Brooklyn, one of the cradles of hip-hop, celebrated its seventh Hip-Hop-Festival with Q-Tip & Friends. We serve you some photographic highlights from the block party.
In its seventh year, the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival is a week-long event, with programming spread throughout Brooklyn. This year it ran from July 11 to 16, and the media is still buzzing about headliner Q-Tip and his on-stage collaborations with Kanye West, Black Thought of The Roots and Busta Rhymes as part of “Q-Tip & Friends.”
Q-Tip as an artist educates fans through hip-hop, from A Tribe Called Quest's Left My Wallet in El Segundo that Tip made when he was a teenager to Vivrant Thing that was released when he was a grown man. The Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival dedicated its 2011 Festival season to Q-Tip – the man who is a living, breathing example of a meticulous artist who takes hip-hop seriously as a culture and is a role model for up-and-coming artists.
“What people got that week wasn't just these huge name artists supporting our grassroots function,” explained Wes Jackson, executive director of The Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. “Instead it was about providing a stage for hip-hop professionals that have collectively been in the game for over 60 years and whose fans literally crossed generations to come out and support them, standing side-by-side at the Festival. That's a beautiful thing.”
“After the Festival, people keep asking me: What is the connection between Q-Tip and Kanye West? The obvious answer is that Q-Tip produced Chain Heavy for Kanye. He is also responsible for the beats on the soon-to-be-released collaborative project, Watch The Throne, by Kanye and Jay-Z,” continued Jackson. “The not-so-obvious answer is that Kanye has always referred to Q-Tip as his inspiration. Just look at how reminiscent his outfit on the Saturday of the Festival is to Phife Dawg’s in A Tribe Called Quest’s Scenario Video.
It has also been an exciting summer for Grammy award winner, Q-Tip. The documentary Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest was released to rave reviews and continues to roll out to major theatrs across North America. Q-Tip will also be making multiple festival and headline appearences across Europe in August.
For more information, please visit BrooklynBodega.com
Report: Josh Greene
Photos: Chris Vanderjyt © Red Bull Media House North America, Inc.
Comments
Add a comment