Love Peace & Hip-Hop Festival ready for biggest year yet
The early tracks of hip-hop artist Lawrence Parker, known as KRS-One, would fit comfortably into today’s music landscape.
For the uninitiated, one of the rapper’s most famous tracks, 1993’s “Sound of da Police,” lambasts police brutality and goes “The officer has the right to arrest / And if you fight back they put a hole in your chest!”
Before #BlackLivesMatter, there was KRS-One’s Stop the Violence Movement, which the rapper began after the death of his former Boogie Down Productions group member Scott La Rock.
At 50, KRS-One is still active on the music scene, having released an album in November called “Now Hear This,” recorded a song with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and continues to lecture about the culture of hip-hop at colleges and universities around the country.
He will headline Hip-Hop Family Day on Saturday, April 9 in downtown Columbia.
The free day of music also includes local and regional hip-hop talent and is part of the weeklong Love Peace & Hip-Hop Festival that runs through Sunday, April 10.
In its fourth year, Love Peace & Hip-Hop has expanded to feature lectures, film screenings, talkbacks and plenty of live hip-hop music. All festival events are free.
The big get, of course, is KRS-One. The rap elder and Bronx native has often been called the conscience of hip-hop. He recently told Village Voice that “hip-hop is a human skill, and the practice of real hip-hop should remind us of our humanity.”
That, too, fits comfortably with the ethos of the Love Peace & Hip-Hop festival, which is that hip-hop, when represented properly, can be a medium for peace and unity.
Check out everything that’s happening with the festival below, and find out more at www.lovepeacehiphop.com.
Thursday, April 7
“Style Wars: A Retrospective” with The Dynamic Rockers: Free screening of the 1983 hip-hop documentary “Style Wars.” The film captures New York street culture in the form of graffiti art, rapping and b-boying, or breakdancing. Talkback with hip-hop crew The Dynamic Rockers, who are featured in the film.
6-9 p.m. at Columbia Museum of Art, 1515 Main St. Free.
Friday, April 8
Hip-Hop Studies Conference at Allen University: The all-day event features panel discussions, musical performances and an open mic session for hip-hop and spoken word. Daddy-O, of the pioneering hip-hop group Stetsasonic, will deliver a keynote address.
Panel topics include “Exploring Gender Stereotypes in Hip Hop and Popular Music,” “The Power of Hip Hop Entrepreneurship and Culture,” and Kendrick Lamar’s’ “To Pimp a Butterfly.”
10 a.m.-10 p.m. at Allen University, 1530 Harden St. Free. For a full schedule, visit hiphopstudies.weebly.com. Register at www.eventbrite.com. Free.
Saturday, April 9
Hip Hop Family Day
11 a.m. Welcome and opening DJ set
One Word Columbia Poet
Rok The Blok Contest winner E-Val Styles
Sheem One
Fresh Demarco
1230 p.m. Do That Dance
Kobie Da Wiz
Dance South Company
Dynamic Rockers
1:30 p.m. Ladies First
One Word Columbia Poet
LeLe Bad Bad
Boog Brown
2 p.m. Future Flavas
NewSC
Benjamin Starr
2:45 p.m. That's the Joint, That's The Jam
Floco Torres
ColorBlind
Daddy-O
KRS-One
Concerts are at Main and Laurel streets in downtown Columbia. Free.
Sunday, April 10
KRS-One lecture at Allen University: The festival ends with a lecture by KRS-One, who has lectured at over 500 universities about hip-hop culture.
7-8 p.m. in the John Hurst Adams Gym, Allen University, 1530 Harden St. Free.
This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 2:11 PM with the headline "Love Peace & Hip-Hop Festival ready for biggest year yet."