In Hip-Hop, the term “producer” has a couple of meanings: one, the person who creates the all-too-important part of the record, The Beat. The second definition is for “the glue” – the person who brings all the pieces of a record together and makes them stick. “Off Tha Top” is another term for freestyling, or rapping without having written the words beforehand. Put it all together and what do you get? A Hip-Hop pop-up collaborative experience. 4-5 local Hip-Hop producers (EC, Sewlo, potentially Pro Kid, and other local producers) with pop-up work stations scattered around various parts of The Medium for 2 weeks. During the week, artists can sign up for one of two ticketed session types – smaller, 1:1 sessions with a producer, or a recorded “cypher” style session with a larger group. On the first Saturday, a “hack-a-thon”, but with simultaneous production happening around The Medium, like an art walk for Hip-Hop records in real time. Artists and community members alike can come add their own little piece to gumbo being cooked, or just watch and enjoy the experience. The second Saturday is an open mic & listening party. My main hope is to build the creative side of the community. After Groundwaves, many in the community ran with the open-mic format; the performance side. The one thing missing, from my perspective, is the other half of the process – the creation side. My hope is that this will plant a seed of collaboration and creativity for our community and beyond.