Spoken word performer and hip-hop artist Black Atticus will perform at the John C. Hodges Library on Thursday, March 31, 2022. His appearance will feature the first public performance of an original song inspired by materials in UT’s Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives. Registration is now open.

Black Atticus is a local artist who has been on the hip-hop scene for over a decade. His musical style is inspired by his Southern roots, and he has been called one of the most heartfelt voices of the Southern hip-hop movement. His performances seamlessly weave the art of storytelling with electric rhyme slaying over moody baselines and drum patterns that keep the whole room involved.

Boundless: Artists in the Archives, a program of the UT Libraries, invites artists to dive into the rare and unique items in our special collections to find inspiration for their artistic endeavors. When we invited Joseph Woods, a.k.a. Black Atticus, to participate in the Boundless program, he chose to delve into the Dr. C.S. Boyd Photograph Collection, an archive of photographs of African Americans including Boyd, his dental office, and his family who lived in Knoxville in the early 20th century.

Black Atticus’s performance will be the fourth event in the Boundless series. Earlier events featured musicians Marcel Holman, RB Morris, and Count this Penny.

A reception in the Jack E. Reese Galleria begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by a performance in the Lindsay Young Auditorium at 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.