Oct

You can make #HipHopHistory

“Hip-Hop helps us to understand the power of black music and the impact of African American culture on the world.”

— Lonnie Bunch III, founding director, National Museum of African American History and Culture

Composite black and whitephoto of Hip-hop performers

Clockwise from upper left: DST spinning – London 1982, © Janette Beckman; Run DMC & posse – Hollis Queens NY, © Janette Beckman; Mary J. Blige at the NY Music Awards after party at China Club 1992, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Photo by AlPereira, © Al Pereira; Andre 3000 and Big Boi of Outkast 2004, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Janette Beckman; Queen Latifah during the filming of “Fly Girl” video, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Photo by Al Pereira, © Al Pereira

The Smithsonian launched its third major Kickstarter effort with the #HipHopHistory campaign to fund the creation of The Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap—an ambitious collaboration between Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Hip-hop is a musical, cultural, and social movement born in the Bronx in the late 1970s. Since then, it has become a global phenomenon impacting everything from fashion and art, to language and politics. The Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap is an important educational tool for exploring the power of black music and the impact of African American culture on the world.

The anthology includes nine CDs, more than 120 tracks and a 300-page book with extensive liner notes, essays by artists and scholars, and never-before-published photographs from the museum’s collection. This campaign allows dedicated fans the chance to be a part of the community that helps bring this landmark project to life—and the collector’s box set into their homes.

The Kickstarter campaign will run through Nov. 15. Its goal is $250,000. All funds raised through the Kickstarter campaign will go toward costs of producing the anthology.

Watch the video describing the campaign, featuring Chuck D of seminal hip-hop group Public Enemy, and MC Lyte, the first female MC ever to release a full-length hip-hop album.

The Kickstarter project page also includes a full listing of rewards for the campaign, including exclusive hip-hop trading cards, a digital-only remix of the Folkways catalog by producer 9th Wonder, and a tour of the National Museum of African American History and Culture led by a curator and Questlove of The Roots.

Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing campaign, so we hope you will share this campaign and help spread the word. Learn more about the project on the Kickstarter page, share the campaign directly via the links below, and join us in making #HipHopHistory!

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