Big Fun in the Big Town

In 1986, a Dutch TV station sent a crew to the streets of New York City to document a music scene that was in the middle of taking over the world: hip-hop. TV host Marcel Vanhilt interviews a who’s-who of hip-hop pioneers, including Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Doug E. Fresh, Grandmaster Flash, Roxanne Shante, Biz Markie, MC Shan, Russell Simmons, Mr. Magic, Schoolly D, and The Last Poets. The Guardian called the result the tenth best music documentary of all time. (Bram van Splunteren, The Netherlands, 1986, DVD, 40 min.)

After the film we have a panel of Chicago’s hip-hop pioneers, who will talk about how the Chicago scene was influenced by but differed dramatically from the New York scene. Panelists include Ang13, DJ Risky Bizness, and Amina Norman-Hawkins of Urbanized Music and the Chicago Hip-Hop Initiative.