Join us to hear Dr. Daudi Abe and Jazmyn Scott discuss the history of hip-hop in Seattle. Registration is required.

Click here to register. The link to access the event will be sent to you by email once you register.

The event is presented in partnership with LANGSTON, Wa Na Wari, and Elliott Bay Book Company. This event is supported by The Seattle Public Library Foundation, author series sponsors the Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation, and Seattle City of Literature. Thanks to media sponsor The Seattle Times.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

From the first rap battles in Seattle’s Central District to the Grammy stage, hip hop has shaped urban life and the music scene of the Pacific Northwest for more than four decades. In the early 1980s, Seattle’s hip-hop artists developed a community-based culture of stylistic experimentation and multiethnic collaboration. Emerging at a distance from the hip-hop centers of New York City and Los Angeles, Seattle’s most famous hip-hop figures, Sir Mix-A-Lot and Macklemore, found mainstream success twenty years apart by going directly against the grain of their respective eras. In addition, Seattle has produced a two-time world-champion breaking crew, globally renowned urban clothing designers, an international hip-hop magazine, and influential record producers.

In Emerald Street, Daudi Abe chronicles the development of Seattle hip hop from its earliest days, drawing on interviews with artists and journalists to trace how the elements of hip hop–rapping, DJing, breaking, and graffiti–flourished in the Seattle scene. He shows how Seattle hip-hop culture goes beyond art and music, influencing politics, the relationships between communities of color and law enforcement, the changing media scene, and youth outreach and educational programs. The result is a rich narrative of a dynamic and influential force in Seattle music history and beyond.

Emerald Street was made possible in part by a grant from 4Culture’s Heritage Program.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Dr. Daudi Abe is professor of humanities at Seattle Central College and author of 6 ‘N the Morning: West Coast Hip-Hop Music 1987-1992 and The Transformation of Mainstream Culture.

Jazmyn Scott is the current and first Program Manager of L ANGSTON; Seattle’s hub for Black arts and culture. In 2009 Jazmyn founded The Town Entertainment, a company that presented, produced & promoted live music and unique events in Seattle, as well as the marketing & development of up and coming artists; primarily in the R&B/Soul and Hip-Hop genres.

In 2012, Jazmyn co-founded 50 Next: Seattle Hip-Hop Worldwide, a digital “time capsule” highlighting Seattle and Northwest Hip-Hop, and later partnered with the Black Heritage

Society of WA to plan the Black History Month Celebration at the Museum of History & Industry in 2014. The success of that event led to the opportunity to curate a community exhibit on Seattle Hip-Hop. The Legacy of Seattle Hip-Hop exhibit had a highly successful 8-month run at MOHAI and won the 2016 American Association for State & Local History (AASLH) Leadership in History award. Recently, Jazmyn curated and co-produced 2(06) The Break, a seven episode series that took a uniquely local spin on the recently popularized DJ live streaming sessions.

View in Catalog Emerald Street: A History of Hip-Hop in Seattle by Dr. Daudi Abe

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