Hip-hop Busts Rhymes Not Caps

This week IU is holding the biggest hip-hop event in its history: the Hip Hop Congress' 5th Annual Hip Hop Awareness Festival. The week-long event, which started Tuesday and will conclude Saturday, has been in the making since the summer and will bring together the efforts of various student leaders and associations. The result is a guest list that includes the likes of Brother Ali and Afeni Shakur, and a five-day series of events that will attract an expected audience of roughly 2,000 students and community members. \nSenior Aaron Berkowitz, head of the IU chapter of the Hip Hop Congress, hopes the event will reach beyond the established base of hip-hop fans. For him, the goal of the festival goes beyond providing entertainment: it seeks to attract and educate members of the student body and community who have had little exposure and possible misconceptions about hip-hop and its cultural history.\n"There's a lot of unawareness about hip-hop in general," says Berkowitz. "One of the goals of the Hip Hop Congress is to organize resources and ideas into workable programs based on uplifting the greater hip-hop community and its culture." \nIn many ways, raising awareness about hip-hop is directly related to overcoming the stereotypes created by the mainstream media. \nJunior Alex Pyatetsky has worked closely with Berkowitz in planning this week's event. He stresses the importance of restoring artistic integrity to hip-hop. \n"The corporate image of hip-hop overlooks its cultural origins," he said. \nPyatetsky says very few people have an image of hip-hop that transcends its popular characterization by the media or even hints at its meaningful historical and cultural beginnings. This is a trend that the festival hopes to challenge.\nBerkowitz and senior Julian Chunovic, president and founder of the IU break-dancing club, the IU Breakers, shared some of their knowledge of hip-hop.\nThe art of hip-hop originated in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the South Bronx as an alternative to street gangs. It emerged as a new means of "expression through art" rather than violence. Clive Campbell, better known as Kool Herc or the "father of hip-hop," is accredited with cultivating hip-hop with his giant block parties in apartment complexes, thus instigating the rapid spread of hip-hop beyond the Bronx into Brooklyn and uptown Manhattan. At the same time, the music played at Herc's parties inspired the foundations of hip-hop dance. Herc and the majority of the prominent progenitors of hip-hop were of Caribbean descent and incorporated elements of their cultural heritage into the cross-cultural formation of the art form.\nThe end of the '70s marked the beginning of hip-hop as a marketable art form, unavoidably leaving it as prey to the corporate world. This transition is often seen as the event that triggered the subsequent negative stereotyping that has become associated with hip-hop.\nSince the inception of the Hip Hop Congress in 1993, chapters have spread to over 25 high schools, universities and communities, with delegate programs in seven countries. As Pyatetsky explains, the non-profit, student-run organization, "tries to use the culture of hip-hop toward positive social ends" by encouraging social and civic actions, as well as fostering creativity. \nIn this spirit, this week's festival seeks to "celebrate unity through diversity." As Berkowitz states, "Events that attempt to bring awareness about diversity often fail." But this one has all the elements needed to succeed.\nIt's not surprising, considering the immense collaboration from groups throughout campus. \nThe Union Board, the Residence Hall Association and the IU Student Association donated to the cause. Individual dorms, 9th Street Bar and WIUS contributed venues for many of the various events. Steve Sheldon Photography located at 311 S. Swain Ave., donated the use of the side of its building, which will be tagged by Made You Look, a group of artists from Chicago. The artists will be working Friday, Saturday and Sunday and onlookers are welcome.\nThe festival kicked off Tuesday with a showing of "Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme," a documentary on the art of freestyling and battle rapping. \nWhile all of the events planned for the week have been designed to educate students on hip-hop culture in fun ways, Berkowitz anticipates Wednesday's lectures from writer Afeni Shakur, best known as the mother of Tupac, and Jasmine Guy, acclaimed actress, dancer, producer, director and author, to be the most powerful of the week's events.\nBerkowitz says Shakur's involvement in the festival was an unplanned but obviously welcomed surprise.\n"I went into the Union Board and asked them for help putting the lecture together. After throwing around some names, they called me up and asked if Afeni Shakur would be a good choice and I said, 'If you can't get anyone better,'" Berkowitz jokes.\n"It ended up being pure coincidence," Berkowitz said. "She recently released a book, 'Evolution of a Revolutionary,' so she was looking for tour dates and it ended up coming together. The dates that she requested to come here and the dates that we needed her matched up."\nThe festival continues at 7 p.m. tonight with a poetry slam at the Indiana Memorial Union Gallery. Special guests Psalm One and Thaione will read and local poets will compete for a $50 cash prize. \nFor curious students interested in learning more about hip-hop, workshops will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday at Collins Living-Learning Center. The workshops will be an open forum and interested participants are encouraged to ask questions and interact with the lecturers. Speakers will include former members of the Hip- Hop Congress, including IU alumnus and co-founder of Hip Hop Congress Ron Gubitz and hip-hop artist Shamako Noble.\nFrom 7:30 to 10 p.m. at the WIUS station house, there will be performances from Mac Lethal, Honors English, Shamako Noble and Half Blown with 2 Scoops Malone. Berkowitz says these performances are an important part of the festival because these underground artists are vital to the hip-hop community.\n"We decided to bring in lesser-known artists who, a lot of Congress members believe, will be at the forefront of hip-hop in the future," Berkowitz said.\nThe week will culminate in Saturday's events, which Berkowitz says are over a year in the making.\nRegistration for the B-Boy dance battle will begin at 1 p.m. in Willkie Auditorium. Chunovic says 16 of the best teams in the Midwest including Milwaukee's Disorderz, Chicago's Brickheadz and Atlanta's Burn Unit will be participating from 3 to 6:30 p.m. for a first prize of $1000.\nStudent MCs will also have a chance to compete for a $500 prize in a battle beginning at 7 p.m., also in Willkie Auditorium. While many of the spots in the contest have already been filled through preregistration, Berkowitz says spots may still be open today. Students can register by e-mailing Berkowitz at amberkow@indiana.edu with their real names, MC names and a phone number at which they can be reached.\nWillkie's events will come to an end Saturday at 9 p.m. with a performance by underground hip-hop artist Brother Ali. Berkowitz says Hip Hop Congress hand-picked him for his talents.\n"The main event on Saturday has been a goal of ours since last year. (We wanted) to bring in an artist who's a little more well-known than the other artists we've had in the past," Berkowitz said. "(Brother Ali) has some of the most emotional, moving lyrics in underground hip-hop currently."\nAll of the on-campus events for Hip Hop Awareness Week will be free of charge. However, participants are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to Saturday's battles for donation. \nWhile Brother Ali's performance will bring a close to the University-sponsored events, the festival will continue Saturday night with a DJ battle and performances by local hip-hop artists at 9th Street Bar between College Avenue and Walnut Street. Video games and door prizes will be available at the event. Participants must be 21 to enter and because this event is receiving no funding from the University there will be a $1 cover charge.\nOverall, Berkowitz says the Hip Hop Congress hopes Hip Hop Awareness Week will change some of the negative views about hip-hop in American culture.\n"I hope to break a lot of stereotypes of hip-hop in the community. We're trying to get away from the 'bitches, blunts and 40s' image and show that hip-hop is a feasible alternative to thuggery," Berkowitz said. "We want to show that the stuff you see on MTV and BET is not what hip-hop culture is about"