All the right moves
The culture of hip-hop was alive and well during the B-Side hip-hop festival
Truro was given an introduction to the hip-hop culture when a festival was staged at the town’s Civic Square, featuring dance, DJ-ing competition and lots of local talent.
Breakdancing, music and a DJ battle took over the Civic Square last weekend as the first ever hiphop festival hit Truro.
The B-Sides Hip-Hop festival showcased elements of hip-hop through dance performances by the Cobequid Dance Academy, a breakdancing competition and a spin-off between two well-known Canadian DJs.
“I think it went really well,” said Donnie Geraghty, hip-hop instructor at the Cobequid Dance Academy. “The reception has been really positive. Everyone I’ve talked to really enjoyed it, and there were lots of people who haven’t seen a breakdance battle like that before. It was exciting to bring something like this to the Civic Square.”
Geraghty, who has been in the hip-hop scene for the last 20 years, moved to Truro from Toronto last year, and quickly realized the vibrant scene he was once part of didn’t exist here.
To try and bring some sort of representation of hip-hop to the Truro area, Geraghty teamed up with Melissa Page-Webster, owner of Cobequid Dance Academy, to create a celebration of the hip-hop culture.
“I wanted to let people experience what I have through hiphop, and the positive elements of it,” he said.
“I feel people have the wrong point of view on hip-hop and what its elements try to do. It’s not about music videos of fancy cars and the exploitation of women, there is a lot more to it than that. It is a promotion of creativity and unity.”
The festival featured a breakdancing competition, won by dancer George Djora, and a spinoff between DJ IV, who DJs for Nova Scotian rapper Classified, and Ontario based DJ Gripski.
Going off without many problems, Geraghty hopes to bring the festival back in the future and expand on it.
“The only thing we were missing I’d say would be an MC, a live rapper, but we will have that next time,” he said.
“With anything you do, you learn from doing it the first time. I’d like to extend and add to the festival in the future, bring in more artists and showcase more stuff related to hip-hop. Just upscale it and make it better.”