Nas, LL Cool J, More Helping To Bring Permanent Universal Hip Hop Museum To New York City

Music artists and entrepreneurs have pooled their money and resources together to plan and develop a forthcoming permanent museum dedicated to the history of hip-hop, set to open in where the genre began in the 1970s out of The Bronx in New York City.

According to local news reports, The Universal Hip Hop Museum is planned to open for business in 2023. When the building is finalized, the 60,000 square-foot space will showcase both interactive and immersive exhibits, live performances, film screenings, and education seminars. Construction on the museum will begin this summer.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. worked alongside notable artists like Nas, Ice-T, and LL Cool J, along with Kurtis Blow, Afrika Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Melly Mel to bring the museum to The Bronx. The museum is also chartered by the New York State Department of Education. It was Blow, Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Melly Mel who combined their initial ideas for a permanent, physical museum dedicated to the cultural impact of hip-hop in America eight years ago.

“The future museum will open in 2023 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop Culture,” it reads in a statement on the museum website. “We have teamed up with the top universities, cultural arts institutions and technology providers to design the quintessential museum to preserve and celebrate Hip Hop history and culture.”

A smaller pop-up entitled, [R]evolution Hip Hop Museum opened back in December at the nearby Bronx Terminal Market in partnership with MIT Center for Advanced Virtuality to act as a preview for the final project. Some of the notable artifacts displayed amongst the entertaining mix of interactive features throughout the pop-up include Blow’s original beat box machine, along with the first few rap records ever released. Tickets for the pop-up museum are free and can be purchased here.

“We are starting in the 70s and it’s a rotating exhibit because we are going to be here for three years,” Museum executive director Rocky Bucano mentioned about the three-year pop-up project upon opening late last year. “So this will be up for about six months and then we introduce the 80s and then the 90s and then today’s music.”

Watch a promo trailer for the museum project below.

Universal Hip Hop Museum Trailer

[Video: Universal Hip Hop Museum]

New York City is not shy about making a point to honor its musical pioneers and groundbreaking hip-hop performers who called the city home over the years. Recent dedications spread across the major city include the official renaming of a Staten Island District in honor of the Wu-Tang Clan, and a trio of statue busts in tribute to Phife Dawg, Prodigy, Jam Master Jay at the Queens Public Library.

Click here to see how fans can donate to the project and learn more about the future museum.

[H/T AM New York]