Astro Black: Destination Planet Rock

An episode in Soda_Jerk's multi-channel digital-video installation cycle entitled Astro Black. Destination Planet Rock maps the intergalactic legacy of Sun Ra and George Clinton in the sci-fi futurism of early hip-hop. Set in 1974 in the South Bronx, the episode be-gins in a neighborhood center where Sun Ra is explain-ing his ideas about the intersection of race, myth and outer space. The three future originators of hip-hop—DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Flash—are abducted and transported across the galaxy to Planet Rock, where they are schooled in the alien language of turntablism.