From Jay Z’s lyrics on the front of the Brooklyn Bookstore to a superstar rapper partying at Yankee Stadium, New York is celebrating 50 years of hip-hop, the music that was born in the ghettos and is now dominant around the world.
Inside the library, a massive exhibition retraces the career of one of Brooklyn’s most famous sons, charting his rise from street hustler to respected international music mogul.
Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, wrote about the drug trade at the Marcy House community where he grew up before becoming a multi-billionaire rapper, and his relationship with Beyoncé made them the hottest couple in pop.
“I haven’t been to many exhibitions,” said Jamarli Thomas, 31, a warehouse worker. Seeing something similar about my favorite rapper is amazing.” “For a lot of African-American children who will come here, it may be a role model for them to succeed in their lives,” he added.
Jay-Z has produced many hits, including “Hard Rock Live (Ghetto Anthem)” (1998) and “Iso” (2001).
He also crossed the boundaries of rap music with the hugely successful song “Empire State of Mind”, and he holds the record for the most number-one albums as a solo artist, with 14 albums on the Billboard 200 list. The only one ahead of him is the “Beatles” group with 19 albums.
Long lines formed over the weekend as Jay-Z fans came to visit the gallery or sign up for one of the 13 Brooklyn Library cards stamped on the covers of the artist’s albums.
The honor is preceded by the opening of another exhibition on the history of hip-hop music at Halle de Lumière on August 2, with New York celebrating half a century of this musical genre with a large number of events.
Although early forms of hip-hop had begun to appear years earlier, musicologists have identified August 11, 1973 as the date of birth of this musical genre.
On that day, on the ground floor of a low-income building at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, Jamaican-born DJ Clive Campbell, aka “DJ Kool Herc,” pioneered a new musical technique.
He rotated the same drum on two turntables, isolating sequences of beats and percussion to extend the beat, a key ingredient in hip-hop music.
Fifty years later, on August 11, 2023, DJ Kool Herc will perform at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx with hip-hop pioneers including Grandmaster Kaz, Curtis Blow, and Roxanne Shante.
Also scheduled to perform at this concert are Lil’ Kim, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Run DMC, and The Sugarhill Gang.
Other concerts, street parties, graffiti classes, and breakdancing are also planned throughout New York.
The hip hop movement was born as a way for African Americans and Latinos to escape poverty and discrimination.
Few would have predicted that she would become a multi-billion dollar phenomenon that inspires not only music, but also sports and fashion.
