Bronx Hip Hop Museum On The Way

 

The City Council has quietly allocated $1.5 million in capital funding over the next two years that will serve as seed money for a hip-hop museum in the northeast section of the Bronx.

The funding came at the behest of a City Council member, Larry Seabrook, who is closely allied with a nonprofit group in his district that is planning a community center and housing development at the corner of 212th Street and White Plains Road. The museum would be part of the project.

Mr. Seabrook said he envisions the museum as a forum to educate future generations about the hip-hop movement as it began on the streets of the Bronx in the 1970s, long before the genre became linked with turf wars and lyrics that advocated violence against women. “We’re not talking about gangster rap,” Mr. Seabrook said. “We’re talking about hip-hop.”

While the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., announced plans earlier this year for a permanent hip-hop exhibition, the project in the Bronx is believed to be the first museum dedicated to the movement.

Bronx leaders often cite the borough’s label as the birthplace of hip-hop as a source of pride, but like Mr. Seabrook they are equally quick to dissociate themselves from present-day hip-hop culture and the antics of rap stars like Lil’ Kim, the Game, and 50 Cent. Hip-hop’s image, they say, has been tarnished by the recent hijinks of two local radio stations, Hot 97 and Power 105.1. Hot 97 is facing eviction proceedings after a spate of shootings and fights at its Greenwich Village headquarters, and Power 105.1 was forced to fire its morning show host, Star, after his on-the-air threats to perform sex acts on the 4-year-daughter of a rival DJ.

Members of the council’s black, Latino, and Asian caucus have repeatedly criticized the radio stations and their corporate parents. The caucus ultimately secured the funding for the hip-hop museum, and members acknowledged that the recent controversies had factored into discussions over whether to provide public money for the project.

One of the most vocal critics of the radio stations, Council Member John Liu of Queens, is backing the appropriation.

Suge Knight Loses It All!!!

Although the glory days of Death Row records have been long gone, the final nail in the coffin occurred in a courtroom on Friday when a federal judge authorized a bankruptcy trustee to take over ownership.

 

      The one-time home to multi-platinum artists Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Tupac Shakur had become a ship without a captain, according to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ellen Carroll, who stated “it seems apparent there is no one at the helm.”

 

      Knight, 41, told a court in May that he only had $11 to his name (along with about $28,000 in material possessions). He also testified that the last time he checked the label’s financial records was at least 10 years ago.

 

      Knight’s lawyer Daniel McCarthy argued Friday that his client was still “at the helm” of Death Row, which has since been renamed Tha Row, and had been working on securing distribution deals for the label’s catalog.       

       “Please give him some time to do that,” McCarthy asked the judge.       

       Knight was a no show in court Friday–a fact his creditors’ attorneys emphasized as proof of his absence “at the helm.”       

       Knight also skipped a meeting with his creditors earlier in the week after injuring himself in a motorcycle accident last Sunday. Knight was “under doctor’s orders not to even go out,” his lawyer said. Another scheduled meeting with the creditors was missed after Suge said he had experienced a death in his family.     

      Meanwhile, trustee owners of Death Row may take whatever assets are left and convert them into cash to pay off the creditors

I wonder where Cormega will go next……

A Baltimore Prospective (On HipHop)

I was recently out in Baltimore and ran in to my man Don. He’s one of the most critical dudes I know. Alot of the music you hear on the radio and underground was produced by him or someone on his team. I got a chance to interview his take on the so called south rap take over. Listen