Learning a Lot about Hip Hop

Where: National Museum of African American History and Culture

When:  closing May 5, 2019

I'm delighted to say that the African American Museum is now open on a walk-up basis after 1:00 pm on weekdays.  This means that I can go to see special exhibits on my lunch hour - something I've been wanting to do for years.  I understand the need to limit the number of visitors at first; if they'd let in everyone who wanted to come all at once, no one would have been able to see anything.  But now, hooray(!), the crowds have decreased a bit, and I can go over and see things without having to take a day off of work to do it.

The first show I saw was one on hip hop photography.  I'll admit, I had my doubts about this.  I don't know anything about hip hip, and it has always seemed like something that just wasn't for me.  I knew so little, that I didn't even know where to start to learn about it.  But, I reminded myself that learning new things is why I go to museum exhibits, and off I went.

I'm really glad I went, because I learned a lot.  Hip hop is not just music; it's music, DJing, graffiti and breakdancing.  The culture began in the Bronx in the 1970s.  Young people living there felt alienated from mainstream America, and hip hop was a way both to express that feeling of being cut off from the dominant culture and to create a new cultural expression.  Photographs of hip hop artists are paired with photographs of older, more traditional African American artists, which helped me to understand hip hop better.  For instance, breakdancing can trace its roots back to the Lindy Hop, the dance craze of the 1930s and 1940s.  Langston Hughes and Duke Ellington were ground-breaking artists in their day, and are now part of the 20th century American canon.  I have no doubt that hip hop will be viewed the same way in time.

Verdict: Great introduction to hip hop for those who are not well versed in the culture.