“Hard Bop” takes its name from the subgenre of American jazz that evolved from bebop in the mid-1940s, known for its fast tempos, intricate phrasing, and fusion of rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues influences. Ty Drake draws on that same spirit of improvisation and structure to explore the rhythmic tension between sound and politics—between music as expression and manifesto as declaration.

Rooted in the visual language of Russian Constructivism, Hard Bop: Reflections and Interpretations of a Militant Manifesto reflects on the dual narrative between the Black Panther Party and the FBI’s COINTELPRO program. Through overlapping layers of text and image, the work visualizes interpretations of the polarities that exist between the narratives of the two organizations.