The Fifth Annual Hip-hop Conference at California University of Pennsylvania

Rap star KRS-ONE will share his views on "Media, Film, Scholarship and the Global Impact of Hip-hop" during Cal U's fifth annual Hip-hop Conference.

The weeklong event, April 19-23, features panel discussions, a student debate and the annual "4 Elements of Hip-Hop Tribute" at Jozart Studios in California Borough.

KRS-ONE, also known as Krist Parker, is a rapper and emcee who has won 16 gold and platinum records for albums such as By All Means Necessary, Criminal Minded, Edutainment and Ghetto Music: The Blueprint Of Hip-Hop.

He will join hip-hop pioneer and community activist Paradise Gray, award-winning journalist Jeff Chang and filmmaker Maori Karmael Holmes for the keynote panel presentation at 6 p.m. April 23 in Steele Hall Mainstage Theatre.

The conference also includes a talk by Brian Willis, founder of Wealth Builder Enterprises and author of I'm Drowning in Debt, which offers advice for improving credit scores and staying debt-free. He will discuss "Bling-Bling: Financial Swagger vs. Conspicuous Consumption in the Hip-hop Generation" at 11 a.m. April 20 in Duda Hall, Room 103.

The "4 Elements of Hip-hop Tribute" begins at 5 p.m. April 22 at Jozart Studios, 333 Second St., California. It will feature a performance by Invincible, a Detroit-based hip-hop artist and activist, as well as graffiti art and a freestyle battle by Cal U students. New this year is a breakdancing performance by "Dr. Edmonds' B-Boys."

Admission is free. All conference events are open to the public.

The conference is sponsored by the Student Activities Board, the Black Student Union, the Frederick Douglass Institute, the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost, the Office of Social Equity, the History Club, the Women's Studies program, and the deans of the colleges of Liberal Arts, Education and Human Services, and the Eberly College of Science and Technology.