This week, from September 27 to October 2, the UWSA is holding the fourth annual Freestyle festival; a week-long celebration of hip-hop music and culture highlighted by K’naan concert on Wednesday, September 29th, the visitation of Wild Style director Charlie Ahearn on Saturday, October 2nd at the Graffiti Gallery, and a free Class of Freestyle IV concert and CD release. To complement the arrival of Charlie Ahearn, this year’s edition features a special free screening of the 25th Anniversary Edition of the original hip-hop movie Wild Style on Wednesday, September 29.
Being the first hip-hop movie released at such an early stage in the genre’s development, Wild Style helped present and popularize the culture to a wide audience in a pre-internet society. I see it as being a snapshot of a very young and almost unrecognizable culture when compared to today’s view of hip hop and the abundance of violence and misogyny represented in its mainstream music. Having been formed in the neighbourhoods with some of the worst living conditions in North America, hip hop always manages to find itself in the middle of controversy.
Those looking to explore these arguments about the negativity surrounding the culture of hip hop may do so at a screening of Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes on Tuesday, September 28th. Following the screening, a discussion addressing the sexism and homophobia in a testosterone fueled hip-hop culture will take place, giving everyone a chance to voice their opinions about what is wrong with the culture.
But the lyrics and the images represented in them are not all that the hip-hop culture has to offer the world. The Freestyle festival has put together a number of workshops concerning the other elements of hip-hop. To kick off the week’s festivities, the Graffiti Gallery is putting together an hour-long graffiti art workshop at Spence Street on Monday from 12:30 PM, an excellent opportunity for anyone enamoured by the almost-indiscernible pieces they see on the streets on a daily basis to learn from Winnipeg’s premier graffiti art gallery.
Some of Winnipeg’s best local talent have signed on this year to lead some of the Freestyle workshops. For anyone interested in the art of beat making or DJing, Kutdown is leading workshop sessions from 12:30 on Tuesday, September 28th and Thursday, September 30th for beat making and DJing respectively, with DJ Co-op accompanying him for the session on Thursday. To finish off the workshops, the “Godfather of Winnipeg B-Boying” B-boy Bob will be hosting a breakdancing workshop in the Bulman MPR on Friday, October 1st from 12:30 to 1:30 PM. From what I’ve heard, the breakdancing workshop has been the most popular so far so be sure to register to be guaranteed a spot in the workshop!
Alas, the life the of a University student is a busy one, and time is limited; if you can’t make it to the workshops you want, you can still join in the celebration of hip-hop culture by tuning in to CKUW 95.9 FM from 1 to 2:00 PM Monday to Friday for a special Freestyle radio series.
Remember, both film screenings, the Charlie Ahearn artist talk, and all of the workshops are free of charge, so be sure to come out for what should be a memorable Freestyle IV!
RB Beniza