PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Portland’s annual PDX Hip Hop Week is returning for its 11th year, with a slate of events designed to celebrate the city’s hip-hop community and spotlight local artists.
DJ OG ONE, the official DJ for the Portland Trail Blazers and a co-founder of the event, said the week began in response to what he described as a “systematic shutdown of clubs and venues that primarily had hip hop music and black and brown people” in 2013.
“We started the hip hop week because there were issues going on at that time actually back in 2013 there seemed to be a systematic shutdown of clubs and venues that primarily had hip hop music and black and brown people,” he said.
OG ONE said the week is held annually from Aug. 20 through Aug. 26, timed to honor late co-founder veteran Portland DJ “Star Chile.”
He said the event has grown along with the community, and he emphasized an open approach to participation.
“I’ve set this up in such a way where there is no gatekeeper there’s no gatekeeper everyone can be involved everyone,” he said. “Commercializing all that that’s cool and everything but getting your money and and getting famous or whatever that that’s cool but at the foundation at the root it’s about us being together.”
He also called Portland’s hip-hop scene a “hidden treasure,” saying the week has helped elevate local talent.
“I always felt like Portland as a hip-hop community was a hidden treasure like just the jewels,” OG ONE said. “I’m just glad that Hip-hop week has been a platform to be help curate and kind of push them out in the forefront.”
The event officially kicks off with a block party in front of City Hall, exactly a week from today, on the 20th. A full list of events is available at pdxhiphopweek.com, and updates are posted on PDX Hip Hop Week’s social media pages.
Watch the full interview below:
Portland’s annual PDX Hip Hop Week is returning for its 11th year, with a slate of events designed to celebrate the city’s hip-hop community and spotlight local artists.