"Sisters," Jamel
Shabazz.
The Brooklyn Museum of Art Presents Roots, Rhymes and
Rage
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - ": Roots, Rhymes, and Rage" will present the
explosion of hip-hop - the most influential American cultural
phenomenon of the past twenty-five years. On view at the Brooklyn
Museum of Art through December 3, this multimedia exhibition will
feature over 400 items from the 1970s to the present, among them
hip-hop fashions, videos, and artifacts.
"" will showcase clothing and accessories worn by artists such as
Afrika Bambaataa, Run-DMC, The Beastie Boys, Salt N' Pepa, Tupac
Shakur, Puff Daddy, Eminem, and Missy Elliot. Other items include
manuscripts of lyrics by artists Public Enemy, Ice-T, and
Arrested Development; a letter from the F.B.I. to Priority
Records, expressing concern over the group N.W.A.; and audio
components used by Grandmaster Flash.
The exhibition will also include artifacts of Brooklyn-bred
hip-hop artists, such as The Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z, as well
as interactive D.J. stations, notable photographs and magazine
covers, and music-video displays detailing hip-hop's history and
its four elements - DJing, MCing, graffiti writing, and
breakdancing. Video installations created by YO-TV (Youth
Organizers Television) will provide current teenage and
young-adult perspectives on hip-hop.
"" will be organized into five sections examining the development
of hip-hop. The first, "The Block Party," introduces the
different components of hip-hop. It also includes live
demonstrations and computerized interactive terminals.
The second section, "The Roots," is a look at the beginnings of
hip-hop and features vintage clothing, audio equipment from the
1970s and early 1980s, a video installation, and entire array of
original party and club handbills. It also includes costumes and
other items related to such hip-hop pioneers as Kool Herc,
Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, and Kurtis Blow.
"The Golden Era," section three of the exhibition covers the
mid-eighties through 1990, hip-hop's most creative and
influential period. The era produced the remarkable rhyme skills
of Rakim and Slick Rick, the feminist flavor of Salt N' Pepa, MC
Lyte, Monie Love, and Queen Latifah, the agitprop poetry of
Public Enemy, and the gangsta soundtrack of N.W.A. Highlights
include classic photos and original album cover art; clothing
from P.E's Chuck D, Salt N' Pepa, Run-DMC, Queen Latifah, LL Cool
J, and others; as well as original notes for De La Soul's
landmark record 3 Feet High and Rising. A video installation
accompanies this section.
Section four is "Controversy: Outrage and the Rise of Gangsta
Rap." It documents the period when the subculture of gangsta rap
came to dominate radio airwaves and garnered the bulk of the
media's attention. Such events as 2 Live Crew's infamous
obscenity trial and the intense criticism of Ice-T's "Cop Killer"
record (which was actually a rock song performed by his band,
Body Count) marked hip-hop's arrival in mainstream America. By
the mid-1990s, hip-hop would lose two of its major icons to
tragedy: first Tupac Shakur, then The Notorious B.I.G. were the
victims of still-unsolved drive-by shootings. This section also
features numerous court documents and newspaper articles, as well
as artifacts from the collections of Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, N.W.A.,
and the Geto Boys. Finally, an "X-rated" room highlights some of
hip-hop's controversial lyrics.
The last section, "Pop Goes the Culture," acknowledges that
hip-hop has become the dominant American young culture. Since MC
Hammer and Vanilla Ice in the early 1990s, hip-hop has reigned
over the pop charts, along the way influencing R&B performers
(TLC, R. Kelly, Mary J. Blige), rock acts (Rage Against the
Machine, Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock), and pop acts (Backstreet Boyz,
Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera). Hip-hop's mainstream
invasion has also transformed fashion, language, and the way that
Madison Avenue markets to youth in America and the young world.
"Pop Goes the Culture" includes costumes worn by such artists as
Puff Daddy, Missy Elliott, Eminem, Will Smith, The Beastie Boys,
Jay-Z, and others. It also contains personal items from the
estates of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur.
Hip-hop was born in New York City in the early 1970s as a
creative outlet for inner-city young people. As a fiscal crisis
ripped through the city eliminating many social programs, these
young people - mainly African American, Puerto Rican, and West
Indian - threw parties on their blocks and at area clubs, used
the city subways and walls as a canvas, and replaced some of New
York's gang activity with local crews like the Afrika
Bambaataa-led Zulu Nation. While the Bronx is commonly credited
as the actual birthplace of hip-hop, uptown Manhattan,
(especially Harlem), Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Long
Island, and northern New Jersey would all be quickly influence by
this burgeoning scene.
Although there are debates about how the term "hip-hop" developed
(the late Cowboy of Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five is
often cited as the originator of the term), the culture has
almost from the beginning consisted of four major elements:
DJing, MCing, breakdancing, and graffiti writing. Early hip-hop
was largely a "throw-your-hands-in-the-air" music, taking its
cues from the funk of James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic,
among other sources. The very first rap record, "King Tim III
(Personality Jock)," was performed by the funk band Fatback,
featuring Harlem-bred King Tim III and released in August 1979.
In the fall of 1979, Sugar Hill Gang released "Rapper's Delight."
This song became a national and international success, and soon
hip-hop pioneers like Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, and
Kurtis Blow were recording. In the 1980s, hip-hop grew in
popularity as mainstream acts like the rock band Blondie and jazz
legend Herbie Hancock brought the genre to new and broader
audiences. Additionally, early hip-hop films like Wild Style
helped to popularize hip-hop culture. And hip-hop's first
supergroup, Run-DMC, almost single-handedly made the b-boy
lifestyle a permanent part of the American pop arena.
Now a billion-dollar industry, hip-hop has transformed itself
into a global youth culture, crossing racial, ethnic, gender,
class, language, and geographical boundaries. Hip-hop is
manifested everywhere, pushing the sales of products and turning
rappers like Queen Latifah, Will Smith, Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim, and
LL Cool J into cultural icons.
"" presents this culture with all its complexities and diverse
trends, including current activities, such as the "Hip-Hop For
Respect" project, the hip-hop community's response to police
brutality, as led by Brooklyn's own Mos Def.
The museum is at 200 Eastern Parkway. For information,
718/638-5000.
