Thursday, April 15, 9 - midnight 
Public Assembly 
70 North 6th St. (Williamsburg)

Black Brooklyn Renaissance presents Hip Hop Hybrids of Brooklyn at Public Assembly, a showcase of the borough's cutting edge Hip Hop artists (many of whom are women: Tantra, Leecy, LMNOP), who are working in hybrid and crossover styles that mash-up lyrical influences informed by neighborhood and national identity. Tah Phrum Duh Bush, the Emcee for the evening coming out of Flatbush, Brooklyn, is well-known on the scene and has the respect of the forbearers of Brooklyn Hip Hop, such as MC Lyte and Milk D. Tah is also a word artist in his own right. Emcee Tah Phrum Duh Bush says:

This event will expose the raw talent and cultural blending that parallels the multicultural backgrounds of Brooklyn's inhabitants. Ranging from the roots of spoken word to the rise of the emcee, from the B-Boy and B-Girl to the DJ. Transcending gender, race, religion and language barriers. The spectator will witness diversity in the raw as we bring to the stage more than simply music and dance. We bring forth the intermingling of instrument with verbiage; the literal 'marriage' of DJ and Emcee; spoken song; meshing of languages; jazz infusion; theatrical mastery; visual articulation; and the masterfully artistic control of the human body to the rhythms of the streets it inhabits.

The line-up features artists D-Cross, Tantra-Zawadi, Coole High, Dyalekt, LMNOP, Charlotte Mishelle, Saga One, NGoma, Demostina, M-TRi, and DJ Leecy T. Special additions by eYe of Braggin' Rites with dancers Richie Rich, Oreo, Erock and El Julio, plus DJ Tahleim. Presented by BAC with support from American Express. $10. Purchase tickets at door. Click here for BK Art Lovers discount/special offer. 

ARTIST BIOS

Tah Phrum Duh Bush
In the early 2000s, Tah Phrum Duh Bush emerged as one of Brooklyn's articulate hip-hop representatives. The "Bush" that Tah refers to in his stage name is the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, where he grew up. Tah brings a recognizably northeastern flow to the table. Tah would never be mistaken for a West Coast or southern rapper; his rhyming is very much a product of his Northeastern Corridor upbringing. While some of the Northeastern Corridor rappers who have emerged in the '90s or 2000s have been influenced by West Coast and southern gangsta rap, Tah has favored an alternative rap aesthetic rather than a thug life/gangsta aesthetic, which is not to say that his music is not edgy. Tah co-founded Urban Artbeat in NYC, a program that runs music and art-based workshops in schools throughout the five boroughs of New York City.

Coole High
A product of Brooklyn, New York, Coole High's style cannot be summed up in just one word. It's a mixed bag of flavor for your ears. The Music: Hip Hop, Jazz, Funk. The lyrics: hardcore, underground, intellectual. Coole High's songs cover everything from politics of the world to the politics of the music industry. He raps about the effect of drug trade in the hood and its correlation to the corporate world. But there are also several sides to 'Mr. High'.

Dyalekt
Whether it's his work as an MC and member of the MINDSpray crew, or the time he spends working in theater both writing and acting in plays, Dyalekt knows how to tell a story. In fact, it's his deep roots in both Hip Hop and theater that have made him one of the more dynamic storytellers of his generation. Over the years Dyalekt has become well known for his ability to rhyme about important topics and find ways to make them interesting. In addition to these roles Dyalekt has also been playing the role of teacher in a very real way. In an effort to show others that Hip Hop can be combined with other aspects of life, and as a part of his role as associate artistic director of Smokin Word Productions, Dyalekt been providing workshops across the nation to help teachers use Hip Hop to assist them in reaching today's youth more effectively. He has also been an organizer for "Dbate" a Lincoln Douglas style debate that incorporates poetry for arguments and freestyle rhymes for rebuttals.

Tantra Zawadi Tantra has performed to standing-room audiences at venues in Toronto, South Africa, London and Germany while blowing audiences away with her soul stirring style of poetry in the tri-state area/off-Broadway productions. Tantra is also a recipient of the Kings County District Attorney's Office Women's History Month Award for her artistic contributions to the borough of Brooklyn, a mentor for Girl Child Network Worldwide and a member of the vonduvoisdancecollective. Tantra is the subject of a spoken word documentary 'Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow,' which features poets who make a living from their art. Tantra is the host of her own spoken word series, WORDSPACE and has made several appearances on cable television, local and satellite radio shows.

D-Cross
Derick Cross aka D.Cross (The Living Instrument) is a multi-dimensional Hip Hop visual and vocal artist who creates imagery and sound that transcends and crosses boundaries of genres and labels. As a performance artist he embodies the spirit of Hip Hop combining the art of poetry, beat boxing and emceeing/rap, making music to ears of listeners everywhere. Visually he works in a variety of media including acrylics, oils and polymerclay. D.Cross' work has been shown through out the New York metropolitan area as well locations nationally (Atlanta) and internationally (Sweden and Brazil). Mr. Cross is also an Arts Educator who has worked with youth teaching visual arts, poetry, and Hip Hop.

CharlotteMishell
A Hip Hop hybrid of two boroughs (Brooklyn and Queens), CharlotteMishell has been catching the ears and hearts of audiences in New York City, New Jersey and Philadelphia, performing at such venues as Bloomfield College, Brooklyn and City Colleges, The Nile, Ashford & Simpson's Sugar Bar, Santos Party House with KRS One, as well as the Rush Philanthropic Corridor for Danny Simmons. Last year, Charlotte was a finalist in the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe 2009 Grand Slam Finale, and also released her debut album Love, Charlotte. To sum her up: CharlotteMishell is a web-slinging, bunny-loving, middle-school teacher from Queens with truth in her eyes and fire in her belly. If you pulled out her heart you'd find that it's just an emcee with an 808 spraypainting a b-boy along her ribcage.

LMNOP
Since her birth in Queens, NY at the end of '82, Lesliayn Miller (Little Miss Never Out Of Pocket) has been a spirit on a mission, sculpting and crafting her skills on paper, on the mic and in life. Throughout the evolution, she was exposed to a broad range of music from Hip Hop and dancehall to heavy metal. Like all innovative artists, the tribulations in life fueled her; she penned her joys and pains. Then at 19, Little Miss Never Out Of Pocket was introduced to the recording booth. In 2005, LMNOP moved back to NYC determined to reach what she always imagined herself to be, an artist creating change and inspiration. LMNOP is inspired by an endless, eclectic range of musical artists from Madonna and Faith No More, to Cypress Hill and Redman. You can expect something refreshing, new and different from the rest.

M-TRI and DJ Leecy T
From the Gravesend section of Brooklyn comes M-TRI, the triple-threat of emcee, deejay and producer. M-TRI was introduced to Hip Hop during its golden era through graffiti and break dancing and hasn't looked back since. The acronym M-TRI is taken from his birth name, Max Triolo. This Hip Hop architect is constantly building through his subject matter, wordplay, punch lines, metaphors and, of course, his flow. To him there was an element missing: a deejay for live performances. Around the same time, Felice was taking a break from modeling to follow her roots in music, specifically her love for Hip Hop and that was when the M-TRI/DJ Leecy T duo was formed. M-TRI became her mentor and showed her how to blend, scratch and before she knew it DJ Leecy T was guest deejaying at venues with M-TRI, and holding down the turntables for M-TRI during his live stage shows. DJ Leecy T finishes his sentences with scratch phrases and also scratches the choruses. They recently performed at the Apollo 75th Anniversary Celebration paying homage to those who paved the way in hip hop.

Ngoma Hill
Ngoma is a performance poet, multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter and paradigm shifter, who for over 40 years has used culture as a tool to raise sociopolitical and spiritual consciousness through work that encourages critical thought. He was featured in the PBS Spoken Word Documentary, "The Apro-Poets" with Allen Ginsberg. Ngoma has hosted the slam at the Dr. Martin Luther King Festival of Social and Environmental Justice Festival (Yale University) for the past 14 years.