Hip Hop Don’t Stop 10, 50 Year Anniversary Edition.

Event Details

This event took place at The Local Saigon, 28 Đường Thảo Điền, Thảo Điền, Quận 2, Ho Chi Minh City, from 2 PM until 11 PM on 24 September 2023, with the original address retained for archival accuracy even though the venue has since closed. Scientific Sound Asia and The Local Saigon presented Hip Hop Don’t Stop 10 – 50 Year Anniversary Edition in conjunction with drinks partners Huda and Sapporo.

The event marked the tenth edition of the long-running Hip Hop Don’t Stop series while also celebrating fifty years of Hip Hop culture. Free entry, live DJs, food and afternoon drinks specials gave the anniversary a relaxed daytime festival format in Thảo Điền.

Hip Hop remained at the centre of the programme, with turntablism and DJ culture providing the musical foundation for the day. The anniversary theme also gave the event an opportunity to acknowledge the five decades of music, creativity and club culture that had developed around Hip Hop since its emergence in New York during the 1970s.

The Local Saigon provided a garden-style environment where guests could arrive throughout the afternoon rather than waiting for a conventional late-night club session. Music, food and social activity could therefore develop together across the nine-hour event.

Drinks specials ran from 2 PM until 6 PM with support from Huda and Sapporo. The early promotion helped set the tone for the afternoon while the free-entry format made it easy for regular followers and newcomers to spend part or all of the day at the venue.

DJ Psycho-UK, also known as Bearhead, represented Scientific Sound Asia behind the decks. The East London DJ began mixing at the age of fourteen after getting his first pair of turntables and has continued performing across several generations of underground music.

Hip Hop was one of the earliest foundations of his musical development before Acid House, Hardcore, Jungle, Drum and Bass and House widened his record collection. The Hip Hop Don’t Stop series gave him a dedicated format in which those original rap and turntablist influences could remain at the front of the programme.

Growing up during a formative period for Hip Hop meant records by artists such as Public Enemy, KRS-One and Run-DMC became part of the music that shaped his early DJ years. Those foundations later sat alongside British rave and bass culture without disappearing from his wider musical identity.

For the tenth edition, that background gave the anniversary a direct connection with several decades of DJ culture rather than treating Hip Hop history as an abstract theme. Old School records, party cuts and underground selections could be played by someone whose own career had developed alongside many of the musical changes being celebrated.

Turntablism remained an important part of the Hip Hop Don’t Stop identity because the series had consistently emphasised DJ technique and traditional deck culture. Manual mixing, scratching and careful selection kept the focus on the person behind the decks rather than reducing the event to a playlist of familiar hits.

The anniversary edition also reflected how much the series itself had changed since its first events. Previous editions had moved through bars, rooftops, underground venues and pool parties before reaching a daytime festival format at The Local Saigon.

That ability to change settings helped Hip Hop Don’t Stop survive venue closures, pandemic disruption and shifts within Ho Chi Minh City nightlife. The tenth edition therefore represented both a cultural anniversary and a milestone for Scientific Sound Asia’s own recurring Hip Hop programme.

The original listing named DJ Psycho-UK while stating that more DJs were still to be announced. As the surviving event information does not preserve the confirmed final additional line-up, the archive retains More DJs TBA rather than adding names that cannot be verified.

Keeping that detail maintains the distinction between what was originally advertised and what may later have happened on the day. Historical event pages are most useful when incomplete information is left clearly incomplete rather than filled with assumptions.

The daytime format also placed food and community activity alongside the DJs rather than making the dancefloor the only reason to attend. Guests could eat, drink, meet friends and listen to the music across the afternoon before the event moved deeper into its evening programme.

That social side has always been closely connected with Hip Hop culture, where music developed alongside dancing, fashion, visual art and community gathering. The festival-style approach allowed the tenth edition to acknowledge some of that wider culture without turning the event into a formal historical presentation.

Scientific Sound Asia’s wider activity connects this series with its radio station, events, DJ agency and music news platform. Hip Hop Don’t Stop forms the dedicated Hip Hop side of an archive that also includes House, Techno, Jungle, Drum and Bass and other underground styles.

The Local Saigon has since closed, making preservation of the original address, running time, drinks partners and published line-up important for archive accuracy. The event remains documented as a nine-hour free-entry celebration where DJ Psycho-UK represented the series while additional performers were still listed as TBA.

Hip Hop Don’t Stop 10 – 50 Year Anniversary Edition marked a significant point for both the music and the recurring Scientific Sound Asia event. Fifty years of Hip Hop culture met the tenth edition of the Saigon series through turntables, food, drinks and a Thảo Điền crowd gathered for another day built around beats and community.