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Represent

Hip-Hop Photography
Communicator Award of Excellence logo Davey Award 2023 Silver Vega Award logo Davey Award 2023 Anthem Award 2024

In honor of the publication of The Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap (2021) and African American Music Appreciation Month in June, the museum decided to remix and re-release the show Represent: Hip-Hop Photography. Don’t miss your second chance to discover distinct visual pairings that will change the way you think about the roots of the art form.

Originally open from 2018 – 2019, Represent paired images from the museum’s Eyejammie Hip-Hop Photography Collection with historical photographs to highlight connections between hip-hop culture and its relationship to other important historical figures, social movements, and creative moments. 

About the Exhibition

Exhibition Experience

Represent contains four themes, Creativity, Identity, Activism, and Community, inspired by the four elements of hip-hop: DJing, MCing, breakdancing, and graffiti.

Creativity 

An important part of hip-hop is adaptation and innovation, which has been a foundational element of many African American art forms.

Two black and white images side by side with an image of 3 jazz musicians sitting around a piano on the left and a dj mixing on turntables on the right

(L) Charles “Teenie” Harris, Duke Ellington, Alfredo Gustar, and Billy Strayhorn, ca. 1943, Gift from Charles A. Harris and Beatrice Harris in memory of Charles “Teenie” Harris, © Carnegie Museum of Art, Charles "Teenie" Harris Archive 
(R) Harry Allen, DJ Mellow Dee (a/k/a Terminator X) Gets Swivvy (2 of 2), ca. 1980, From the Eyejammie Hip-Hop Photography Collection, © Harry Allen

Identity

Like cultural expressions of the past, hip-hop provides outlets for people to express themselves and share their stories and unique life experiences with others.

Two black and white images placed side by side, both of barbers cutting hair.

(L) Charles “Teenie” Harris, Barbers Pete Boyd and Johnny Gator cutting hair in Johnny Gator's barbershop, ca. 1950, Gift from Charles A. Harris and Beatrice Harris in memory of Charles “Teenie” Harris, © Carnegie Museum of Art, Charles "Teenie" Harris Archive
(R) Al Pereira, Big Daddy Kane getting a shape up, 1989, From the Eyejammie Hip-Hop Photography Collection, © Al Pereira

Activism

Hip-hop is often used to promote social justice, self-empowerment, and cultural awareness, similar to how music has been instrumental in previous social movements.

Two images placed side by side, an image of a graffiti mural on the left and an image of a graffiti image of Tupac Shakur along with other markings on a brick wall

(L) Roy Lewis, Wall of Respect, Chicago, Illinois, 1967, Gift of Roy Lewis Archives 1967, © Roy Lewis 
(R) Al Pereira, Tupac memorial mural on Houston Street in New York City, 1997, From the Eyejammie Hip-Hop Photography Collection, © Al Pereira

Community

The origins of hip-hop are centered in the Bronx, New York. The music and culture promote shared identity, collective memory, and history.

Two images placed side by side, an image of a crowd of women with afros with their right fists raised on the left, and a group of your female rappers on a stage on the right

(L) John H. White, Crowd of women with raised fists, ca. 1975 , Gift of John H. White/Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photojournalist, © John H. White 
(R) Janette Beckman, Female Rappers, Class of ’88, 1988, From the Eyejammie Hip-Hop Photography Collection, © Janette Beckman

Image of a turntable with a clear plastic covering mounted on a plastic plinth or base, white in color.

Culture

Hip-hop is more than music—it is a culture. Many of these iconic objects are associated with the early days of hip-hop and the late 1980s and 1990s Golden Age of Hip-Hop, when the songs, street style, and innovative, creative expression permeated so many aspects of daily life.

Turntable used by DJ Tony Tone of The Cold Crush Brothers, 1970s
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Spray paint in colors “Flame,” “Azalea Pink,” “Bone White,” and “Meadow Green,”

Chris “DAZE” Ellis’ spray paint cans, ca. 1975

One of the most prolific graffiti artists of the 1970s and 1980s, Chris “DAZE” Ellis used his impressive skills of art and design to spray-paint hundreds of subway cars. As Daze’s art grew in popularity, his work found its way to the New York City art world and eventually provided the inspiration for the 2016 Netflix television show, “The Get Down.”
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A black flyer with yellow writing announcing a Krush Groove Christmas party in 1985

Krush Groove Christmas Party flyer, 1985

Hip-hop grew from a grassroots street scene to a popular phenomenon in a relatively short period of time. This flyer featured Def Jam groups Run-DMC, Whodini, Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde, as well as artists Kurtis “Kurtis Blow” Walker, John “LL Cool J” Smith, and Douglas “Doug E. Fresh” Davis at the world-famous Madison Square Garden in Manhattan.
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Black hat with a gold kangaroo emblem sitting on a black hatstand

Kangol Spitfire hat worn by Kangol Kid, early 1990s

The British hat wear company Kangol gained popularity when the group Run-DMC and artists like James “LL Cool J” Smith and Shaun “Kangol Kid” Fequiere (1966–2021) sported their products in the 1980s. Sugar Hill Gang’s Henry “Big Bank Hank” Jackson (1956–2014) is noted as the first rapper to wear a bucket hat in a 1979 rap video “Rapper’s Delight.”
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a photo of a pair of white nike sneakers with red blue and yellow treatments

Nike sneakers owned by Big Boi of Outkast, 2006

As hip-hop became more mainstream, magazines and journals prominently featured many artists. Antwan “Big Boi” Patton wore these custom-made Nike sneakers during a Vibe magazine photo shoot.
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Album cover with colorfully banded tube that spells out Sugar Hill

Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, The Message, 1982

Unlike many of the popular party tunes affiliated with hip-hop at the time, “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was the first top-hit record to provide social commentary about living life in the city. The album was produced by Sylvia Robinson (1935–2011) and released on Sugar Hill Records; a company co-founded by Robinson and the first recording label to specialize in hip-hop music.
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Black and white flyer for a party at a Bronx skating rink in 1982

Must Be The Music Skate Affair flyer, 1982

Many rap groups tested new songs or promoted their records by performing in local venues. This flyer announces a party at the Bronx Skating Rink that featured members of the Universal Zulu Nation, a hip-hop awareness group formed by Lance “Afrika Bambaataa” Taylor. The Jazzy Five MCs were also a local group who recorded the first hip-hop single on Tommy Boy Records, “Jazzy Sensation.”
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photo of a pair of white sneakers with pink laces and pink leather around the toe

MC Lyte’s custom Baby Phat sneakers, ca. 1998

As hip-hop’s visibility increased, the entrepreneurial spirit driving the culture expanded to other arenas. These custom sneakers created for Lana “MC Lyte” Moorer—one of the pioneering female figures in hip-hop—were produced by the Baby Phat fashion line, established by Kimora Lee Simmons. Baby Phat catered to a female urban market and was an extension of the Phat Farm clothing line, founded by Russell Simmons.
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A yellow flyer with grey print announcing The Zulu Nation Anniversary Disco Party in 1980

Zulu Nation 5th Anniversary Disco Tribute flyer, 1980

Disco jams, or parties, were critical to the success of hip-hop. Promoters rented large venues and distributed flyers throughout New York City to bring massive crowds of young people together. Artists performed hit songs, and DJs tested their scratching and breakbeat skills. This party featured some of the best-known acts of the era.
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An image of a cd cover with a collage of 9 women on the cover, 2 sets of 3 women grouped together and 3 individual women

Queens of Rap, 1989

Released on Priority Records, this classic CD, “Queens of Rap,” featured some of the period's most recognized female hip-hop artists. Female artists did not always receive the same recognition as male MCs even though their deft rhyming skills and lyrical styles matched those of their male counterparts.
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Eyejammie Hip-Hop Photography Collection

Hip-hop aficionado Bill Adler owned the Eyejammie Fine Arts Gallery in New York City from 2003 to 2007. When he opened the gallery, Adler dedicated the space to holding photography shows that highlighted hip-hop’s history, culture, and community, which often translated into images of Black performers created by Black photographers. The museum acquired the Eyejammie Hip-Hop Photography Collection from Adler in 2015, which contains over 400 photographs by almost 60 photographers.

Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap

The Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap explores hip-hop’s widespread cultural impact over the last 45 years — and chronicles the genesis, rise and evolution of hip-hop as a social and musical movement. 

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Discover hip-hop throughout the Museum
Black and white image of a a group of young men standing together in a vacant park

The Eyejammie Photo Collection

Black and white image of a hand reaching for a vinyl record

Hip-Hop (R)Evolutions

A black and white image of a large group of people standing very close together, arms raised, at a concert

Center for African American Media Arts (CAAMA)