2006 Hip Hop Heritage
Members of the Cornwallis Youth Project and artist David Blandy, supported by the National Heritage Lottery Fund, made a documentary film which investigates the history of hip-hop and its impact on London society.
This video was filmed, edited, and promoted by members of the Cornwallis Youth Club, all skills that were built on during the course of the project.
The film features in-depth interviews with people from the area and also “experts” in the field, like DJ’s Trevor Nelson from BBC Radio 1 and Dave VJ from Choice FM, and MC’s Skinnyman and Infinite Livez.
The team asked several different questions, to try to examine the personal and social impact that Hip-hop has had on British culture over the last twenty years. Questions like; “How was Rap Music born?”, “What is Rap’s relationship to earlier underground music from the UK?” and “how do you think hip-hop has effected UK society?”
The team also conducted research at the London Metropolitan Archive, looking at what a resource like that could tell them about such recent history.
David Blandy is a Holloway-based artist who has exhibited internationally, recently featuring in the two-person show “Represent” at Gasworks in Vauxhall. Previous projects in the community have included “Ya get me?” (2003) and “Radio Nights” (2005), both commissioned by Artangel Interaction. Blandy is supported by an Artsadmin Bursary, and will undertaking a residency at Iaspis, in Stockholm later this year.
Here are what some of the young people involved have said about the project:
“I learnt how hip-hop started”
“The project has given me a true insight into how hip-hop has affected different generations”
“It has been a valuable experience, and I’ve got to meet famous people"
“I’ve found that hip-hop is a hundred different things to a hundred different people”
“It’s been good to do something constructive, and learn how to use cameras well”
Contact us to arrange to view the film on DVD and see how they did !