Heads up, folks. In case you didn’t know (and I’m guessing you didn’t) Huntsville has a hip hop conference. You heard me!
Huntsville’s Hip Hop Tech Conference is coming up on Thursday, October 17 – Saturday, October 19 at Tangled String Studios and Maitland Conservatory.
Although most folks may not associate the Rocket City with hip hop talent and innovation, turns out we’ve been cranking out world-class performers for decades.
Huntsville Hip Hop Tech Conference: What You Need to Know
I sat down with Codie Gopher, local advocate for the arts and founder of Huntsville Hip Hop Tech Conference, and asked about his vision for the purpose and direction of this event.
He explained, “Huntsville keeps sending hip hop performers out to the international stage and I want to focus on how we keep our homegrown talent home.” When describing the conference, Codie goes on to say, “This will be the fourth installment of the ‘Codie Global Presents…’ conference series.
This year’s focus is centered on establishing the possibilities for Hip Hop Tech development, defining the direction of teaching Music Technology in Huntsville public schools, the global influence of hip hop, the future of STREAM, and many more real-time issues. Huntsville is a global leader in the world of technology and the music scene can stand up next to any other scene from the international market pool. With that being stated, we still have a long way to go to reach our full potential, but there is so much going right to build upon.”
Speakers scheduled for this event include:
ERIC HOLT
Assistant Professor of Music Business, Belmont University, teacher of various entertainment courses including copyright, contracts and venue management. His research interests include concert promotion, urban music culture, and influence, touring, copyright, streaming technology and innovations in record company restructuring.
MARIO MAITLAND
CEO and Founder of Maitland Conservatory, a community based contemporary Arts education entity designed to give students hands-on training and experience in areas such as music production, contemporary instrumental training, vocal coaching, leadership, and much more.
JUELS PIERROT
Director of Programming, Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival, organizer of the concert, panel discussions, fairs, and workshops for the past 6 years, developer of the event’s digital content, concepts, manager supplier relationships and person responsible for monitoring the editorial team performance.
If you’d like to attend this event, limited tickets are available, they are FREE until October 1 (donations appreciated). After that, tickets are $20 each and you can get them here: Huntsville Hip Hop Tech Tickets
But…if you’re even more interested in helping fulfill the Huntsville Hip Hop Tech Conference mission of keeping our local talent local, here are some of Codie’s recommendations for where to see Huntsville’s up and coming musical talent:
“My live local music recommendation is R&B Vibes Live at multiple locations throughout the week with my favorite spot being The Camp at Mid City District.”
R&B Vibes Live has hosted events at SideTracks Music Hall, Envy Entertainment & Restaurant and other North Alabama venues. Watch their Facebook Events for more upcoming shows.
Codie’s second pointer and one I could not agree with more if I tried, “Anything at Tangled String Studios!” Keep up with Tangled String Studios’ ever-diverse and wildly talented line-up HERE.
Seriously guys, Huntsville’s music scene has so much to offer and Huntsville’s Hip Hop Tech Conference is out to make sure you go take them up on it!
Sixth-generation native Huntsvillian and lover of all things Rocket City, living in constant fear of personal geekery deficits and overall lack of geographical nerd-appropriateness, but valiantly fighting to stay abreast of the latest and perceived coolest assets in North Alabama in order to be allowed to stay at the smart people party. I sometimes travel to cool places, see fancy things and write words about them at Tour Dates Travel.
