Huntington Museum of Art to host hip hop artist Baba Israels

Hip-hop entertainer Baba Israel will perform one of his latest projects "Boom Bap Mediations" on March 16 at the Huntington Museum of Art.

   Baba Israel is a performer originally from New York with a father from Brooklyn and a mother from Australia.  He is a hip hop emcee, poet, and beat-boxer who has toured across the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, and the South Pacific performing with artists such as Outkast, The Roots, Rahzel, Ron Carter, Afrika Bambaataa, Vernon Reid and Bill Cosby.

   He has been featured on MTV, BET, and VH1, and in the films Breath Control, The Freshest Kids, Freestyle, and Hip Hop for Hope.  In 2008, he was selected as part of Lincoln Cernter's Rhythm Road, touring Asia and the South Pacific with the Dana Leong Project.

    Israel said that people get to hear real stories that will break open their perception of New York and Australia and how to look at the human experience.  They will experience world-class beatboxing and the characters that make New York such a rich and diverse place.

   "They will laugh and learn and some might end up on stage.  They will expand what they see as theatre and they will hear the didgeridoo played live while experiencing Improvisation.  They will connect with a show that has toured England, Holland, New York, Los Angeles, Prague with no two shows ever being exactly the same," Israel said.

   Baba Israel was quoted in publicity materials provided by the Huntington Museum of Art.

   "We were trying to find a text-based performance event that matched the energy and the youthful exuberance of ‘LitGraphic,' our current exhibition focusing on the art of the graphic novel," said Lorri Tipton, former grants writer at the Huntington Museum of Art.  "Baba Israel really fit the bill, as his high-energy, hip-hop performance focusing on the spoken word feature multiple characters, with Israel morphing from one to the next effortlessly."

   Tipton said they contacted him and he immediately agreed that ‘LitGraphic' and his theater piece "Boom Bap Mediations" complemented each other perfectly.

   "We are excited to host Baba Israel in performance at the Huntington Museum of Art because we like to celebrate all of the arts at the Huntington Museum of Art," said John Gillispie, public relations director for the Huntington Museum of Art.

   Gillispie said It is not every day that we host a text-based, hip-hop artist, but Baba Israel's visit works perfectly with the current slate of graphic novel exhibits that we are hosting that include writing as part of the art form.

   "Adults who want to see a thought-provoking performance by an artist who has been immersed in the arts his entire life should enjoy Baba Israel's performance," Gillispie said.

   The concert will start at 7p.m. and admission is free.

   John Yeingst can be contacted at yeingst@marshall.edu.