The diverse facets of hip-hop will be explored through multiple mediums as the Second Annual Bootleg Festival finds its way to the historic U Street corridor. Started in 2000 on the campus of the University of Maryland as a conference, the Festival has grown to epic proportions. This year’s festival features poetry events, panel discussions, 13 blocks of films, and several live concerts at area venues.

"The Bootleg Festival shines a light on contradictions in hip-hop and contributes to the larger dialogue about popular culture, globalization, media piracy, the public domain, and ownership," explains executive director Mazi Mutafa.

"The festival features pioneers in mix tape culture, independent filmmakers, artistic social entrepreneurs and independent musicians. Their work will be presented to the D.C. community using performances, lectures and film screenings. The specific focus is on offering instruction in developing, distributing and profiting from the creation of independent media and art, which is referred to in the hip-hop community as ‘bootlegging,’" he continued.

Running September 16 though 19, Mutafa hopes the festival becomes a staple event for the U Street area. The various events will be hosted at key locales over the four days, including the True Reformer Building, Lincoln Theater, Busboys and Poets, as well as the Universal Capoeira Center. Mustafa emphasizes that the celebration of urban creativity is for the common people within the bootleg movement.

"More than anything, this festival is about the often over looked forms of art, cultural expression, and communities," he said. "It features films and music that people should know about but often don’t because they’re produced independently, with minimal marketing budgets. These are stories that are not seen as commercially viable, but reflect the challenges and aspirations of ‘ordinary’ folk."

The festival has come a long way since its inception at the University of Maryland, when four students formed an organization called Words, Beat, and Life that would incorporate their passion for the music of the streets with the wide range of art forms that could complement its message.

"The founders understood the potential power of hip-hop culture," Mutafa said. "Specifically B-Boying, deejaying, emceeing and Graffiti, to be a vehicle for individual and community transformation. These individuals also saw the unique ability of hip-hop culture to speak to the wants, needs, and desires of often ignored D.C. youth and artists. Words, Beat, and Life (WBL) currently serves 150 students at its five Urban Arts Academy sites in D.C. and up to 300 students during the summer. At WBL, we feel that hip-hop is the ideal means for creative expression to break the cycle of hopelessness because of its history and culture, which is rooted in the community itself."

The Urban Arts Academy is an after school program that serves youths ranging from five to 23 years old, while the second portion of Words, Beat, and Life is a program area called The Cipher, a multi-faceted endeavor with a singular focus, according to Mutafa.

"[The Cipher] serves as an invaluable resource to hip-hop non-profit organizations, scholars, and artists nationwide," he said. "This is accomplished by providing resources, convening members of the field, identifying promising practices for this field, advocating on behalf of the field with members of the foundation, government and corporate communities. This program area is completely unique in the hip-hop non-profit field."

Through his work within the organization he founded and of which he serves as executive director, Mutafa began the Bootleg Festival last year. However, the success of its initial run has made this year’s event much larger with a greater scope.

"The inaugural festival was smaller, shorter, and the capacity of attendance was much less," he said. "That event did however lay the foundation for this year’s Bootleg Festival. It made it clear that there is an audience for the kinds of events that are part of the Bootleg Festival. We added a number of elements to the Second Annual Festival, most notably the spoken word events and concert elements."

Ashton Wingate joined forces with Mutafa last year and serves as the marketing director of Words, Beats and Life. He says that WBL and the Bootleg Festival are crucial to those people who are affected by urban culture.

"It says to the independent hip-hop community that not only is their point of view recognized, but it is appreciated," he said. "It also lets them know that they are in no way alone as there are thousands of others in the same activities that have the same desire to express themselves in new ways through progressive action using various mediums. It is important to bring things like this to a greater audience. An audience that may not be familiar with an author whose new book might change the way they think about hip-hop culture or a director whose film might bring them to a new realization about what may be happening in their own back yard."

"I believe that our festival allows the underground arts scene to express themselves on a larger scale to an objective audience," he said. "When and if these [forms of]media make it to the mainstream, they are often presented in ways that convolute the real message they are trying to express. I also think it allows for a certain back and forth conversation to be had within the community. It allows for artists to talk to each other and for them to directly interact with the community they are hoping to reach."

Second Annual Bootleg Festival, September 16 though 19. More information and the schedule of events for the festival can be found at bootlegfestdc.com or at the Words, Beats and Life website at www.wblinc.org.