They say, “Build it and they will come.” Such is the case for The Hip-Hop Museum of Washington, DC highlighting the talents of four pioneers who made a major contribution to the culture. By inducting them in a private ceremony Sunday, February 28th 2020, at the birthplace of Hip-Hop, which is 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, New York, the The Hip-Hop Museum of Washington, DC made history.
Historian Jay Quan had the honor of inducting the legends: Coke La Rock (Father of Rapping), Grand Wizzard Theodore (Inventor of the SCRATCH, Fantastic 5, L-Brothers), Grandmaster Caz (Cold Crush Bros. & Wild Style), and MC G.L.O.B.E. (Soulsonic Force), with a private induction ceremony hosted by comedian Russell Peters at the birthplace of Hip-Hop.
Although there were more contributing founders of Hip-Hop, four were chosen to be honored by Jeremy Beaver – the founder of the Hip-Hop Museum of Washington, DC. A beautiful addition to the ceremony was the donation of the vintage flyers from the infamous ‘King of Hip-Hop Flyers’ Buddy Esquire, who passed away in 2014. Johan Kugelberg who was Buddy’s friend and Biographer, donated the collection to the museum. It was an invaluable asset that topped the historical event.
Hip-Hop Publicist Lynn Hobson recounts, “Hip-Hop is a culture and art movement that was created by African Americans, Latino Americans and Caribbean Americans in the Bronx. Its evolution was shaped by many different artists, but there’s a case to be made that it came to life precisely on August 11, 1973, at a birthday party in the recreation room of an apartment building in the Bronx, New York City. This historic party was the birthday girl’s brother, Clive Campbell—better known to history as DJ Kool Herc, founding father of hip-hop and Coke La Rock, founding father of rhyming. This became the birthplace of Hip-Hop. DJ Kool Herc was born and raised in Jamaica until he was 10 before his family moved to the Bronx. He began spinning records at parties while his father’s band played in between sets in the early 70’s. Coke La Rock performed by what was known as “toasting” at the time as DJ Kool Herc spun the records. Together with the help of repeating the record’s ‘drum-break,’ the two created what is now known as Hip-Hop.”
Visit HipHopMuseumDC.org for more videos and information on the ceremony and how you can be involved in helping to preserve America’s #1 export.