Joo Wan Kim is originally from South Korea, where he trained as a classical musician. He fell in love with hip hop after moving to the U.S. as an adult. He now leads Ensemble Mik Nawooj, which brings those seemingly disparate musical styles together. He collaborates with Khafre Jay, a rapper, educator, and executive director of Hip Hop for Change, which uses the music as a tool for education and empowerment.
Khafre and Joo Wan partnered up to make “The Future of Hip Hop: America’s Newest Indigenous Art.” It's a TED-style conference that highlights local innovators in hip hop dance, music and visual art, and it's happening this Saturday at Impact Hub in Oakland.
For a preview, they spoke with KALW's Jen Chien.
JAY: It's so important to make sure that we control the message of who we are.
Click the audio player above to listen to the complete interview.