BRIC Hip-Hop 50th Anniversary Weekend

On Fri, August 11 and Sat, August 12, join us for BRIC Hip-Hop 50th Anniversary Weekend at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! 2023 featuring performances by Digable Planets, Kari Faux, Wiki, Donwill, and Quinnette; a screening of the movie Brown Sugar; Hip-Hop games and talks; and more!

FRIDAY, AUGUST 11

Digable Planets brings their unapologetically political, Afrofuturist Hip-Hop to the bandshell to celebrate 30 years of their seminal debut Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space). Southern alt-rap darling Kari Faux will perform music from her new album REAL B*TCHES DON’T DIE! for an evening that honors the expansive creativity that’s allowed Hip-Hop to change the world over the last five decades. NYC indie rap ingénue Wiki and beloved Brooklyn DJ and creative Donwill begin the evening.

*Please Note: A limited amount of chairs will be available at this show, but you are also permitted to bring your own. For our d/Deaf and hard of hearing communities, we will have an ASL interpreter at the left side of the stage.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 12

Join us for a night of Hip-Hop activities – talks, film, music, and more! Come preview BRIC Hip-Hop, our new, permanent home for the education, expression, and evolution of Hip-Hop.

We’ll be screening early-aughts favorite Brown Sugar for a nod to the writers, producers, managers and other behind-the-scenes powerhouses who keep the Hip-Hop ecosystem buzzing. Plus, enjoy Hip-Hop trivia with University of Dope, a ceremony honoring women in Hip-Hop with fashion trailblazer April Walker, a Fireside Chat with BRIC President Wes Jackson and New York Times Culture Reporter Joe Coscarelli, and a DJ set by Quinnette for the whole family to celebrate all elements of this vital culture.

*Please Note: A limited amount of chairs will be available at this show, but you are also permitted to bring your own.

Doors 6:00pm/Show 7:00pm

ABOUT THE ARTISTS/PARTICIPANTS

Digable Planets brings their unapologetically political, Afrofuturist Hip-Hop to the Bandshell to celebrate 50 years of the culture. As quintessential Brooklyn transplants, they asserted jazz sampling and a focus on unity across geographies as their unique brand of Hip-Hop exploration. Thirty years after their debut, Digable Planets continues to impact artists across genres and generations — their albums still inspire, motivate and demonstrate what Hip-Hop can be when it is free, inclusive, and grounded in community.

Arriving on the scene in 2014 with her mixtape Laugh Now, Die Later, Kari Faux has created her own lane of southern rap infused with psych, gospel, pop and hip hop weaved with her thoughtful and playful lyrics. In 2020, Kari released her praised mixtape Lowkey Superstar, which features the stand out tracks “LOOK AT THAT” and “CHATTIN’ SHIT.” The following year, Kari dropped Lowkey Superstar Deluxe, which Pitchfork described as a “fun-forward mixtape exud[ing] color and energy” and enlisted assistance from friends and artists like Baby Tate, Smino, JID, Jazz Cartier and Deante’ Hitchcock.

Kari Faux has shared her new single “TURNIN’ HEADS” featuring a verse from the legendary Mississippi rapper Big K.R.I.T. The new song pays homage to the southern rap Kari listened to while growing up in Arkansas laced with a funky bassline and cascading piano complimenting her and Big K.R.I.T.’s vocals. “TURNIN” HEADS” follows Kari’s first offering of 2023 “ME FIRST.” Kari’s third LP, “REAL B*TCHES DON’T DIE!,” dropped May 26, garnering resounding excitement and praise. Pitchfork raves that Kari “…showcases the richness of historically Black music.” i-D included “REAL B*TCHES DON’T DIE!” in their list of best spring albums of 2023, noting “The best Southern rappers have long displayed considerable emotional range, and Kari consistently does so here, while still keeping her alternative sensibility intact. “This is for my gangsta bitches that need forehead kisses,” she raps on “Drunk Words Sober Thoughts.”…its exploration of resilience and bereavement is the kind of thing filmmakers spend entire careers trying to capture.”

Wiki has become a fixture of New York City Hip Hop since, at 17 years old, he founded the boundary defying group Ratking, whose aggressive style represented a new generation of city kids and artists, hungry for innovation and raw energy. When painting lyrical pictures of New York scenes one gets a sense of Wiki’s skill as a story teller and visionary. He has solidified his role in carrying the torch for NYC’s master MC’s; representing for the freaks, weirdos and underbelly culture.

Donwill is a Webby award winning Brooklyn based musician and multi-disciplined creative and while he’s mostly spotted behind the turntables at live events and parties he is much more than just your average DJ. He is also the host/producer of the Webby Award winning podcast The Almanac of Rap and has served as music supervisor on Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas (HBO). He has done music production for several award winning shows including Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO), Slow Burn Podcast (Slate) and continues to release underground classics with his group Tanya Morgan (Brooklynati).

Quinnette, a native of Louisville, Kentucky understood she could make music a life at the age of 14 by collecting records; her journey began growing up in the south where music was cherished by feeling, & was not conformed to any era or time. She is an audio engineer and editor. Shade 45, Sways Universe, featured a mix of hers. Adept at spinning vinyl and grooving with Serato: there is no limit to genre, as her unique mixes inspire soulfulness all round. As an educator, she uses music and technology to empower youth, teaching DJ skills and mentoring young children to encourage their dreams.

April Walker is a fashion icon, entrepreneur, and author whose work has been featured in Forbes, In Style, Essence, The New York Times, Drink Champs, Vogue, CFDA. Walker has also been featured in award winning documentaries such as “The Remix Hip Hop X Fashion” and “Fresh Dressed.” As a Brooklyn native, she followed her creative intuition, pioneering urban fashion, setting the stage for a revolution in fashion industry norms, gender politics, and culture shifting. Walker shaped the direction that style would take in the future, and has become one of the most relevant and influential brand historians to date. As the first woman with an urban fashion brand, Walker Wear helped to create a multi-billion dollar industry that we know as streetwear today, kicked in distribution doors, and commanded millions in sales. Icons such as Tupac, BIG and Aaliyah have all donned the brand.

Joe Coscarelli is a culture reporter for The New York Times with a focus on popular music, and the author of “Rap Capital: An Atlanta Story.”Since joining The Times in late 2014, he has aimed to pull back the curtain on the music industry’s biggest stars, hit songs, emerging artists and influential behind-the-scenes connectors via news investigations, in-depth profiles and the video series “Diary of a Song.” He is also a frequent guest on The Times’s music podcast, “Popcast.”Mr. Coscarelli’s work encompasses the unwieldy world of 21st century music and its influence on broader culture. He has interviewed Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar, uncovered the complexities of Britney Spears’s career and explored where rap collides with the criminal justice system.A Florida native and a graduate of New York University, he previously worked at New York magazine and The Village Voice.

ABOUT BRIC HIP-HOP 50TH ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND
This summer, we’re honored to celebrate the alternative Hip-Hop and makers of the culture who aren’t always placed centerstage. From Digable Planets’ interplanetary political jazz stylings to Kari Faux’s eclectic Southern rap to Brown Sugar’s love letter to Hip-Hop, we’re strolling through the genre’s 50 years with an eye toward the margins and the folks who uphold the culture from behind-the-scenes. In addition to a weekend at the Bandshell, we’re paying homage to the often invisible but undeniable impact of women, femmes, and queer communities in Hip-Hop through ongoing programming at BRIC House this fall and beyond. We’re honoring writers, designers, performers and producers who have kept Hip-Hop expansive and full of kinetic energy since its inception.

MUBI is thrilled to be the official sponsor of BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Movie Nights. Join us in the park this summer for an incredible lineup of films. Be sure to visit mubi.com/bric to enjoy 30 days of free of beautiful hand-picked films.