Hip Hop will continue to live on forever as progress for the Hip Hop Museum took one major step with legends such as Fat Joe, Nas and LL Cool J in attendance.
On May 20th, the Hip Hop Museum had its groundbreaking ceremony. An idea that started 10 years ago is now becoming a reality when it officially opens in 2024 in the Bronx along the Harlem River at 50 East 150th Street. LL Cool J who will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in October of 2021, proudly attended the historical event. “Today, we broke ground on the Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx NY. FOR THE CULTURE💯 We’re doing this for the people today, and the people that’ll be here a thousand years from today,” LL Cool J shared on his IG to his 2.3 million followers.
Along with the some of Hip Hop’s finest was Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Co-Founder Rocky Bucano and councilman Kevin C. Riley. “Today was very special for me to get an opportunity to meet these brothers and celebrate their contribution to our culture,” Riley wrote in his caption on Instagram. “Black and Brown culture! A special Thank You to my Bronx Delegation Counterpart, Council Member Diana Ayala for sharing this moment with me and for working together to secure $6.7 Million for this project on behalf of the Bronx Delegation.”
The museum is only part of the $349 million dollar project which will include affordable housing, new public spaces and community-focused programming. Not to mention the amount of jobs it will create.
Nas who’s body of work such as his 1996 classic “It Was Written” will without a doubt be celebrated when the museum opens, was also in attendance. “When I saw Run DMC, like my man said Ruben, ‘It took my soul’. And from that point on, I knew I had a journey,” Nas said. “I did not know, I would be making records until I listened to Cool J, Slick Rick. The story telling is beyond Shakespearean. And it taught me more than school taught, believe it or not.”
Fat Joe another rap icon who also attended the groundbreaking ceremony went on Instagram Live that evening to express his excitement. “The importance of the Hip Hop museum to me. It’s not just Nas, LL Cool J, Slick, Fat Joe. No. It’s about the unsung heroes. The people who paved the way. The people who don’t get glorified. Unfortunately when you start a new culture, a new religion, a new genre — those who put their blood sweat and tears and pain, usually never get recognized,” Fat Joe explains. “So, today was about them.”
