Take in the Sounds of the Borough at the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival

Without Brooklyn, hip-hop wouldn’t be the same. Notorious B.I.G., Jay Z and Mos Def are just a few of the most famous names to come from Brooklyn and hit the big time. Celebrate the genre at the 13th annual Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival this week.

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Every July, the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival showcases “hip-hop’s legacy as an agent of artistic progression, community building and social change,” in the words of the festival’s organizers. Started in 2005 by multimedia enterprise Brooklyn Bodega, the event has featured acts such as Big Daddy Kane, Ghostface Killa and De La Soul in past years.

This year the lineup includes talks, performances, and a block party.

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The Hip-Hop Institute, a conference at Medgar Evers College, will cover issues of empowerment, social justice, health and entrepreneurship with panels, lectures and workshops. Brooklyn native and activist Linda Sarsour will keynote, and panels include Community Engagement and Activism in the Age of Hip-Hop and Hip-Hop Journalism: From Print to Digital, How Can a Writer Survive?. The Hip-Hop Institute will take place Tuesday, July 12 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

In addition to the conference, a film festival will also take place at Medgar Evers at a part of the larger Hip Hop festival. The Dummy Clap Film Festival will celebrate hip-hop through the moving image with film screenings, including films such as L.A. Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later and De La Soul Is Not Dead.

The main film of the event will be about Brooklyn’s own Notorious B.I.G., Biggie: The Life of Notorious B.I.G, which will screen for the first time at the festival. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 13.

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Of course, no hip-hop festival would be complete without musical performances, and there’s plenty at the Brooklyn celebration. A block party will take place in Downtown Brooklyn’s Albee Square on Wednesday, July 13 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., which will feature from Uncle Ralph McDaniels & DJ Spinna on the turntables. There will also be food available for purchase from DeKalb Market Hall and beer from Brooklyn Brewery.

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For the last two days of the festival, there’s two main performances of note. The Juice Hip-Hop Exhibition will happen at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Dumbo from 6 to 11 p.m. on Friday, July 14. The exhibition will feature DJ showcases, art installations, a sneaker exhibit, and more.

The biggest showcase of the festival is the Finale Concert, which will kick off at Brooklyn Bridge Park on Saturday, July 15 at 12 p.m. and run until 7 p.m. The main stage will be located at 11 Water Street, and the second stage will be at St. Ann’s Warehouse at 45 Water Street. The headliner this year will be DMX, and acts such as Jadakiss and Styles P will also perform.

To learn more about the Brooklyn Hip Hop festival or to purchase tickets to any of the events, click here.

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