Beats, Breaks & Culture (BBC) Presented By Now Magazine

New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Breaks & Culture Festival) - The seventh edition of Harbourfront Centre's Beats, Breaks & Culture Festival (BBC) brings focus to left-of-centre music genres which have outgrown the traditional electronic music format. This year BBC also takes on the "shuffle" philosophy of the iPod, which incorporates many different musical tastes with endless possibilities. Included in the shuffle are some of Canada's top cutting-edge artists that have left an indelible mark on the international music scene.

The first of BBC's local music offerings is Canadian turntablist Kid Koala and his new musical project The Slew (led by guitarist Dylan "Dynomite D" Frombach and Wolfmother's former rhythm section Chris Ross and Myles Heskett). While Kid Koala manipulates the turntables, The Slew add their psych-rock flavouring to create a distinct musical concoction on the Sirius Stage.

International offerings include hip hop pioneer and legend Rakim, one of the greatest MCs of all time, and hot U.K.-based indie rock band The Heavy, the funky punk-jazz group who delight audiences around the world with guitar-heavy hip hop soul songs.

B-boys and B-girls battle it out at the seventh annual Pop, Lock & Load Competition hosted by Benzo from the Bag of Trix crew. Dancers from all over the globe converge on the Sirius Stage to compete for a $800 cash prize and break dance supremacy. Prior to the competition, dancers-in-training can add a few more moves to their repertoire by participating in a kid-friendly Breakin' with Benzo workshop.

This year, BBC includes the screening of three films as well: Blood on the Flat Track, the history of the Rat City Rollergirls of Seattle, who reflect the craze for women's roller derby; Wu: The Story of the Wu-Tang Clan, an examination of Wu-Tang's legacy; and Timeless: Suite for Ma Dukes (J. Dilla), a celebration of the life and music of producer J. Dilla. Topical discussions follow each screening.

The big idea behind all programming in this year's World Routes Summer Festivals is "globalocal", or global to local, a theme programmed into each festival to bring together rich artistic traditions from around the corner to around the globe!