Beginning Friday, June 5, Philadelphia artist and community organizer Grand Agent, self-described as “The Official Rapper of America’s 250th Birthday,” will launch a 30-day social media campaign asking a question he believes Hip-Hop can no longer afford to ignore:

After fifty years of shaping global culture, where is Hip-Hop’s collective power?

Against the backdrop of a deeply divided political climate and the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States, the campaign, titled “Consolidating the Power of Hip-Hop,” will invite members of the Hip-Hop generation and the broader Hip-Hop nation into a public conversation about influence, ownership, economics, political coordination, and the future of the culture.

“For the last fifty years, Hip-Hop has been at the helm of the culture,” says Grand Agent. “We changed language, fashion, marketing, music, sports, and global popular culture itself. We built billion-dollar industries and turned the voices of marginalized communities into the dominant soundtrack of America. So the question is: why haven’t we figured out how to collectively leverage that influence into lasting political and economic power?”

Through daily conversation starters posted across Instagram and Facebook under the hashtag #250Bars, Grand Agent will challenge followers to think beyond the endless debates over “who’s the GOAT” and what homage is owed to whom, and instead consider what an adult version of the movement might look like.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Grand Agent (@grandagent)

 

Topics over the 30-day countdown to July 4th will include:
• collective ownership
• political influence
• economic coordination
• community investment
• generational wealth
• cultural responsibility
• the next fifty years of Hip-Hop

The campaign draws from Grand Agent’s own experience using the networking, branding, storytelling, and organizing skills learned through Hip-Hop to help build Philly Truce, a Philadelphia-based violence prevention and community engagement initiative.

Rather than positioning itself as a political campaign or music rollout alone, “Consolidating the Power of Hip-Hop” aims to test whether there is real appetite for the Hip-Hop generation, particularly those now in their 40s, 50s, and 60s who helped build the culture as both creators and consumers, to evolve from cultural influence into coordinated civic and economic influence.

The campaign will culminate around July 4th alongside the release of Grand Agent’s forthcoming EP, 250.

Follow the conversation: #250Bars
Instagram: @GrandAgent