BLUMENTHAL PERFORMING ARTS

Hip hop culture, music and art are at the forefront of “We Are Hip Hop” Sept. 17-18 at Knight Theater.

Hip hop won’t stop – at least when the Charlotte International Arts Festival kicks off.

“We Are Hip Hop,” a music and culture showcase from Sept. 17-18, will bring international artists and local creatives to Knight Theater at Levine Center for the Arts.

Conceived and organized by Charlotte-area artists in collaboration with Blumenthal Performing Arts, the showcase is a festival-within-a-festival of hip hop culture with performances and installations by visual artists, dancers, DJs, spoken word artists and graffiti creatives.

Charlotte slammaster Boris “Bluz” Rogers, visual artist Bree Stallings, dancer and CrayzeeBeat Dance founder A.J. Glasco, and Heal Charlotte Executive Director Greg Jackson collaborated with Blumenthal on the celebration.

“The ‘We Are Hip Hop’ weekend is a celebration of Charlotte’s hip hop community,” said Rogers, who is also Blumenthal’s director of creative engagement. “Bringing the elements of breaking, DJing, graffiti art, and MCing to the Levine Avenue of the Arts stage for a two-day block party highlights the culture, creativity, passion, innovation, and beauty of hip hop.”

“Charlotte is in for a treat with this weekend we have planned,” Glasco said. “We’re coming off the success of ‘The Reveal’ back in 2021 with an explosion of hip hop culture. We have all the elements of hip hop under one roof for two days. It’s great to partner with Blumenthal Performing Arts to push the culture of hip hop forward to the community. It’s also great to pour back into and support our local communities by providing both the necessary and hard-earned platform to get their craft out to the world.”

“We Are Hip Hop” kicks off the festival with DJ battles, a “7 to smoke” competitive last-man-standing all-style dance tournament, live dance performances from Charlotte professional dancers and international dance artists, and more.

Concluding the weekend will be a faith-friendly after-church “WE OUTSIDE” block party. Many of the events are free with tickets for the Dance Showcase starting at $19.50.

For tickets and information, visit charlotteartsfest.com.

Comments