50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop Symposium

“Hip-Hop: A Global Phenomenon – Exploring Hip Hop’s influence and impact on culture, creativity, and social justice movements across the globe.”

Seating is limited

Moderator: Jazzmyn RED

Panelists:

• Dr. Emmett Price, III – Berklee College of Music, Africana Studies Department
• Dr. Aminah Pilgrim – Berklee College of Music, Africana Studies Department
• Aaron Myers – A Trike Called Funk

JAZZMYN RED is a passionate artist from Massachusetts who blends her lyricism, soulful singing, and songwriting to create a unique and powerful sound. Jazzmyn has an affinity for bold storytelling about history, social justice and social issues, relationships, and society as a whole.

Jazzmyn RED currently serves as an Ambassador of Hip Hop and Cultural Exchange to the U.S. State Department’s Next Level Program. She was stationed overseas in the United Arab Emirates teaching her Hip Hop workshops at Berklee School of Music in Abu Dhabi and her team performed Expo Dubai 2020. Jazzmyn RED has gone on to mentor globally including MC’s from Mongolia, Ghana, Barbados, Poland, Portugal and Ecuador. Jazzmyn RED has graced over 200 stages both nationally and internationally and has been featured in The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, NPR, and NBC. She is also the creator and owner of The Hip Hop Experience, an interactive 3-part workshop series that explores Black music’s relationship to social justice movements throughout history with a direct lens on Hip Hop as a child of the Civil Rights Movement and an engine to revolution and cultural wellness. She continues to educate through her classes as well as through her music.

An acclaimed scholar, Dr. Price is the author of HIP HOP Culture (ABC-CLIO, 2006), executive editor of the Encyclopedia of African American Music (ABC-CLIO, 2011) and editor of The Black Church and Hip Hop Culture: Toward Bridging the Generational Divide (Scarecrow Press, 2012). He is the former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Popular Music Studies. Along with numerous commissioned writings and book length chapters, his work can be found in African American Review, American Music, Black Music Research Journal, the Boston Banner, the Boston Herald, Ethnomusicology, GIA Quarterly: A Liturgical Music Journal, International Jazz Archives Journal, Journal of Popular Music Studies, NOTES: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association, and Yale Journal of Music and Religion.

Dr. Aminah Fernandes Pilgrim is Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Berklee College of Music, where she teaches Hip Hop history from the perspective of the African Diaspora. For the past 23 years, she has taught Black Studies or Africana Studies, Women’s Studies, and many other courses at area colleges and universities including Massasoit. A scholar and community organizer, she is an advocate of teaching using civic engagement and has empowered many students to make a difference in this field. She is the founder of the HIPHOP Initiative (est. 2004), a critical hip hop studies collective. She is the co-founder of PODEROZA: International Conference on Cabo Verdean Women, and the co-founder of SABURA Youth Program Inc. based in Brockton. Lastly, she consults on matters of equity and social justice in local schools in the region.

A-A-Ron of Beantown Lockers is an artist educator who is dedicated to the preservation of Locking, which is a funky style of dance that Don “Campbellock” Campbell pioneered in Los Angeles in 1970. In recent years, he’s been a Locking instructor at The Floorlords Studio, has created video tutorials for universities, and even led Locking academies abroad from Abu Dhabi to Rio de Janeiro.  A-A-Ron’s also the co-founder of the Boston-based creative venture A Trike Called Funk, which is a front-loading cargo tricycle equipped with its own portable dance floor, power source, DJ equipment, and sound system.  Together with other local artists specializing in complementary types of music and dance as well as visual arts like graffiti, he orchestrates participatory arts experiences in public settings around the Trike with the aim of unleashing creativity, fostering connectivity, and building community everywhere he pedals & parks.

“Hip-Hop and Beyond – In front of the mic to behind the mic and behind the scenes. Exploring the influence of hip hop culture through fashion, art, ownership, advertising, marketing and distribution, production, and entrepreneurship.”

Seating is limited

Moderator: Courtney Boston

Panelists:

• Catherine Morris – BAMS Fest
• Dart Adams – Journalist and Author
• Malik Williams – Reel Sync Music

Courtney Boston, CEO HerVision Media & Consulting | Co-Founder WWOC Media Network

Courtney “Courtney B./Courtney Boston” is known as one of the definitive “Voices of Boston.” The FAMU and Emerson College Alumna, began her professional on-air career at Cumulus Radio in Tallahassee and has spent just under two decades in Broadcast and Digital Media as on-air talent, program director and creative director at various local, commercial and independent, TV and radio stations, and ethnic media platforms.  

Courtney continues to be a woman in perpetual motion. She launched her own entrepreneurial efforts, HerVision Media & Consulting LLC in 2013 and most recently Co-founding in 2020, WWOC Media Network, Boston’s Premier Black Women owned Urban Media Company. Long committed to youth and community service, the capital city’s “Favorite Boston Baked Bean,” is the Director of Partnerships for TechBoston Academy 6-12 and volunteers as COO/Co-Director of the Boston Showstoppers Girls Academic & Athletic Enrichment Program. Her board work includes Berkshire Partners Boys & Girls Club, and a pair of leadership roles with Holmes Elementary School Governing Board, and FAMU National Alumni Assoc Massachusetts Chapter.

Catherine T. Morris is the Founder and Executive Director of Boston Art & Music Soul (BAMS) Fest and the Director of Public Programs for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, a Fenway Alliance Member Institution. As the Founder and Executive Director of Boston Art & Music Soul (BAMS) Fest, Catherine has created an organization that strives to breakdown racial and social barriers to arts, music and culture for marginalized communities and artists of color across Greater Boston. As a result, BAMS Fest has presented over 400 local and independent musicians and artists, curated in 2020 public spaces and has attracted over 10,000 attendees. Catherine has been a presenter, panelist, and moderator with SPARK Boston, Podcast Garage, Berklee College of Music, Emerson College, Northeastern University, Simmons University, MIT, and Fenway High School. She is a 2018 National Art Strategies Creative Community Fellow (The Barr Foundation), and has served on grant review panels for the Cambridge Arts Council, The Lewis Prize for Music, and the Boston Neighborhood Fellowship (The Boston Foundation).

Dart Adams is a native Bostonian journalist, historian, lecturer, researcher, and author. His work has appeared in various online and print publications including Complex, NPR, Mass Appeal, Okayplayer, Ebony, Andscape (ESPN), The Bay State Banner, Boston Globe, Boston Globe Magazine, Boston Magazine and The Emancipator. He’s also the host of Dart Against Humanity and the Boston Legends Podcast that produces the Boston Legends line of apparel. Dart’s books include “Instead We Became Evil: A True Story Of Survival & Perseverance” and the upcoming “On Track: The Kronicles Of DJ Amir”.

Malik Williams is an Emmy nominated and platinum selling composer, producer, engineer, educator whose work has appeared in records, film, television, and national advertising campaigns. His successful work as a composer, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, voiceover artist, and his ability to work in many different genres, has made Mr. Williams an in demand producer. Mr. Williams owns and operates Reel Sync Music, a custom music production, supervision, music licensing and audio-post production company based in Boston, Massachusetts.

He’s also a Voting GRAMMY member, Co-chair of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) Boston Section, Co-founder of The Secret Society of Black Creatives, and serves on community, educational and DEI committees including, The Loop Lab, Project STEP and Co-founder of the Town of Randolph DEI Coalition.

Desta “Deejay Dex” Williams

Whether rocking out his set at a major hotspot or listening to him through the airwaves, the sounds of DJ Dex are evident. With a strong background in R&B and Hip-Ho, Dex has the most creative arrangement of music that you will ever hear. Spinning sets that range from Hip Hop and R&B, Reggae, Old Skool and New Skool to House Music, Classic Rock, Latin flavors, Kompa, Calypso, Soca and Electronic tunes, this DJ has no limits when it comes to Music.

DJ Dex is the producer and host of the Big Show & Hall of Heat on radio Big City 101.3 FM, Boston, MA, and Co-host of the Liquid Mix on Big City 101.3 FM. Breaking new music to the streets of Boston, DJ Dex not only feed souls with great tunes, he also mentors the youth. Making guest appearances in schools and holding open forums on the Big Show, DJ Dex gives his community a platform to be heard.

 

DJ Bella Be

Bella Be, the renowned DJ and music artist, has carved her own path in the music industry with her captivating talent and unique style. With an impressive 14-year DJing career under her belt, Bella Be has become a force to be reckoned with. Her innate ability to seamlessly blend genres and create an electrifying atmosphere has made her a sought-after DJ both locally and internationally.
Beyond her DJing prowess, Bella Be is a multi-talented artist with a passion for spoken word. Her poetic expressions touch the soul and provide a unique perspective on life’s experiences. Her single, “The Real You,” showcases her ability to seamlessly blend her spoken word talent with her eclectic style of singing and rapping.

• Food
• Giveaways
• Community Resource Fair

Double Dutch Workshop

The 40+ Double Dutch Club -Boston Sub club is a unified sisterhood that exists to empower women in mental health and physical fitness, all while inspiring them in friendship, fitness, fun, and fellowship!

Hip Hop Dance Workshop

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Founded in 1994 by Artistic Director Shaumba-Yandje Dibinga, OrigiNation, Incorporated is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that produces innovative and dynamic performing arts programs which motivate, challenge, and inspire youth to be the best they can be. We offer quality dance, theater arts, and African history education.

Graffiti Art Expression Workshop

24 Hr. Power, Inc. is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) public charity which promotes hope and healing for recovering addicts/alcoholics, their families, friends, supports, and their communities with Recovery Graffiti.

 

STREET SMART Artists:

Jay Mac @the_backstah

Swerve @swerve142

Hip Hop Art Show

Zahirah Nur Truth, the creative force behind ZNT Arts, is a vibrant artist spreading joy through her diverse talents. She explores painting, illustration, jewelry design, and more, all with a focus on celebrating the beauty, truth, and justice found in black culture. Her mantra, “Live and Let Art,” guides her work as a teaching artist and arts education consultant. Whether she’s face-painting at community events, leading workshops for important causes, or fostering arts engagement, Zahirah is always weaving connections and building communities through her art.

Zahirah Website

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Jaypix Belmer is a Boston-based documentary photographer whose work captures the “visual soul” of their subjects. How I Photograph – Helps Other People; H.I.P.H.O.P is an energy of Iconically presenting to you the essence and soul of a person or brand through the power of photography. Jaypix digs deep with authentic engagement in communities of color, LGBTQ communities, and other historically or currently excluded communities in the Greater Boston area which is essential to the vision that captures rich cultural realities not visible in plain sight. Being able to capture a feeling rather than a moment is a unique aesthetic evident throughout the work.

Jaypix website

Jiles

Jiles is a rapper from Brockton, MA, and a cofounder of the collective, Van Buren Records. He describes his music as “raw and vulnerable raps about the struggle.” You can expect to hear a few of his iconic “yeah” ad-libs right before he kills a verse.

SeeFour

SeeFour is an R&B, Hip Hop artist from Brockton, MA. He has a versatile sound mixing his sound with Jazz, Hip-Hop and R&B melodic sounds. In his city he is infamously known as “The Prince” and has continuously lived up to the prominence of his title.

Jazzmyn Red

Jazzmyn Red is a passionate artist from Massachusetts who blends her lyricism, tack sharp bars, soulful singing, and songwriting talents to create a unique and powerful sound. She combines storytelling and genre blending instrumentation to create a sound and experience all her own.

Special Guest and Performance by Edo G.

Edward Anderson better known by his stage name Edo G. is the seniormost hip-hop artist from Boston and remains one of the best-known Boston rap artists internationally, having collaborated with large numbers of independent rap artists all over the globe.

At the start of the 1990s, Anderson rose to prominence as the frontman of the group Ed O.G & Da Bulldogs, who scored a hit in 1991 with the single “I Got to Have It”. In 1996, he reemerged as a solo artist and has subsequently gone on to release four solo albums and two EPs, toured around the world, and worked with other artists including Pete Rock, DJ Premier, RZA, KRS-One, Common, Black Thought of The Roots and Masta Ace.

In 2023, Edo G. released his new album titled, “We Do Good”. The album features powerful and thought-provoking lyrics that touch on a range of topics from social justice and inequality to personal struggles and triumphs. “We Do Good” is a celebration of the power of music to inspire change and uplift communities, and it’s sure to leave listeners feeling empowered and motivated to make a difference in the world.