Hip Hop Is Where the Heart Is

Throughout the past few weeks of planning for my trip to Sao Paulo for FILE 2008, I have been repeatedly blown away by the sheer size of the international Hip Hop community. Planet Rock has officially arrived!
CALIT2 was recently visited by the National Geographic Society in order to see the work of Maurizio Seracini. I was approached by one of their project managers after a screening of Beatbox360. She apparently just returned from Rio de Janiero where a couple of National Geographic Explorers were shooting a piece called 4REAL, by Sol Guy and Josh Thome, on "Hip Hop for Social Change," featuring MV Bill, a prominent Brazilian MC. National Geographic is covering Hip Hop? I never imagined that Hip Hop could be so pervasive!It turns out that Sao Paulo, Brazil is one of the fastest growing epicenters of Hip Hop culture in the world! I am planning some side trips into the heart of the city during my stay in order to get a glimpse of this cultural phenomenon. I have also been checking out K'Naan's album, "The Dusty Foot Philospher," which is probably one of the realest Hip Hop albums out. K'Naan is originally from Mogadisho, Somalia, before he fled to Kenya as a refugee. He was also featured in 4REAL.
Early next year I will also travel through Hong Kong and Thailand in the search for Asian Hip Hop.
These encounters have spawned a new photo series, entitled "Hip Hop Is Where the Heart Is." Each version is an homage to the various Hip Hop communities from around the globe, featuring the outline of a specific country containing its most prominent Hip Hop city. So far the series includes the United States (South Bronx, New York), Brazil (Sao Paulo), and South Korea (Seoul). I'm planning to expand the series to Africa, Japan, and Iran.
Check it out in our photography section.