Silver Spring library commemorates the 50th anniversary of hip-hop

The Charles E. McGee library in Silver Spring was alive with beats of hip-hop as it commemorated the music genre’s 50th anniversary Saturday.

“It’s a way for us as a library to create a more diverse, inclusive programming to get folks to come back to the libraries.”

Organizers include Levine Music, the office of the county executive and Friends of the Library Montgomery County combined the county’s annual “Just for the Record event”— with the anniversary of Hip Hop in an effort to educate and engage communities about this music’s long-standing history.

“For us in Montgomery County and the 21 library system we look at how hip hop is part of the African American music culture that is relevant in today in fashion, in music, and even now in sports, as break dancing will be featured in the Olympics in 2024.”

The event will be all day Saturday — and free to the public celebration featured popular DJs from around the country who provided workshops about music production, DJ basics, songwriting and break dancing. 

The festival also included the “scratch battle” competition—where well-known DJs were vying for top “scratch” honors and cash prizes.

 

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