EDITORIAL – Hip-hop collection museum-worthy

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History has a lot of stuff. On top of the… The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History has a lot of stuff. On top of the expected photographs, maps and documents, it has grape-picking knives, an old Game Boy, X-ray tubes and a 1955 Ford Country Squire station wagon. What more could its curators want?

Queen Latifah’s hat from the “Ladies First” video. And some more bling-bling, too, according to curator Marvette Perez.

The Smithsonian is launching an initiative to gather the definitive collection of hip-hop artifacts from the genre’s 1970s urban origins to its multiple modern incarnations. Ice-T, Afrika Bambaataa, Fab 5 Freddy and many others are donating items ranging from a vintage boombox to album posters and jackets custom-made for rap collective Zulu Nation.

The collection, to be known as “Hip-Hop Won’t Stop: The Beat, the Rhymes, the Life,” will represent the entire hip-hop culture from sports to fashion to break-dancing, organizers hope.

Props. This collection has been a long time coming, and it’s fantastic that the Smithsonian is going to represent hip-hop. The museum already has collections based in jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and other genres with worldwide influence; as anyone with access to radio, television or the Internet hopefully knows, hip-hop is a pretty big deal.

This collection will explain a culture that has changed the face of modern music and has developed into a powerful industry of its own. It will expose the general museum-going public to one more layer of American culture, a layer that has been marginalized in the past.

Of course, for all of this to happen, the Smithsonian needs to be conscious of what it gathers and of how it is eventually displayed. For the collection to be more than just a ruse to get younger people into museums, it needs to address more than just the bling. Since its earliest days, hip-hop has been more than just cash, money and ‘hos.

It’s been a commentary on the political and social climate of the country. It’s been a bridge between the suburbs and the cities and between music lovers of all races. It’s been an agent for change and a celebration of diversity. All of this deserves inclusion, and in order for the collection to be truly representative, it must take care to showcase these aspects of hip-hop alongside the boom boxes, shoes and turntables.

So far, the Smithsonian seems to understand this. Here’s hoping they get that hat from Queen Latifah and that they display it well.