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Remixing the Art of Social Change

Words Beats and Life Remixing the Art of Social Change Conference

After a three-year hiatus, Remixing the Art of Social Change is back! Words Beats and life will present amazing panels and breakout workshops dedicated to exploring the power and potential of hip-hop culture at this moment with fans, scholars, artists, and activists engaging each other in conversations about what is and what could be. See below for details of the conference:

Hip-Hop Futures: The Next 50 (10 am-11 am)

This panel is dedicated to showcasing some of the most innovative programs in the United States and around the world. This is a panel to share experiences from the last 50 years of hip-hop culture while sharing ideas about what the priorities and impacts should be in the next 50 years.

Featuring Panelist: Dr. Elliot Gann, Today's Future Sound (California). Piper Carter, We Found Hip-Hop (Michigan), Martha Diaz, The Hip-Hop Education Center (New York), and Dr. Msia Clark, The Hip-Hop African (Howard University, DC). Facilitated by Mazi Mutafa.

Rap Laureate Presentation: Lupe Fiasco (11:10 am-12:10 pm)

For this inaugural Rap Laureate, we made the choice to focus on the body of work of one of the most impactful MCs of the last 20 years. We chose him because of his willingness to create commercial, underground, poignant, and political music that in some way is a throwback to previous generations of MCs with the added attention of a large audience willing to engage in dialogue about tough topics connected to his music.

Featuring Panelists: Prowess the Testaments, Dr. Jason Nichols, and  Mikal Lee. Facilitated by Substantial.

Towards 2040 Fellows (1:00 pm-2:20 pm) 

This series of breakout sessions are presented by the 2040 Fellows of Words Beas & Life. Ayesha Riaz, Queena Bergen, Din E. Tolbert, Jaquanda Saulter-Villegas and Intikana will lead individual presentations of the work they have been doing for the last 10 months to create work intended to get us all close to the Vision for 2040. This panel will be facilitated by Asad Ali Jafri

The 5th Element: The State of Hip-Hop Scholarship (2:30 pm-3:30 pm)

Innovative hip-hop scholarship is transformational. We are honored to have scholars whose works are brilliant and important to hip-hop scholarship, hip-hop education, activism, and arts. We want to use this time to explore the impact and future of hip-hop scholarship in the United States. 

Featured Panelists: Dr. Imani Kai Johnson author of Dark Matter in Breaking Ciphers and Editor of the Oxford Handbook of Hip-Hop Dance studies; Jeff Chang, author of Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation and his newest book "Freedom Moves: Hip Hop Knowledges, Pedagogies, and Futures Volume 3"; Dr. Jared Ball, author of "I Mix What I Like: A Mixtape Manifesto" and "The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power." Facilitated by Mazi Mutafa.

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