The Essence Festival of Culture, held in New Orleans, Louisiana, has long been hailed as a vibrant celebration of Black culture, music, and art. This year, the festival celebrated the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. At the heart of this momentous occasion was AT&T Dream In Black, a platform that celebrates the achievements and aspirations of the Black community. As part of the festivities, AT&T Dream In Black organized a series of panels, performances by Keri Hilson, Amerie, Wale, and activations that not only entertained but also educated and inspired attendees. While attending Essence Festival, I had the opportunity to sit down with AT&T ambassadors, actor Lance Gross and singer & songwriter Amerie. We spoke about their relationship to hip-hop and what pivotal moments in the genre allowed them to dream bigger, and how hip-hop has evolved.
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Unbothered: What does hip-hop mean to you?
Lance Gross: Man, hip-hop is everything for me. I mean, it's the soundtrack of my life, everybody's life.
What moment in hip-hop history allowed you to dream this vision for yourself?
Amerie: The most influential moment was when hip-hop and R&B came [together]. Everything that was going on with Bad Boy [bringing together R&B and hip-hop], even with Teddy Riley. I think that really changed everything for me and it [was] just like breathing new life [into the genres]. I always loved soul music, but that was magic.
LG: For me, it was BET's 20th anniversary in Las Vegas when I was in high school. I actually snuck in. I was too young to go to the party and I snuck in. I met Karl Kani in the elevator and I spoke to him. I told him I was a model, and the next week I was on a plane in LA to film his national commercial. But just being around greats in hip-hop inspired me.
Talk to us about the evolution of hip-hop, specifically how women have evolved and their place in it.
Amerie: I think women in hip-hop are continuing to evolve. And I think it's really hard to just say what it is, because I feel like there are not enough women on the largest stage possible to have the largest variety. What I would love to see is just more voices, just more women. And so that way people don't feel like they have to be in a box. Because if you look throughout hip-hop history, you've seen women's place in it but it tended to be very singular. I think we're still finding that in a way where you have women who can be sexual and strong or not sexual. Just having that variety. So I think we're still figuring it out.
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If you could write the next 50 years of hip-hop for women, what would it look like?
Amerie: It would look like lots of different women, lots of different artists. Being free and being whoever they want to be. So no young girl who's growing up feeling like she wants to be an artist has to feel like she has a box that she has to fit into.
What does this moment, being here with AT&T at Essence Festival mean to you?
LG: I love the opportunity to work with AT&T and you know being that we're speaking on HBCUs, it's special. I went to Howard University and our network is amazing. So you know, just inspiring.
Amerie: It's really magical. I mean, there's just so much happening and it's happening all at once. It's great because I think, Black artists have been so influential in the world because American music has pretty much been exported everywhere. At the same time, there's always been a lot of gatekeeping with Black artists and having to fit in with whatever people think Blackness is or how it should be defined. And so I think we're in a great time because you have so many artists who don't fit into a box who are not trying to fit into a box and we just have more voices and more perspectives because we're not a monolith. So I think it's important that we have artists who are expressing all different viewpoints too.