Fab 5 Freddy and Greg Tate in Conversation

Pioneer Works is pleased to present a conversation between artist and hip hop avatar Fred Brathwaite, aka Fab 5 Freddy, and Greg Tate, iconic Village Voice columnist, leader of Burnt Sugar and one of the ‘Godfathers of Hip Hop Journalism.’ The conversation will be held in conjunction with Fab 5 Freddy’s exhibition Afro-Greco, on view in the Second Floor gallery space.

Bringing together two key figures in the development of the phenomenally influential landscape of hip hop culture, the evening will trace the parallels, ties and cultural impact that hip hop has had upon contemporary art culture. Grounded in the anecdotal experiences of Fab 5 Freddy and Tate, the discussion will focus on the pivotal roles they each played in fomenting the progression of their respective fields of expertise since their coming-of-age in downtown and uptown Gotham during the 1980s. A reception and walkthrough of the exhibition will follow the conversation.

Afro-Greco by Fab 5 Freddy is on view through Sunday, April 23.

Greg Tate is a writer, musician and producer living in Harlem, New York. Recognized by The Source as one of the ‘Godfathers of Hip hop Journalism,’ Tate’s writings on culture and politics have been published in VIBE, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Artforum and Rolling Stone. Between 1987-2005, he was a Staff Writer at The Village Voice and as The New Yorkers’ Hua Hsu opined: ”’At The Voice, Tate became known for the slangy erudition he brought to bear on a range of topics, not just hip-hop and jazz but also science fiction, literary theory, movies, city politics, and police brutality. His best paragraphs throbbed like a party and chattered like a salon.’’

Tate has lectured and taught at Harvard, Yale, Columbia University, NYU, Brown, Williams College and Stanford. Since 1999, Tate has led the Black Futurist big band, Burnt Sugar and The Arkestra Chamber, who have released 16 albums on Avant Groidd Musica imprint. Tate’s books include Flyboy In The Buttermilk, Brooklyn Kings: New York’s Black Bikers (with Martin Dixon), Midnight Lightning: Jimi Hendrix and The Black Experience and Everything But The Burden: What White People Are Taking From Black Culture. Duke University Press recently published Flyboy 2: The Greg Tate Reader, a compilation 30 years in the making.