Collecting Hip-Hop History

#HipHopHistory NMAAHC

Event: Collecting Hip-Hop History Tweetup
Where: National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC)
Summary: An in-depth hip-hop tour of the museum in conjunction with the announcement of the museum's kickstarter project, Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap.


It was a bright and early tweetup so I had to brave the DC area morning rush hour traffic to get to the museum on time. I wasn't on time. But luck was on my side because I was still able to get in and join the large group selected for this unique tweetup.

The host speaker was Timothy Anne Burnside. She's the Museum Specialist in Curatorial Affairs and it was wonderful to see the connection she had with a lot of the historical hip-hop artifacts seen at NMAAHC.  As we walked to various exhibitions that housed these artifacts, Timothy shared intimate stories about how the objects came to the museum. She also laid out its influence in today's culture, especially in music. The exhibitions we visited were: A Changing America, More Than a Picture, The Power of Place, Cultural Expressions, and Musical Crossroads.

Morgan (l) and Brea (r) chatting it up with the Timothy Anne Burnside (m)

We ended the tweetup at the Neighborhood Record Store, a perfect blend of the old school and new school way of browsing music. I honestly thought this was a new feature of the museum but nope it was there during my first visit. How did I miss such a wonder?

As I mentioned earlier, the museum is starting a kickstarter project called Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap. It'll be a box set that will include 9 CDs, over 120 tracks, and a 300 page coffee table book filled with essays, track liner notes, and never-before-seen photographs. It'll capture the evolution of hip-hop from the late 70s to today. This set will be a collaborative effort involving artists, curators, university scholars, authors, and industry leaders.

Now, the box set is not yet finished and only partially funded. Hence, the kickstarter. With our (monetary) help, the project can reach its goal of $250,000 by November 15. And if everything goes according to plan, the Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap will be released in December '18.  If you're a lover of hip-hop, help make #HipHopHistory.

To view more from this tweetup click the link - Twitter Moments.