2008 marked the 125th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge. Hip hop in Brooklyn has not quite reached fifty years, but the culture’s fundamentals are well built, well supported, and showing no signs of weakness. The annual summer Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival is increasing in popularity among artists who perform families (from babies to grandparents) who attend. There are also film (including a segment of the Hip Hop Festival), book (Brooklyn literary festival in downtown Brooklyn), and photography (Powerhouse Books in DUMBO) festivals that draw attendees and participants from all over the world.
And, since hip hop has had a global audience for decades now, it is not unusual for organizers in Brooklyn to get sponsors and participants who are favored in the hip hop industry for their events. For instance, The Freestyle Union (FSU) is an artist development organization that is now based in Brooklyn, originally started in Washington, D.C. FSU has many initiatives, including the Cipher Workshop that helps participants improve their spontaneous writing, speaking, and performance skills.
Excerpted from Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide: Volume 1: East Coast and West Coast by Mickey Hess. Published by Greenwood Press, Santa Barbara, California, 2010.