Ryerson’s Urban Hip Hop Union (UHHU) will take over Lake Devo to spread positive hip-hop culture on campus this weekend.
The union is hosting its most ambitious event to date, DEVO 2016, a competition and block party, to celebrate hip hop culture and dispel any negativity surrounding it.
“I feel like nowadays there’s such a negative stigma attached to [hip hop] and we’re wanting to showcase the roots of it. That’s why we have the four elements of hip hop involved,” said UHHU president Una Wabinski.
The event will include a rare mix of DJing, emceeing, b-boying and graffiti—the foundations of hip hop. These four elements are typically separated into different events, but the UHHU is hoping to merge these components into one.
DEVO 2016 will feature live DJs, graffiti artists, two dance and emcee competitions and a block party to let students mingle with industry professionals. This will mark the tenth anniversary of the UHHU.
Kelsey Adams is a journalist from Toronto with feature, arts, music and fashion writing skills and visual storytelling skills. You'll find her standing on chairs to get the perfect Instagram picture of her food and strolling the streets late at night listening to Blood Orange. She has a lowkey obsession with skate culture and she's a sucker for a good underdog story.