Photo via Unsplash taken by Med Mhamdi.
August 11 is the official 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop music, and the Oak Cliff Cultural Center is bringing the party to Dallas where the genre finds prominent roots. Through August 17, the Center is hosting a series of events to celebrate.
Dallas is collaborating with several cultural centers and art and music spaces throughout the city, and Oak Cliff is a hot-spot with a ton of shows and exhibitions to commemorate the popular artform.
While it’s weird to think of a genre of music as having a birthday, August 11, 1973 marks the day hip-hop came together.
According to The Complex, hip-hop historians believe one particular back-to-school jam, thrown by DJ Kool Herc in The Bronx, New York pieced together all the elements of hip-hop- graffiti, DJing and breakdancing- to create what we now call hip-hop.
DJ Kool Herc’s Jamaican roots brought the classic idea of DJing, where a person raps over the music, as well as the reggae sound system that quickly became recognized as party music.
Hip-hop’s journey runs through New York to Dallas and beyond. The Oak Cliff Cultural Center is teaming up with the South Dallas Cultural Center, Dallas Public Library, Bath House Cultural Center, and Texas Theatre to provide free music, films, panel discussions, and dance performances to the public.
At 1 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 10, Dallas City Hall will kick off with live performances by DJ Christy Ray and RockSolid Crew’s Dance Cypher. There will also be an exhibition from local artist Michael E. Johnson, best known for his “Faceblackness style” of artwork, according to his website.
The Texas Theatre is screening two classics as part of the anniversary celebration. On August 9, the 1984 musical drama Beat Street played. On August 10 at 7:30 p.m., the classic Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo will bring everyone back to the decades of Adidas Superstars, tracksuits, and boombox stereos. Both movies are shown in their original 35mm format as an ode to the era.
Next door, The Oak Cliff Cultural Center will light up the dance floor with an open-style break-dancing battle hosted by the hip-hop dance collective Battle Grounds on August 11 at 8 pm. On August 12 at 8 p.m., Money Waters will perform live with DJ Leo J. Finally, the center will host a conversation on hip-hop’s feminist influences with journalist and scholar-activist Rosa Clemente on August 17 at 12 pm.
There are even more celebrations and special events happening around Dallas, and the country. Check out this complete and comprehensive list of events from the Oak Cliff Cultural Center.
