UNF hosts hip hop music event with local rap musician Mal Jones
UNF will present a free, virtual event hosted by rap artist Mal Jones on the history of hip hop music in Duval County and its connections to Florida folk arts from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 15.
The event can be access through the UNF School of Music event page or via Zoom at https://unf.zoom.us/j/97825568851.
Jones, who helped define the local hip hop scene, is the host of the Lyricist Live street corner rap sessions that have been a feature of downtown Jacksonville’s monthly Art Walk for a decade. He’s a poet, filmmaker and, in 2016, became the first rapper ever named a Master Folk Art by the Florida Folklife Council.
Programs like this hip hop history event are part of UNF’s Strategic Plan for Inclusive Excellence. The need for increased courses that focus on diversity was demonstrated by a study from the National Reserach Center for College and University Admissions that was recently commissioned by UNF’s College of Arts and Sciences and found demand for Africana studies and similar programs is outpacing the supply, especially in Florida and Georgia.
The Mal Jones lecture and other events such as The Justice Sessions and The Baobab Black Arts webinar series, are all part of UNF’s targeted focus on diversity and inclusion.