Rapper Q-Tip Becomes The Hip Hop Director At Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Q-Tip has added another job to his resume. It has been announced that he will serve as the first artistic director for hip-hop culture at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. Who better to take on the job?

Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter made the announcement on Tuesday, March 8. “I really believe that he has an important voice for all of us, for those art forms that don’t have the central stage,” Rutter said.

Rutter would be right. Q-Tip has been active in the hip hop game for nearly 30 years. From his work with A Tribe Called Quest, to his solo work and as a producer, Q-Tip has seen and experienced it all. 

“With Hip Hop constantly changing and evolving, it is easy to forget the history and legacy that precede it,” Q-Tip said in a press release. “I want to begin at the beginning of the Culture to help people see its roots, better understand its present, and responsibly create its future.”

Q-Tip’s job will be to curate the school’s forthcoming Hip Hop Culture series which will explore Hip Hop culture across deejaying, emceeing, breakdancing, graffiti writing, and knowledge of self.

See the 2016-2017 Hip Hop Culture Season schedule below.

July 12-16, 2016 — Family Theater, Concert Hall — Brave New Voices Youth Summit

October 12-16, 2016 — Family Theater — All the Way Live!

November 3-5, 2016 — Terrace Gallery — Words, Beats & Life Teach-In

November 5, 2016 — Grand Foyer — Top Notch

May 23, 2017 — Eisenhower Theater — DJ Spooky: Rebirth of a Nation

June 5-11, 2017 — Family Theater — /peh-LO-tah/

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