prove that hip-hop is as every bit a humanitarian and intellectual endeavor.
This reveals a very different Hip-Hop than what most people are used to. “[Hip-Hop] is a household name, but is still misunderstood,” explains Dana Schnitzer, the event co-ordinator. That’s because, as Schnitzer points out, there are two coexisting Hip-Hops: the ever-popular mainstream Hip-Hop, adorned by the faces of 50 Cent and Eminem, and a grassroots Hip-Hop, which is an actual movement that spans social activism, youth organizations, dance, the visual arts and, of course, music.
Unfortunately, the former has taken precedence in popular culture, leading many to believe that Hip-Hop is about drive-bys, pimps, hoes and bling-bling.
Since its beginnings in the African and Hispanic communities of the South Bronx in the 1970s, Hip-Hop has taken on an international flavour, spanning all five continents.
Ivy League universities, such as Princeton and Harvard, offer courses on Hip-Hop culture in the departments of sociology, history and African-American studies. Schnitzer couldn’t be happier in seeing these two spheres merge.
“It’s brilliant. [Hip-Hop culture] has to be looked at and studied by people in the universities. It has to be researched so that we have an understanding of what’s happening.”
So, what exactly is happening? Marinieves Alba and Jorge “Fabel” Pabon, the symposium’s leading lecturers are here to tell you.
A South Bronx native, now living in East Harlem, NYC, Alba is an activist, educator, writer and media veteran who has worked in print, radio, and documentary film. Among her contributions to the Hip-Hop community is Hip-Hop L.E.A.D.S, an outreach program, which she founded and still directs, designed to educate New York’s youth on the social and political issues of Hip-Hop culture by way of popular art.
Jorge “Pop Master Fabel” Pabon is another Hip-Hop activist, author, and documentary filmmaker who also happens to be one of the founding members of the legendary Rock Steady breakdancing crew.
The Spanish Harlem native will be presenting, “The Great Hip-Hop Swindle,” a lecture that explores the origins of the current mainstream/grassroots divides in hip-hop.
Pabon discusses how today’s media has bastardized the art form from its original state in the 70’s and 80’s. Special attention will be given to solutions that will help Hip-Hop reemerge in its true form.
Fabel will also be giving a breakdancing workshop this Saturday afternoon as part of the symposium.
Panel topics to be discussed at this year’s event include: the history of African American dance traditions in Montreal; Entrepreneurship and the role of the intermediary in Hip-Hop consumption; Graffiti and archiving Hip-Hop Culture; Violence, and its relation to Hip-Hop.
The Hip-Hop Symposium hopes to attract people from inside and outside the Hip-Hop community.
For those who are already involved, Schnitzer hopes to provide a platform to “exchange ideas and information, and debate issues that are relevant to the community.”
For first-time comers she anticipates the event will be a “learning experience” that will teach them what Hip-Hop is truly about. “It’s much more than just the music. That’s why we call it a culture.”
Breakdance Workshop with Pop Master Fabel of the Rock Steady Crew, Saturday, March 13, 11:30-1:30 p.m. Cat’s Corner 486 St-Catherine W., Studio 303. $30 RSVP $40 drop in. His lecture “The Great Hip-Hop Swindle” takes place Sunday, March 14 from 3:00-5:30 p.m. in H-110, $5. For a complete schedule of events visit the Hip-Hop Symposium Web sites at http://hiphop_academix.tripod.com/symposium/home.htm
