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Hip Hop Hall of Fame Museum Set to Open in 2017

Organizers prep to break ground at location in Harlem.

Hip hop don't stop rockin'. After more than two decades of planning, organizers of the first physical space for a national hip hop museum will break ground in New York City in summer 2015.

“This will be the home of hip hop history,” museum Chairman JT Thompson told the NY Daily News. “People need to understand the importance of hip hop, the elements, the DJs, the B-boys and B-girls and the graffiti writers.”

The museum will open to the public at its location on 125th Street in 2017 and exhibits will feature memorabilia such as jackets, turntables and posters donated by artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Run-DMC, Salt-N-Pepa, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Outkast, Young Jeezy, Common and Eminem. There is also a planned juice and coffee bar, TV studio, shops and a dedicated youth media program.

Thompson first conceptualized the project while he was producing the Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards, which ran for five years on BET in the '90s. The death of Tupac Shakur, which shocked the entire culture of music, stalled the project.

“Hip hop got a bad rep,” said Kenny Syder, co-chair of the museum’s entertainment committee. “With this museum, it’s important to sit on the other side of it.”

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(Photo: Exhibition Design, HealyKohler Design)

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