B(l)ackspace Episode 3 Dedicates Discussion to Hip Hop’s 50th Anniversary
In celebration of hip hop's 50th anniversary, SCI-Arc hosted a third episode of B(l)ackspace, a special live podcast recording event which aims to expand the design culture of SCI-Arc through candid conversations with creatives in Black spaces. Free and open to the public, taking place Friday, November 10 in W.M. Keck Hall, B(l)ackspace provided a safe and reimagined forum for radical investigations into a Black-centered discourse while creating opportunities for open participation. Featuring guests from SCI-Arc as well as hip-hop and breakdancing communities, the event also included a live DJ set, breakdancing performance, graffiti, tagging, catered food, drinks, and emceeing stations.
The ensuing panel spanned a wide breadth of topics, from how the content and context of hip hop has evolved over the decades to appropriation versus appreciation; from how the medium varies depending on region, monetization, classism, to hip hop’s relationship to breaking, and more. The event was coordinated by DEI Director Zahida Sherman and Community Engagement Coordinator Jonathan Chan, students Storm Butti (B.Arch '25) and La'keem Timothy (M.Arch 1 '24), and guest speakers included faculty Natou Fall (M.Arch 1 ’19) and William Virgil (M.Arch 2 ’16), and students Izzy Wu Ramos (MS Fiction and Entertainment ‘24) and GaMarry Hodges (B.Arch ‘24).
Invited guest speakers included Kevin Sherrod, graffiti artist King ZG aka Steve Roybal (Breaksport), Bboy Naive aka Chibuzo Awuchi (Becoming Eternal), and DJ Gunso (BGSK, MF Kidz). The live discussion was a continuation of previous B(l)ackspace events for episodes 1 and 2, which featured SCI-Arc faculty Kordae Henry (MS Fiction and Entertainment ’18), Jeremy Kamal (MS Fiction and Entertainment ‘19), and Dr. Thabisile Griffin, hosted by Babatunde-Majadi Adejare (B.Arch ’23).
After beginning the discussion with a reminder that B(l)ackspace “is about transforming the culture, the space of SCI-Arc itself,” Timothy added that the third iteration of the podcast could be centered around hip hop “and the influence it has had on the culture in Black spaces and in Black lives… as a form of resilience, being sort of born from [a] need to fight against oppression and poverty.”
Sherrod for his part responded by emphasizing the meaning and historical origins behind hip hop, explaining that “in the beginning, it wasn't really about the idea of resistance, but us understanding ourselves for who we are and really celebrating the culture we had… but then there became the need for it to quickly transform to this larger observation that we need to be vocal and protect and advocate for ourselves. That's when you heard Naughty by Nature and N.W.A really bucking the system—because you gotta remember this is just starting to deal with a lot of the rife mistreatment of the Black and brown body.”
He concluded, “And so we have these moments that are culturally rich, but it's always about catalyzing or organizing ourselves around something that's been traumatic in a really helpful and productive way.”
Wu posited the consideration of “all the other colonial knowledge through lyrics of hip-hop, then [used] as a form of literature to dive into the historical context of the African Diaspora,” to which Fall proposed the evolution of storytelling through the lyrics of hip hop has been obviously affected by the reach and interest of capitalist influence throughout the music industry.
“Now when you have artists like Megan Thee Stallion, who I would say is one of the strongest female rappers, rapping about her experiences dealing with depression. And the response all of a sudden is, "Oh wait, why are you telling us your story? Why are you sharing this?"
She continued, “I think that speaks to the way hip-hop culture has been abstracted, because now we're no longer speaking about it as a cultural movement, as a form of production and self-expression. We're talking about it purely as the visual aesthetic that can be packaged and sold to people. The way we get back to that is people using the space on a song to speak to things that are maybe more human.”
Ramos weighed in regarding how cultural experience and heritage affects the appreciation of hip hop as a tradition, saying “A lot of the heart in hip-hop, despite there being a history and a set of rules and traditions, it's also found in Afro-diasporic cultural practices, going all the way back to the continent. Evidently, hiphop's lineage is also quite Afro-diasporic.”
“When it's practiced by the diaspora, it's not appreciation, it's not appropriation, it is hip-hop in another form…and that comes with acknowledging where it comes from and that some people might have overlapping struggles.”
“Honestly, I wake up everyday hip hop—I breathe hip hop; I cook hip hop. It's a beautiful thing to feel like you belong to a community,” said bboy (or breakdancer in layperson’s terms) Chibuzo Awuchi, on how hip hop represents a language of mutual understanding.
“Your body, the music is all there, and a sense of community. That's what hip hop is right here, for me at least. Live it, breathe it. expand it and grow upon it.”