The Bay Area’s storied hip-hop legacy takes center stage next month with the debut of the SF Hip-Hop Festival 2025, a two-day celebration of music, technology and culture.
Scheduled to take place at the Midway on July 18-19, the festival opens Friday with Culture RenAIssance: A Hip-Hop & A.I. Symposium, featuring legendary MC Rakim as keynote speaker.
The panel will explore the evolving relationship between hip-hop and artificial intelligence, touching on ethics, innovation and equity in music tech. Rakim will also present his new fintech and AI venture, Notes, designed to empower independent artists with financial and entrepreneurial tools…