RUCKER PERFORMING IN GERMANY 2008

KUCR strongly supports a free night of sublime hip-hop and performance in downtown Riverside

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 20th, 8PM, 6th and Main in Downtown Riverside

Presented by the UCR Sweeney Art Gallery, UCHRI, & UCR’s English Department

3587 Main St. (at the corner of 6th), in downtown Riverside, near the Mission Inn.  The event takes place in a former jazz club).  This performance is free and open to the public.

 Performance artist James Luna and feminist poet & hip hop musician Ursula Rucker offer an evening of performative storytelling – an alchemical mix of word, music, and moody presence.

Ursula Rucker (http://www.myspace/ursularucker.com) is one of the most unique voices in Hip Hop, having toured with numerous recording artists, and producers including King Britt, 4hero, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Josh Wink and most notably The Roots.  She had a 1994 club hit, “Supernatural,” which revealed her unique vocal style to the world. Andy Puleston of the BBC described her style as “a silken delivery, demonstrating that a quiet word in the ear can speak volumes above the microphone rant.” Another critic said “Ursula’s velvety voice…manages to both mollify and add a sinister dimension to the harshness of her subject matter.”  Drawing on influences from Black Arts Movement activist poet and icon Sonia Sanchez to Friday Kahlo, Zora Neal Hurston and even Prince, Rucker balances motherhood, activism and artistry with aplomb. With her rhythmic stories of struggle, she’s confident, never preachy. Explaining her quest to rouse people from the dismal depths of the matrix and dish verse on subjects that society often keeps in the closet, she keeps it simple: “I am driven to deal with real issues.” She’s transfixed audiences from Tokyo to Capetown alongside the likes of Gil Scott-heron, Mos Def, Macy Gray, and the late Nina Simone.  Now her talent comes to Riverside for the first time.

James Luna was elected by the National Museum of the American Indian to participate in the 2005 Venice Biennale.  He is internationally recognized for his moving and critically engaged performances. One critic writes, “The rich reward of Luna’s probing performance pieces is learning more about our own cultural perceptions, learning where the edges are, where the discomfort starts. His voice and imagery carry the gift that a good artist can bring – the enlarging of our conscience and the increased awareness of what it means to be human.” (For more on the artist see http://www.jamesluna.com) Here, he expands into spoken word and music – picking up on the last act of his 2008 performance in Palm Desert.