NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Visionary entrepreneur and cultural curator, Beverly Bond has established a new media and production company BONDVISION MEDIA, which will launch concert and conversation series ROCK! LIKE A GIRL™ Saturday, April 5, 2014 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Bond has teamed up with the Kennedy Center’s One Mic: Hip-Hop Festival to produce the first installment of ROCK! LIKE A GIRL which will highlight women’s contributions to hip-hop. The concert event will feature performances by groundbreaking women, champions of hip-hop, who consistently stretch the boundaries of musicianship, lyricism, artistic expression, and have also proven to be fierce contenders at the top of their game in a male dominated culture. The ROCK! LIKE A GIRL series makes its debut with rap legend MC Lyte, critically acclaimed lyricist Jean Grae, French Chilean MC Ana Tijoux, GRAMMY® Award winning violinist Miri Ben-Ari, and a special appearance by the multi-talented GRAMMY® Award winning MC, singer, and song-writer Ms. Lauryn Hill.
“Through celebrating the critical role of women in hip-hop, Beverly Bond’s ROCK! LIKE A GIRL adds an essential element to this festival. We are happy to provide a platform for American and international female artists who exhibit the best of hip-hop culture in content and craftsmanship of their music and performance,” said Garth Ross, Kennedy Center Vice President of Community Engagement.
D.C.’s own all-girl Go-Go group Be’la Dona will serve as the official house band with DJ Beverly Bond on the 1s and 2s. ROCK! LIKE A GIRL will also spotlight the next generation with a featured youth performance by BLACK GIRLS ROCK! program mentees.
“I’m extremely excited to launch ROCK! LIKE A GIRL at the Kennedy Center and curate this dynamic show featuring these superb, inspirational and innovative artists! This festival illustrates the diversity, creativity and the global cultural capital of hip-hop music,” says Beverly Bond, “and, the ROCK! LIKE A GIRL platform presents a unique vehicle for the voices of female artists who’ve led with shear integrity and respect for their craft; despite the difficulties of navigating an especially male dominated arena. ROCK! LIKE A GIRL showcases women who have used their art as a tool to drive feminist thought, personal empowerment, socio-cultural analysis, or political engagement, and who have inspired generations of women and girls in the process. Together these incredible women will make HERstory and show what it really means to ROCK like a girl!”
The event will culminate with a post-show discussion on hip-hop feminism, pop-culture, art, and integrity.
Ticket distribution will take place on Saturday, April 5, 2014 beginning at 4:30 p.m. Up to two (2) free tickets per person will be available for pick-up in the Hall of Nations at the Kennedy Center. Tickets will be distributed on a first come, first served basis. Seating is limited.
For more information visit:
http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/festivals/13-14/onemic
Twitter: @BlackGirlsRock @rocklikeagirl @kencen @onemicdc
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BLACKGIRLSROCK
https://www.facebook.com/KennedyCenter
ABOUT ROCK! LIKE A GIRL™
ROCK! LIKE A GIRL™ is a media platform that highlights the creative contributions and public impact of women in music across genres. Under the direction of Beverly Bond, founder and CEO of BONDVISION MEDIA and BLACK GIRLS ROCK! Inc., ROCK! LIKE A GIRL™ is a project that elevates the work of the female creatives in the music industry who have a hand in shaping art, media, and popular culture.
ABOUT THE JOHN F. KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is America’s living memorial to President Kennedy. Under the guidance of Chairman David M. Rubenstein, President Michael M. Kaiser, and Music Director Christoph Eschenbach, the nation’s busiest performing arts facility attracts audiences and visitors totaling 3 million people annually.
ABOUT ONE MIC: HIP-HOP CULTURE WORLDWIDE
The Kennedy Center in collaboration with Hi-ARTS will present One Mic: Hip-Hop Culture Worldwide, a festival celebrating hip-hop an art form that has evolved from a grassroots cultural movement into a phenomenon uniting people the world over and shaping popular culture globally. The festival highlights MCing, DJing, b-boying, and graffiti writing, the original four elements of hip-hop culture, alongside contemporary interdisciplinary work born of hip-hop aesthetics.
