Upcoming Hip Hop Conferences and Festivals
Upcoming Hip Hop Conferences and Festivals
Events for educators, students, innovators and supporters of the culture
📝 FROM THE E-DESK OF MANNY FACES
Peace and love. Couple quick notes before a bunch of truly important, innovative and exciting Hip Hop-related conferences you should know about.
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I have some NY/NJ and West Coast dates coming up that I’ll be announcing soon (and I’ll be at a couple of these conferences listed below - look for me where you see the 👀).
In the meantime, I thank you humbly for your attention. Please enjoy the rest of the newsletter.
— Manny
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HIP HOP-related CONFERENCES & FESTIVALS
(If you know of any I missed, reply directly to this newsletter and let me know!)
The Words Beats Life Festival 2023 👀
A week of free concerts, events and workshops, put together by Words, Beats & Life, DC’s longest running Hip Hop based arts educational non profit. Featured events include “Remixing the Art of Social Change,” an annual gathering of Hip Hop artists, scholars, activists and fans to share solutions and methods. It all goes down April 4 - 9, 2023.
For more information, visit www.wblinc.org/wblfest
HHYRA (Hip Hop Youth Research and Activism) Conference 👀
The annual HHYRA Conference will take place on Friday May 19th, 2023 from 9am to 2pm at Rutgers University’s New Brunswick, NJ campus, and will feature workshops and presentations around the ideas of youth identities, popular culture, and social justice led by high school and college students whose proposals are accepted by the HHYRA Youth Leadership Council.
The theme of this year’s conference is, “Reconnections: Finding our purpose and each other through art, culture, and community," and will host youth workshops, presentations, performances, and artwork that explore healthy, culturally sustaining ways to reconnect to ourselves and to others.
For more information visit sites.google.com/view/hhyraconference/home
Rock The School Bells
Rock The School Bells was birthed in 2008 at Skyline College in San Bruno, CA on the basis of using Hip Hop as a platform to serve and educate youth in the community. It has bridged students, emcees, deejays, bboys, graf' writers, entrepreneurs, educators, and leaders to enhance perspectives and communities.
This year’s conference will take place on Thursday, April 13, 2023 from 9am-3pm at Skyline College.
For more information: www.rocktheschoolbells.com | @RockTheSchoolBells
Global Conference on Hip Hop Education 👀
The Global Conference on Hip Hop Education is a place where practitioners, artists, activists and educators will gather with the objective of expanding the research on the foundation of Hip Hop.
The conference — which I co-hosted virtually in 2021 and 2022 — is expected to return in person later this year to a location yet to be determined.
For more information, including an upcoming call for papers, keep an eye on www.hhaae.org/conference or send an email to HHAAEConference@gmail.com requesting to be put on the mailing list.
Word. Sound. Power. 2023: WORD—The New Storytellers
Brooklyn Academy of Music’s annual showcase of hip-hop and spoken word includes performances by Helixx C. Armageddon of the gender justice collective The Anomolies; Brooklyn MC and activist Silent Knight; Hip Hop and spoken word artist Dahlak Brathwaite; Hip Hop artist and producer Pri the Honeydark; interdisciplinary artist, choreographer, and filmmaker Jade Charon; DJ Reborn; and longtime host and co-curator MC Baba Israel.
Happening April 21 - 28, 2023.
For more information, visit www.bam.org/word-sound-power-2023
Big shouts to Mikal Amin & Sommer. 👋
HipHop Literacies Conference
Ohio State’s ninth Hiphop Literacies Conference is an academic-community event designed to explore issues relevant to the lives of the hiphop generation of youth and their communities. The theme this year is “Hiphop and Queer/Trans Black Feminisms,” honoring LGBTQ+ contributions to hiphop and a more equitable society.
The conference is free and will take place March 30-31, 2023 at the Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center on The Ohio State University’s Columbus campus.
The free concert will be held in-person only at the Lincoln Theatre, 769 E. Long St., Columbus, Ohio, Friday, March 31, with doors opening at 7 p.m. The concert is free but with limited seating.
For more information, visit https://ehe.osu.edu/events/2023-hiphop-literacies-conference
Hi Dr. E. 👋
17th Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival
The 2023 Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival goes down Thursday, March 30th through Saturday April 1st. Kicking things off will be a keynote from (hi friend!) professor and author Imani Kai Johnson. Other events Friday and Saturday include graffiti, production and dance workshops and battles, artist and producer showcases and a concert event to top it all off.
For more information or questions: www.instagram.com/trinityhiphop
2023 #HipHopEd Conference
#HipHopEd is a non-profit organization and on- and offline community striving to empower communities & reimagine the relationship between Hip Hop & education. The organization hosts weekly, top-tier Twitter discussions about Hip Hop culture, education, youth empowerment and more. The group recently announced their next conference will take place on Saturday, June 3, 2023 in the Bronx, NY.
For more information: #HipHopEd on Twitter, @HipHopEd on Instagram, or www.hiphoped.com
RELATED: Listen to #HipHopEd’s Chief Visionary Officer on the “Hip-Hop Can Save America!” podcast
A3C Festival & Conference 👀
The A3C Festival & Conference, a leading music, technology and culture festival that was founded in 2005, has announced its 2023 festival and conference dates for a three-day, in-person event in Atlanta this fall. The 18th Annual A3C Festival & Conference will take place from September 28-30, 2023.
For more information: www.a3cconference.com
Hip-Hop Can Save America! - The Entrepreneur Episodes
🎧 Click here to listen as a podcast
📺 Click here to watch as a video
📅 MORE EVENTS
🧥 [NYC] EXHIBITION: Fresh, Fly, Fabulous: Fifty Years of Hip Hop Style - Exhibition at The Museum at FIT Feb. 8 through April 2
🏛️ [ATL] EXHIBITION: Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip-Hop Architecture - Through May 15, 2023
📸 [NYC] PHOTO EXHIBITION: Hip-Hop: Conscious, Unconscious - Through May 21
🏫 [NC] Aspire2Higher Hip Hop IS Higher Ed Symposium - March 30 & 31
🏫 [VA] 2nd Edition of the Hip Hop Studies Symposium - April 21
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