ADCOLOR, the preeminent non-profit organization that champions diversity and inclusion in creative industries is back for their 16th annual ADCOLOR Conference, hosted by Bing Chen and Mariana Atencio.
Taking place at the JW Marriott Los Angeles LA Live, this year’s conference kicked off with an exciting keynote discussion “50 Years and Rising: Celebrating Five Decades of Hip-Hop’s Evolution from Subculture to THE Culture,” presented by Cashmere.Monks. The panel featured a variety of powerful speakers including GRAMMY-Award winning rap legend and Mass Appeal partner, Nas as well as Mass Appeal CEO, Peter Bittenbender and moderated by the President & Chief Creative Officer of Cashmere, Ryan Ford.
The panel touched on a variety of relevant topics in hip-hop and its impact on culture and addressed some issues that often go overlooked. “It’s important for the younger generation to realize that it’s not easy to come out of the neighborhoods they might have come from… The younger generation needs to know that they are now an important person to this world; you have to survive and cut off old habits. It doesn’t make you soft if you don’t hang in the ‘hood,” Nas said. In the past few years, the hip hop industry has been losing a lot of prominent rappers due to violence, particularly gun violence without any signs of slowing down. Having these discussions with icons that can relate is a promising start to finding solutions to end the violence. The panel also discussed the future and what can be expected from the HipHop50 Platform in 2023. “Live experiences all next year, from park jams – the essence of hip hop – to paying tribute to the past, present, and future of hip hop. There will also be an incredible multi-night celebration of hip hop culture with one of the greatest groups in hip hop backing it, at a legendary venue in NY,” Bittenbender shared.
50 years, AdColor 2022, California, Ceremony, JW Marriott, Los Angeles, MainStage, Opening, Special Guest
Day one of the ADCOLOR conference wrapped with its annual ADCOLOR After Dark concert at the Avalon Hollywood. The event presented by Amazon, featured Grammy Award-winning producer and musician and 2022 ADCOLOR in Music honoree Robert Glasper. Yesterday, November 19 began the first day of panel sessions featuring important conversations from leaders across music, entertainment, film, advertising, and other creative industries. Speakers included actress Keke Palmer; producer, director, and screenwriter Ryan Coogler; co-writer and co-director Duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (The Daniels, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”); country singer-songwriter Reyna Roberts; actress Lauren Ridloff (AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” Marvel’s “Eternals”) and more. The panels touched on topics, concerns and issues that have been garnering much attention as of late including diversity in the workplace, representation/inclusion, mental health and much more. “You can’t change the world. Instead, think about what you can give – and for me, I can give joy… give what you can and only do what you can do,”shared actress Keke Palmer.