Public Enemy

• “Their contributions to music span genres, backgrounds and crafts, reflecting the rich diversity that fuels our creative community.
• In 2002, Anderson was appointed the first artist-in-residence of NASA which culminated in her 2004 touring solo performance, The End of the Moon.
• She has been nominated for six GRAMMY Awards® throughout her recording career and received a GRAMMY® for the release Landfall in collaboration with the Kronos Quartet at the 61st GRAMMYs®.
• Credited for helping to bring gospel music to the mainstream, the Clark Sisters are considered pioneers of contemporary gospel.

• Led by Cohen, MFEI raised over $4.3 million to benefit City of Hope's efforts to address the challenges underserved populations face in obtaining access to quality cancer care.
• Led by Cohen, MFEI raised over $4.3 million to benefit City of Hope's efforts to address the challenges underserved populations face in obtaining access to quality cancer care.
• The dollars raised are a significant achievement during a milestone year as City of Hope celebrates 50 years of philanthropic partnership with MFEI.
• “Cancer doesn’t take a break and neither does City of Hope and its Music, Film and Entertainment Industry group,” Lamberg said.

• Some historians say hip-hop culture all started at a party one hot August night in the South Bronx in 1973.
• Soon hip-hop culture and rap music became a global phenomenon — leading to this year marking the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.

Social and political power of hip-hop

• Scholars of hip-hop and popular culture, such as Tricia Rose and Richard Iton, have highlighted the important social and political power of hip-hop.
• For example, Iton examines how through extra-political means, such as mass movements, uprisings and protests, Black people both today and historically have used popular culture and art to ignite calls for social and political change.

Connecting people, exposing issues

• Young people have been using hip-hop in their respective communities to shed light on important social issues and demand change.
• Youth all over the world are using hip-hop both as the means and the fuel to fight for social and political change.

Speaking up

• There are many Indigenous artists using rap music to engage in Indigenous resurgence as well as speak up about colonialism and racism.
• Their music video for “I Can’t Remember My Name,” intersperses footage of performers stripping off western suits and people in traditional regalia dancing.

Forging hybrid identities, outlets for stress

• In Toronto, several organizations offer after-school hip-hop programming in order to support young people in finding positive outlets for stress.
• For example, RISE Edutainment offers Black youth a community to use art as a way to understand systemic inequality.

A classic: ‘Jamaican Funk Canadian style’

To mark this momentous anniversary in hip-hop history, special events have been popping up including concerts and festivals. The Juno Awards 2023 celebrated this anniversary by showcasing some of the talented rappers north of the border including the first Canadian MC to sign an American record label, Michie Mee, playing her hit classic, “Jamaican Funk Canadian Style.”

Positively impacting young people

Over the last 50 years, hip-hop has been positively impacting young people who identify with its messaging and find comfort and solidarity in the community it creates. This culture has grown and spread over the last half-century and shows no signs of stopping. Hip-hop’s message of empowerment and the platform it provides to marginalized communities means we can expect another transformative 50 years ahead.

• Herc’s party represented a coming together of music and the start of something new.
• The Bronx crowd did not want the dancehall sounds Herc had begun to play.
• Over the next three years, a swathe of disco-oriented rap records followed, solidifying hip-hop culture through the medium of vinyl.

Hip-hop’s development

• The six years between 1973 and 1979 are hugely significant to hip-hop’s development.
• MCs and rappers, such as Coke La Rock, Grandmaster Caz and M.C.
• While all of this thrived in the US, it was almost a decade until hip-hop culture reached other shores.
• Hip-hop’s identity was transported globally, however, by the visuals in punk impressario Malcolm McLaren and World’s Famous Supreme Team’s Buffalo Gals music video.

Message making

• Breaking was labelled passing fad that kids would grow out of, like yoyoing or jumping on pogo sticks.
• Yet, here we are, rejoicing in a cultural movement which continues to develop.
• Through the practices of the elements, hip-hop adopters learn new ways of making art.
• These mainstream artists are cut from the same cloth as the more underground rappers like Roughneck Jihad and Worms Ali.
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