WNYC and Gothamist to Celebrate Hip-Hop’s 50th Anniversary With a Spotlight on Women Artists

Event held as part of special coverage from WNYC and Gothamist running on-air and online throughout the summer

The Greene Space will also be home to a large-scale public mural by NYC teens reflecting on hip-hop’s cultural legacy, presented in partnership with the Children’s Museum of the Arts and New York Public Library

(New York, NY – July 5, 2023) – To celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at WNYC and WQXR will host “Ladies Night: Women Who Shaped Hip-Hop in New York City,” a panel discussion featuring women artists, journalists and other creatives who helped forge a path for other women in the genre. 

“Ladies Night: Women Who Shaped Hip-Hop in New York City,” takes place on Wednesday, July 12 at 7pm ET, and will be moderated by Clover Hope, journalist and author of The Motherlode: 100+ Women Who Made Hip-Hop. With guests that include founder and executive director of the non-profit organization Ladies of Hip-Hop Michele Byrd-McPhee, Bronx MC Connie Diiamond, and NYC-based breakdancer Ana Garcia aka Rokafella, the evening explores the birth of hip-hop in New York City and the influential female artists who have made their mark despite the barriers breaking into the industry. A DJ set follows the discussion at 8pm. 

The Greene Space will also be home this summer to a large-scale public mural commemorating the 50th anniversary by New York City teenagers that features visual and music sampling – a tradition shared by hip-hop music and the visual artform of collage. Like sampling a track in a song, the students of City-As-School take pre-existing media from the NYPL Picture Collection and transform it into their own collective artwork. Presented in partnership with the Children Museum of the Arts and New York Public Library’s Picture Collection, the mural will hang in The Greene Space’s street level windows – viewable by all who pass by, from July 11 through September. 

All summer long, WNYC and Gothamist will honor the anniversary with special on-air and digital programming, including weekly first-person narratives from artists who elevated hip-hop in New York and are currently pushing the genre forward. On-air interviews air Mondays on Morning Edition now through September 4. Featured voices include pioneer breakdancer Ana “Rokafella” Garcia and the New Jersey-based poet, Princex Aimis. All interviews will be made available on WNYC’s 50 Years Of Hip-Hop.

More information and a live stream for “Ladies Night: Women Who Shaped Hip-Hop in New York City” are available here: https://www.thegreenespace.org/event/women-who-shaped-hip-hop/. 

ABOUT THE JEROME L. GREENE PERFORMANCE SPACE 
The Greene Space is New York Public Radio’s intimate performance space and multiplatform production studio with a mission to channel the collective genius of New York City to produce forward-looking live art, theater, and journalism that sparks change. It provides a space for fostering artistic experimentation and exploration, convening challenging conversations and forging connections between New York City’s diverse communities. Since 2009, The Greene Space has hosted luminaries including Janelle Monáe and The National, actors Frances McDormand and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, writers Nikki Giovanni, Hilton Als, and Roxane Gay, and newsmakers Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chelsea Manning, among many others. For more information, visit www.thegreenespace.org.