Harbourfront Centre to Present BEATS, BREAKS, AND CULTURE: THE BRIDGE

Harbourfront Centre is excited to announce the return of Beats, Breaks & Culture: The Bridge, August 5-7, with a vibrating mix of live music, DJs and dance, celebrating the intersection of hip-hop and electronic music.

The bridge of a song unites the chorus with each verse. The bridge is also looped, sampled, scratched and remixed as the foundation for hip-hop and electronic music. Beats, Breaks & Culture: The Bridge explores the bridge between hip-hop and EDM while paying tribute to the foundations of soul, jazz, disco and funk that helped create them.

All concerts and competitions at Beats, Breaks & Culture, with the exception of Hip-Hop vs. House Afterparty, are free for everyone!

Beats, Breaks & Culture literally kicks off on Friday, August 5 when Toronto'sThe Dirty B-Sides, a nine-piece experimental hip-hop band, take the Stage in the Round for a freestyle jam. Prince Innocence (Talvi Faustmann and Josh Mclntyre) open the Concert Stage with their shimmery synth pop wrapped in sleek R&B and cold-eyed soul.

Headlining on the Concert Stage is Sinkane (AhmEd Gallab), a musician on the DFA label who blends krautrock, free jazz, and funk rock with Sudanese pop for a stylized Afro-Futuristic sound that reveals his diverse upbringing and confluence of musical inspirations.

On Saturday, the Festival begins with the first of two Battles in the Round, on the Stage in the Round, with the Universal B-Boy League rocking out a breakdance battle with Toronto's top linoleum warriors!

The Jungle Brothers, an American hip-hop group with Afrocentric lyrics and innovative beats, own the Concert Stage on Saturday night. Musical pioneers, Jungle Brothers were the first hip-hop group to use a house music producer and fuse jazz, hip-hop and electronic music.

Hip-Hop vs. House Afterparty is a battle of the genres, where top DJ's skillfully blend between underground hip-hop and house music of all eras. NYC hip-hop legend Stretch Armstrong appears alongside Toronto DJs Lissa Monet and Dirty Dale with live percussion from the Guru Bros. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Purchase tickets at my.harbourfrontcentre.com.(This is a 19+ licensed event.)

Sunday features Canada's only competitive platform for breakers, back for day two, and finals of Battle in the Round. Throughout the Festival, the World Caféwill be turning out delicious food inspired by Beats, Breaks & Culture: The Bridge, while the Lakeview Market will be bursting at the seams with vendors from all over the city.

And everyday at Harbourfront Centre, Boxcar Social offers a curated, rotating list of coffees from the best roasters in North America, and a careful selection of some of the world's top new-world wines, craft beers, scotches and bourbons.The Slip, voted one of Toronto's best new patios, offers all-day sun, a breeze off the lake, cocktail pitchers and fresh cuisine.

In addition to Beats, Breaks & Culture: The Bridge, Harbourfront Centre's exciting Summer Festivals include the upcoming:
Habari Africa Festival, co-produced by Batuki Music Society, August 12-14
Hot & Spicy Food Festival, August 19-21
TAIWANfest: A Cultural Tango with Hong Kong, co-produced by Asian Canadian Special Events Association, August 26-28

Harbourfront Centre is a Canadian charity operating 10 prime acres of Toronto's central waterfront as a free and open public site. It celebrates the multiplicities of cultures that comprise Canada and enlivens the city through the creative imaginations of artists from across the country and around the globe.

IF YOU GO:

Harbourfront Centre presents
BEATS, BREAKS & CULTURE: The Bridge
Bringing Back the Beat
Harbourfront Centre - 235 Queens Quay West
August 5-7, 2016

Friday, August 5, 6-11pm
Saturday, August 6, Noon-3am
Sunday, August 7, Noon-6pm

The Dirty B-Sides, August 5
Prince Innocence, August 5
Sinkane, August 5
Battle in the Round, August 6 & 7
Jungle Brothers, August 6
Hip-Hop vs. House, August 6

Admission to Beats, Breaks & Culture is Free with the exception of
Hip-Hop vs. House Afterparty

For more information visit harbourfrontcentre.com/beatsbreaksandculture or call 416-973-4000.

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