Brooklyn has gifted the world with its fair share of infamous hip hop superstars. As a musical genre and a cultural movement formed in the 1970s, from its gritty beginnings in a Bronx basement to its present manifestation in the highest forms of awards, it is now perhaps the most influential form of American storytelling in popular culture. Hip Hop blends elements of the West African oral tradition - in the form of rapping - which is putting spoken-word poetry to a musical beat - with writing, dance, theatre and literature. Its hallmark is that it blends innovation with imagination. Once the primary expression for the poorer parts of urban America, it also doubled as a welcoming space to the offspring of the newly immigrated black and brown inhabitants of America.

Hip hop therefore easily became a syncretic movement drawing from the language, rhythm and lilt of other culture groups. It is no wonder then that some of NYC’s most prolific hip hop superstars - had (and have) direct ties to the Caribbean. For the Caribbean first generation back then, hip hop fostered inclusivity and bridged the worlds
between their past and the uncertain present, at home and outside. Today, it is still very much a way for them to blend, celebrate, understand, confront, and comment on life and the world and is a reflection of the way the transplanted dances with the memory of their origin and the reality of their new home.

50 years later, hip hop has become a universal symbol for transcendence and expression. Rhyme and Reason is our toast to hip hop. Led by Richard Georges, this masterclass for poets of page and stage will focus on the use of all manner of rhyme utilising work from a wide tapestry of poetry and hiphop.

Co-presented with Brooklyn Poets, Rhyme and Reason is a collaborative initiative of the BCLF and the BVI Literary Festival