The Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival has been drawing attention to the global reach and spread of hip-hop since it started in 2006. The festival was ahead of the curve in highlighting some of the dynamic hip-hop coming out of other continents — particularly Africa, Europe and South America. The festival has shown how hip-hop provides a voice of political and cultural change, resistance and defiance in other parts of the world. Hip-hop’s message of proud self-sufficiency resonates with young people who have little connection to the technological, historical and cultural forces that made the birth of the genre so powerful in the United States.
On the lineup for the 2017 festival is Babaluku, a rapper, producer and activist from Uganda who has helped spread a style of East African rap that embraces regional and local language, customs and traditions. This year’s festival also features Leandra, a queer gender, non-binary Ecuadorian/Dominican from New York City.
In addition to performances, the festival will also include lectures on the oral tradition in Islamic black America, Brazilian graffiti movements, panel discussions on Cuban political hip-hop and other topics, dance demonstrations, and photo exhibits on Russian hip-hop and the history of hip-hop in Hartford. There will also be a North American premiere of the film “Girl Power,” a documentary about female graffiti artists around the world.
The Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival runs Friday, April 7, through Sunday, April 9, on the Hartford campus of Trinity College. For more information about the schedule and ticketing, visit http://trinityhiphop.com.
