Hip Hop Icons Virtual Exhibition

Expansive Exhibition Chronicling the Birth & Evolution of Hip-Hop Presented by Marshall Frederick’s Sculpture Museum February 1-27

    icon Jan 26, 2021
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An expansive exhibition showcasing the origins and evolution of Rap and Hip-Hop from its early days in New York, Los Angeles, and Detroit will be presented as a Virtual Exhibition by The Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum beginning February 1st in celebration of Black History Month.

Titled Hip Hop Icons this carefully assembled collection will feature a 360-degree tour of the exhibition with object highlights, music, videos and much more. The Museum will also host a Virtual Speaker Series of Detroit-based and internationally recognized hip hop icons with ties to some of the top hip hop films. All programs and events will be free of charge, including customized Virtual Field Trips and guided tours upon request.

While open in-person only to the SVSU community through February 27th, the virtual exhibition will open online February 1st and feature over 150 original objects related to the history of hip hop culture in America focused around the following themes: Pioneers, Emcees, Groups, Women, Movies, and Detroit.

The centerpiece of the exhibit are the Hip Hop Top 10 movie posters featuring some of the most significant and impactful films on hip hop culture. Original movie posters to such seminal classics as Wild Style, Beat Street, Breakin’, Krush Groove, House Party, Do the Right Thing, Juice, 8 Mile, Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, and Straight Outta Compton will all.be featured; and the speaker series includes Michigan based hip hop artists Supa Emcee and Miz Korona (8 Mile), hip hop pioneer MC Sha Rock (Beat Street), and Grammy Lifetime Awardee and Rock n Roll Hall of Fame inductee Professor Griff of Public Enemy (Do the Right Thing).

The exhibition features original hip hop artifacts including cassette tapes, compact discs, concert ticket stubs, signed magazines and posters, hip hop dolls and artist clothing.

Featured Hip Hop Artists include Hip Hop Pioneers: The Last Poets, James Brown, Grand Master Flash, Swatch Watch Fresh Fest, Rapper's Delight, Brother’s Disco, GrandMaster Flash and the Furious 5, Sylvia Robinson, and XXL Greatest Day in Hip Hop.

Featured Hip Hop Icons include early photos of Jay Z, Kanye West, Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff, LL Cool J, Eric B and Rakim, Ice T, Dougie Fresh, Heavy D and the Boyz, Cubb Rock, X Clan, Paris, MC Hammer, Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, Young Buck, Twista, Naughty by Nature, EPMD, Lil’ Wayne, Guru, RedMan, Onyx, FunkMaster Flex, The Roots, Flipmode Squad, Goodie Mob, Brand Nubian, Kid Capri, Big Daddy Kane, Sir Mix A Lot, Warren G, Xzibit, Jadakist, Tone Loc, Swizz Beatz, MC Breed, Young Bloodz, Dr. Dre, Easy E, the Game, 50 Cent, MC Shan, Ludacris, Scarface, Genius, Da Lench Mob, MC EIHT, Arrested Development, Inspecta Deck, UTFO.

Women in Hip Hop focuses upon  Foxy Brown, Lauryn Hill, Da Brat, Monie Love, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Lisa Left Eye Lopez, TLC, Salt n Pepa and Erykah Badu, with Hip Hop Groups such as Run DMC and Public Enemy featured.

Detroit Hip Hop Artists featured include J Dilla, Proof, Eminem, Jessica Care Moore, Boss, Bizarre, Awesome Drew and Smiley. This exhibition also features original paintings of hip hop artists by DJ Bultler and photographs by Ernie Paniccioli.

Hip Hop Films Speaker Series

The Museum will  host a Virtual Speaker Series of Detroit-based and internationally recognized hip hop icons with ties to some of the top hip hop films. Each of the following Virtual Speaker Events will be held on Zoom and streamed live on Facebook.

Registration will be required to attend via zoom. All events are free and start at 7:00pm.     

Thursday, February 4, 2021 • Film: Beat Street • Speaker: Sha Rock, interviewed by DJ Butter

MC Sha Rock is considered the "first female rapper" or emcee, known by the rap moniker, MC Sha-Rock. Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, she grew up in the South Bronx, New York City during the earliest years of hip hop culture. Within the hip-hop community she has been referred to as the "Mother of the Mic" signifying her role as a prominent female figure among the early rappers.  For over a decade she has contributed to the Hip Hop movement; and her work includes several documentaries for the BBC film organization, including ” Thirty Years of Hip Hop”, which aired on VH1 and “My Mic Sounds Nice” which aired on the B.E.T. network. MC Sha-Rock has been labeled by her peers as the most celebrated Hip Hop female Pioneer MC of all time from fellow artists such as Fat Joe, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Sean “Puffy” Combs, Fab 5 Freddy, MC Lyte and countless Hip Hop lovers around the world whom followed her career throughout her tenure.

Thursday, February 11, 2021 • Film: 8 Mile • Speaker: Supa Emcee and Miz Korona.

Detroit emcee Miz Korona opened up for hip-hop icons like Scarface and Run-DMC and freestyled alongside Eminem and Xzibit in the blockbuster film “8 Mile” that was monumental for the rap genre and her city.  Born and raised in Highland Park, Supa Emcee is a member of Almighty Dreadnaughtz and signed to Proof of D12's label Iron Fist Records. In addition to being known for the Battle scene and open mics shows all over Detroit, he has also opened for such major label acts as Black Moon, Dead Prez, Snoop Dogg, Fredro Starr (ONYX), Ice Cube, Krs-1, Eminem, D-12, Whodini, Rakim, and YO-YO. He had a principal role in Eminem's movie "8 Mile" and has toured overseas through England, Germany, Scotland, France and Denmark.

Friday, February 19, 2021 • Film: Do the Right Thing • Speaker: Professor Gri of Public Enemy, interviewed by “Hip Hop Icons” curator, Khalid el-Hakim.   Exhibition curator Dr. el-Hakim is an educator, founder and curator of the Black History 101 Mobile Museum -  a collection of over 7,000 original artifacts of Black memorabilia dating from the trans-Atlantic slave trade era to hip-hop culture. He has received national and international attention for his innovative work of exhibiting Black history outside of traditional museum spaces. Khalid taught social studies in Detroit for 15 years and received his doctorate from College of Education at the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana).

Professor Griff  is a rapper, spoken word artist, and lecturer. He is a member of the Hip-Hop group Public Enemy, known as the group’s Minister of Information. Griff is a licensed personal security defense instructor, an accomplished martial artist, and an avid lecturer. He has published the Atlanta Musick Bizness Resource Information Publication (RIP) providing invaluable industry information for those interested in breaking into the business of MuSick. Griff’s projects have included 7th Octave – God Damage Album; The Psychological Covert War on Hip-Hop (book & lecture); A Warriors Tapestry, Accapella Revolution, Analytics and Who Stole the Soul. Griff hosts his own weekly internet radio show “Sirius Mind RnTV. Griff holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Education.

Thursday, February 25, 2021 • Documentary Film: Breed & Bootleg: Legends of Flint Rap Music • Speaker: Geri Alumit Zeldes, film director.

This exhibition is presented under the sponsorship & partnership of Michigan Humanities; Michigan Council for Art and Cultural Affairs; SVSU Foundation; Saginaw African Cultural Festival; and the SVSU Office of Multicultural Student Affairs.

 

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