The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has announcedQ-Tip will join the institution as its artistic director for hip-hop. In addition, hip-hop will be added to the center’s core program, earning the genre a permanent spot in the organization going forward. This is a much-deserved honor for the legendary rapper and producer. Over the last year, Q-Tip started his own Abstract Radio show on Beats 1 and hung out with Pharrell Williams and music supervisor Scott Vener on their Beats 1 show OTHERtone. Q-Tip integrating hip-hop at the Kennedy Center can only mean very good things for everyone involved.
It was just last year that Kendrick Lamar brought hip-hop to the Kennedy Center when he performed with the National Symphony Orchestra. If you remember, the crowd was hanging on to Kendrick's every word as he performed These Walls," "i," "Alright," and more songs of To Pimp a Butterfly. You can still watch that Kendrick performance here.
