Hi Everyone- I am a featured scholar/performer at the forthcoming conference at NYU on the future of Hip-hop Studies. I am presenting excerpts from my forthcoming book on Hip-hop Theater and Performance. The line-up is fantastic so check it out if you are in the NYC area. Check out the fresh conference description so eloquently written by my colleague and friend Dr. Imani Kai Johnson, who organized this one day event. See all my NYC people in a few weeks. I am sure you observed my vintage Hip-hop vernacular. Word.
Show and Prove: The Tensions, Contradictions, and Possibilities of Hip Hop Studies in PracticeA day-long symposium featuring new work in the burgeoning field of Hip Hop Studies through panels, discussions, performances, and more.
In Hip Hop performance communities, the “show and prove” attitude is one... that privileges action over words or the demonstration of skills over merely talking about them. “Show and prove” can also be read as an indirect critique of academics whose role, in the simplest of terms, is to write on the actions of others. But with a growing number of practitioner-scholars and generations of those raised on Hip Hop taking classes, writing, and publishing work on the culture, today’s Hip Hop scholars feel as accountable to the academy as they feel to their own cultural communities, seeking to give back in meaningful ways through their scholarship. From negotiating the academy alongside varied Hip Hop audiences, these scholars must show and prove themselves in ways that may be conflicting or contradictory while simultaneously struggling against the trappings of academic institutions that have historically objectified and even exploited such communities rather than recognizing them as active subjects in collaborative projects.
It centers recent work in Hip Hop Studies by a new generation of scholars. Hip Hop Studies is an interdisciplinary field, relevant to issues and themes including but not limited to culture, politics, religion, race, sexuality, gender, class, creative production, social change, identity formation, education, and history. Hip Hop’s propensity to push the boundaries of different genres persists when it enters the academy. All students and lovers of Hip Hop—whether they come out of the classroom, the studio, the stage, or the streets—are invited to participate.
*Co-Sponsors include the Performance Studies Department of NYU, the Center for Multi-Cultural Education and Programs, the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU, the Hip Hop Theater Festival, and the Office of LGBT Student Services.
September 18, 8:00am - 8:00pm
Location: NYU Performance Studies
721 Broadway, 6th Floor, NY, NY 10003
'Show and Prove' is FREE and open to the public.
Schedule and registration information coming soon!
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