Hailing from New York City, Baba Israel is a multitalented emcee whose parents were core members of the Living Theatre. He's shared stages with musical heavyweights, including Outkast, The Roots, Ron Carter, and Arturo O'Farrill, and is a core member of the Hip-Hop/Soul project Soul Inscribed. He has toured as an emcee, beatboxer, and theatre artist across North and South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia. Baba Israel has served as the host of Word. Sound. Power. for more than ten years.

DJ Reborn is a trailblazing international DJ, sound collage artist, and arts educator.

Born in Chicago and based in New York, Reborn’s diverse career spans decades of electrifying audiences across continents. This sought-after phenom has opened shows for artists ranging from The Roots, Erykah Badu and John Legend, to Jack White. Her dynamic style has been embraced across mediums by artists like Kara Walker, Wangechi Mutu, Carrie Mae Weems, Julie Mehretu, and Sanford Biggers. She has rocked the decks on BET, the NAACP Image Awards, prestigious stages and festivals including Carnegie Hall, The Sydney Opera House, Glastonbury, Camp Flog Gnaw, The Kennedy Center, and The Apollo. She is the resident DJ for the iconic Ms. Lauryn Hill’s world tour. Most recently, Reborn dazzled at the historic 2022 Academy Awards Governor’s Ball alongside the incomparable DJ D Nice. 

Reborn is an active arts educator and mentor, partnering with Urban Word NYC, Sadie Nash Leadership Project, Lower Eastside Girls Club and more. She is also the founder of DJs for Justice, a coalition of DJs using their platforms in service of racial, social and economic justice. She is currently developing an international performance piece centered around archiving the stories of women in the DJ world. DJ Reborn’s uncanny ability to impact crowds from festivals to galas to weddings sets her apart in her field. Her love for music is palpable.

At age 9, Brooklyn artist Hetep BarBoy has earned the mantle of “the world’s youngest emcee”—no surprise, since he started out at age two watching his dad, Squala Orphan, teaching a hip-hop culture youth program for University of the Streets in the Bronx. Devoted to the sounds of hip hop’s Golden Age, Hetep recently dropped his debut LP, Nepotism, produced by Taliboom Works for Mama Walbuks LLC. Hetep BarBoy is thrilled to perform alongside legendary drummer Tariq Snare in tonight’s performance.

After catching New York hip-hop artist JSWISS in the act for the first time, Erick Sermon of the versatile Long Island crew EPMD proclaimed the rising star as “what hip hop needs.” An accomplished storyteller armed with abundant flow and a journalism degree—literally—JSWISS has performed at major venues like the Apollo Theater, Blue Note Jazz Club, and New Orleans’ legendary Preservation Hall, and has collaborated with the likes of Elvis Costello, Nicholas Payton, Michael Leonhart, and Sly5thAve.

“I would describe my style as being verbal drumming meets jazz,” Kumbaya announced in an interview with Boom Bap Nation. A native New Yorker, Kumbaya soaked up lessons from an uncle who worked as a producer. Now, she’s flipping that knowledge into a career as a rapper, lyricist, and multi-instrumentalist who’s worked with greats like Havoc (Mobb Deep), Pharoahe Monch, and Ab-Soul.