D-D-Don't Don't Stop the Beat
Certainly, lines such as "I take you to the candy shop / I'll let you lick the lollypop" could lead one to believe that hip-hop lyrics are not always vehicles for feminist empowerment. For the second event in the month-long Hip-Hop Series, the Africana Center Film Series brings filmmaker Byron Hurt to screen and discuss his PBS documentary "Beyond Beats and Rhymes: Masculinity in Hip-Hop Culture." Hurt's film, recently chosen as a 2006 Sundance Documentary Film Selection, explores issues of gender roles, masculinity, violence and homophobia in hip-hop and rap music. "Beyond Beats" uses interviews with scholars and prominent rappers (including Mos Def, Busta Rhymes and Chuck D) to compile what Hurt describes as a "loving critique" of trends he observed in hip-hop culture. The film will be screened in Tisch 304 on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
All that jazz
Join several cool Tufts profs next Sunday for a happenin' tour of jazz. "History of the Jazz Songbook," a concert featuring vocalists Diane Richardson and Stan Strickland, guitarist Jerry Bussiere, and pianists Nando Michelin and David Zoffer, is a journey through the some of the genre's most swingin' hits. From Duke Ellington's "Prelude to a Kiss" to Dexter Gordon's "Fried Bananas" to the "Broadway Blues," the show will hop and bop through the repertoire of the most revered jazzers in a hip review. The best part? All these cool cats teach or have taught here at Tufts, and they're also renowned performers in their own right. "History of the Jazz Songbook" will kick it on Sunday the 19th at 3 p.m. The concert is free for everyone and will take place in Alumnae Lounge.
- compiled by Kate Drizos and Rita Reznikova
