Grammy Foundation Honors Evolution Of Hip-Hop

LOS ANGELES - The GRAMMY Foundation will host "Word Revolution: A Celebration Of The Evolution Of Hip-Hop" — the 13th Annual GRAMMY Foundation Music Preservation Project — featuring live musical performances and historical footage from preservation archives. Performers include 9th Wonder and Marsha Ambrosius; GRAMMY winners Arrested Development and Chrisette Michele, Beat Freaks from "America's Best Dance Crew"; DJ Beverly Bond; GRAMMY nominee El DeBarge; DJ Jazzy Jeff, Kid Capri, Lil' Mama, MC Lyte, Phife of A Tribe Called Quest, DJ Skee, and Paul Wall among others. The evening's musical director will be producer/bassist Adam Blackstone.
Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy® and the GRAMMY Foundation, will be in attendance, along with other prominent music industry leaders and members of The Recording Academy.

"Word Revolution: A Celebration Of The Evolution Of Hip-Hop" — this year's GRAMMY Foundation Music Preservation Project — will explore hip-hop as an art form, and celebrate the various and invaluable contributions of the genre and its influence on the American cultural landscape. The GRAMMY Foundation will produce this high-quality, media-driven event in association with Centric, a BET Network. This GRAMMY Week celebration promotes the GRAMMY Foundation's mission of recognizing and preserving our musical past, so that future generations can continue to benefit from an appreciation and understanding of those contributions. General admission tickets are $25 per person

The Foundation recognizes and celebrates the innovation, perseverance and genius evidenced in the stories and music of the pioneers who have woven a rich and colorful cultural fabric. The GRAMMY Foundation Music Preservation Project highlights its year-round activities in support of that mission, from preservation grants to its Living Histories archive. The Project also draws the attention of a wider audience to those efforts and to the imperiled condition of many of the most historically significant recordings. This concert and screening serves to reintroduce works from these major contributors to the public and educates them about the GRAMMY Foundation's role in preserving our rich cultural heritage.

The GRAMMY Foundation was established in 1989 to cultivate the understanding, appreciation and advancement of the contribution of recorded music to American culture — from the artistic and technical legends of the past to the still unimagined musical breakthroughs of future generations of music professionals. The Foundation accomplishes this mission through programs and activities that engage the music industry and cultural community as well as the general public. The Foundation works in partnership year-round with its founder, The Recording Academy, to bring national attention to important issues such as the value and impact of music and arts education and the urgency of preserving our rich cultural heritage. For more information, please visit www.grammyfoundation.org.

Centric, the 24-hour Music and Entertainment Channel, is a 24-hour music and entertainment channel that reflects the lifestyle and sophistication of today's African-American and multicultural adult viewer. With a finger on the pulse of an ever-changing beat, its compelling music content fuses soul, R&B, neo-soul, hip-hop, reggae, gospel, jazz, old school, new school and everything in between with today’s hottest artists. It is a unique of mix of music, culture and lifestyle programming that embodies the lives, tastes and aspirations of the CENTRIC viewer: All you. All day. All night.