The powerhouse Arena in a partnership with the 3^rd Annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival (BHF) announce a series of exciting events taking place throughout the month of June. The BHF is a celebration of hip-hop music and art, as well as the borough of Brooklyn as a premier cultural destination. Showcasing pioneers and legends, as well as the next generation’s brightest talents, the BHF has been host to performances from the likes of Big Daddy Kane, Brand Nubian, Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco, Little Brother, Rhymefest, Sleepy Brown, Ralph McDaniels and many more.

This year’s BHF has expanded to include a series of five free events, three of which are to be held in conjunction with The powerHouse Arena. “We are extremely pleased to partner with powerHouse on this year’s Festival as we shed light upon hip hop’s rich history and it’s continued expansion as a global culture,” said Alma Geddy-Romero, Director of the BHF.

Celebrating the hip-hop movement through soul music, film, and photography, this year’s programming is the most comprehensive yet.  For more information about each event as well as the entire Festival calendar, please visit www.brooklynbodega.com  and www.powerhousearena.com

• When: Thursday, June 7th, Time: 6-9pm
  What: BHF Kickoff Party celebrating 50 years of Stax Records!
  Join us for a night of funky soul all night long at the powerHouse Arena in Dumbo, BK. Stax Records was home to legendary acts such as Otis Redding, Booker T. and the MGs, The Bar-Kays, Isaac Hayes, The Dramatics, The Staple Singers, The Emotions and so many more. Celebrate 50 years of Soul magic, as well as the re-launch of the label.
  
  
• When: Thursday, June 14th, 6-9 pm
  What: David Alan Harvey: Living Proof, exhibition in conjunction with the Magnum Festival. VIEW SHOW >>
  Hip Hop, which first began on the streets of the South Bronx in the early 1970s, has traveled the globe, finding a home in every corner of the planet. Hip Hop’s versatility speaks to its accessibility and universality. In 2005, Magnum Photographer David Alan Harvey began photographing local emcees in the Bronx River Projects, home of hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa, whose legendary Zulu Nation parties inspired a new generation of b-boys and -girls. It is their descendants that Harvey has captured in here—from Boogie Down thugs and Hollywood celebs to the local cultures of Spain, France, Gambia, Senegal, South Korea, and Thailand—revealing how Hip Hop has always spoken to the guy on the corner and the girl at the club, because skills and style comes from love.
  
  
• When: Friday, June 22nd, 6-9pm
  What: Charlie Ahearn: Wild Style:The Sampler, exhibition and book launch party. VIEW SHOW >>
  Hosted by Mass Appeal, Music by DJ Disco Wiz
  In 1982, Charlie Ahearn wrote, directed, and produced a small, independent movie that released a year later, taking the world by storm as it screening in Cannes, Tokyo, and Times Square. Wild Style, the first film to unite the underground urban art forms of nascent hip hop culture—DJing, MCing, b-boying, and graff writing—was filmed on location in the South Bronx without permits or pretensions. Some twenty-five years after it’s release, Wild Style is truly a classic, having inspired countless artists, musicians, and writers with unforgettable scenes starring the era’s most memorable personalities. To celebrate the film’s silver anniversary, Wild Style The Sampler provides an inside look at the making of the film, it’s release, and the reverberations it caused around the world. Curated by Ahearn, this exhibition and accompanying book of the same name introduces us to a cast of characters and outrageous adventures through a collection of photographs, original artwork, production stills, and archival materials and includes the work of Ahearn. Martha Cooper, and Cathy Campbell, as well as animators Zephyr and Dr. Revolt. Featuring iconic images of legends and pioneers including the Chief Rocker Busy Bee, Lee Quinones, Fab 5 Freddy, Dondi White, Zephyr, Smiley 149, DJ AJ, Grandmaster Caz, GrandMaster Flash and the Furious Five, Melle Mel, the Fantastic Five, The Funky Four, Sha Rock, Double Trouble, Rammellzee, Debbie Harry, Patti Astor, and Frosty Freeze, among others. A screening of the film will follow the launch party at the nearby Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park as part of the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival.
  

For more information, please contact Sara Rosen, Publicity Director
powerHouse Books, 37 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tel: 212-604-9074 x105, Fax: 212-366-5247, email: sara@powerHouseBooks.com