6th Annual Vancouver International HIP HOP FOR PEACE FESTIVAL
Featuring the return of OBSESIÓN – pioneers of Cuban Hip Hop direct from Cuba
From the 5 Burroughs of New York in the mid-seventies to across the entire planet today, Hip Hop continues to be a culture immersed in the struggle for a better world. If Peace is the message, then Hip Hop is the voice…
On September 24th to 26th the Greater Vancouver area will host for the 6th consecutive year the Annual Vancouver International Hip Hop Festival – HIP HOP FOR PEACE! The Festival will be three days of performances by local and international talent including MC’s, Breakdancers, DJ’s and Graffiti artists.
There will be workshops and tutorials teaching participants how to rap, breakdance and give insight into the history of Graffiti culture and it’s significance today. It will be a base camp for community forums discussing youth activism, women’s rights, Indigenous struggle, Hip Hop’s rise to an international stage and it’s growth alongside the movement for peace, equality and social justice. It will be showcase of some of the freshest artists in Hip Hop culture today, and most importantly it will once again be free and all ages!
Over the last 6 years the Festival has grown into one of the most significant events of it’s kind. What makes this even more amazing is that it is completely built, organized, sponsored, and supported by communities of youth, families and regular working people from Downtown Vancouver, Canada to Havana, Cuba! This festival has been committed from it’s very onset to being as accessible, diverse, creative and idealistic as the human imagination and will
can envision.
Hip Hop for Peace is the culmination of the skills of hundreds of artists from across the world, the generous support and endorsement of hundreds of sponsors from retail stores to municipalities, broad media coverage from local to global carriers and the dedication to reaching out with art dedicated to bringing about peace!
This festival aims to promote peace through the global phenomenon of Hip Hop. Over the last 6 years the festival has brought together an impressive roster of over a hundred talented artists from the Middle East to Latin America to Indigenous communities across North America. The festival includes workshops and tutorials teaching participants how to rap, breakdance and spin records like a DJ.
Obsesión rocked audiences in their debut performance in Western Canada at last years festival and their return will be the highlight of this years festival. Obsesión has garnered the attention and admiration of fans, international media and superstar artists like Afrika Bambaata, Mos Def, and Philadelphia’s – The Roots. The group is comprised of MC’s, Magia (Magia Lopez) and El Tipo Este (Alexey Rodriguez, also a producer) as well as their DJ and gifted beat-smith, Isnay Rodriguez. Aside from being internationally renowned artists, Obsesión are also dedicated organizers with the Agencia Cubana de Rap.
