More Than Rhythm: A Black Music Series Featuring Benny Starr
Friday, June 3, 2022
Program 7:00 p.m. | Concert 8:00 p.m.
Galleries and bar open at 6:00 p.m.
For the third program of the More Than Rhythm series, we welcome S.C. Lowcountry native and consciousness-raising hip-hop artist Benny Starr. After a sit-down with host Dr. Birgitta Johnson, the recent US Water Alliance Artist-in-Residence performs with full band The Four20s in The Loft to help celebrate Black Music Month.
Contemporary topics, lyrical imagery, and live instrumentation have long been hallmarks of popular music, and that is especially true for hip-hop. Hip-hop has become the number-one genre of music in the U.S., with a global influence that connects communities around the world beyond boundaries of race, class, and even language. Like the blues, jazz, soul, and disco that form its roots, hip-hop continues the tradition of music reflecting the joys and pains of the world around us over raw beats and rhythms.
FREE
Presented by the Baker & Baker Foundation. This program has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. This program is supported by Richland County Government and a Connected Communities grant from Central Carolina Community Foundation.
Benny Starr is a successful hip-hop artist and recent US Water Alliance’s One Water Artist-in-Residence. Black music and Southern culture intersect with deep roots in hip-hop, gospel, jazz, blues, and rock. They are interwoven with rich history, resiliency, and storytelling that elicit a quest for a higher calling in those who connect with them. The same rings true in the music created by South Carolina Lowcountry artist Benny Starr. On March 23, 2021, Starr was named one of Grist’s 50 Fixers of 2021, which spotlights emerging leaders in climate, sustainability, and equity who are creating change across the nation.
The night prior to the More Than Rhythm program (Thursday, June 2), the CMA will screen Benny Starr’s newest film project Restoration: A Concert Film, presented by his hip hop group, Native Son. The film screening will be free to the public as part of Free First Thursday on Main at the CMA.