Cheddar News' Shannon LaNier takes us all the way to the boogie-down Bronx, where hip hop first got started, to check out the Universal Hip Hop Museum. Hip hop has been the foundation of many music genres since, and to get an appreciation for that foundation the museum is featuring an exhibit called Revolution of Hip Hop. 

Cheddar's News Wrap

Looking Back on a Music Revolution at the Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx

Welcome back to Cheddars news round from boom bop too upbeat to house music and everything in between hip hop culture has shaped a lot about the music we know today and every year on august 11th, we celebrate it with national hip hop day. And what better way to celebrate than taking a trip over to the Universal hip hop Museum right here in the heart of new york city where hip hop first got started. Cheddar news is Shannon Lanier took us all the way to the boogie down Bronx. Check it out. Hip hop has been the foundation of many music genres. So what better way to get an appreciation for that foundation than come to the Universal Hip Hop Museum's exhibit called Revolution of Hip hop. Welcome to the Universal hip Hop Museum. Is that what I think it is? Yes, that is slick rick, the ruler's throne. Welcome to the golden era. Catch him back, flash break out of barracks, 1st, 2nd, 3rd base. So what would you say is the most popular item here? Well, I have to say the run D. M. C. Meme brilliant is always exciting for people to see because it's so iconic. The thick rope, gold change the Adidas sneakers and it became an identify rare for hip hop fashion wise, You can't talk about that fashion without the clothing of L and L. L. Cool J. Okay, I feel like I'm in the Bronx walking down this path. So that brings me to the important question, why is this exhibit or museum in the Bronx on august 11 1973 kool DJ Herc threw a party for his sister Cindy and that really started hip hop right here in the Bronx and while it spread across the boroughs and then eventually spread across the country and around the world, this is its birthplace being here is like walking down memory lane, check out this huge boombox, I remember this, but I bet a lot of the kids that come here may not talk to us about what people will experience here. Well, in addition to this life sized boombox, there's lots of interactive displays, we've replicated the Yo MTV Raps set as well. There are displays of all sorts of meme brilliant from your favorite, our boombox levels are active here. As you can see on the left speaker, you get West Coast on the right, you get East coast, so it's very, very engaging, very, very interactive and you can listen to actual audio recordings of various icons and so we're very, very proud of the exhibit and how it represents the golden era of hip hop. The universal hip hop Museum doesn't only entertain and educate the giving back to the community and helping build it up on the community level. There's so many community initiatives that we support. We have a one for all campaign where everyone can donate a dollar and become a member and be a part of the story telling our mixed use development that we're building across the street from here, that development is affordable housing and a museum all in one, so it's perfectly designed to prevent gentrification but accelerate the growth in the south Bronx and give the people of the community a chance to live in a decent, affordable setting and experience the museum and be a part of a landmark that's gonna be a part of new york city for years to come. This museum was founded by the pioneers of the culture and in my estimation, it's for hip hop to take back the narrative. There's a lot of institutions that interpret hip hop or taking control of the narrative for For us by us, tell your own stories and that's why that's why this museum is so important. What it does is it puts hip hop in its rightful place in terms of location and in terms of storytelling of the African American experience. This is an extension of a larger story and it takes fold starting in 1973 and it's gonna go on into the late 2000 thirties and forties of generations to come learning not just the history but also getting the tools to move the needle creatively and artistically and in a sense of business when it comes to hip hop in general and when we're talking about the culture, we're talking about the elements of hip hop, we're talking about graffiti the break in and see deejaying but also beatboxing fashion language, business and knowledge and these are the main elements that the museum will look to celebrate. As we continue on, we have first hand information. The culture is young, it's only 50 years old, so that 50 year history still exists in real time from the pioneers who actually formulated the culture in the beginning, not to mention the Children that come here that represent the hip hop of today are a direct descendants of those people is their uncles, their cousins, their fathers, their grandfathers that actually produce this phenomenon. So we have that firsthand connection to the storytelling that differentiates us from everybody else around the globe. You definitely have to come check out the Universal hip hop Museum and discover the origins of a movement. Tell them DJ Shannon Lanier sent you and thanks to Shannon Linear for that report. For more information on the Universal hip hop Museum. You can visit its website at U h m m dot org.