The International Music Summit (IMS) is gearing up for another thought-provoking edition of their Engage series. For those who don’t know, IMS is an educational platform dedicated to creating appreciation for electronic music and highlighting both its history and its role as an art form. With two previous events under their belt that featured appearances by everyone from Skrillex and Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs to Hans Zimmer and Giorgio Moroder, IMS Engage has become an integral part of the North American industry calendar.
The third Engage summit will take place in Los Angeles and focus on the rapidly growing influence of EDM, as well as its history. To get the ball rolling, underground techno legend, Seth Troxler, and hip-hop pioneer/icon, Chuck D of Public Enemy, have been paired up. They’ll be discussing the rise of EDM’s commercial popularity in North America and how most major players in today’s scene are extremely far removed from it’s origins. Electronic music originated in the African-American communities of Detroit and Chicago, a fact most festival & event-goers today are unaware of.
Also on tap for this event is the pairing of TH3RD BRAIN founder, Jake Udell, with Lyor Cohen, the media mogul behind DefJam and Warner Music. As they represent viewpoints on the industry from different generations and genres, their conversation will revolve around the similarities and differences between the rise of hip-hop in the 90s and the EDM explosion we’ve witnessed over the last few years. Both pairings are sure to generate truly interesting discussions and there are several more pairings yet to be announced. If you are interested in attending this one of a kind event, tickets are available here; there are only 350 slots available, so don’t sleep on securing yours!