While protesters outside marked No Kings Day, inside the Delaware Art Museum on Saturday a different kind of defiance was on display, as hundreds gathered to celebrate what some in power would rather erase: history, diversity and free expression.
The third annual Hip Hop Cultural Summit, founded by AllHipHop cofounder “Dr. Grouchy” Greg Watkins and Iz Balleto, community engagement specialist for the Delaware Art Museum and cofounder of Guerrilla Republik, was as much an escape from political division as it was a venue for speaking out.
“We live in a very politicized timeline, and this is an event where, while we’re not shying away from things, you can come and maybe walk away with a different viewpoint or a detailed understanding of other ethnicities,” Watkins told Technical.ly.
The programming started with a lesson in local Black history, as Watkins and historian Tamara Burks gave a talk on Rosedale Beach in Millsboro, Delaware, and ended with a fireside chat with Hip Hop legend DMC of RUN-DMC.
In between, there was a breakdance battle, a diverse panel on hip hop and race, a guided tour of the special exhibition Imprinted: Illustrating Race, a marketplace of art, music and ideas and the annual MC battle won by Wilmington rapper Marchitect.
Here are some highlights:
Rosedale Beach in Millsboro was part of the “Chitlin Circuit,” drawing acts like Fats Waller, Otis Redding and Stevie Wonder, as well as a Green Book resort where Black Americans could vacation during a time of white-only beaches.
It had a major economic impact for Delaware until its midcentury decline due to government raids and the storm of 1962. You can watch one of Burks’ talks on the subject here.
Ladies of Hip Hop, a global NYC-based nonprofit dedicated to empowering girls and women in hip-hop culture, demonstrated breakdance moves and engaged in a dance battle before leading event participants in a line dance.
The panel Hip-Hop’s Impact on Race & Culture represented different cultures that are part of Hip Hop: Black, Indigenous, Latina and Jewish American, with music manager Steve Lobel, Hip Hop Education Center founder Martha Diaz, Indigenous hip hop artist Nataanii Means, Guerilla Republik founder Rabb Love and Ladies of Hip Hop founder Michele McPherson, moderated by Power 99’s Roxy Romeo.
“Hip-hop is global because oppression is global, poverty is global. That is what connects us,” said Love. “Hip-hop is our First Amendment, the right to express yourself, freedom of speech, the right to to congregate.”
After four rounds, including an acapella tie-breaker, Marchitect (second from right) won the 2025 Hip Hop Cultural Summit MC Battle.
Finally, the fireside chat with RUN-DMC’s Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and AllHipHop cofounder Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur, where they talked about everything from working with Aerosmith to playing Dickinson High School in 1984.
“We took the beat from the street and put it on TV,” said DMC. “We didn’t create it — we were just the vehicle, the vessel, to show the world who we all are, and once that was seen, it was powerful.”
