Beats & Bars teams up with DURM Hip-Hop Summit for Year 2

Beats & Bars Festival returns for its second year in downtown Durham.

The festival, organized by The Underground Collective, filled a void last year in the absence of DURM Hip-Hop Summit. Now, the two groups have joined forces to amplify BnB’s impact on the hip-hop community here in the Triangle. Durham, even in its Big Bang-esque expansion, cannot sustain two hip-hop festivals, as I mentioned in last year’s preview. The question is, how can the pair build on year one's momentum?

Starting at the top, BnB recruited Georgia emcee and Kanye West collaborator Cyhi the Prynce as its headlining performer and conference guest speaker, and Nitty Scott, an emcee from Brooklyn, New York by-way-of Michigan, is sure to be a crowd pleaser with her aggressively feminine, multicultural and bilingual showwomanship.

Beatmakers and producers earned stronger representation as well with Tony G, Trandle, Sarah the !llstrumentalist, and Slums closing out Saturday night at The Pinhook following Cyhi’s set.

For the home team, people that didn’t catch G Yamazawa at Hopscotch can see the “North Cack" rapper at a much cheaper price point.

It will be interesting to see how the addition of major headlining non-NC artists change the dynamic of the local festival, and the conversations centered on the current state of hip-hop, music's biggest and most influential genre, in 2017.

Tickets are still on sale.

The festival takes place this Friday & Saturday, September 22 & 23 in downtown Durham.

See the full schedule here.