The 11th annual Hip-hop Jam poster, posted on Instagram on November 15th by @uohiphopjam.

The UO Hip-Hop Jam is a special event that happens near the end of Fall term each year. It originated in 2014 by the Hip-Hop and Politics of Race FIG (First Year Interest Group) and is still run by the FIG students each year. It’s open to everybody of all ages and completely free! The hip-hop jam is truly a special space to celebrate the culture that surrounds hip-hop.  Hip-hop is a genre born from the streets of the Bronx in New York City in the 1970s. The lyrics of the genre were based on political messages along with social and economic issues within the city. There are four important aspects throughout the history of Hip-Hop. The first is the DJ, who uses turntables to create and mix beats. This would then provide the basis for the MC who would rap and rhyme over the DJ’s beats. While this is taking place break-dancers are often an important piece as well. Where pieces of cardboard were often placed on the ground for the dancers during street performances. Lastly, art is also an important aspect of the genre. The most common type was graffiti, but as the music evolved so did the art styles surrounding Hip-Hop culture. The UO Hip-Hop jam does a great job of highlighting each of these four aspects, even taking moments to educate the crowd on the history of each part. 

This year was the 11th annual year of the event. Showcasing a variety of local rappers such as Coloxho, Spinitch, Paint Soup, Dobleon, and Vursatyl with hosts K.I. Design and DJ DV8. Each performance brought a different take on hip-hop to the table. Coloxho is from Los Angeles and did a great job at starting the event up and kicking the night off strong. He particularly has a strong suit for storytelling within his songs and does so with a wide range of influences. Paint Soup is a duo consisting of Slick Devious and Old Grape God from Portland. They are two energizing rappers who traded bars back and forth and had great crowd interaction. Dobleon is a rapper from Woodburn, Oregon who had great wordplay within his rapping. He also infuses some songs with Latin elements and raps in Spanish and English. Milc is from Portland and showed off a grimy style of hip-hop, with soulful samples and punchy beats. He joked around with the crowd and had memorable lyrics. Vursatyl is a rapper from Portland who is most known for his rap group, Lifesavas. He has been involved in Hip-Hop culture since the 90s and has been on tour with multiple legendary Hip-Hop acts such as De La Soul, Talib Kweli, and Slum Village. Last but not least, Spinitch not only put on a profound rap performance but was the DJ for the majority of the artists who performed. He also mentioned he was part of the original group of FIG members that started the event back in 2014, which was cool to see his passion continuing and growing. 

Vursatyl’s performance with a surprise appearance from The Oregon Duck, photo by Conner Boaz.

Along with these captivating rap performances, we also got two electrifying performances from Flock Rock and Duck Street Dance Crew. Flock Rock started off by teaching the crowd the general history of breaking. Breaking was the original term for the dance before it was called break-dancing by the media. It started in the streets of the Bronx along with Hip-Hop and features B-boys and B-girls, which is another way of saying breakers. Each member showcased different styles of breaking within a circle of the crowd. Duck Street had a performance with nearly 30 dancers, dancing to modern hip-hop songs. The formation of the performances was extraordinary and it was a special moment of the night. Another cool thing that was showcased was live art. As I mentioned before, graffiti is also an important part of the culture. The Jam included this by having two graffiti-style artists draw on a canvas during the rap performances. It was an entertaining way to highlight this piece of Hip-Hop.

This was my first time attending The UO Hip-Hop Jam but I will definitely be there again next year. I am a pretty big fan of Hip-Hop and had a general knowledge of the history beforehand but I ended up learning a lot from the event. I also left the Jam with new artists to listen to and support in my hometown of Portland. The students of the FIG did an amazing job organizing this and making everyone feel welcome. It had something for everyone, whether it was the rap, dance, or art performances. I highly encourage everyone to check this event out next year, even if you don’t listen to Hip-Hop you’ll still have a blast.