Hip Hop On Trial with Questlove, KRS-One, Estelle, Jesse Jackson +more, June 26 | London Event Preview

The social impact of Hip-Hop has long been the subject of fervent debate between those who see it as a much needed artistic outlet for a disenfranchised and otherwise voiceless section of  society and those who view it as a powerful, harmful and destructive influence.

Later this month, the subject will once again be discussed, this time on a grand scale, as Google+ host a debate featuring a host of interesting and influential speakers at London’s Barbican Hall. The likes of Questlove, KRS-One, journalist Toure and Jesse Jackson will be involved in the event which will be streamed across the globe.  

Here’s the info…

Hip-hop on trial: Hip-hop doesn’t enhance society, it degrades it -Vs.- The Google+ debates from Intelligence Squared

Date: 26 June 2012
Time: 19:00
Venue: Barbican Hall
Tickets: £10 – 40 [subject to availability] via Barbican

This June, Intelligence Squared and Google team up for a never-before-seen global debate on hip-hop.

Is rap an art form that gives the street a voice? Or is it all just money, misogyny and materialism?

Come and see hip-hop pioneer and legend KRS-One, celebrated civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, computer scientist and composer Jaron Lanier, and many more stars lock horns in the unique Intelligence Squared/Google+ courtroom debate format. Some of our speakers will be on stage in London, others beamed in from around the world thanks to the Google+ Hangout technology.

Be part of the buzz of the London audience, be part of the event beamed across the web to millions. Come and witness the future of the global mind-clash at the Versus hip-hop debate, live at the Barbican.

Chair

Emily Maitlis – BBC Newsnight presenter

Web host

Jemima Khan – British writer and campaigner, associate editor of the New Statesman and European editor-at-large for Vanity Fair

Speakers

• Deeb – Egyptian “Arab Spring” rapper
• Hattie Collins – Music editor of i-D magazine
• Michael Eric Dyson – Hip-hop intellectual and Professor of sociology at Georgetown University
• Estelle – Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter (via Google+ Hangout)
• dream hampton – American hip-hop journalist, cultural critic and film-maker
• Marc Lamont Hill – Columbia University professor (via Google+ Hangout)
• KRS-One – Hip-pioneer, record producer and activist
• Jesse Jackson – Civil rights activist, Baptist minister and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition
• Jaron Lanier – American computer scientist, composer, visual artist, and author
• Questlove – Co-founder of Grammy Award winning band The Roots, DJ, music journalist and producer (via Google+ Hangout)
• Tricia Rose – Brown University Professor and author of the groundbreaking book on hip-hop: Black Noise and Hip Hop Wars
• Tony Sewell – CEO of the charity Generating Genius
• John Sutherland – Former professor of Modern English Literature at University College London
• Touré – American TV presenter, novelist, journalist and cultural critic
• Jason Whitlock – Columnist for Foxsports.com

More speakers to be announced soon. Speakers and participants subject to change.