Hip-hop culture nerds rejoice (we're assuming that's all of you reading this, author included) - Red Bull Music Academy and the great minds at ego trip are putting together a cinematic triple feature that's sure to be one for the books, as they say. As the RBMA descends upon New York City next month with a slew of lectures, performances, and events, Filmmatic - An Evening of Rare Hip-Hip Documentaries presents a unique opportunity to witness the early years of hip-hop in full cinematic glory, all for the price of one ticket. The three films being screened - Dick Fontaine's Beat This! (1984); Dutch director Bram van Splunteren's Big Fun In The Big Town (1986); and Diane Martel's street dance flick Wreckin' Shop: Live From Brooklyn (1992) - are often overlooked in the canon of great hip-hop films, despite providing critical contributions to the visual archive of our cultural phenomenon in its infancy and adolescence. In addition to screening the films, ego trip's Chairman Mao will host a follow-up panel discussion/Q&A session with all three directors as well as some of the stars of the films, namely Afrika Bambaataa, Schoolly D, and freestyle dance legend Buddha Stretch. Yeah, all of that - don't say we didn't warn you. It all goes down at New York City's Sunshine Landmark Theater on Monday, April 29th at 6:30pm, and tickets are available now. To get ready for your impending hip-hop edification, check out the trailers for Beat This! and Big Fun In The Big Town below and as always, don't forget to pass the popcorn.
props to ETL
