The #Source360: Brooklyn Hip Hop Expo, Wu-Tang Reunion Concert, Panels and More

The Source Magazine will be celebrating its 25th anniversary this weekend with what is being billed as the “biggest hip hop weekend in Brooklyn.”

Produced by The North Star Group, The SOURCE360 Music, Art & Culture Expo, is a three day event (September 19th-21st) chock full of panel discussions, workshops, film, art exhibits, dance, music and much more, all in downtown Brooklyn’s cultural district. Venues including BAM, Barclays Center, LIU Brooklyn, and Mark Morris Dance Studio, will play host to an array of events centered around the digital, tech, gaming, sports, art, music and fashion worlds.

“This is an exciting and unprecedented opportunity to showcase how innovative and diverse hip hop is locally and globally. We are honored to bring this total market experience to the community and hope that it will inspire and embolden people to innovate, network, unite and create more positive contributions to the world,” said Source owner and SOURCE360 founder, L. Londell McMillan.

Being the longest running hip hop publication still in print, The Source has managed to stay relevant in a competitive digital age, where physical magazines are becoming a relic of the past and page views have become the barometer for success. The Source used to be hip hop’s only “source” for all things hip hop, but now with the overabundance of hip hop websites and blogs delivering news and information daily, The Source is competing to establish itself as a reliable and reputable digital hip hop destination, so you don’t have to wait an entire month for the next issue to hit the newsstand.

Thus, the SOURCE360 expo, an deliver to be the springboard that breathes life back into the brand. There can never be enough NYC hip hop festivals/expos, because hip hop heads are always hungry for something new, so if done right, events like SOURCE360 could succeed by delivering smart programming and professionally planned events to an eager audience desiring next level information and entertainment.

So here are some expo highlights, but I strongly recommend you check out the full schedule of events at www.thesource360.com for everything that will go down.

• The SOURCE360 Concert at Barclays Center including headliners Wu-Tang Clan, The Diplomats, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Dom Kennedy, Lil’ Kim, Curren$y, Vinny Cha$e and more to be announced.
• BAM will host The SOURCE360 Film Festival showing screenings of hip hop inspired documentaries and films. Expect to see the new Nas documentary, “Time Is Illmatic”, as well as titles like RZA’s directorial debut, “The Man with the Iron Fists”, and “Dave Chappelle’s Block Party”.
• Roulette and Albee Square Plaza are the battle grounds for The Unsigned Hype Competition, inspired by the famed Unsigned Hype Column which helped jumpstart the careers of Notorious BIG, Immortal Technique, Eminem, and most recently featured Bishop Nehru.
• The SOURCE360 Panel Discussions at LIU Brooklyn will feature the most influential hip hop musical and visual artists, entrepreneurs and business leaders, authors, scholars, political heads and activists. Always interesting to hear passionate discussions about hip hop’s effects on the culture at large.
• For sneaker heads, The SOURCE360 Sneaker Summit at LIU Brooklyn should be eventful.  The sneaker industry is crazy with sneaker collecting/trading at an all-time high. Expect to see a lot of exclusives and limited editions.

With a few days left before the SOURCE360 Barclays Center concert, Wu-Tang’s founder, RZA, spoke to the New York Times about the importance of the entire Wu-Tang Clan performing in Brooklyn for the first time in 15 years.

“With 4 members being born in that part of New York there is a strong connection with us to that city. We have been touring sparsely throughout the year with partial members making and not making their appearance, but this performance will have every surviving member present. Wu-Tang can be considered a pillar of New York Hip-Hop. With no less than 7 gold and platinum solo artists and combined multi-platinum group all under one banner, you will be hard pressed to find this much Hip-Hop royalty on one stage in unity.”

Personally, I won’t believe it until I see it, because we have seen how dysfunctional this group can be when it comes to working together on shows or music, but I believe RZA this time and I feel confident that Wu-Tang Clan will rock this SOURCE360 concert at Barclays Center like no other rap group can.

For all things SOURCE360, a full schedule of events, venues, etc., check http://www.thesource360.com and www.TheSource.com