Written by: Molly Thoms ’17

Hartford, Connecticut, March 20, 2017 – This year will mark the 12th annual Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival, an event that brings to campus hip-hop artists from around the world and seeks to educate members of the Trinity and Hartford communities about hip-hop culture. In preparation for the festival, which will take place from April 7 to 9 and will feature headliner MC Lyte, two members of the Trinity community involved in planning the festival recently visited Russia for a week-long program called “Under the Curtain: USA-Russia Hip-Hop Cultural Exchange,” sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

Camryn Clarke ’17 and Seth Markle, an associate professor of history and international studies who teaches a global hip-hop cultures class and serves as faculty advisor to the Hip-Hop Festival, spent a week in February visiting the cities of Moscow, Belgorod, and Togliatti. They were accompanied by four other delegates from the United States: Khaiim Kelly ’02, aka Self Suffice the Rapoet, a hip-hop emcee, author, educator, and consultant for Trinity Chapter of Temple of Hip-Hop/Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival; John Manselle-Young, aka Tang Sauce, a Hartford hip-hop artist and musician who served as the host of the 11th Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival in 2016; Tiger Luangpraseuth, aka B-Boy Tiger, a hip-hop artist and world renowned breakdancer and educator from East Hartford; and Greg Schick, executive director of World Hip-Hop Market and coordinator of Nomadic Wax.

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