Hip-Hop Goes 'Underground' at Harvard

When you think about Harvard, hip-hop isn’t exactly the first thing to come to mind. Sure, perhaps the scholastic springboard for artists such as Leonard Bernstein and Yo-Yo Ma now sponsors a fellowship in honor of Nas. But when it comes to student-generated art, the schedule for Arts First makes one wonder if Harvard’s undergraduates know that people kept making music after the “The Rite of Spring.” Last Friday, an eclectic array of some of Harvard’s student groups set about proving that hip-hop is alive and well at Harvard in an event appropriately dubbed “Harvard Underground.” This initiative to showcase Harvard’s hip-hop scene was led by the Harvard College Rap Collective and also featured performances from the 10.12.60’s, Passus, The Harvard Undergraduate Drummers (THUD), and KeyChange.

The presence of hip-hop groups on campus is remarkably new—the youngest organization of the five, the 10.12.60’s dance crew, was formed just last semester. The Harvard College Rap Collective, founded in the fall of 2012, is not much older. Recalling the formation of the Collective, founding members Martin C. Carlino ’16, Will N. Corbett ’16, and Advik Shreekumar ’16 attribute their origins to a message posted on the Class of 2016’s Facebook page that simply asked if anyone rapped. “We were surprised when we got on campus and no one else was out there asking about rap,” Corbett recalls. “You see the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra and other classical music groups out there, but no group was out there saying,‘Anybody rap?’” It took a Facebook message to bring the group together.

Schuyler C. Moore ’15, founder of the 10.12.60’s, shares a similar sentiment: “Honestly, the hip-hop presence on campus is lacking. I think there is space for more, and I hope that the hip-hop scene on campus will keep growing.”

Members of THUD, as well as Passus, Harvard’s only officially recognized step team, also share hopes for the growth of new music at Harvard in the future. “When we’re writing music, we sit in a circle with sticks and just start playing stuff, and the coolest thing that comes out is what winds up the final piece,” says Alex E. Amis ’15, a director emeritus of THUD. “In many ways THUD is a rebellion against the regimen that is classical percussion. The boxes and structures that classical percussion builds, the idea that you have to play this, you have to play it this way, with this technique, on these instruments, is something that we are just really opposed to, and we do everything that we can to break apart that ideology.” Similarly, Passus and the 10.12.60’s choreograph all of their own pieces, and the Collective produces their own raps. “It’s unadulterated,” Shreekumar says with respect to rap. “It’s pure poetry with a beat.”

Before the performance, the Collective expressed the sentiment that the candid and engaging nature of the performances of “Harvard Underground” could perhaps reach out to freshmen in a way other events could not. “People aren’t going to be pulling out their iPhones during the performance,” Carlino explains.“We have more of a chance of getting something across.” Friday night’s performances tried to touch on several topics incoming freshmen might face, ranging from partying to romance, in hopes of ensuring the futures of the organizations involved.

The turnout was small but lively—each performance was met with enthusiastic outbursts and applause. As the show came to a close, students spoke to each other giddily as they emptied Lowell Lecture Hall.  “I didn’t know that Harvard had that sort of variety of different groups,” Rory M. Sullivan ’18 said after the night’s performance. Daphne Thomson ’18 concurred. “I’m glad to know that there is space for that on this campus.” Both girls expressed an interest in engaging with the organizations in the future.

As tryout dates approach, the organizations involved in “Harvard Underground” are still unsure about what the future holds. However, if one thing is for sure, it’s “Harvard Underground” proved that hip-hop is far from a marginal art form on Harvard’s campus.