Conference

Hip-Hop has spread from the inner cities of the US to the four corners of the world, carrying with it messages that range from the crassest greed and violence to reports on racism, poverty, police brutality, the criminal “justice” system, and rebellion. Youth in other countries are reshaping these messages according to their local socio-political realities. Ninety miles from our shores, Cuba has not been exempt from the influence of Hip-Hop, but the reaction of Cuba’s government and its arts community has moved from initial disapproval to support. Why?

Danny Hoch coordinates this first-of-a-kind symposium that brings together Hip-Hop artists and critics from Cuba and the US to discuss the revolutionary potential of this rebellious musical culture, its potential for co-optation, and what its popularity in the US and Cuba tells us about both countries and their relationship.

Participants
Danny Hoch, performance artist, Senior Fellow, Vera List Center for Art and Politics
Ras Baraka, politican, Hip-Hop activist
Billy Wimsatt, Hip-Hop activist, philanthropist
Talib Kweli, rapper, Hip -Hop activist
Mos Def, rapper, Hip-Hop activist
Kofi Taha, Hip-Hop activist
Russell Shoats III, Hip-Hop activist
Akiba Solomon, political columnist, Source Magazine
Dead Prez, rappers, Hip-Hop activists, Uhuru Democratic Peoples Organization
Monifa Bandele, Malcom X Grassroots Movement
Primera Base, artists
Instino, artists
Doble Fiol, artists-female rap group
RCA, artists
Rodolfo Rensoli, Director, Casa De Cultura Fayad Jamis
Ariel Fernandez Diaz, Youth Leader, Union of Young Communists
Pablo Herrera, Professor, University of Havana