This year, we’re celebrating all the elements of hip-hop, bringing back seminal artists to recognize their contributions and introducing today’s newest innovators. MCs will include Brooklyn resident MIKE, inviting the sharpest young rappers, including critically acclaimed poet and producer Noname, to his Young World festival; a Native Tongues reunion featuring Monie Love, Chi Ali and others; and Brooklyn native Special Ed bringing together Nice and Smooth, Black Moon, Masta Ace and others, to name just a few. Some of hip hop’s most influential DJs will take center stage including Clark Kent, Rich Medina, Tony Touch, Stretch Armstrong (The Originals), DJ Moma (Everyday Ppl), Ron Gee, and, of course, the one who started it all, GrandMaster Flash, who will mark the “Birth of a Culture” in Crotona Park located in the Bronx – the borough where it all began. Street dance will be well represented by the Ladies of Hip-Hop, who will be in residence throughout the season, bringing their empowering workshops and performances to audiences, and graffiti will feature prominently with artist James Top, of the legendary Odd Partners Graffiti Crew, who will curate a series of famed artists painting murals at shows throughout the season.
We’re also presenting artists from around the world that have taken this NYC genre and infused it with their own culture. Australian rapper L-FRESH the LION, set to play the annual Aussie BBQ, will offer a glimpse at hip hop through the lens of his Sikh and Punjabi heritage; Argentina’s Trueno and Puerto Rico’s Villano Antillano will celebrate the Caribbean and reggaetón influence of the genre as part of the Latin Alternative Music Conference; Colombia’s Goyo will draw on her country’s Afro-Latin rhythms; Brazil’s Emicida will use hip hop to highlight his country’s structural racism; and DJ Rekha will spin the fusion of Indian bhangra with hip hop and dance beats she made famous at her Basement Bhangra parties.
Learn more about the 50th anniversary of hip-hop here.
June 17 | FREE | THE AUSSIE BBQ: 1300 / Amy Shark / Budjerah / L-FRESH the LION / Peach PRC / Spiderbait
June 19 | $BENEFIT | Park Jams: A Juneteenth Celebration of Hip-Hop with DJ Premier, Grandmaster Flash, Kid Capri, and more
July 8 | FREE | Catalan Sounds On Tour: Queralt Lahoz / Marala / Lia Kali / DJ sets by DJ Trapella in association with the Institut Ramon Llull
July 15 | FREE | TRUENO / Villano Antillano / Dawer x Damper / KEXP’s El Sonido with Albina Cabrera ft. Camola DJ set in association with LAMC
August 5 | FREE | The Originals
August 20 | FREE |Everyday People
September 3 | FREE | Emicida / Goyo / Screening: AmarElo: It’s All For Yesterday in Association with 27th Inffinito Brazilian Film Festival
September 22 | $BENEFIT | Lil Yachty
L-FRESH the LION performs at THE AUSSIE BBQ, 2023.
August 13 | FREE | Funk Flex & Friends Birthday Concert Featuring Raheem DeVaughn, Rob Base & More
July 15 | FREE | MIKE’S Young World III: Noname / Jay Critch / Georgia Anne Muldrow / MAVI / 454 / AKAI SOLO / ELISE
July 16 | FREE | dead prez / th1rt3en / Large Professor DJ Set
Funk Flex at his annual birthday celebration at SummerStage at the Coney Island Amphitheater.
July 22 | FREE | Kool & the Gang / Mobb Deep Havoc featuring Noyd and DJ LES / Grand Wizard Theodore
August 3 | FREE | Tedsmooth’s Freestyle Jam ft. TKA and Judy Torres
August 4 | FREE | “Birth of a Culture”: Grandmaster Flash and friends
August 11 | FREE | Staten Island celebrates 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop: hosted by Ghostface Killah & Friends
August 12 | FREE | Frankie Cutlass / Cover Girls / Cynthia / Black Sheep Dres / DJ Millo and DJ Medina in Association with Maker Park Radio
August 17 | FREE | Works and Process at SummerStage: The Missing Element with The Beatbox House / LayeRhythm / Ladies of Hip Hop
August 19 | FREE | Mixtape (Movie Screening) / DJ sets by: Ron G / Doo Wop / Mister Cee / Tony Touch / Brucie B
August 20 | FREE | Hip-Hop 50: Native Tongues edition / Monie Love / Black Sheep Dres / Chi Ali / DJ Red Alert hosted by Ralph McDaniel (Video Music Box)
Action Bronson performs at SummerStage in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in 2022.
As part of our season-long celebration of Hip-Hop in all of its forms, the Ladies of Hip-Hop Dance Collective will be performing at select shows across the five boroughs.
Ladies of Hip-Hop Dance Collective (LDC) is an all-female intergenerational dance collective that creates dance works illuminating the strength, power and diversity of women in hip-hop. Ever present in the work are the freestyle, cipher, and call-and-response aspects of the origins of street and club dance culture, while exploring the space of proscenium performance. Led by artistic director Michele Byrd-McPhee, LDC creates work that celebrates and centers feminist narratives examining the intersections of gender, race, and resistance.
This season at SummerStage, Ladies of Hip-Hop will perform at various shows throughout the season. See here for a full list of inclusions.
The Ladies of Hip-Hop Dance Collective.
Graffiti Art Live @ SummerStage by James Top
Graffiti Artist Line-up: Meres, Keo, Topaz, Will Power, Doms, Stem ynn, Wore
July 16 – Von King Park, BK: dead prez / th1rt3en / DJ set Large Professor
July 22 – Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, QN: Kool & the Gang / Mobb Deep Havoc ft. Noyd and DJ LES / Grand Wizzard Theodore
Aug 4 – Crotona Park, BX: “Birth of a Culture” Grandmaster Flash and Friends
Aug 5 – Central Park, MN: The Originals
Aug 11 – Stapleton Waterfront Park, SI: Staten Island celebrates 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop
Aug 20 – Marcus Garvey, MN: Hip-Hop 50: Native Tongue Edition
Yung MA performs at SummerStage.
