An evening of Hip Hop film, music and activism. Experience cult classic “The Warriors” re-scored live by DJ Cheeba, watch the new Chuck D documentary “In the Hour of Chaos”, and engage with its creators: leading Hip Hop scholars Joan Morgan and H. Samy Alim.

On the evening of Thursday March 19, Forum Groningen and Homebase join forces to present an interactive evening program dedicated to Hip Hop cinema, audiovisual artistry, and Hip Hop activism in the Rabo Studio. Hip Hop artists, scholars, activists, and enthusiasts will come together to appreciate Hip Hop as an artform and discuss its role in contemporary political activism.

The event revolves around two special screenings of films with a significant connection to Hip Hop culture. The first of these is In the Hour of Chaos: Hip Hop Art and Activism with Public Enemy’s Chuck D, a 2024 documentary short about legendary rapper Chuck D (Public Enemy) and Hip Hop activism. Secondly, The Warriors will be screened, the 1979 action thriller about New York street gangs, which played a crucial role in shaping the look and feel of Hip Hop culture.

The screening of In the Hour of Chaos will be accompanied by an interactive panel discussion with two of the film’s creators. The film’s director, leading Hip Hop scholar H. Samy Alim, will engage in conversation with one of the documentary’s stars: renowned author and Hip Hop journalist Joan Morgan, who first coined the term ‘Hip Hop feminism’. Together with the audience, they will speak on Hip Hop culture’s history with political activism, Public Enemy’s role in this, and more. This event marks the first time that the documentary is screened in Europe.

The screening of The Warriors will be unique in that the film will be re-scored live by DJ Cheeba, the acclaimed visual DJ from the UK. This screening with DJ Cheeba’s new live-performed score — which received rave reviews when it premiered in Bristol — offers a unique way of experiencing an absolute cult classic, one that will make you see the film and its influence on Hip Hop culture in a new light.

Additionally, the program will be complemented by live visual DJ sets by Groningen-based Deejay Irie, who was the inaugural DMC Visual DJ World Champion. For his visual DJ set, Deejay Irie will make optimal use of the Rabo Studio’s 270° projection capabilities.

This event is linked to the 2026 European Hip Hop Studies Conference (“Things Done Changed”: Hip Hop Futures for a World on Fire), which takes place in the Groninger Museum amid the museum’s on-going Hip Hop Is exhibition, and brings together artists and researchers from all over the world to critically discuss Hip Hop culture and the current state of the world.