A weekend of events dedicated to hip hop gives students a chance to see Hip Hop artist Lupe Fiasco speak at the Dayton Convention Center.
The Regional Academic and Cultural Collaborative (RACC) is a weekend of events which is aimed to help hip-hop evolve said Furaha Henry-Jones, an RACC representative for Sinclair Community College.
“The RACC is a group of colleges, universities, and community leaders that have come together for a common cause,” Henry-Jones said. “We are convening for a weekend of Hip Hop education and culture.
The current state of Hip-Hop is a topic that is furiously debated. Some people feel today’s hip-hop is just an evolution of the culture, while others thinks it has digressed to a point where the music does not have any meaning.
Because if those disparities, there are many people who are trying to bring hip-hop back to the point where it was seen as a positive outlet in our culture Henry-Jones said.
“`We are trying to educate the community so we can look toward a better future,” Henry-Jones said.
The weekend of events begin on Oct 1 at 11 a.m. in the building 7 Library with Author and Scholar Dr. Ebony Utley speaking in an event titled “The Devil is in the Details: Selling One’s Soul in Hip Hop.”
“Dr. Utley is known as the ‘Hip-Hop professor,’” Henry-Jones said. “She is an accomplished author who travels across the country and lectures about issues of hip-hop, relationships, and gender issues.”
The event is free for anyone who attends, and this is where Sinclair student have a chance to win tickets to see Lupe Fiasco later that weekend.
“We will have students put their names in a hat and we will draw from it,” Henry-Jones said. “I have a lot of tickets to give out so hopefully we have a good turnout.”
The day’s events will conclude with a Hip-Hop tribute concert by Das EFX at c{space which is in downtown Dayton at 8 p.m.
On Saturday Oct 2 at 11:00 a.m., a seminar will be held which will focus more on the business side of music and entertainment.
“The seminar is especially for people who are in hip hop or trying to find their way,” Henry-Jones said. “Music executives will be present along with people who can help others with advice and show them how to find their way in the business.”
Afterwards Lupe Fiasco will be speaking at the Dayton Convention Center at 5 p.m. talking about what Hip-Hop means to him and the where it is today. For last year’s conference hip-hop artist Common spoke as well.
“Lupe Fiasco will give a lecture with an intellectual and academic approach to hip-hop,” Henry-Jones said. “Last year Common came and spoke, it was the first time he spoke about hip-hop in such a format and now he is going across the country doing it.”
A poetry show will begin at 9 p.m. at the Dayton Convention Center and conclude the weekend’s events. “The Signature: A Poetic Medley Show” will include Lemon Andersen who has been featured on HBO”s Def Poetry Jams, and Jessica Care More who is a five-time Showtime at the Apollo winner.
You can pay a one time fee of $35 dollars to get into all of Saturdays events which include the Seminar, Lupe Fiasco speaking, and Signature poetry show. If you just want to attend a specific event the Lupe Fiasco showing is $10 while the Seminar and Signature is $15.
“We would just like to have a celebration of hip-hop and what it means to our community,” Henry-Jones said.