The race to be the initial Hip-Hop museum is officially on. A battle to see who will be open to the public first between a Harlem and Bronx bound property is brewing.
Scheduled for a 2022 opening ceremony, the Universal Hip-Hop Museum announced in September that their facility will be housed in a new high profile South Bronx development. While the complex still needs to get approval from the local City Council, the institution’s Executive Director Rocky Bucano feels strongly about his site’s authenticity.
“All I know is that Hip-Hop is born in The Bronx. It would be sacrilegious to have a museum of Hip-Hop anywhere else in the world but The Bronx,” he detailed.
And in the other corner is the Hip-Hop Hall Of Fame Museum. Set for a 125th Street Harlem location this facility is set to break ground in 2018. The site will not only feature their gallery but also a hotel and retail shops. It is estimated to be unveiled in late 2020 or early 2021. Founder J.T. Thompson is confident about their position and progress.
“Let’s be honest, there’s only gonna be one Hip-Hop museum in the whole world and you’re talking to them now” he explained in a interview with DNA. He congratulated his Bronx project peers but clarified he will be first to open.
“They say they’re the first but they don’t even own the development project over there. The Hip-Hop Hall of Fame wanted to be in control of its own destiny. And that’s what Hip-Hop is all about. Hip-hop is about socio-economic empowerment.”
While the two organizations differ on which exhibit will be more credible they are in agreement that there is more than enough room for more than one museum to celebrate the culture.
DJ pioneer Grand Wizard Theodore welcomes the friendly competition. “As long as people know that this museum is gonna be the first hip-hop museum ever and if you want to really know about hip-hop, this is the museum that you’re gonna have to come to. Period.”
Via DNA Info
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Photo: Getty
