(AllHipHop News) Hip-hop will forever go down in history as the biggest genre in the world.
Now, the state of New York is giving back in a major way, recognizing themselves and their value as the birthplace to hip-hop.
The state had awarded a capital grant worth $3.5 million to help build the first museum in the world solely dedicated to hip-hop music and culture.
On Thursday, December 19th, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the $80 million Universal Hip Hop Museum is slated to open its doors in the South Bronx in 2023.
The borough best known as the “Boogie Down” Bronx is deemed the birthplace of hip-hop. The museum is temporarily open in a space located at 610 Exterior St. in Bronx Terminal Market.
Erected in the Bronx Point development, the Hip Hop Museum is predicted to generate tourism and tax revenues for the Bronx and New York.
Museum director Rocky Bucano states this is similar to how the “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame drives economic development in Cleveland.”
There will be multiple exhibits on everything from break dancers to graffiti artists to disc jockeys to MCs dating back to the ’70s.
Bucano continues, “The museum is part of the renaissance of the Bronx. The Bronx is coming back, but the museum will be of the people and for the people.”
Corporate partners include Microsoft and MIT, with support from hip-hop artists such as Nas and LL Cool J.
The Universal Hip Hop Museum will occupy 50,000 square feet in Bronx Point, the residential and retail project by L+M Development Partners north of the 145th Street bridge along the Harlem River in the Bronx. They have also received $6.5 million in funds from the city.
