Synopsis

Free admission! Panel discussion with H. Samy Alim, Imani Kai Johnson, Samuel Lamontagne, and Tabia Shawel to follow the screening.

In the Hour of Chaos: Hip Hop Art & Activism with Public Enemy’s Chuck D highlights the transformative power of Hip Hop with some of the nation’s most insightful thinkers on the art form’s social, cultural, and political significance. Guided by Chuck D himself, the film tells the story of how artists, activists, and academics came together at UCLA to celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop cultural history. The all-star line-up of guests explores the profound impact of an arts movement that revolutionized the world.

Over much of the last 4 decades, Chuck D’s music and activism have taught so many of us. This film captures Chuck D at his best, engaging some of the nation’s leading public intellectuals on the social origins of Hip Hop culture and its continued evolution. The film covers a range of topics, including Black radical movements, Hip Hop feminisms, and the global circulation of the culture within the ever-evolving music and entertainment industries. Narrated by Chuck D, this film follows his tenure as the UCLA Hip Hop Initiative’s inaugural Artist-in-Residence. No other film captures this journey, at this critical juncture in our history, as we celebrate over half a century of Hip Hop with one of its most important and globally-recognized voices. And no other artist speaks so powerfully and eloquently about Hip Hop’s continued relevance in today’s “hour of chaos.”

A discussion and Q&A will follow the screening with In the Hour of Chaos filmmakers H. Samy Alim, David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair in the Social Sciences and Professor of Anthropology at UCLA; Samuel Lamontagne, Assistant Professor, Department of Music at UCR; Tabia Shawel, Assistant Director, Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA. They will be joined by Imani Kai Johnson, Associate Professor in the Department of Black Study and Department of Dance at UCR.

This event also marks the publication of the companion volume In the Hour of Chaos: Hip Hop Art & Activism (University of California Press, 2026).

Film Details

Directors: Samuel Lamontagne, Tabia Shawel, H. Samy Alim
Running Time: 43 minutes
Country: USA
Release Year: 2024
Rated: Unrated