Hip Hop Archaeology: Archives and Collections

The Hiphop Archive and Research Institute's mission is to facilitate and encourage the pursuit of knowledge, art, culture and responsible leadership through Hiphop. We are uncompromising in our commitment to build and support intellectually challenging and innovative scholarship that both reflects the rigor and achievement of performance in Hiphop as well as transforms our thinking and our lives. Toward these goals, our website: hiphoparchive.org provides information about all of our activities and projects and serves as a resource for those interested in knowing, developing, building, maintaining and representing Hiphop.

The mission of the Cornell Hip Hop Collection (CHHC) is to collect and make accessible the historical artifacts of Hip Hop culture and to ensure their preservation for future generations. The Collection features: hundreds of party and event flyers ca. 1977-1985; thousands of early vinyl recordings, cassettes and CDs; film and video; record label press packets and publicity; black books, photographs, magazines, books, clothing, and more. The original core of the Collection was established in 1999 by author and curator Johan Kugelberg. A former recording industry executive, Kugelberg sought to locate and preserve the earliest artifacts he could find concerning Hip Hop’s emergence in the South Bronx and its spread throughout the New York City area in the 1970s and early 1980s.

A gallery of hip hop and rap artifacts from Smithsonian museums.

Represent: Hip-Hop Photography highlights images from the museum’s Eyejammie Hip Hop Photography Collection and pairs them with historical photos and other hip-hop related-objects from the museum’s permanent collection. These unique pairings highlight connections between the popular art form, and its relationship to other important historical figures, social movements, and creative moments. The exhibition remains open through May 5, 2019.

Coming late 2018, the Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap will be the first collection to include music from every major label and dozens of independent label recordings. The anthology explores important issues and themes in hip-hop history, and it provides a unique window into the many ways hip-hop has created new traditions and furthered musical and cultural traditions of the African diaspora.