DATE
Source: newsdesk.si.edu
Topic: Hip Hop
Sort Desciption: Multi-year Initiative to Gather Broad Collection on Hip-Hop Culture and ... The museum’s multi-year project will trace hip-hop from its origins in the 1970s ...
Content Inside: News Smithsonian National Museum of American History Behring Center Media only: Valeska Hilbig (202) 633-3129, cell: (202) 309-2152 Melinda Machado (202) 633-3129 Jody Miller, JLM PR Inc. (212) 431-5227, cell: (917) 770-3970 Feb. 28, 2006 Hip-Hop Comes to the Smithsonian Multi-year Initiative to Gather Broad Collection on Hip-Hop Culture and Culminate in Comprehensive Exhibition Some 30 years after it emerged from the neighborhoods of the South Bronx, N.Y., hip-hop has evolved into a pervasive and global cultural phenomenon. During a special ceremony in New York today, pioneers from the hip-hop community donated objects to “Hip-Hop Won’t Stop: The Beat, The Rhymes, The Life,” a major collecting initiative by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The museum’s multi-year project will trace hip-hop from its origins in the 1970s, as an expression of urban black and Latino youth culture, to its status today. By collecting today from Russell Simmons, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc, Ice T, Fab 5 Freddy, Crazy Legs and MC Lyte (who could not attend) the museum will build an unprecedented permanent collection that will document the undeniable reach of hip-hop and commemorate it as one of the most influential cultural explosions in recent history. “Hip-hop has reached well beyond its urban roots to diverse national dimensions and has been an integral part of American culture for almost 30 years,” said Brent D. Glass, director of the National Museum of American History. “The National Museum of American History is committed to telling the story of the American experience, and with the significant contributions from the hip-hop community, we will be able to place hip-hop in the continuum of American history and present a comprehensive exhibition,” he added. Initial funding from Universal Music and support from Russell Simmons, co-founder of Def Jam and the Chairman of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, has allowed t ...
