tonight at 7ET national geographic (!) is hosting a panel discussion on the relation of reggae to hip hop, featuring quite the unbelievable cast: nas and damian marley, kool herc (the first hip hop dj), u-roy (pioneering reggae dj ['dj' is used differently in the two traditions*]), jeff chang (author of the great history of hip hop can't stop won't stop), rakim (wu-tang clan), king jammy (dub pioneer) etc. astonishing and they'll stream it live. meanwhile you can see what i make of this connection in a rough draft of a chapter of my next book (political aesthetics), or in the paper version at contemporary aesthetics.

*it's a long story, but roughly a dj in reggae is a rapper; a dj in hip hop is a turntablist, or the guy that stands at the back of the stage constructing the tracks.