Photos by Frankie Saint
By William Tauro
This past weekend, the Evolution of Hip Hop Festival took place at the Union square Pkaza. The event was well attended by over a couple hundred spectators who enjoyed hip-hop music and a lot more.
This FREE ArtsUnion festival was put on by the City of Somerville and Somerville Arts Council in partnership with Wat’s da WURD and Xperience Creative. The festival will be hosted by Crystal Chandler & Shardai Sam-Clarke and feature rappers, singers, spoken word poets, dancers, beatboxers, and visual artists from the Somerville community and surrounding cities.
Attendees enjoyed live art and interactive activities, and visited information tables offered by local community groups.
Boston Smoke Shop helped to sponsor the festival.
Musical performances were performed by Oompa, Marcela Cruz, Notoriety, Devin Ferreira, DJ Slipwax, Genie Santiago, BusyBars, Anturazh, Dzidor Azaglo, Lil’ Static & JDel, CeloDAMF, Von Don, Vid the Visionary
Dance performances were by QWAM, VibeStyle & Friends, and CrewNex.
Live art by Acoma Art, B. Cartier, V.Kash, Marisa Kang, Jessie Nocella, Joey Free, Nic Nak, Basement Trybe, and Baboon
This was an ArtsUnion festival. About ArtsUnion:
Now in its 12th year ArtsUnion has been instrumental in reinvigorating the artistic and business landscape of Union Square. ArtsUnion presents numerous events and markets, and leads cultural tours. In addition, ArtsUnion has commissioned temporary art installations and artisans to fabricate street furniture and advocated successfully for zoning incentives for arts-related development in the square. The Somerville Arts Council and the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development created ArtsUnion, in partnership with numerous other local organizations through funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s John and Abigail Adams Program and the City of Somerville.
