Scholl Lecture Series: Adrian Bartos a.k.a. Stretch Armstrong in Conversation with Franklin Sirmans
Join us for a converging of the hip-hop and art worlds with an engaging conversation between Adrian Bartos, also known as Stretch Armstrong, and PAMM Director Franklin Sirmans.
Catch this Live Virtual Scholl Lecture Series on PAMM Facebook Live and YouTube Live.
Stretch Armstrong is a New York-based DJ and music producer, known as a former co-host of hip-hop radio show The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show, alongside Robert "Bobbito" Garcia. For most of the 1990s, The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show functioned as the unlikely epicenter of New York's underground hip-hop scene and it would come to influence some of the biggest names in hip-hop history including Notorious B.I.G., Eminem, Nas, and JAY-Z. After 19 years off the air, Stretch and Bobbito have reunited to host an NPR Podcast called What's Good With Stretch and Bobbito, which is less a hip-hop show than a podcast about cultural influencers in art, music, and politics. Stretch and Franklin will explore these same themes within this conversation.
Adrian Bartos, or "Stretch Armstrong," is an internationally recognized DJ, cultural pioneer, and the co-host of NPR's podcast What's Good with Stretch and Bobbito. In the show, Stretch and Bobbito interview cultural influencers, bringing their warmth, humor, and fresh perspective. In the 1990s, radio duo Stretch and Bobbito were pivotal figures in the evolution of hip-hop as a worldwide cultural phenomenon.
As a club DJ, Stretch is a master in a multitude of musical genres and has spun all over the world for over two decades. He is considered to be part of an elite group of master DJs, capable of playing to intimate crowds as well as large rooms, with an expertise in a wide variety of genres spanning several decades, from classic to contemporary.
Over the past decade, Stretch has taken his expertise into music supervision as a consultant for brands seeking to further their musical identity. Most recently, he was the music consultant for HBO's Vinyl.
Stretch's own story, along with radio partner Bobbito Garcia, has been made into a film, produced by the duo (music-supervised by Stretch and directed by Garcia) titled STRETCH AND BOBBTO: RADIO THAT CHANGED LIVES, which has screened in over forty cities internationally. The film made its network U.S. television premiere on SHOWTIME.
As an author, Stretch has written extensively for cuepoint.com. His first book, a visual and oral history of New York City nightclub flyer art, titled No Sleep: NYC Club Flyer Art, 1988-1999, was released through Powerhouse Books.