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BRONX TIMES R 16 EPORTER, JUNE 4-10, 2021 BTR
Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., Mayor Bill de Blasio, Nas, LL Cool J,
Fat Joe, among others, break ground on the Universal Hip Hop Museum.
BY STEVEN GOODSTEIN
The birthplace of hip hop
will soon be the home of a hip
hop museum.
On May 20, local hip hop
artists, elected officials, hip
hop fanatics all gathered
along the Harlem River waterfront
to celebrate the official
groundbreaking for the Universal
Hip Hop Museum. The
groundbreaking signified the
beginning of construction for
the Universal Hip Hop Museum’s
permanent home at 610
Exterior Street, in the very
borough where hip hop was
created.
Borough President Ruben
Diaz, Jr. began his speech by
reciting the first four lines
of the hip hop ballad ’South
Bronx’ by Boogie Down Productions,
a group which consisted
of rapper KRS-One and
the late DJ Scott LaRock.
“Many people tell me this
style is terrific, it is kinda different,
but let’s get specific,
KRS-One specializes in music,
I’ll only use this type of style
when I choose it!”
“The Bronx started hip hop
– and it’s only appropriate that
the Universal Hip Hop Museum
will call the Bronx its
home.
Diaz continued, describing
how hip hop generated millionaires
while becoming the
most popular music genre on
the planet – taking over fashion,
cinematography, jewelry
and even sports, while also
bridging the racial divide between
different cultures.
“You see Hip Hop everywhere,”
Diaz added. “Once it
is completed, the Universal
Hip Hop Museum will be a
destination for people all over
the world, because hip hop is
global.”
“This journey began 10
years ago – when none of us
(UHHM) knew where we were
going,” said Universal Hip
Hop Museum Executive Director
Rocky Bucano. “The curation
of this museum will preserve
the five elements of hip
hop – MCing (rapping), DJing,
breakdancing, graffiti and
knowledge.”
“When I began listening to
hip hop, it was the first time
that young black men sounded
empowered,” said LL Cool
J. “Before that, I would usually
see black kids with their
heads down being put into a
police car.”
Earlier this month, it was
announced that LL Cool J,
among others, will soon be inducted
into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame.
“Hip hop made me dream –
and showed me that anything
is possible,” he said. “What
Rocky (Bucano) and everybody
at the Universal Hip Hop
Museum have accomplished is
incredible – and it’s proof that
with tenacity, hard work, commitment
and focus, you can
make it happen.”
“This is a time that was
destined to be,” Nas said.
“There should be a museum
for hip hop, and it should be in
the Bronx.”
“The BX is the birthplace
of hip hop – and with this museum
we are keeping hip hop
alive,” said Fat Joe, who grew
up in the Forest Projects.
“When I was a kid, I would
write rhymes on the kitchen
table – and my parents didn’t
really understand it. But all
these years later, hip hop has
made me very successful and
my parents are proud of me
now.”
Fat Joe also spoke about
when he left home at age 14
and stayed at a nearby hotel,
which was infested with drugs
and crime.
“I was a tough kid and I
wasn’t scared of a lot of things,
but I was scared when I was living
at this hotel,” he said. “The
only thing that made me feel
comfortable at night was listening
to my Slick Rick tape.
And I did that every night.”
Other notable artists in
attendance included Slick
Rick, Dave East, Treach from
Naughty By Nature, Parrish
Smith from EPMD and Chuck
D from Public Enemy.
Also at the event was
Grandmaster Flash, a hip hop
pioneer who acted as the DJ
for the group Grandmaster
Flash and the Furious Five.
The group’s most popular single,
‘The Message’ described
the life of crime, poverty and
drugs in the south Bronx during
the late 1970s and early
1980s.
Even Mayor Bill de Blasio
came up to the podium and
threw up the “X” with his
arms to signify his support for
the museum.
The museum, which is
scheduled to open in 2024, is
part of the Bronx Point project,
a mixed-use development
site of 530,000 square feet on
the Harlem River waterfront
that will also include residential
units, retail space and educational
facilities.
The birthplace of hip hop
Hip hop museum opens in the Bronx