<p>Joey Thurman: East Coast, West Coast, it doesn't really matter as far as Culture Stock is concerned. The seventh annual Hip-Hop Fest. They're trying to bring to light all the good things that hip-hop culture has, breakdancing, car shows, all sorts of different things, and you can even get your face painted.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: We got cars, bikes, cervezas. What else? What's going on here.</p> <p>Nicole Mullins: We are having our seventh annual Hip-Hop Festival, it's called On the Wall. This is our second year having a car show and it's a lot bigger than last year with the cars. We have a breakdance battle. This will be our sixth year having the breakdance battle.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: Tell me about Culture Stock.</p> <p>Nicole Mullins: Culture Stock is a 501c3 nonprofit. We've been around nine years. Our mission is to make the arts accessible to the community. We do events like this, the event's free, it's open to the public. And we just want to make sure that we create opportunities for the people in Aurora.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: Why focus on a hip-hop type of festival?</p> <p>Nicole Mullins: Well, hip-hop has been very highly stigmatized in the world, but also in Aurora. For a long time, there were really restrictive policies that didn't allow graffiti or street style murals in our town. Thankfully, that's eased up a little bit in the last couple of years, but when we first started the festival, those restrictions were still in place. We wanted to make an event that was for everybody, for all ages, that supported and celebrated the hip-hop crews that live in the town that we grew up in. That's where it all started.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: Maury, Rollers Only. I love your name and the car club name.</p> <p>Maury Castillo: Yes. Thank you.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: Tell me about Rollers Only, why'd you start it?</p> <p>Maury Castillo: It is based out in Los Angeles, California, and there's over 50, 60 chapters around the world. We started this off six years ago basically, and we're 10 now and we're just growing. We started off with one, now we're ten.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: Tell me about this car here.</p> <p>Maury Castillo: This one's a 82 Monte Carlo convertible, and I got it two years ago right when COVID started. That was my COVID builds.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: Is a car ever finished?</p> <p>Maury Castillo: Never.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: Never?</p> <p>Maury Castillo: Never finished.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: What number car is this for you building up in your entire life? Any idea?</p> <p>Maury Castillo: I want to say 20, and I got three at the house.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: Really?</p> <p>Maury Castillo: And one at the shop.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: What we have here, man? You've got art, you got tattoos, you got everything going on.</p> <p>Fisk Garcia: Yes Sir, I'm a full artist. I do mixed media, I started with graffiti back in the days, but once you realize that graffiti is not too accepted, you're going to bring it to another media. That's how I bring it into canvas, and then the last thing was tattoos, and I'm with the Florid, that's where I live.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: How long have you been doing tattoos?</p> <p>Fisk Garcia: I've been doing tattoos for around 10 years, professionally five.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: You got your own shop?</p> <p>Fisk Garcia: Yes Sir, we have a shop at 2277 Cornell avenue, Montgomery, Illinois.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: What's your favorite piece that you do, whether it's painting or medium? Do you like tattoos or painting?</p> <p>Fisk Garcia: I love tattoos, because you can take it anywhere and it literally goes with you until you die. So it can be an emotion, it can be one of those moments that you save and then never goes. They carry you with you. That's why I got a lot of tattoos, it's a lot of stories.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: You ever think you're putting something permanently on somebody's body, and you literally have your signature on them for the rest of their lives?</p> <p>Fisk Garcia: Actually, it's amazing when you finish a whole sleeve and they let you put your name, and me being a graffiti writer, that's the maximum level out of art. Once you keep it forever, because when you paint a train or a canvas it gets destroyed, people break it, damage it, the train goes away and they paint it. But a tattoo stays in there, and then it gets emotional.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: From one mic man to the other. Joshua dude, what's up man?</p> <p>Joshua Meza: What's up man, how you guys doing?</p> <p>Joey Thurman: Good. So, you are going to be the MC for the breakdance battle?</p> <p>Joshua Meza: For sure.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: First year doing this?</p> <p>Joshua Meza: No, this is my third year doing this.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: Why are you the MC? You into breakdancing?</p> <p>Joshua Meza: Yeah, I love breakdancing man, I got into it about 12 years ago. I love what Aurora does for the scene, them bad apples crew for the organization, I love what they do for the community, and for the scene.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: What do you feel is the biggest misconception with people and breakdancing?</p> <p>Joshua Meza: I think the biggest misconception is, they think we are involved with violence, drugs, gangs and stuff like that. That's not what we're about, we're about peace, love, unity, respect. We just love the community and we do this all for fun and for the love of the dance and the culture. I think that's one of the biggest misconceptions.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: I love that. How long does it take you to get profession in breakdancing? Years and years? Are you ever really a master at it?</p> <p>Joshua Meza: No, we're always students of the game. We're always students, we are always improving and evolving. We're just always practicing, training for it. We do have classes. Check out any local events, you can meet us here as well, too at any breakdancing events, just to ask about what kind of classes there are, but there's events all throughout here, Chicago. There's plenty different ways and opportunities that you can learn and get involved into the culture.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: What's in store for the future for Culture Stock?</p> <p>Nicole Mullins: Well, we just want to keep having events like this. We have some other stuff that we're working on for next year, one is a Arto-palooza. We did it once in the past. We're going to do it again. We're also in the process of fundraising to be able to reopen in a physical space. We used to have a space a few blocks from here. We ran a used bookstore, it doubled as a community art center, people come in buy books for super cheap, but then they stick around, read and attend music performances.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: If anybody rich is watching this.</p> <p>Nicole Mullins: Yes.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: Where can they give you money?</p> <p>Nicole Mullins: You can go to our website, CultureStock.org, it's C-U-L-T-U-R-E-S-T-O-C-k.org. People like to say culture shock. That's not our name, you'll be shocked to find the wrong website.</p> <p>Joey Thurman: Let's shock the culture by giving Culture Stock some money.</p>