LOCAL
“I’VE ALWAYS TRIED TO BE REAL WITH IT.”
BEAT
{BY MARGARET WELSH}
BREAKING NEWS As the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s new director of dance programming and special events, it may seem surprising that Randal Miller’s first major event is a concert by influential hip-hop duo EPMD. “I can explain that,” Miller says with a chuckle. “My dance background is in breaking; breakdancing and hip hop is how I got into the arts. If it weren’t for hip hop, I wouldn’t be doing this. So I took this opportunity … to focus on hip-hop culture.” Miller has worked for the Trust in various positions over the last six years, and when he took on his new title in June, he was tasked with creating an event that would attract a younger crowd. His answer was Multiple Choice, a series which basically allows attendees to choose their own Cultural District adventure. The inaugural event — happening Thursday at the August Wilson Center — includes three components: the EPMD concert; an after-party and open-style dance battle featuring DJ Selecta, Reason, EOS, Moemaw Naedon and Izzy; and food trucks. For $25 you get a concert ticket and access to the afterparty. The after-party alone is $5, and the food trucks are there for all to enjoy. Fittingly, Aug. 11 is hip hop’s nationally recognized birthday, marking the day in 1973 that Clive “Kool Herc” Campbell threw his first party, a back-to-school jam in the South Bronx. And for hip-hop fans, this is an opportunity to relive a little history as genre vets Erick “E” Sermon and Parish “PMD” Smith celebrate the 30th anniversary of their debut record, Strictly Business. The Multiple Choice series won’t just be about music — the next installment will feature a mask theater troupe from Portland, Ore., and Miller has plans for a diverse set of performance groups you’re unlikely to see anywhere else. In addition to drawing more twentyand thirtysomethings, Miller also hopes to bring new people to the Downtown arts scene. “I know anecdotally, as someone who falls in that [age group], a lot of people kind of write off the Cultural District,” he says. “The hope is that this will become an entry point. As you become more familiar with something, you feel more free to be adventurous.”
“IF IT WEREN’T FOR HIP HOP, I WOULDN’T BE DOING THIS.”
M W E LS H@ PGHC ITY PA PE R.CO M
EPMD: MULTIPLE CHOICE HIP-HOP EDITION 8 p.m. Thu., Aug. 11. August Wilson Center, 980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $5-25. 412-456-6666 or www.trustarts.org
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{CP PHOTO BY SARAH HUNY YOUNG}
Keeping it honest: Hardo
HARDO LESSONS {BY CHARLIE DEITCH}
T
HERE’S A GOOD chance you’ve
never heard of Joseph Barnett, of Wilkinsburg. If you’re a fan of Pittsburgh hip hop, however, you probably know the name Hardo. Barnett was a good student from a hard-working family who turned to slinging dope on the streets because the lure of big money was too much to ignore. Hardo is a hardcore rap artist with viral hits like “Cut Throat,” and working
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 08.10/08.17.2016
relationships with stars like Mac Miller, T.I. and Wiz Khalifa. You’ve likely figured out by now that Barnett is Hardo and Hardo is Barnett. It might seem like an easy riddle to solve, but it’s more complex than that. So complex that, for a long time, the man himself lived and walked in two separate worlds until the ambitions of one nearly killed the dreams of the other.
Joseph Barnett’s Dreams Barnett was born on May 6, 1992, and his early childhood was uneventful. Unlike a lot of his friends in Wilkinsburg, Barnett had a pretty stable home life. He had a love early on for sports and music. “Around 8 years old, I started recitin’ lyrics, listening to music and then doing my own freestyles,” Barnett says. “Me and my cousins would just play around and freestyle with these little recorder