Hip hop on Trial...in London

Google+ is rising in hip hop. It has joined forces with think tank, Intelligence², for "the first ever global debate on hip-hop." It's being held at London's Barbican in one week on June 26th.  Best of all, we can watch live on YouTube and vote online!

But, one quick Stevio correction - it seems to be rap music, not the entire hip hop culture, that is being debated. I hope the experts understand the difference. It seems the whole event has started on the wrong footing!

What's being debated?:

"Is hip-hop the authentic voice of the oppressed that turns anger into poetry and political action? Or is it a glorification of all that holds back oppressed minorities and hinders them from mainstream assimilation?"

For the defense  Defending hip hop will be artists KRS-One from the mighty Boogie Down Productions and ?uestlove of The Roots. Joining them in the trenches are US "hip-hop intellectuals"...take a breathe, there's a long list here!

• Touré (author, writer and TV host)
• Michael Eric Dyson (prof. of Sociology at Georgetown University and author of 'Between God and Gangsta Rap: Bearing Witness to Black Culture' and 'Born to Use Mics: Reading Nas's Illmatic')
• Tricia Rose (prof. of Africana Studies at Brown University - see her lecture below - and author of 'The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters' and 'Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America') and
• dream hampton (author of 'Decoded, Jay-Z' and co-author ' Industry Rules: The World According to Q-Tip, from Linden Blvd. to El Segundo and Beyond' and  director of 'Notorious B.I.G.: Bigger Than Life.')

If that isn't enough, Intelligence² is also adding civil rights campaigner Jesse Jackson, to the mix.

Class is in session  Check this Tricia Rose lecture.

For the prosecution UK's Shaun Bailey, Conservative party leader, David Cameron's adviser on youth and crime,  and Hattie Collins, music editor of i-D magazine. They will be joined by a shorted list of people, including America's leading political satirist P. J. O'Rourke who will be joining via Google+ Hangout from New Hampshire. Have they heard of rap there?! ;)

"In our new quick-fire courtroom format, there'll be two brilliant advocates grilling our panel of hip-hop fans and critics and building a case either for or against the motion. Hip-hop is a state of mind, an attitude of defiance that has been adopted by the oppressed all over the world. But does it help or hinder society?" Intelligence² website

More about  Intelligence²
Online, intelligencesquared.com is a hub for all of the best online content including video, audio and written debates. All new events are posted free to watch on YouTube and free to listen to on SoundCloud.

Hip-hop on trial: Hip-hop doesn't enhance society, it degrades it

Tuesday June 26th, 2012, Barbican Centre, London.
The debate will begin at 7pm BST.