by Cid Standifer
A wave of break beats and smooth lyrics broke upon Grinnell campus this week, thanks to the efforts of a committed group of hip hop devotees. Since February, Derek Chandler and Ned Levy (both ‘04) have been working with bands, college officials and fans of hip hop culture to bring Grinnell’s first-ever Hip Hop Festival to fruition.
One of the festival’s main goals is educating people about what hip hop is. Molly Kafka ‘06, who helped publicize the festival, said, “I’ve learned more in the past month and a half being part of the committee than I have ever known about hip hop,” and that she hopes festival participants will have gained from the experience as well. Hip hop connoisseur Elena Rubin thinks that many people today mistakenly use the terms “rap” and “hip hop” interchangeably. She thinks that DJ KRS1 summed up the difference eloquently with the statement, “Rap is what you do; Hip Hop is how you live.” One of the events planned by the committee was aimed at defining the distinction and relationship between the two. On Thursday, the college presented a panel discussion titled “Is Rap’s Success Killiing Hip Hop?” Among the panelists was a well-known professor from dePaul University in Chicago who specializes in hip hop culture and history.
A central idea of hip hop that the festival committee chose to focus on is the concept of the “Four Elements.” Chandler described the four facets of hip hop as different ways to experience the culture. Graffiti, which he calls a method of “visualizing hip hop,” has become a major theme in the festival. At the beginning of the week, two of the documentaries shown at Harris focused on graffiti in New York, and on Wednesday, a workshop gave people hands on experience with the art. The college has also pitched in to commission a mural by a graffiti artist, which whill be unveiled Friday at 4:15 p.m. in Bucksbaum. The mural itself also plays on the theme of the elements.
The second element of hip hop that will be represented by events during the week is breakdancing. Chandler called hip hop’s unique form of dance “a way to stylize hip hop.” While many people see breakdancing and hip hop as a black art, Rubin emphasized the roots of breakdancing in Puerto Rican culture as well as African. Breakdancing was also a part of the Wed. workshop and the dance troup Stick and Move performed breakdancing on Thursday in Harris Concert Hall.
Element three is the art of DJ-ing. DJ-ing is essentially the heart of the musical aspect of hip hop culture, according to Rubin. She said that hip hop music began in the 1970’s, when DJs began to take the best, most energetic pieces of songs and play them repeatedly for people to dance to. For Friday’s party, the festival community has slated Mike Flo from Usuall Suspectz to work the turntables. Chandler thinks that the party, which will be after the concert, will be the culminating event of the week. “It’ll be a good way for people to listen to hip hop with a better understanding,” he said.
The final element started as an offshoot of the DJ-ing aspect of hip hop. MC-ing began when DJs began to talk over the beats they were playing to pump up the crowd. After a while, the job shifted to separate people, who became known as MCs. The art of rapping has its origins in the verbal traditions of many different cultures and has long been an integral part of the hip hop scene. According to Rubin, in the early days of the movement freestyling became a way of settling disputes. “Instead of going kinfe to knife,” she said, “they were going mic to mic.” Rubin said she is definitely looking forward to the freestyle battle at 8 p.m. on Friday in the Harris Center. People who want to participate in the showdown don’t need to sign up in advance. They simply need to show up and put their name on a list. Rubin, who intends to help organize the festival next year, hopes to include a poetry workshop to expand the verbal aspect of the festival.
The festival’s promoters and organizers believe that the festival has elicited a strongly positive reaction from both Grinnellians and people from outside the Grinnell community. In earlier stages of planning the festival, organizers drove out to several different colleges in Iowa and Illinois to distribute flyers and Chandler went on Drake University’s radio station to spread the word about the festival.
“I’m thinking [the festival has been] big in Grinnell size,” said Kafka, “but also diverse in terms of people coming in from outside of our community.” Chandler is also optimistic about the end results, and said “I think it’ll be a huge response. It’s something different; it’s something new."
Although Levy and Chandler were the two main organizers for the hip hop festival, many others had “a big hand” in making all of the events come together. “In doing something like this you have to have manpower,” said Chandler. Among the many students that Chandler mentioned as helping to plan the festival were Delwin Pink, Isom Winton, Mollie Kafka, Giovani Cortez, Elena Rubin and Archie Tyson. Support, both monetary and otherwise, was provided by the office of the president, SGA, Student Affairs and ACE.
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