April 3rd-4th 2009 Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, will stage the 4th annual Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival, the first and largest international hip hop festival in the United States.
We are happy to announce that this year’s concerts will be headlined by K’NAAN, the fastest rising star in international hip hop. The Somalian emcee spent the last two years touring the world with Damian and Stephen Marley. His vividly spoken images of war-torn Somalia and his fierce criticism of American gangsta rappers has garnered him appearances on BET/MTV and collaborations with Mos Def and M1 of Dead Prez. With two independently released albums under his belt, K’naan signed with A&M/Octone in 2008 and released the stunning album Troubadour in February 2009.
A stunning group of international performers will support K’naan and participate with attendees though workshops, panel discussions and films. New York’s Hired Gun and Washington, D.C.’s Princess of Controversy will be hosting two nights of performances featuring K’naan, Poetic Pilgrimage (UK), Mohammed Yahya (UK), Mr. Reo (Haiti), BeatburgerBand (Czech Republic), African Underground All-Stars (Senegal and Mali) and Game Rebellion (Brooklyn, New York). Hartford’s top radio DJ from Hot 93.7, Dj Craig G,will host the afterparty on Friday night with DJ Boo of the Juggaknots spinning at the Saturday night afterparty.
The Trinity festival will screen one of 2008’s biggest hip hop films, Planet B-Boy, a look at five international breakdancing crews as they prepare for the world dance championship Battle of the Year in Germany. For the second year, the festival will hold a 2-on-2 b-boy battle with a $500 grand prize.
A panel discussion entitled “Stereotypes in Hip Hop” featuring several of Trinity College’s own professors including Gail Woldu, author of The Words and Music of Ice Cube, and Emily Musil, Professor of History and International Studies.
Stanford’s Angela Steele will present her Fulbright research “Rap in China—In Search of a Hip Hop Hero.” Ms. Steele spent a year in China immersed in the emerging hip hop scene and looking for the leaders who will form hip hop culture in the world’s most populated country.
The festival will feature several new workshops this year including a beatboxing workshop with Czech Republic’s world champion beatboxers BeatBurgerBand and a freestyle rhyming workshop with New York emcee Hired Gun. Graffiti artists will be painting murals all day as a backdrop for the workshops and b-boy battle.
The festival will also include a screening of Fangafrika, an African Francophone documentary set during a hip hop festival in Burkina Faso that gathered a who’s who of African hip hop addressing the serious issues facing Africans everywhere. The film’s directors will be on hand for a discussion of activism and education in West African hip hop.
Poetic Pilgrimage, a female Muslim duo from London, will host a discussion about Gender and Sexuality in the Middle East.
In past years, the College has hosted hip-hop luminaries such as Fab 5 Freddy; Jeff Chang, author of Can’t Stop Won’t Stop; Byron Hurt, director of Hip Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes; and Charlie Ahern, director of Wildstyle.
Festival Sponsors include Trinity College, Nomadic Wax, The Temple of Hip-Hop (Trinity College Chapter) and World Hip Hop Market. The festival will be free and open to the public.
This year will be bigger and better than ever! Media coverage includes XXL magazine, URB magazine, The Hartford Courant, The Hartford Advocate, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Post, Fox61, NBC 30, NPR, BBC and not to mention the event has elicited 85,800 hits on google.
For more information log on to www.trinityhiphop.org
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