‘Austin City Limits’ to air first-ever hip-hop hour

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“Austin City Limits” has long wanted to kick open its doors to hip-hop, but the reckless messages embraced by some rappers made the program’s producers hesitant.

But Saturday, for the first time ever, the long-running PBS music showcase will devote its entire hour-long episode to two of hip-hop’s most talented acts: Brooklyn’s Mos Def and Somalian rhymesmith K’NAAN.

“I wasn’t sure how they or any hip-hoppers would react,” Terry Lickona, the series’ executive producer, told me this week. “I was humbled that Mos and K’NAAN were so quick to accept.”

Lickona, who has been with the show for 32 of its 35 years, said he was impressed by both artists’ rich music and that they use “their music not just to express themselves, but to make a statement about the world.”