Acapella @ Hayti: We Made the Indy!

https://indyweek.com/events/a-cappella-hayti-heritage-center-august-2019/

A Cappella at the Hayti

Jul. 31, 2019 8:00 p.m.

Hayti Heritage Center 804 Old Fayetteville St, Durham, North Carolina 27707

For three minutes each, more than twenty local rap juggernauts will try their hand at delivering some of their best lines without any musical accompaniment. Handpicked by Durham MC and National Poetry Slam champion G Yamazawa, the lineup features everyone from veteran Bull City bully rapper Jozeemo to cipher specialist Jrusalam and the ferocious vocabulist OC from NC. They’ll be completely disarmed, beat-wise, in an a capella context that brings them closer to the spoken word and slam poetry scene, which the event’s curator started cutting his teeth in when he was fourteen. “For me, the a cappella realm is so natural, but it seems like rappers in most local areas generally don’t feel like they’re heard,” says G Yamazawa. “There’s a pretty wide space between the poetry world and the rap world. You would think that there would be more camaraderie, engagement, and interaction between the two art forms, but you don’t see it a lot.” What better place to host this event than a worship center such as Hayti Heritage Center, home of the Bull City Slam Team—and, for one night, a sanctuary where stripped-down hip-hop piety can truly be tested? —Eric Tullis