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Friday, July 18th 7:00 p.m.: Video Music Box 25th Anniversary Concert

The cultural stamp of “Video Music Box” comes to life with performances by hip hop’s notable icons from across the decades.

The influence of “Video Music Box” stretches far and wide, as the show is one of the first and longest running outlets for Hip-Hop since the genre’s inception. Twenty-five years after its debut, Ralph McDaniels hosts a celebration concert featuring performances by a who’s who of hip-hop icons from the show’s history and beyond.

A full day of today’s premiere gospel artists. Presented in association with the Gospel Music Channel and Globe Star Media.

Suggested Donation $5.00

Pastor Hezekiah Xavier Walker, Jr. is the Grammy Award-winning pastor of Brooklyn’s Love Fellowship Tabernacle. Hezekiah Walker & The Love Fellowship Crusade Choir have released 15 albums that have met with critical acclaim. Nominated in 2001 for the NAACP Image Award for Best Gospel Artist, on the merits of Love Is Live!, the group has also won Grammy Awards for that album as well as for Live in Atlanta at Morehouse College. In 2007, the Essential Hezekiah Walker was released.

Gospel legend Dorinda Clark-Cole, of Clark Sisters fame, is an award-winning vocalist known for her inimitable and jazzy vocal style (and her undeniable glamour). When she sang lead on gospel hit “You Brought the Sunshine” her name was suddenly a household word. Clark-Cole’s self-titled debut won two Stellar Awards and a Soul Train Award and she has performed with many gospel greats, including Kirk Franklin.

Kurt Carr’s career is built upon the vision of inclusion, as exemplified on his six albums that boldly incorporate international influences as diverse as a South African choir, Scottish bagpipes, an Armenian accordionist, and an Indian sitarist. Famous for penning the universal hymns “The Presence of the Lord is Here” and “In the Sanctuary,” Carr’s songs have been translated into nine languages. He has won a total of ten Stellar Awards for performance and production.

Dave Hollister is best known as a member of the 1990s R&B sensation BLACKstreet, although his solo career since then has further spread his renown. Influenced by a childhood steeped in gospel music, Hollister has developed a style that combines hip-hop and soulful R&B while never straying far from his religious identity. With his most recent album, The Book of David: Vol.1 The Transition, Hollister invokes Biblical scripture to reveal his own spiritual development.

The Detroit trio 21:03 is comprised of the best and brightest of Detroit’s emerging Gospel talent. The upbeat Christian ensemble’s mission is to create an urban sound to connect with the nation’s youth in a spiritual, uplifting way. They have already been nominated for two Stellar Awards and shared the stage with Gospel greats Kirk Franklin, Mary Mary, and Kiki Sheard.

Musical pace-setters weave electro-pop, hip hop, ghettotech, thrash, baile funk, and grime to give a glimpse of where music is heading.

Santogold is the name of the project fronted by Santi White, a songwriter, master of improvisation, and a group unto herself. Her eerily intelligent tunes, speckled with a DJ’s wizardry, are already receiving airplay in Afghanistan and Beirut. Her first single is “Switch and Graeme Remix” and her newest album is due out soon.

Philadelphian DJ Diplo is characterized by his eclectic, often 80s-oriented mashups, mixtapes, and live sets. On his full-length solo effort, Florida, his sound achieves a cinematic tone. Born in Mississippi, Diplo picked up various styles such as dirty south, crunk, and Miami bass, which often appear deep in his mix.

A-Trak is a Montreal-based DJ and turntablist best known for his work with Kanye West. He won the DMCs World DJ Championship in 1997 at the age of 15, the youngest recipient of the award ever. A-Trak also runs his own label, “Fool’s Gold,” and the label’s first signing is Kid Sister, who played SummerStage on June 14.

Out of the blue a kid from Cleveland who comes to Brooklyn is the new “It Kid.” Kid Cudi, (better known as Man on the Moon) is a minimalist rapper with otherworldly inspirations. His unique hooks and unorthodox sentiments beg for categorization, of which there will be none. Call it “alternative rap” to make it easy, but coming out of the Fool’s Gold camp (Kanye West/A-Track) with enough of an early buzz to start a fire, the first single, Day ‘N Night is as different as night is from day.

Presented in association with MeanRed Productions.