Hip Hop & represents an annual season focus highlighting hip hop’s intersection with other genres, forms, and disciplines. It is dedicated to celebrating the multi-hyphenate and the evolutionary and unexpected ways that hip hop impacts culture.

As we launch our inaugural festival we are excited to celebrate the dynamic relationship between hip hop and jazz over the course of several exciting programs encompassing listening sessions, performances, dance parties, and more.

The Hip Hop & Jazz Festival is dedicated to visionary concert producer, music impresario, and founder and CEO of Revive Music Group, Meghan Stabile.

Schedule:

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

7:30 pm: Hip Hop Listening Sessions: We’ve Got the Jazz - Jazz and Hip Hop Edition

As part of our Hip Hop & … Festival, join us for a very special presentation of our Hip Hop Listening Sessions focused on the intersection between hip hop and jazz! Whether it’s classic hip hop songs with iconic jazz samples, jazz compositions, covers or collaborations, series, or concept projects, we will be exploring the myriad of ways that jazz and hip hop intersect.

Program:
As part of our Hip Hop &… Festival, join us for a very special presentation of our Hip Hop Listening Sessions focused on the intersection between hip hop and jazz! Whether it’s classic hip-hop songs with iconic jazz samples such as Eric B. & Rakim’s “Don’t Sweat the Technique”; A Tribe Called Quest’s “Excursions,” “Jazz (We’ve Got),” and “Electric Relaxation”; Nas’s “The World Is Yours”; De La Soul’s “Stakes Is High”; Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)”; Digable Planets’s “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)”; Mobb Deep’s “Shook Ones, Part II”; The Pharcyde’s “Runnin’”; Talib Kweli’s “Get By,” Kendrick Lamar’s “For Free? (Interlude)”; jazz compositions; covers or collaborations like Miles Davis’s “The Doo Bop Song”; Quincy Jones’s “Back on the Block”; the RH Factor’s “Poetry (ft. Q-Tip and Erykah Badu)”; Robert Glasper’s “J Dillalude” and “Black Radio (ft. Yasiin Bey)”; Chief Adjuah’s “Freedom Is a Word (ft. Vic Mensa); series like Guru’s Jazzmatazz; or concept projects like August Greene, we will be exploring the myriad of ways that jazz and hip hop intersect.

Our Hip Hop Listening Sessions: Jazz and Hip Hop Edition features panelists DJ, rapper, producer, and professor DJ Raydar Ellis; multidisciplinary creative and founder of B-FLY Entertainment Paige Hernandez; acclaimed trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music director and founder of the Revive Big Band Igmar Thomas; and more to be announced. It will be moderated by artist, producer, and Guggenheim Fellow Kokayi with sounds by radio personality, DJ, and member of 9th Wonder’s True School Corp DJ Face. It will also be complemented by a live performance set of Hernandez and B-FLY Entertainment’s iconic Liner Notes highlighting the jazz and hip hop continuum through jazz standards, hip hop samples, and liner notes from your favorite artists.

Location: Studio K

Price Range: $20.00 - $35.00

Friday, March 29, 2024

7:30 pm and 9:30 pm: Igmar Thomas’ Revive Big Band

The Revive Big Band is not just a band-it’s a movement. In a rare live performance, the supergroup returns to the Kennedy Center after two sold-out shows for another exciting presentation!

Program:
Founded by Igmar Thomas, the former Music Director and bandleader for Ms. Lauryn Hill and Nas, The Revive Big Band is not just a band—it’s a movement. Rooted in Black American music and combining jazz, hip hop, funk, soul, blues, and gospel, this multi-generational ensemble is made up of some of the most accomplished musicians alive today.

Collectively, the band’s members have 27 Grammy® nominations and 13 Grammy® wins; have been praised in nearly every major media outlet including the New York Times, NPR, Okayplayer, Downbeat, Billboard, and others; and have performed all over the world collaborating with some of the most well-known artists out there today: Common, J. Cole, D’Angelo, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Sting, Esperanza Spalding, Dizzy Gillespie, Talib Kweli, Gregory Porter, Bilal, Robert Glasper, and Pharoahe Monch, just to name a few.

Since making its debut in 2010, the Big Band has performed at the Kennedy Center, Central Park SummerStage, Harlem Stage, BRIC, the Apollo Theater, Highline Ballroom, Blue Note Jazz Club, Winter JazzFest, Art of Cool Festival, and Ginny’s Supper Club. With a repertoire that features original compositions and inventive orchestrations of jazz standards and contemporary classics by artists ranging from Oliver Nelson, Wayne Shorter, and Freddie Hubbard to A Tribe Called Quest, J Dilla, Gang Starr, and Bilal, the Revive Big Band returns to the Kennedy Center for another exciting presentation.

Location: Studio K

7:30pm - Buy Tickets

9:30pm - Buy Tickets

Saturday, March 30, 2024

8:00 pm: Robert Glasper - Black Radio: A Duke x Dilla Celebration

Honoring Duke Ellington and J Dilla

With special guests De La Soul; the Black Radio Orchestra, led and conducted by Derrick Hodge; and more

In honor of Duke Ellington’s 125th and hip hop’s 50th birthdays, five-time Grammy Award–winning pianist, composer, producer, and founding Kennedy Center Hip Hop Culture Council Member Robert Glasper celebrates the iconic musical legacies of Ellington and hip hop legend J Dilla through his genre-shattering brand-Black Radio.

Program:
In honor of their 125th?and 50th birthdays, five-time Grammy Award®–winning pianist, composer, producer, and founding Kennedy Center Hip Hop Culture Council Member Robert Glasper celebrates the iconic musical legacies of Duke Ellington and J Dilla through his genre-shattering brand—Black Radio. This special one-night-only concert will feature special guests De La Soul, the groundbreaking, Grammy Award®–winning hip hop group, alongside the Black Radio Orchestra led by two-time Grammy®-winning composer, conductor, arranger, musical director, and bassist Derrick Hodge.

And don’t miss the FREE Duke x Dilla Afterparty, featuring world-renowned musician, producer, DJ, and drummer Karriem Riggins! Register here (required for attendance).

Presented as part of the Hip Hop &… Festival and Ellington 125.

Location: Concert Hall

Price Range: $69.00 - $249.00

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10:00 pm: A Duke x Dilla Afterparty

Featuring Karriem Riggins

FREE! As the official afterparty to the 2024 Hip Hop &… Festival and Robert Glasper’s Black Radio: Duke x Dilla Celebration, world-renowned musician, producer, DJ, and drummer Karriem Riggins for a kaleidoscopic night of music encompassing soul, funk, hip hop, and jazz in addition to classic joints, deep cuts, and original beats that will keep heads nodding and people dancing.

All tickets for this event have been claimed-please check back for additional availability.

Please note: This is an age 21+ event.

Program:
World-renowned musician, producer, DJ, and drummer Karriem Riggins comes to the Club at Studio K for the official afterparty to the 2024 Hip Hop &... Festival and Robert Glasper’s Black Radio: A Duke x Dilla Celebration. Part dance party, part jam session, the Duke x Dilla Afterparty is a kaleidoscope of music encompassing soul, funk, hip hop, and jazz in addition to classic joints, deep cuts, and original beats that will keep heads nodding and people dancing.

A celebrated jazz musician, producer, DJ, and Emmy Award winner from Detroit, Michigan, Riggins has played in some of the world’s greatest cities. With a career spanning over two decades, he has made a significant impact on the music industry with his versatile style and innovative approach to production. He has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry, including Diana Krall, Common, Erykah Badu, Paul McCartney, Robert Glasper, Talib Kweli, Steve Lacy, Detroit’s own Dwele, and the late great J Dilla. Whether in the studio or on the stage, Riggins continues to push the boundaries of music and inspire a new generation of musicians and artists around the world.

Presented as part of the Hip Hop &… Festival

Location: Studio K

Price: Free

Friday, April 19, 2024

8:00 pm: The Rakim & DJ Jazzy Jeff & Ravi Coltrane Project

Produced by Jill Newman Productions

An exciting collaboration between three brilliant and legendary musicians, The Rakim & DJ Jazzy Jeff & Ravi Coltrane Project is a must-see event for music and culture lovers.

Program:
An exciting collaboration between three brilliant and legendary musicians, The Rakim & DJ Jazzy Jeff & Ravi Coltrane Project is a must-see event for music and culture lovers worldwide. Conceived and produced by Jill Newman Productions and hosted as the closing event for the Kennedy Center’s inaugural Hip Hop &... Festival, this event features the “God MC” Rakim (who grew up with a love for John Coltrane’s music); the always magnificent and two-time Grammy Award®–winning DJ Jazzy Jeff; and critically acclaimed Grammy®-nominated saxophonist, bandleader, and composer Ravi Coltrane. The trio will meld their incredible music, history, and influences together for one epic evening of music backed by a live band.

The evening will also feature a special opening DJ set by DJ Jazzy Jeff.

Location: Concert Hall

Price Range: $59.00 - $189.00

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Date:
March 27 - April 19, 2024

Location:
The Kennedy Center,
2700 F Street NorthWest,
Washington, DC 20566.

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