Words by Ed King
Running for three days across the weekend, B-Side Hip Hop Festival comes to the Birmingham Hippodrome from Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th September.
Presenting an ‘exciting weekend of talks, pop-up city centre performances, film, spoken word, workshops, D/VJ’s and graffiti artists’ much of the B-Side Hip Hop Festival is free to attend. Some workshops and performances will carry a cover charge – with tickets to the Masters of the Ceremony: Finale, held at The Patrick Centre (Hippodrome) on Sunday 25th Sept, priced at £10.
Some events at the B-Side Hip Hop Festival are also, arguably, more ‘hip hop’ than others, with an oddly ancillary approach to dance taking up a large chunk of the programme. But never fear, Birmingham Review has ploughed through the cacophony of culture (appropriated or otherwise) to cherry pick you a few maraschinos worth checking out if it all gets a bit middle class and muddled – see below.
For more information direct from the Birmingham Hippodrome, including the full B-Side Hip Hop Festival event programme & online ticket sales, click here. But before that, cue wavy dream sequence… going back, distant, distant… dista…
Birmingham has always held a strong Hip Hop scene – whether it’s the Wu Tang Clan at the Que Club, De la Soul at the Medicine Bar/Factory (on a chuffing Monday) or Public Enemy in Moseley Park (…still, can’t, quite, believe…) the more respectable end of the spectrum has always had a warm second city welcome. And we grow our own too, with artists including Lady Leshurr, Soweto Kinch, Juice Aleem, TrueMendous, RTKal all hailing from these Brummie shores – alongside local labels such as Eatgood Records nurturing even more.
There’s longstanding regular club nights too, with Heducation giving it a fairly loud crack of the whip and Scratch Club still going strong – read our interview with the latter, including World DMC Champion Mr Switch, at this year’s City of Colours festival here. And god love us, but when you type ’50 Cents Birmingham’ into Google all you get is a BBC News report about Mr Jackson cancelling a PA in Argos due to a domestic violence charge. Bling.
The Blueprint Gallery (Selly Oak) and City of Colours (…and breathe) have done superlative things for the city’s graffiti and street art scene too – gaining city wide and council respect for what was once called ‘Criminal Damage’. So all in all, the Birmingham’s in pretty good shape for a good old block party.
Meanwhile, back at the Hippodrome…
B-Side Welcome: The Hip Hop Conversation – 23.09.16
Hosted by Birmingham’s own MC, rapper and all round rocking hologram, Juice Aleem, the B-Side Hip Hop Festival opens its doors with ‘a conversation and Q&A that explores Birmingham’s independent and vibrant contribution to global hip hop culture’.
From its humble back street beginnings, to the Council endorsed landscape that we are beginning to boarder, The Hip Hop Conversation will include speakers and artists from Birmingham and much further beyond.
Throwing their two cents into the ring will be ‘Mouse, BOM 5 (NYC), Chief 69 (NYC), Psykomantus, Buddha Stretch, DJ Renegade, Focus and more’ – alongside you, the audience, with your eager arm held high. Plus it’s free, so get involved people. 8-11pm / The Old Rep / Free / For direct info & reservations, click here.
Break Mission x Just Jam Intl ’16 – 24 & 25.09.16
There’s almost too much here to surmise here, but I’ll try. It’s a dance off. Just imagine Jurassic 5 find a time machine, can’t work out the control pad, and end up next to Danny and Cha Cha at Rydell High. Cue the music…
With categories in Hip Hop, Break Dancing & Popping – alongside a range of ages, formats and prizes – qualifying rounds will be held from on Sat 24th at 11am to 7pm, in both The Patrick Centre and Reflex Bar . The big showdown will be held on Sun 25th at The Patrick Centre between 4:30-7pm. Plus there’s DJs. And live sets. And street celebrity hosts. And an afterparty… just click on the link. Admission is free, with the UK organisers – Break Mission – asking for non monetary donations in the form of food, clothes and apparel. All donations will then be redistributed to local charities.
Birmingham Review missed the Break Mission x Just Jam Intl 2015 at the Que Club last September, but we love the door entry idea. Plus the 2016 event is uber packed – with graffiti, food stalls, music and a load more for your no money. Win, win, spread the love, and win again. Held at various times & locations / For direct event info, click here.
Afroflux – what is Afrofuturism? – 24.09.16
Hosted by Juice Aleem, who is having a somewhat busy weekend at B-Side, this ‘exploration of Afrofuturism and its many connections to the Hip Hop subculture’ will be a great chance to do just that. Find out what Afrofuturism means.
Running for a good 10hour stint, Afroflux will present speakers, live performances, DJs, film and a Q&A discussion – covering the multi faceted culture/sci-fi hybrid in many different forms. Juice Aleem is an engaging artist, with a book on Afrofuturism currently being tweaked for release; Afroflux looks like a promising introduction to anyone wanting to know more about this arena of art, culture and social constraints.
Click here for a short Afroflux introduction from Shantie TV, and watch out for Juice Aleem’s OPINION piece introducing Afrofuturism – published in Birmingham Review on Thursday 22nd September. 3:30pm – 2am / Hippodrome / Free / For direct info, click here.
Sweat the Technique Workshops – 25.09.16
Following their early September workshops, festival partners Break Mission are offering three master classes for anyone wanting to add Breaking, Hip Hop or Popping to their dance floor portfolio.
So if you sit somewhere between Napoleon Dynamite and Carlton Banks, this could be a safer shortcut to cool than what those kids in leather jackets tell you about. Running simultaneously (because no one can be that cool) for three hours on the festival Sunday, each workshop will be led by ‘world class dancers’ in their genre: Focus (Breaking / Finland), Buddha Stretch (Hip Hop / USA), Hit Master Fish (Popping / USA). 10am to 1pm / Hippodrome / £15 per workshop / For direct info & bookings, click here.
B-Side Hip Hop Festival 2016
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For more on the B Side Hip Hop Festival, visit www.birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/b-side-hip-hop-festival
For more from the Birmingham Hippodrome, including the venue’s full programme & online ticket sales, visit www.birminghamhippodrome.com