Embassy Hosts Hip Hop Program

The artists during one of their performances.

The U.S. Embassy sponsored the visit of American hip-hop artists Edan Portnoy and Paten Locke and hip hop dancer Frankie Perez in Bahrain from October 4-7. The artists performed at the Kempinski Ixir Hotel and Al-Riwaq Art Space. Additionally they conducted an interactive workshop with Bahraini youth where they discussed the history of dee-jaying and hip-hop culture and showed participants some basic techniques- including scratching and back-spinning as well as various break dancing techniques.  

Edan is known for his unlikely take on hip-hop culture, where traditional rap songs are often skewed by 60’s rock samples, tape echoes, and foreign language choruses. His latest mega-mix, entitled ‘Echo Party’, is an astounding mix of dance, rap, and punk that utilizes everything from turntables to tape echo, glockenspiel to guitar, and moog to kazoo. Paten Locke has his own spin on Hip Hop culture. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Paten recently debuted his first solo album.

Frank “B-boy Frankie” Perez is an inimitable soul brought up in New York City where he was introduced to b-boying at age 13. He has placed 1^st in several internationally acclaimed competitions and has showcased his talents all over the world, including the Ukraine, the Netherlands, Sweden, England, Wales, and France.