Representations of hip-hop culture have made their way into the Magn°fico Artspace gallery in the show "Hip Hop: Portraits of an Urban Hymn."
The show includes photographs taken by David Scheinbaum at a variety of hip-hop shows in the Sunshine Theatre and "Rain," a theatrical production by Prophet Productions. Mike 360 and the Tortuga Project will give a multimedia performance called "Hip Hop Culture" Wednesday and a poetry slam with host Manuel Gonzalez on Oct. 29.
Ross Kelly, director of "Rain" said hip-hop theater is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with and pointed to the rapid growth of New York City's Hip Hop Theater Festival over the past four years as an example.
"Modern contemporary hip-hop theater is a valid genre now," he said. "It's incredible to be a part of something so brand new."
"Rain" will bring to the theatrical stage live music, graffiti art, break dancing, step dancing, rap, freestyling and beatboxing.
Kelly defined the genre as being interactive, focused on current themes and written from an insider's perspective.
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"The stories that (hip-hop theater) is talking about are stories that aren't being heard too often, stories from this young, generation X point of view," he said. "It's not big scholarly playwrights who are looking in on a culture and writing about it. It's coming from within."
Scheinbaum got interested in hip-hop by chaperoning his then 12-year-old son to concerts.
"I started to realize the good energy and the vibe," he said. "In my observation, the crowd transcends culture and class and race. I started to see things that were similar to my own relationship with music in the '60s."
Though Scheinbaum wants his work to show his respect and interest in the hip-hop culture, he also said he's not trying to educate the educated.
"I want to educate my generation about the positive aspects of hip-hop," he said. "The media tend to concentrate on the negative aspects of hip-hop - there's so much fear. I hope the work will change some of that."
Scheinbaum said the crowd and the performers have always treated him with the utmost respect.
"I feel I owe it to them to bring a serious aesthetic to my vision of them," he said.
Scheinbaum also said the limitations as an observer are clear to him.
"I'm an outsider," he said. "I'm this white parent. I don't pretend to be an expert. I'm trying to record the positive things that I observe from the outside."
Inside or outside, all of the artists involved in "Hip Hop: Portraits of an Urban Hymn" promise a thorough examination of the culture and it's significance.
