Brace yourself, world. You are about to be bombarded by the stunning audio and visuals of Hip Hop’s latest incarnation, 4-ISH.

Founded in 1999 by a 23 year-old named Marco Gerris and based out of the Netherlands, 4-ISH is a thirteen member crew pushing the boundaries of Hip Hop in a new direction that can only be described as Hip Hop Theatre.

Each of the 13 members brings a unique talent, as well as a unique worldview, to this multicultural collection of artists. The group consists of a Dutch national champion DJ, a beat boxer, a martial artist, half-pipe skaters, rollers skaters, break dancers, acrobats, and a street dancer. In similar fashion to how Hip Hop music made pastiche art out of many musical genres (blues, funk, soul, rock), the members of 4-ISH unite to bring a vibrant collage of performances to the stage.

The audience serves as yet one more crucial element of the collage. 4-ISH refuses to allow the spectators to be passive; instead, the performers toss shirts into the crowd and begin call-and-response shouts, breaking the barrier between the stage and the seats.

4-ISH borrows the popular suffix -ish, commonly used to convey that something cannot be contained to one specific category, as a means of telling the public that they refuse to be pigeonholed. With the multidisciplinary nature of their performances, the ethnic and economic diversity of the crew’s thirteen members, and the versatility of each performer, the group refuses to be easily categorized, creating a unique, dynamic experience.

On the surface, the 4-ISH show tells a simple tale of a young boy who despite his best attempts at joining the “cool” cliques (consisting of break dancers, skaters, or martial artists) remains an outsider. It isn’t until he finally decides to be himself and find individual strengths that he comes into his own. Just as this Dutch crew is a patchwork of many dynamic elements, so is the spectrum of feelings (joy, sadness, inspiration) they will conjure up in the viewer. With the stage as their medium, 4-ISH takes us on an emotional journey, and in the end it teaches us this: be yourself and the rest will follow.

Gerris, who currently serves as both artistic director and multi-faceted performer, says the performance goes beyond the simple story. “It’s important to feel the energy of the show, just like in early Hip Hop,” he says.

4-ISH draws on more than just the energy of early Hip Hop. In the 1970s the neglected and overlooked youth of New York City found escape in the creativity, spontaneity, raw energy, and organic nature of the block parties that eventually birthed Hip Hop music and culture. 4-ISH consciously strives to recognize these roots in their shows.

DJ Afrika Bambaataa, who in 1975 coined the term Hip Hop and is considered one of its three founding fathers, dubbed “knowledge” as the 5^th element to the culture of Hip Hop (in addition to DJing, MCing, B-Boying/B-Girling, and graffiti.) Bambaataa wanted fans to possess knowledge of how to improve one’s position in society, as well as society itself.

In a similar vein, 4-ISH consciously educates the public, via a myriad of awe-inspiring mediums as opposed to force-fed and clichéd moral lessons. The ultimate goal is for the audience to walk away challenged and willing to open dialogue about what constitutes Hip Hop, craft, theatre, diversity, and individualism.

As Gerris explained, “It is the combination of our diverse elements that is our most powerful weapon. The sum is greater than the parts.” 4-ISH is richer for its variety. And we are richer for having the opportunity to experience one of their performances.

With a show as visually stunning as 4-ISH’s, it is hard to capture its true essence and energy in just words: