The first-ever National Arts Centre Hip Hop Theatre Festival takes place from January 31–February 10, 2024. This new festival will celebrate and bring attention to the beautiful intersection that hip hop and theatre share. Apt613 sat down with the festival’s curators, Nina Lee Aquino (Artistic Director, English Theatre) and Rose-Ingrid Benjamin (Engagement Strategist, NAC), to talk about what bringing this festival to life means for hip hop and theatre communities.
Tell our readers a little bit about yourselves and your connection to hip-hop.
Aquino: I am the Artistic Director of English Theatre at the NAC. My role in programming the first NAC Hip Hop Theatre Festival has been a journey into understanding hip hop’s connection to theatre. My curiosity was piqued by a team member’s question: Why aren’t hip hop events considered theatre?
For me, the relationship between hip hop and theatre is profound. Theatre, a vivid medium of storytelling, and hip hop, a culture pulsating with the rhythms and stories of a community, both share a dynamic narrative power. Integrating hip hop into theatre opens new avenues for expression.
Benjamin: I am the Engagement Strategist at the National Arts Centre, artist, and curator of the NAC Hip Hop Theatre Festival. In many ways, hip hop gave me the permission to be bold, to rage, to speak up, and to fight back.
Hip hop became a soundtrack for a part of my identity that I rarely saw at school or on TV. Being the only Black kid in predominantly white spaces, I latched on to symbols and stories that helped me ground my experience. Artists like the Wyclef and Muzion were particularly influential because they sounded like my mom and ma tantes and oncles. In a world where we’re often told to stay in your lane, take up less space, make yourself smaller, and keep your head down, I see hip hop as a vehicle to say and be the opposite.
What are you most excited to see in this festival? What are you most excited for audiences to see?
Aquino: As someone new to the hip hop world, I’m eager to immerse myself, meet the artists, and experience everything from The Cypher to battle rap. The virtual panels”Can I Kick It Too? An Exploration of Queerness in Hip Hop” and “Dangerous Minds: In Conversation with Hip Hop” are particularly exciting. They offer a deeper dive into hip hop’s role in education and society.
Benjamin: Personally, I am stoked to be in the room for Cold Heat. To have a battle rap event programmed and hosted by the NAC is something that you don’t ever see. I’m also excited to welcome some of Canada’s top Black poets for The Old Black Maple. We have some of my faves from the slam world.
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What do you think will be an important takeaway?
Aquino: I hope the festival provides audiences with a deeper, multifaceted understanding of hip hop culture and its significant influence on modern society. Showcasing hip hop’s role in shaping narratives and as a theatrical force, the festival aims to foster respect for hip hop as a vibrant theatrical form.
Benjamin: For hip hop heads, practitioners and those who love them, I hope that folks feel seen, honoured, and celebrated. I also hope that they see the heart behind the work—to write a love letter to a culture that shaped and formed so many of us.
I want folks to understand the diversity within hip hop communities, its deep roots, not just in the United States where it began, but right here at home. Too often hip hop and Black art has been relegated to the sidelines or as “urban” or “community programming” and not as an integral part of Canada’s artistic identity and imprint. So many of my hip hop heroes come from right here on our side of the border. May this festival inspire curiosity, exploration and challenge [people’s] personal ideas of what encompasses hip hop as a culture.
For someone not familiar with the history of hip hop in popular culture do you have any recommendations?
Benjamin: Shad, a Canadian rapper, hosts a Netflix show called Hip Hop Evolution that could be a great start for folks who want to learn more about the history and culture of hip hop.
Jon Corbin, a rapper and teacher from southern Ontario (who will be on the Dangerous Minds panel) co-wrote a resource geared to youth from grade 7–12 for Music Counts called #BlackMusicMatters, highlighting Black history in Canada through the lens of hip-hop.
This interview with the legendary Master T talks about hip hop’s start in Canada and how hip hop has developed here over the years.
Folks can go to the Ottawa Art Gallery and see their exhibit 83 ’til Infinity. It’s on until February and free of charge.
CBC’s Q has an episode that includes an oral history of “Northern Touch“, one of the most iconic Canadian hip hop collaborations.
2023 marked the 50th anniversary of hip hop. What are your hopes for the next 50?
Aquino: I hope hip hop continues to evolve and redefine its forms, intersecting with and influencing various art forms. It should break new ground, resisting any attempts to be boxed in. This festival represents just the beginning for the NAC to celebrate hip hop in all its facets—not just in text and theatre, but also in music, dance, and visual arts. Hip hop deserves a prominent place in the art world and in our lives, influencing and inspiring future generations.
Benjamin: I hope that folks continue to discover and fall in love with hip hop, not just as a musical genre but as a culture and breathing history of an oppressed people owning their voice and story. I look forward to the day where it won’t be an anomaly or a “special event” to program hip-hop next to the ballet or with an orchestra.
We are so excited for this festival and if you’re not sure what to get your loved ones for the holidays, tickets are on sale now at the NAC website.
Presented by NAC English Theatre, the NAC Hip Hop Theatre Festival runs from January 31 to February 10, 2024, featuring two concerts, two free panels and the spoken word presentation The Old Black Maple. Find out more online.
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