August 19, 2023–January 1, 2024
Entrance in Taylor Hall, East Building
From the streets to the runway, the artist’s studio to the museum gallery, and countless sites in between, The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century explores hip hop’s deep impact on contemporary art and culture. One of the most vital movements of the 20th century, hip hop is now a global industry and way of life. In the 21st century, hip-hop practitioners have harnessed digital technologies to gain unparalleled economic, social, and cultural capital.
Hip hop emerged in the 1970s in the Bronx as a form of celebration expressed by Black and Latinx youth through emceeing (rapping), deejaying, graffiti-writing, and breakdancing. Over the past 50 years, these creative practices have produced new forms of power as they critique, and refuse dominant ones.
Hip hop has deeply informed “The Culture,” an expression of Black diasporic culture that has largely defined itself against the white dominance. In the art museum, however, “culture” has historically meant a Europe-focused set of aesthetics, values, and traditions that are sustained through gatekeeping.
The works in these galleries explore the place where “culture” and “The Culture” collide through six themes: Language, Brand, Adornment, Tribute, Pose, and Ascension. Language, whether in words, music, or graffiti, explores hip hop’s strategies of subversion. Brand highlights the icons born from hip hop and the seduction of success. Adornment exuberantly challenges white ideas of taste with alternate notions of beauty, while Tribute testifies to hip hop’s development of a visual canon. Pose celebrates how hip hop speaks through the body and its gestures. Ascension explores mortality, spirituality, and the transcendent. Endlessly inventive and multi-faceted, hip hop, and the art it inspires, will continue to dazzle and empower.
Above image: Spinderella, of Salt-N-Pepa, at the Getty Center, Los Angeles, 2002. Photo by Diana McClure. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Diana McClure
Reverse image: Back in the Days, 1981; printed 2021. Photo by Jamel Shabazz. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center © Jamel Shabazz
The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century is organized by the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art.
The exhibition is generously supported by the Ford Foundation, the Henry Luce Foundation, and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
In St. Louis, The Culture is made possible with lead funding from the exhibition’s presenting sponsor, the William T. Kemper Foundation.
Wendel Patrick,
born Washington, DC 1973
OF THE CULTURE PART I, 2023
soundscape audio
duration: 23 minutes, 3 seconds, looped
Abdu Mango Ali,
born Baltimore, MD 1990
OF THE CULTURE PART II, 2023
soundscape audio
duration: 21 minutes, 15 seconds, looped
Baltimore-based musicians Wendel Patrick and Abdu Mango Ali sampled many sources and genres to create the ambient soundscape of The Culture. Inspired by themes in the exhibition and hip-hop artists from St. Louis to Baltimore and beyond, the artists invite you to consider how hip hop both shapes and is shaped by other musical forms.
RAMM:ΣLL:ZΣΣ (Rammellzee) and K-Rob with Jean-Michel Basquiat,
RAMM:ΣLL:ZΣΣ (Rammellzee),
born Far Rockaway, NY 1960;
died Far Rockaway, NY 2010
K-Rob, born c.1968
Basquiat, born New York, NY 1960;
died New York, NY 1988
Beat Bop, 1983/reprinted 2001
cover sleeve for 12-inch vinyl record
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s distinct crown, bones, and lightning-bolt imagery fill the cover sleeve of this album. Two versions of the song “Beat Bop” appear on the record. It was released on Basquiat’s label, Tartown, at a time when the underground scene of downtown New York was brimming with artists experimenting with the musical and visual languages of jazz, punk, funk, hip hop, graffiti, and popular culture.
Vocalists K-Rob and RAMM:ΣLL:ZΣΣ collaborated with Basquiat for the track. With such lyrics as “I’m the mellow D down with the funky sound/That can mace your brain with my diamond studded crown,” “Beat Bop” stands out as an early example of hip hop, influencing artists from Cypress Hill (founded 1988) to Wu-Tang Clan (founded 1992).
The Museum of Modem Art, New York. Committee on Prints and Illustrated Books Fund, 2013 2023.289
Jean-Michel Basquiat,
born New York, NY 1960; died New York, NY 1988
With Strings Two, 1983
acrylic and oil stick on canvas
Here, Jean-Michel Basquiat paid homage to jazz musician Charlie “Bird” Parker (1920-1955), referenced frequently throughout the artist’s works. Basquiat included letters from Parker’s name encased by a blue box, and below, the artist wrote the title of Parker’s 1946 single “Ornithology,” which is struck through in red. An artist’s reverence for iconic Black figures also occurs in hip hop: name-dropping is a way for musicians to pay respect to those who have come before and created “the culture,” and to align themselves with those creators.
Basquiat himself is often name-dropped in hip hop. In the remix to Wale’s (born 1984) 2012 single “Slight Work,” Sean Love Combs (born 1969), also known as Diddy, raps: “Chop the top off the drop and tell ’em Basquiat inspired me.”
The Broad Art Foundation 2023.232
Gordon Parks,
born Fort Scott, KS 1922; died New York, NY 2006
A Great Day in Hip Hop
In 1998, 177 people gathered on the steps of a brownstone in Harlem, New York, to celebrate the impact and evolution of hip hop. This photograph documents its exponential growth and unprecedented movement into mainstream culture.
Commissioned by the music publication XXL, A Great Day in Hip Hop is an homage to Art Kane’s (1925-1995) 1958 photograph A Great Day in Harlem (see image), which commemorates legendary jazz figures. By referencing Kane’s popular image, Parks’ work invites you to consider the evolution of Black sound from jazz to hip hop.
Courtesy of The Gordon Parks Foundation, Pleasantville, NY
Art Kane, American, 1925-1995; A Great Day in Harlem, August 12, 1958; © Art Kane Archive
Shinique Smith,
born Baltimore, MD 1971
Shortysugarhoneybabydon’tbedistracted, 2002
acrylic on vinyl
Dynamically flowing across this sheet of vinyl are swirls of red and white acrylic paint. Shinique Smith’s work references the visually abundant and gestural street art of the 1980s and 1990s, as well as the mid-20th-century Abstract Expressionist tradition that pushed paint to the very edge of the canvas. In her youth, Smith wrote graffiti around her hometown of Baltimore. She explains: “Graffiti still influences my work, but in a nostalgic way, reminding me of … the brash, fearless way you have as a teenager. Creating art re-creates that energy for me.”
Smith will leave another mark in Baltimore at the historic Lexington Market, with a mural commissioned for this exhibition.
Courtesy of the artist 2023.307
LA II (Angel Ortiz),
born New York, NY 1967
Untitled (Large Multicolored Teardrop Vase), 2009
acrylic, marker, and spray paint on ceramic vase
Courtesy of Woodward Gallery, New York 2023.341
LANGUAGE
Hip hop is intrinsically an art form about language: the visual language of graffiti, a musical language that includes scratching and sampling, and of course, the written and spoken word. An emcee calls to the crowd with “Let me hear you say…” and orders language to a rhythm. Call-and-response chants, followed by rap rhymes and lyrics overlaid on tracks, form the foundations of hip-hop music. In addition to the poetry of music, one of the most recognizable markers of hip hop is graffiti. Since the 1970s, graffiti writers have colored city trains, overpasses, and walls with vibrant hues of spray paint. Many writers sign their works with recognizable “tags.” Their exploration takes the recognizable shapes of letters and numbers and pushes their forms to –and beyond—the limit of legibility.
Some messages are meant for anyone to understand, while others are coded in references, technologies, or forms that require insider knowledge, asserting the right not to be universally understood.
How do you read the language of hip hop in these works?
Above image: Lady Pink with her first canvas, 1981. Photo by Martha Cooper
Reverse image: Chinese graffiti-writer Chose tagging during a Puma event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the classic Puma Suede shoe, Guangzhou, China, 2017. Photo by Martha Cooper
Julie Mehretu,
born Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 1970
Six Bardos: Transmigration, 2018
two-panel, 32-color aquatint
This print’ s complex mapping of layered lines, marks, and colors calls to mind a wall dense with graffiti. One of the original pillars or elements of hip hop, graffiti has challenged mainstream notions of public space, private property, what is considered art, and what is considered a crime. In creating these panels, which are part of a sweeping six-part series, Julie Mehretu drew inspiration from political graffiti and calligraphy, as well as her own upbringing, particularly her father’s professional background in geography. For the artist, making her mark to make space is vital: “My work is an insistence on being here. I am here, we are here, and we are in the building.”
The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Collection 2023.231
Shirt,
born New York, NY 1983
Don’t Talk To Me About No Significance Of Art, 2021
inkjet on canvas
In this text-based work, 32 contemporary artists and thinkers considered whether a rap song can be called significant art. The artist, Shirt, based the concept and design on a 1922 issue of the experimental arts journal Manuscripts (MSS), where contributors offered opinions on the medium of photography. The original prompt-“Can a photograph have the significance of art”-largely elicited responses from white, male artists and influential cultural theorists, most of whom notably were not photographers. Shirt invites you to reevaluate the hierarchies of the art world and to consider who gets to be called an artist, what is considered art, and who gets to decide.
Courtesy of the artist 2023.313
Adam Pendleton,
born Richmond, VA 1984
Untitled (WE ARE NOT), 2022
silkscreen ink on canvas
Black letters hover over dripping white letters, the overwriting reminiscent of a tagged wall. The words “we,” “are,” and “not” appear but are obscured by further marks. Artist Adam Pendleton’s “Black Dada Manifesto” guides much of his creative output. The manifesto borrows both from Dadaism, an absurdist artistic movement active during World War I (1914-1918), and writer Amiri Baraka’s (1934-2014) poem “Black Dada Nihilismus.” Both the Dadaists and the Black Arts Movement, with which Baraka was associated, operated within the framework of the systemic violence of their respective political moments. In its refusal to be easily understood, Pendleton’s art explores both the power and limits of what language can address.
Courtesy of Carmel Barasch Family Collection 2023.248
Troy Chew II,
born Los Angeles, CA 1992
Soulja boy tol’ Em, 2021
oil on canvas
Superman’s alter-ego Clark Kent sits on his couch, tie askew, reading a copy of Vogue with rapper Soulja Boy (born 1990) on the cover. The cartoon characters Rick and Morty look over his shoulder, apparently shocked by what they are seeing. Drawing on the tradition of Surrealism, this dream-like image can only be understood through rap music and viral social media. Soulja Boy’s 2007 song “Crank That” included lyrics comparing dancers to Superman. The inclusion of Rick and Morty in the painting alludes to the viral TikTok dance challenge performed to the rapper’s song “Rick and Morty. ”
Private Collection 2023.252
Charles Mason III,
born Baltimore, MD 1990
blocked them, but couldn’t stop the growth 3, 2021
oil stick, acrylic, and pastel on paper
Private Collection 2023.286
Fahamu Pecou,
born New York, NY 1975
Up Rising Down, 2015
acrylic, gold leaf, spray paint, and oil stick on canvas
Barrett Barrera Projects 2023.250
Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit and Unangax),
born Sitka, AK 1979
Tsu Heidei Shugaxtutaan 1, 2006
single-channel video (black and white, sound)
duration: 4 minutes, 37 seconds, looped
Tsu Heidei Shugaxtutaan 2, 2006
single-channel video (black and white, sound)
duration: 4 minutes, 7 seconds, looped
In this pair of videos, Nicholas Galanin used dance and music to remix cultural references and bridge the past and present. In the first video, the fluid movements of breakdancer David Elsewhere (born 1979) animate a white room and rhythmically align with a song that is sung in Tlingit, the language of the Indigenous people from the regions presently known as Southeast Alaska and Western Canada. In the second video, Tlingit dancer Dan Littlefield performs a Raven Dance to a pulsating electro-dub soundscape.
Galanin wrote, “Culture cannot be contained as it unfolds. My art enters this stream at many different points, looking backwards, looking forwards, generating its own sound and motion.” The Tlingit titles, Tsu Heidei Shugaxtutaan 1 and 2, translate to “We will again open this container of wisdom that has been left in our care.” This phrase is also sung in the video.
Both works courtesy of the artist and Peter Blum Gallery, New York 2023.293, .294
Alvaro Barrington,
born Caracas, Venezuela 1983
They have They Can’t, 2021
hessian (burlap) on aluminum frame, yarn, spray paint, concrete on cardboard, and bandanas
“They got money for wars, but can’t feed the poor.” Sewn in yarn on burlap, the pointed lyrics across They have They Can’t are from Tupac Shakur’s (1971-1996) 1993 song “Keep Ya Head Up,” which highlights Black persistence in the face of racism, sexism, and marginalization. Another reference to Tupac in this work is the large, emblazoned rose that nods to Shakur’s autobiographical poem “The Rose That Grew from Concrete.”
Of Grenadian and Haitian descent, and raised in a West Indian neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, Alvaro Barrington admires such rappers as Tupac and DMX (1970-2021), who told “the story of the [U.S.] war on drugs as a war against working-class Black communities.”
Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami. Gift of Private Collection, us 2023.235
Gajin Fujita,
born Los Angeles, CA 1972
Ride or Die, 2005
spray paint, paint marker, paint stick, gold and white gold leaf on wood panels
A Japanese Edo-era (1603-1867) samurai rides into battle on horseback, assailed by an onslaught of piercing arrows. A Los Angeles Dodgers logo is emblazoned on his otherwise traditional helmet adorned with golden antlers. Perhaps referencing the Edo-era printmaker’s mark, a variety of graffiti tags engulf the rider.
Deeply informed by his years as an active member of two graffiti crews, Gajin Fujita often combines historic Japanese art with the visual language of street culture of Los Angeles, California. In works like Ride or Die, conjoining the two serves as a unique mode of activism and free-form creative expression.
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection, Museum purchase, Enid and Crosby Kemper and William T. Kemper Acquistion Fund, 2005.39.01 2023.236
In case:
Kahlil Robert Irving,
born San Diego, CA 1992
Arches & standards (Stockley ain’t the only one) Meissen Matter: STL, 2018
glazed and unglazed ceramic, luster, enamel, personally constructed and vintage decals
Caught within what looks like concrete, the artist has nestled images of cigarette butts and corporate logos among patterned ceramics. The wares reference Meissen, the famed German porcelain first produced in the 1700s. Look closer for images of Jason Stockley (born 1981), a St. Louis, Missouri, police officer acquitted in 2017 for the 2011 murder of Anthony Lamar Smith (1987-2011), along with other scenes of protests against police brutality. Here, the artist collapsed contemporary acts of state violence with porcelain, a material entangled with histories of colonialism. The work sits on a pedestal wrapped in ephemera reflecting on Black life, death, remembrance, celebration, and survival.
Courtesy of the artist 2023.221
RAMM:ΣLL:ZΣΣ (Rammellzee),
born Far Rockaway, NY 1960;
died Far Rockaway, NY 2010
Alphabet (pages 6, 8, and 10 from series of 11), c.1986
felt-tip pen and pencil on paper
The artist, performer, and philosopher RAMM:ΣLL:ZΣΣ retooled written language as a means of exercising and circulating power. He sought to obscure-and by doing so, repurpose-the Roman alphabet through what he called the “armanamentation” of letters and a system he later called IKONOKLAST PANZERISM.
His approach-or, in his words, “correction”-to the influential wild style form of graffiti writing enables each letter to perform a highly specific kind of work. These intricate letterforms reference a philosophy that commingles the street with the galactic. RAMM:ΣLL:ZΣΣ wrote of the letter C, on view nearby, “C Structure knowledge incomplete 0, 60 (point-point+) missing from cipher=C, representing third letter. Since O is broken, C cancels out itself because its outline does, not go around and come around. In this formation XC equals finance.” Some languages do not exist to be readily understood .
The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the Gilbert B. and Lila Silverman Instruction Drawing Collection, Detroit, 2018 2023.290.6, .8, .10
Jayson Musson,
born New York, NY 1977
Trying to find our spot off in that light, light off in that spot, 2014
mercerized cotton stretched over cotton
Though the brightly colored patterns in this work look like thickly applied paint, closer examination reveals them as pieces of woven fabric. To create the composition, Jayson Musson, also known for his music and YouTube alter ego Hennessy Youngman, specifically used fragments of Coogibrand sweaters. The Australian company’s kaleidoscopic knits were popularized in the 1980s and 1990s by Black television and hip-hop icons, such as The Notorious B.I.G. (1972-1997), also known as Biggie. Musson further referenced the canon of hip hop by titling the work with lyrics from the 1996 Outkast (formed 1992) song “Elevators (Me & You).”
Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of Arthur Dantchik, 2014 2023 .295
Dana Lixenberg, Dutch, born 1964; Christopher Wallace (Biggie) (II), 1996; © Dana Lixenberg, Courtesy the artist and GRIMM Amsterdam I New York
Malcolm McLaren,
born London, England 1946; died Bellinzona, Switzerland 2010
Duck Rock, 1983
12-inch vinyl record and cover sleeve
The Baltimore Museum of Art: Museum Purchase 2023.254
Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McClaren,
Westwood born Chesire, England 1941;
died London, England 2022
McLaren born London, England 1946;
died Bellinoza, Switzerland 2010
Buffalo Hat, 1984
felt
This wide-brimmed, oversized hat was famously worn by musician Pharrell Williams (born 1973) at the 2014 Grammy Awards. It first debuted in the fall 1982 collection of legendary fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. Her partner Malcolm McLaren donned the hat alongside his hip-hop group, The World’s Famous Supreme Team. McLaren, best known as the manager of the British punk band the Sex Pistols, turned his attention to hip hop in the 1980s. The hat became embedded in the movement’s aesthetics through its appearance in films such as Wild Style (1982) and Beat Street (1984).
Thirty-two years later, having circulated from Westwood’s runway to movie sets and the streets of New York City, Williams repopularized the buffalo hat. His use of the accessory for his personal brand recalled the era of classic hip hop and became a unique signifier of the artist.
Courtesy of Arby’s, Inspire Brands, Inc., Atlanta, GA 2023.245
Left: Pharrel Williams performs onstage during The Night That Changed Amerca: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles at the Los Angeles Convention Center on January 27, 2014 in Los Angeles, California; Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images North America / Getty Images.
Above: Malcolm McLaren (front, center), rappers The World’s Famous Supreme Team, and models wearing items from designer Vivienne Westwood’s “Buffalo” collection, London, February 1983; Photo by Dave Hogan / Hulton Archive / Getty Images
BRAND
“I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man!” exclaimed Jay-Z in 2005. Soon after, he became the first rapper to cross the billion-dollar-net- worth threshold. The concept of a brand is not limited to differentiating and marketing commercial goods but extends to how an individual uses available communication technologies—including social media—to position themself in the public sphere.
In previous decades, hip-hop artists have functioned as unofficial promoters of major brands that aligned with their style and desired public persona. Today, artists both partner directly with companies and create their own independent brands to bolster their personal business empires. Whether designing fashion, recording music, or making art, artists blur the boundaries between these art forms, between being in business and being the business.
Is the artist a producer or is the artist a product?
Above image: Run backstage with fan in New Orleans, Raising Hell Tour, 1986 (printed 2003). Photo by Ricky Powell, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture © Ricky Powell
Reverse image: ARCHBOY, showing St. Louis rapper Smino in Los Angeles, CA, November 8, 2018. Photo by Curtis Taylor Jr.
Jordan Casteel,
born Denver, CO 1989
Fendi, 2018
oil on canvas
An unidentified figure riding the subway holds bags covered in Fendi logos in their lap. While the symbols of the Italian fashion house are designed to catch your eye, the artist sought to create a moment of humanity in the otherwise unremarkable scene of a subway ride. Through conspicuously branded luxury items, a person aligns themselves with the lifestyle and affluence the brand represents. Sometimes, this image of wealth is at odds with reality.
In her figurative work, Jordan Casteel paints her sitters with immediacy and individuality, hoping to “tell stories of people who are often unseen, making someone slow down and engage with them.”
Private Collection, New York 2023.234
Kudzanai Chiurai,
born Harare, Zimbabwe 1981
The Minister of Enterprise, 2009
pigment-based inkjet print
Lighting his cigar with money, the Minister of Enterprise stares defiantly at you. He positions himself in front of shining gold wallpaper, wearing tinted sunglasses and a gold watch and chain. In a theatrical image, he embodies the conspicuous consumption and desire for brandishing luxury goods that is seen among so many hip-hop stars.
This work is part of a series of scathing mock portraits titled The Parliament. South Africa-based artist and social activist Kudzanai Chiurai depicted members of a fictitious government cabinet, inventing characters representing the ministers of education, finance, health, defense, home affairs, art, and culture. The series comments on political powers in South Africa, corruption, and masculinity through the aesthetics of hip-hop culture.
Courtesy of the artist and Goodman Gallery 2023.265
Zeh Palito,
born Itaqui, Brazil 1991
It was all a dream, 2022
acrylic on canvas
Courtesy of the artist, Simoes de Assis and Luce Gallery 2023.292
Luis Gispert,
born Jersey City, NJ 1972
Louis Uluru, 2012
chromogenic print
Courtesy of Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago 2023.301
Rashaad Newsome,
born New Orleans, LA 1979
Status Symbols #20, 2009
collage on paper
Brooklyn Museum, Robert A. Levinson Fund 2010.9 2023.233
Hassan Hajjaj,
born Larache, Morocco 1961
Cardi B Unity, 2017 / 1438 (Gregorian/ Hijri)
metallic Lambda print in white frame with green tea boxes
Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery, New York 2023.342
Tariku Shiferaw,
born Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 1983
Money (Cardi B), 2018
spray paint, wood, price tags, and screws
Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Lelong & Co., New York 2023.306
Tariku Shiferaw painted a large X and various symbols on this box-like object. The open wood slats suggest a shipping pallet, used to move goods and commodities, as well as the straightforward construction of minimalist sculpture.
The titles of Shiferaw’s works, such as Money (Cardi B), reference artists known for music originating in Black communities, like hip hop, R&B, reggae, Afrobeats, blues, and jazz. These genres have historically been instruments of resistance against societies that have repeatedly attempted to erase-and profit from-Black labor. By invoking one of the most bankable names in hip hop within the context of the shipping crate, Shiferaw questions when a personal brand becomes a product.
Daniel “Dapper Dan” Day for Gucci,
born New York, NY 1944
Guccissima Leather Down Jacket, spring/summer 2018
lamb leather, polyamide, and goose down
Green dragons march around the sleeves of this distinctive red leather jacket. The allover Gucci logo in white leaves no doubt as to the identity of the brand, but all is not as it appears.
The legendary designer known as Dapper Dan produced custom-made clothing out of existing luxury stock. In the 1980s and 1990s, he created iconic looks for artists such as Eric B. & Rakim (founded 1986), LL Cool J (born 1968), and Salt-N-Pepa (founded 1985). As his clients’ fortunes rose, so did his visibility-high-end fashion houses filed lawsuits and his store was shuttered. When in 2017, Gucci created a mink bomber jacket suspiciously similar to one by Dapper Dan, the public outcry was immediate. In a canny move, Gucci invited Dapper Dan to design a fall 2018 capsule collection, of which this jacket is a part.
The borrowing from expensive brands to make something unique questions the notion of the “original” and underlines the uneasy relationship between symbols of affluence and those they deliberately exclude.
Barrett Barrera Projects 2023.251
Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton,
born Rockford, IL 1980;
died Chicago, IL 2021
Keepall Bag, fall/winter 2021
cowhide leather, textile lining, silver-color hardware, and yellow acetate chain
Virgil Abloh transformed Louis Vuitton’s classic 1930s Keepall duffle design into a bright canary yellow bag emblazoned with the brand’s name in a chunky, graffiti-like script. The traditional leather handles are accentuated by an acetate chain worked into a Cuban link, a common form of adornment for many hip-hop artists.
In 2018, Abloh joined Louis Vuitton as the artistic director of menswear and became the first African American to helm a luxury brand. Drawing on his backgrounds as a DJ and engineer, he used sampling, or the reworking of existing recordings, to introduce new designs that have since become cult favorites.
A visionary and prolific creator, Abloh understood how to merge seemingly opposite cultures, linking the buoyancy of street fashion with haute couture and the restraint of minimalism with the vibrant traditions of the Afro-Caribbean Diaspora.
Collection Louis Vuitton 2023.238
Sheila Rashid,
born Chicago, IL 1988
Overalls, 2016
gabardine, copper oxide buttons, and rivets
Courtesy of the artist 2023.297
Chance the Rapper for New Era,
born Chicago, IL 1993
Chance 3 New Era Cap, 2022
fabric, plastic, and stickers
The Baltimore Museum of Art: Museum Purchase 2023.253
During the promotion of his 2016 Coloring Book album, Chance the Rapper (born 1993) adopted overalls and a baseball cap with the number three as his uniform and personal brand. The rapper commissioned Chicago-based designer Sheila Rashid to create the overalls, which he wore at many major public events. The look visualized the joy and play in Coloring Book’s sound.
For this exhibition, Rashid reproduced the overalls from Chance the Rapper’s 2016 appearance on the television show Saturday Night Live. The ensemble also includes the baseball cap worn for the performance.
Chance the Rapper performs at Saturday Night Live, December 17, 2016; Photo: Will Heath / NBC Studios
Cross Colours by Carl Jones and Thomas “TJ” Walker,
Jones born Memphis, TN 1953 and Walker born Toomsuba, MS 1960
Denim Bucket Hat, worn by Cardi B during 2018 Grammy’s Performance, 1991
denim cotton
Cross Colours Archive 2023 .267
Travis Scott by Air Jordan,
born Houston, TX 1992
Cactus Jack Air Jordan 1, 2019
leather, suede, rubber, and cotton
Private Collection 2023 .263
In these retro high-top brown-and-pink suede sneakers, the ever-recognizable Nike swooshes are reversed-the tail faces the toe rather than the heel. This feature is just one of the ways that rapper Travis Scott’s partnership with Nike Air Jordan breaks away from conventional Air Jordan 1 design. Tongue tags are stitched in red and sit to the side of the tongue instead of the top and a stash pocket is hidden in the collar.
This collaboration has fueled record-breaking engagement with Nike and is a prime example of how, by bringing their influential cultural capital to legacy brands, rappers have stepped into the role previously held by elite athletes.
ADORNMENT
“Now I like dollars/I like diamonds/I like stunting/I like shining,” Cardi B raps at the top of “I Like It.” Her words capture the recurrent identification of self with adornment in the canon of hip hop. While style often signifies class and politics, almost no culture dresses as self-referentially—or as influentially—as hip hop. From Lil’ Kim’s technicolor wigs to the exuberant, excessive layering of gold chains by Big Daddy Kane and Ra Kim, some of the most important and unique styles have originated in hip hop.
Jewelry flashes, grills glint in smiling mouths, and iconic Air Force One sneakers are meant to be seen. In her 2015 book Shine, art historian Krista Thompson looks at how light is caught and styled close to the body within the African Diaspora. She explores the ways people today “use objects to negotiate and represent their personhood,” in contrast to how their ancestors were defined as property. Adornment in the culture of hip hop can resist Eurocentric ideals of beauty and challenge concepts of taste and decorum.
What story does your style tell?
Above image: LL Cool J, London. 1986 Photo by Richard Bellia
Reverse image: Miss Kam, 2021. Photo by Philip Muriel
Dionne Alexander,
born Washington, DC 1967
Lil’ Kim Purple Wig from MTV VMAs, 1999, recreated 2022
synthetic hair wig
Courtesy of the artist 2023. 243
Dionne Alexander,
born Washington, DC 1967
Lil’ Kim Chanel Logo Wig, 2001, recreated 2022
human hair wig
Courtesy of the artist 2023. 241
Dionne Alexander,
born Washington, DC 1967
Lil’ Kim Versace Logo Wig, 2001, recreated 2022
human hair wig
Courtesy of the artist 2023. 240
Dionne Alexander,
born Washington, DC 1967
Lil’ Kim Zipper Wig from MTV VMAs, 2001, recreated 2022
human hair wig, zipper
Courtesy of the artist 2023.242
Dionne Alexander,
born Washington, DC 1967
Lil’ Kim photographed by David LaChapelle, Interview Magazine, November 1999 Magazine
The Baltimore Museum of Art: Museum Purchase 2023.256
Dionne Alexander,
born Washington, DC 1967
Lil’ Kim photographed by Clay Patrick McBride, XXL Magazine, May 2000 Magazine
The Baltimore Museum of Art: Museum Purchase 2023.255
Provocative lyrics, monochromatic outfits, and vibrant wigs adorned with luxury brand logos defined rapper Lil’ Kim’s (born 1974) style in the early 2000s. Her hairstylist during this period, Dionne Alexander,
dyed, imprinted, and stenciled some of the most recognizable brand logos in mainstream fashion onto these wigs, exemplifying hip hop’s popularization of conspicuous consumption and branded clothing and accessories. Alexander also created iconic hairstyles for musical artists such as Mary J. Blige (born 1971), Lauryn Hill (born 1975), and Missy Elliott (born 1971). For this exhibition, Alexander reproduced some of the most memorable wigs she created for Lil’ Kim, which continue to reverberate in hip hop’s visual culture today, inspiring a new generation of stylists and music artists.
Lil’ Kim at the MTV Video Music Awards, New York, 1999; Kevin Mazur I Getty Images
Lil’ Kim, for Manhattan File magazine, 2001; Photo by Danielle Levitt
Derrick Adams,
born Baltimore, MD 1970
Style Variation 34, 2020
acrylic and inkjet print on canvas
The Baltimore Museum of Art: Purchase with exchange funds from the Pearlstone Family Fund and partial gift of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., BMA 2021.156 2023.259
Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola,
born Columbia, MO 1991
CAMOUFLAGE #105 (Metropolis), 2020
durags and acrylic on wood panel
In this four-panel work from his CAMOUFLAGE series, Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola cut, stretched, stitched, and collaged black durags into a shimmering composition. This flexible headscarf offers practical protection for Black hair and is also worn as a fashion statement in its own right. The artist flattened the durags to transform these recognizable objects into patterns that both absorb and reflect light. The allover movement and solid black surface created by the artist brings abstract monochrome painting into conversation with the culture of Black adornment.
Keith Rivers Collection 2023. 303
Lauren Halsey,
born Los Angeles, CA 1987
auntie fawn on tha 6, 2021
synthetic hair on wood
Bundles of brightly colored synthetic hair create a cascade in rainbow hues. Often sty led into wigs, braids, and other hairstyles, candy-colored synthetic hair has been popularized throughout the 21st century by musicians such as Lil’ Kim (born 1974), Lil’ Mo (born 1978), Blaque (founded 1999), and TLC (founded 1990). Lauren Halsey creates works that celebrate the everyday world of her neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. This vibrant example celebrates both synthetic hair as a bold form of adornment within Black communities and hair styling as an art form in its own right.
Collection of Alyson & Gunner Winston 2023.340
Wilmer Wilson IV,
born Richmond, VA 1989
RID UM, 2018
staples and pigment print on wood
In this work, Wilmer Wilson IV rephotographed and enlarged a party flier depicting three figures dressed for a night out. Using staples to adorn the image, which has been affixed to plywood, Wilson’s laborious process is an effort “to cope with the impermanence of things-like bodies, but also the fragments of everyday social life. ”
RID UM recalls how party fliers, typically used to promote hip-hop concerts, are stapled to wooden telephone poles across urban spaces. While the staples offer a visually compelling surface, the full picture is somewhat difficult to decipher due to the metallic glare, suggesting both invisibility and hypervisibility. Through this act of shielding, Wilson has provided a means of protection to the Black people depicted in the original photograph.
Courtesy of the artist and Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC 2023.257
Murjoni Merriweather,
born Temple Hills, MD 1996
Z E L L A, 2022
ceramic and hand-braided synthetic hair
Courtesy of the artist 2023. 287
Robert Pruitt,
born Houston, TX 1975
For Whom the Bell Curves, 2004
gold chains
From a distance, these graceful arching lines recall 1960s minimalist wall sculpture. A closer look reveals layered references to Blackness, in terms of historical trauma and contemporary desire. Masculinity in hip-hop culture is intertwined with gold chains, a material associated with wealth and excess. Robert Pruitt used the form that typically graces a rapper’s neck to trace the routes of the TransAtlantic slave trade from the western coast of Africa to the eastern coast of the Americas, giving the glittering links an ominous significance.
The Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum purchase made possible by a gift from Rena Bransten, San Francisco, and a gift from Burt Aaron, New York 2006.14 2023.308
North America and the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1731-1775. Published in American Horizons: U.S. History in a Global Context, (Second Edition) New York: Oxford University Press, 2016
ADORNMENT
“Now I like dollars/I like diamonds/I like stunting/I like shining,” Cardi B raps at the top of “I Like It.” Her words capture the recurrent identification of self with adornment in the canon of hip hop. While style often signifies class and politics, almost no culture dresses as self-referentially—or as influentially—as hip hop. From Lil’ Kim’s technicolor wigs to the exuberant, excessive layering of gold chains by Big Daddy Kane and Ra Kim, some of the most important and unique styles have originated in hip hop.
Jewelry flashes, grills glint in smiling mouths, and iconic Air Force One sneakers are meant to be seen. In her 2015 book Shine, art historian Krista Thompson looks at how light is caught and styled close to the body within the African Diaspora. She explores the ways people today “use objects to negotiate and represent their personhood,” in contrast to how their ancestors were defined as property. Adornment in the culture of hip hop can resist Eurocentric ideals of beauty and challenge concepts of taste and decorum.
What story does your style tell?
Above image: LL Cool J, London. 1986 Photo by Richard Bellia
Reverse image: Miss Kam, 2021. Photo by Philip Muriel
Deana Lawson,
born Rochester, NY 1979
Nation, 2018
pigment-based inkjet print with collaged photograph
Two shirtless figures, dripping with gold, boldly confront the camera. One wears a glistening cheek retractor commonly used by dentists. A necklace with an ankh, the ancient Egyptian symbol of life, points toward the history of metalwork throughout the African Diaspora. An inset image of George Washington’s (1732-1799) dentures-made of ivory, gold wire, and teeth from enslaved Black peopleobscures a standing figure.
By bringing Washington’s teeth into dialogue with the mouthpiece worn by the sitter, Deana Lawson drew a harrowing connection to the racial violence that has shaped the United States. At the same time, the work honors the culture of hip hop. Notes the artist: “There is a nobility and majesty of a lot of gold that’s worn, and how it’s appropriated in hip hop, and how I think hip hop actually channels ancient kingdoms. ”
Courtesy of the artist, David Kordansky Gallery, and Gagosian 2023.280
Miguel Luciano,
born San Juan, PR 1972
Platano Pride, 2006
chromogenic photograph
Courtesy of the artist 2023. 344
Pure Plantainum, 2006
polyurethane encased in platinum with sterling silver in plexiglass with synthetic fiber
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center 2023.291
Platinum sheathes a sculpted polyurethane plantain, transforming a common food of the Caribbean into jewelry. The humble fruit, rendered in a precious metal, adorns a young person’s neck in the photograph and rests against velvety black fabric in the sculpture. Miguel Luciano describes the plantain as “a stereotypical and yet iconic symbol.”
Plantain sap stains skin and clothing, an effect captured by the saying “la mancha de platano,” the mark of the plantain. This phrase originally referenced the lingering brown stain left on rural farmworkers harvesting the fruit and became an anti-Black and classist euphemism. Now, it is a proud assertion of Puerto Rican identity, especially for the millions in the diaspora, and of connection to heritage as lasting as the plantain stain.
Hank Willis Thomas,
born Plainfield, NJ 1976
Black Power, 2006
chromogenic print, digital exposure
Barrett Barrera Projects 2023. 249
Bruno Baptistelli,
born Sao Paulo, Brazil 1985
Memento, original cast 2020-2022; this cast 2023
gold-plated silver
Using his own teeth as the mold for this gold-plated grill, Brazilian-based artist Bruno Baptistelli placed himself into the long history of cosmetic dentistry. By mounting and covering the grill with a vitrine, the artist treats gold teeth with reverence. The title of this work reinforces this notion, evoking the phrase memento mori (Latin for “remember that you must die”).
Worn by hip-hop originators such as Slick Rick (born 1965) and celebrated in songs like Nelly’s (born 1974) 2005 single “Grillz,” gilded teeth are a popular form of adornment in hip hop. The gold signifies an accumulation of wealth and refuses the Eurocentric ideal of an unadorned white smile.
Courtesy of the artist 2023.247
Megan Lewis,
born Baltimore, MD 1989
Fresh Squeezed Lemonade, 2022
oil and acrylic on fabric
Courtesy of the artist 2023. 226
Yvonne Osei,
born Hamburg, Germany 1990
EXTENSIONS, 2018
single-channel video (color, sound)
duration: 6 minutes, 4 seconds, looped
Filming in the city of Asafo in her home country of Ghana, Yvonne Osei captured the performative quality of the everyday cultural tradition of hair braiding. Throughout the video, braids on the sitter’s head grow longer and longer, and the camera pulls back to capture their length. In the end, the braids are so long that they drag behind the woman as she walks through the city, her hair literally stopping traffic.
The title of this work nods to both the length of the sitter’s braids and the impact of hair braiding across the African Diaspora. Braided hair has historically communicated group identity, status, and geography. From Queen Latifah’s (born 1970) 1990s looks to A$AP Rocky’s (born 1988) current style, braided hair can serve as another political form of self-presentation.
Courtesy of the artist and Bruno David Gallery 2023.227
Cross Colours by Carl Jones and Thomas “TJ” Walker ‘
Jones born Memphis, TN 1953
Walker born Toomsuba, MS 1960
Color-Blocked Denim Ensemble with Hat, 1990-1992
cotton, acrylic, and wool
The boxy cut of the jacket and tapered pants of this color-blocked denim ensemble is generous by design. The stiff material affects the way one might move, stand, and walk–literally, the figure that one cuts. Carl Jones and Thomas “TJ” Walker founded the iconic streetwear brand Cross Colours in 1989 to unify hip-hop culture. After observing New York City street style, the Los Angeles-based brand leaned into the oversized look.
Cross Colours was among the first streetwear brands to understand their product as currency and distributed it carefully, most notably to the wardrobe department of the then-popular sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The image of actor Will Smith (born 1968) wearing Cross Colours at the height of his youthful charm circulated the style into homes everywhere.
Cross Colours Archive 2023.268-.271
Will Smith in Cross Colours as the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, 1994; NBCU Photo Bank
TRIBUTE
From name-dropping in a song to wearing a portrait of a deceased rapper on a T-shirt, tributes, respects, and shout-outs are fundamental to hip-hop culture. These references proclaim influence and who matters, honor legacies, and create networks of artistic associations. Elevating artists and styles contributes to hip hop’s canonization—when certain artworks, songs, and rappers are collectively recognized for their artistic excellence and historical impact.
Hip hop as a global artform has become a touchstone for artists of the 21st century. As visual artists trace hip hop’s conceptual and social lineage through tribute, they engage the idea that the art historical canon, previously homogenous, white, and stable, is fluid depending on your own background and preferences, questioning what is beautiful, who is iconic, and whose histories are valued.
Who do you pay homage or respects to in your life?
Above image: “Wall Mural Tupac Shakur Live by the Gun” by Andre Charles, New York, 1997. Photo by Al Pereira, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture © Al Pereira
Reverse image: “The Hip Hop Mount Rushmore”: Biggie, Tupac, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Eazy-E, Four Fingers of Def 4-finger ring by Johnny Nelson. Photo by Danita Bethea on model Aurora Anthony, courtesy Johnny Nelson
Derrick Adams,
born Baltimore, MD 1970
Heir to the Throne,
minted June 25, 2021
non-fungible token, HD
duration: 11 seconds, looped
Private Collection 2023.296
Roberto Lugo,
born Philadelphia, PA 1981
Street Shrine 1: A Notorious Story (Biggie), 2019
glazed ceramic
Collection of Peggy Scott and David Teplitzky 2023.311
Mark Bradford,
born Los Angeles, CA 1961
Biggie, Biggie, Biggie, 2002
permanent wave end papers, electrophotographic print paper, and acrylic paint on canvas
Black, cream, peach, and yellow rectangles dance in rhythmic patterns across a green background. Mark Bradford created this composition from translucent endpapers for treating hair, burning the edges of the papers for more definition. In examples like this, Bradford has described achieving an almost off-beat rhythm by arranging colors, forms, and textures to show repetition and deconstruction.
The title of this work, Biggie, Biggie, Biggie, pays tribute to The Notorious B.I.G. (1972-1997) by both quoting the chorus from his 1997 song “Hypnotize” and referencing one of the rapper’s aliases. Bradford has praised the “raw in-your-face insistence” of Biggie’s early music and has cited it as an inspiration for his own artistic practice.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Modern and Contemporary Art Council, 2002 Art Here and Now Purchase 2023.237
Tschabalala Self,
born New York, NY 1990
Setta’s Room 1996, 2022
solvent transfer, paper, acrylic, thread, and collaged painted canvas
A young woman in a two-piece pink polka-dot outfit sits on the floor. She holds a landline phone in her hand as her smiling gaze looks beyond the picture frame. This work is based on artist Tschabalala Self’s personal recollection of her sister Princetta, who the artist acknowledges as an important early muse.
The pink walls and hardwood floor recall Princetta’s teenage bedroom in the family’s Harlem, New York, brownstone. A Lil’ Kim poster-a promotional image for her 1996 debut album Hard Core—floats on a wall above the scene. This poster was significant to the artist, who credits it as a formative touchstone for her interest in how the Black female body is situated within contemporary Black culture.
Courtesy the artist and Pilar Corrias, London 2023.305
Shabez Jamal,
born St. Louis, MO 1992
Album Reconstruction No. 4 (After Kimberly), 2022
mixed media (oak, acrylic sheets, Polaroid images, chromogenic prints, and bronze photo corners)
Album Reconstruction No. 5 (After Inga), 2022
mixed media (oak, acrylic sheets, Polaroid images, chromogenic prints, and bronze photo corners)
Album Reconstruction No. 6 (After Katrina), 2022
mixed media (oak, acrylic sheets, Polaroid images, chromogenic prints, and bronze photo corners)
All works courtesy of the artist 2023.222-.224
Eric N. Mack,
born Columbia, MD 1987
(Menagerie) The Thorn / The Veil / The Face of Grace, 2018
dye and paper on moving blanket
Lent by Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Mary B. Jackson Fund 2018.33 2023.300
Carrie Mae Weems,
born Portland, OR 1953
Anointed, 2017, printed 2023
pigment-based inkjet print
Mary J. Blige (born 1971) receives a crown in this red-tinged photograph, referencing the musician’s nickname as the Queen of Hip Hop Soul. Carrie Mae Weems honored the singer by placing her in a lineage of other Black icons.
Commissioned for W Magazine‘s 2017 art issue, Weems’ regal portrayal stands at the intersection of popular media, fine art, and music. According to the artist, “I appropriated an image of Dinah Washington, who was considered the queen of blues, the queen of jazz. And of course, there’s Jean-Michel Basquiat’s constant use of the crown in relationship to jazz and music, and African American cultural utterance.”
Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery 2023.338
Jen Everett,
born Detroit, MI 1981
Unheard Sounds, Come Through: Extended Mix, 2022
wooden speakers, boom box, cassette tapes, vinyl record sleeves, cassette player, vinyl photo sleeves, and transistor radios
Courtesy of the artist 2023.277
El Franco Lee II,
born Houston, TX 1985
DJ Screw in Heaven, 2008
Acrylic and vinyl record on canvas
Wearing a Fubu shirt and in the flow, DJ Screw (1971-2000) presides over his turntables. He is surrounded by fans and friends in his home-an important part of the 1990s hip-hop scene in Houston, Texas. His hands appear to be in motion, scratching and changing records. DJ Screw is a hip-hop legend who created the distorted “chopped and screwed” sound: he would chop the lyrics, slow the tempo of a song, and reduce the pitch. Additional lyrics, often freestyles by Houston-based rappers, were then layered over his tracks.
DJ Screw tragically died of an overdose in 2000. Houston-based artist El Franco Lee II drew on his interests in comic books to create a detailed tribute to the DJ in his element.
Private Collection, Houston 2023.278
Alex de Mora,
born Frimley, England 1982
West Coast Tattoos, 2019, printed 2023
pigment-based inkjet print
Big Gee, 2019, printed 2023
pigment-based inkjet print
East Coast Tattoos, 2019, printed 2023
pigment-based inkjet print
Two flanking images depict a shirtless man with tattoos of notable American rappers. The left arm includes West Coast stars Tupac Shakur (1971-1996), Eazy-E (1964-1995), and Snoop Dogg (born 1971). The right arm sports East Coast musicians The Notorious B.I.G. (1972-1997), DMX (1970-2021), and Nas (born 1973). This tattooed tribute memorializes their global influence. The central photograph features Mongolian hip-hop celebrity Big Gee (born c.1984) atop a camel in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Hip hop reached Mongolia shortly after the fall of communism in the mid-1990s; Mongolian rappers and fans were quick to emulate great hip-hop artists from the United States. In 2019, British photographer Alex de Mora traveled to Ulaanbaatar to document the capital city’s prominent hip-hop scene and explore the specificities of its own hip-hop culture.
All works courtesy of the artist and DMB 2023.273-.275
Mai Lucas,
born Paris, France 1968
Ste Strausz, 2002
photograph
Oxmo Puccino, 2000
photograph
French hip-hop luminary Ste Strausz (born 1977) confronts us with a bold and playful gaze. Oxmo Puccino (born 1974) poses deadpan against an urban cityscape in a T-shirt that reads “Ghetto de France.” Franco-Vietnamese artist Ma1 Lucas has been observing and photographing the hip-hop and graffiti scene in Paris, France, and its suburbs since the mid-1980s. It was a time, as she puts it, when “no one really thought that the culture was going to become a major movement.”
Today, France is the second-largest market for hip hop in the world, behind only the United States. Despite being a global phenomenon, hip hop is always adapting to express the specifics of style anywhere it flourishes.
Both works courtesy of the artist 2023. 284, .285
Ernest Shaw Jr.,
born Baltimore, MD 1969
I Had A Dream I Could Buy My Way To Heaven (Portrait of Ota Benga), 2022
pastel pencil, oil pastel, and graffiti paint marker on paper
Courtesy of the artist 2023.229
Joyce J. Scott,
born Baltimore, MD 1948
Hip Hop Saint, Tupac, 2014
monotype with collaged beads on painted paper
The Baltimore Museum of Art: Women’s Committee Acquisitions Endowment for Contemporary Prints and Photographs; BMA 2020.61 2023.258
Fahamu Pecou,
born New York, NY 1975
Real Negus Don’t Die: Thug, 2013
graphite and acrylic on paper
A figure looks down at the portrait of Tupac Shakur (1971- 1996) on his T-shirt, paying homage to the hip-hop artist whose life and career were cut short. This work is part of a series titled Real Negus Don’t Die, in which Atlanta-based artist Fahamu Pecou used the Rest in Peace T-shirt, a popular mourning object in Black and Latinx working-class communities, to center departed luminaries such as Shakur. Others include activist Fred Hampton (1948-1969), record producer J Dilla (1974-2006), and writer Lorraine Hansberry ( 1930-1965).
Collection of Uri Vaknin and Taufiq Adam 2023.335
Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons,
born St. Louis, MO 1975
Tracksuit, c.2000
cotton
The Baltimore Museum of Art: Museum Purchase 2023.262.1, .2
Willy Chavarria,
born Fresno, CA 1967
Buffalo Track Jacket and Kickback Pant, spring/ summer 2022
nylon satin
Courtesy of the artist 2023.260.1, .2
adidas Originals by Pharrell Williams,
born Virginia Beach, VA 1973
Track Jacket, 2013
leather with zipper
Collection of Pharrell Williams 2023.282
Daniel “Dapper Dan” Day for Gucci,
born New York, NY 1944
Dapper Dan Tracksuit, 2018
synthetic blend and wool
Barrett Barrera Projects 2023.261.1, .2
Telfar by Telfar Clemens and Babak Radboy,
Clemens born New York, NY 1985
Radboy born Tehran, Iran 1983
Azalea Tracksuit, 2022
polyester jersey knit and rib knit collar and cuffs with mesh lining
Medium Azalea Shopping Bag, 2022
faux leather
TELFAR, New York 2023.309, .310
Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton
born Rockford, IL 1980;
died Chicago, IL 2021
Look 15, spring/summer 2022
silk, wool, polyester, leather, fur, and metal
“My Adidas and me close as can be/We make a mean team, my Adidas and me,” rapped the hip-hop trip RUN D.M.C. (founded 1981) in their 1986 single “My Adidas.” RUN D.M.C. adopted the classic Adidas tracksuit and sneakers as a uniform and made it a hip-hop staple. Moving form its origins in soccer to the stage and then the runway, the tracksuit inspired a generation of fashion designers to reimagine the iconic zipped jacket and matching pants.
Designers from Los Angeles, California, to Lagos, Nigeria, have created their own take on the tracksuit. From Virgil Abloh’s air silk construction to Telfar Clemens’ playful cut-out pants to Willy Chavarria’s extreme tailoring, these ensembles telegraph the significance and reverberations of hip-hop style across the African Diaspora and beyond. Tracksuits offer endless variations and challenge ideas of gender and sexuality, updating the classic look while always paying tribute to its original form.
Collection Louis Vuitton 2023.239
Wales Bonner,
born London, England 1990
Adidas,
Herzogenaurach, Germany, founded 1949
Lovers Tracktop, fall/winter 2020
recycled polyester, spandex, acrylic, and wool
Wales Bonner
born London, England 1990
Wales Bonner Dub Tuxedo Trousers, fall/winter 2020
polyester and cotton
Wales Bonner Brixton Beanie, 2020
polyester and cotton
All works courtesy of Wales Bonner 2023.216.1-.3
NIA JUNE, Kirby Griffin, and APoetNamedNate,
JUNE born Baltimore, MD 1995
Griffin born Baltimore, MD 1988
APoetNamedNate born Baltimore, MD 1994
The Unveiling of God / a love letter to my forefathers, 2021
single-channel video (color, sound)
duration: 20 minutes, 7 seconds, looped
In this short film, Black men and boys swim, play, embrace loved ones, and navigate various physical and emotional landscapes. The Unveiling of God I a love letter to my forefathers is an operatic visual poem that celebrates the Black men in the artists’ lives.
In counter to narrow and destructive ideas of masculinity that are present-though not unchallenged-in hip hop, NIA JUNE, Kirby Griffin, and APoetNamedNate created an arresting work that celebrates male strength through tenderness.
As the artists note, “The Unveiling of God I a love letter to my forefathers is a visual interpretation of NIA JUNE’s imagination on the matter of her forefathers and Black men prematurely removed from her life. Through poetry, music, and moving portraits, the film asks its viewers: what could they have been, unburdened by the gravity of an oppressive system and known to the God in themselves?”
Courtesy of the artists 2023.283
Larry W. Cook,
born Landover, MD 1986
Picture Me Rollin’, 2012
single-channel video (color, sound)
duration: 1 minute, 43 seconds, looped
A black Lamborghini spins in circles, cheered on by men in white T-shirts and medallion necklaces. Larry W. Cook reused a clip from the 2000 music video “Get Your Roll On” by the rap group Big Tymers (founded c.1997), replacing the audio with a version of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s (1929-1968) “I Have a Dream” speech. The civil rights leader’s words have been chopped and screwed, a hip-hop turntable technique that involves slowing down a track.
In the early 2000s, the rap music video aesthetic of driving luxury cars as an assertion of hypermasculinity emerged. Cook stated, “My video suggests that the materialism glorified in hip-hop music has become the American Dream for many and is passed down to younger generations.”
Courtesy of the artist 2023.218
Abbey Williams,
born New York, NY 1971
Overture, 2020
HD single-channel video (color, sound)
duration: 4 minutes, 18 seconds, looped
In this video, Abbey Williams spliced together footage of flowers in bloom and the title credits from the opening sequence of the 1964 film musical My Fair Lady. Williams superimposed black bars over the text to suggest the redaction of language. Sexually explicit lyrics by women hip-hop artists such as Khia (born 1976), Nicki Minaj (born 1982), and Princess Nokia (born 1992) float over the bars in an elaborate script. These bars expand, eventually blotting out the flowers entirely to form a black screen. By displacing the idealized femininity embedded in the My Fair Lady narrative, Williams critiqued white-centered definitions of what it means to be “lady-like” and recentered certain kinds of Black femininity instead.
Courtesy of the artist 2023.339
John Edmonds,
born Washington, DC 1989
Ascent, 2018
inkjet print on silk
This image of a figure seen from behind wearing a white durag and fur coat is printed on a delicate silk surface, which moves subtly with passing air currents. The ethereal work is part of John Edmonds’ DuRags series. Dominant views of Black masculinity are complicated by presenting sitters adorned in durags in instances of vulnerability, majesty, and delicacy.
Everything about Ascent is soft. The head and shoulders of the individual seem to rise out of the blurred coat, which suggests feathers or a cloud. Here, the silky material of the durag has transcended its utilitarian function to become a headdress, a helmet, a crown.
Courtesy of the artist 2023.276
Devan Shimoyama,
born Philadelphia, PA 1989
Cloud Break, 2022
Timberland boots, rhinestones, silk flowers, epoxy resin, and chain
Courtesy of the artist and Kavi Gupta Gallery 2023.230
Damon Davis,
born St. Louis, MO 1985
Cracks XIX (EGO), 2022
concrete and homegrown crystals
The sharp edges of crystals shimmer and form a protective layer over the concrete sculpture of the artist’s face. A material that could be seen as unremarkable as the sidewalk becomes precious when covered with the icy flash of luxury. The accumulation obscures the figure’s features and references the desire for justifying one’s worth for social acceptance. Born in East St. Louis, Missouri, Damon Davis has characterized adornment as a form of ascension or transcendence: “You come from poverty and put things on to prove you are not poor. ”
Courtesy of the artist 2023. 219
ASCENSION
“Promise that you will sing about me/I said when the lights shut off and it’s my turn,” Kendrick Lamar gently asks in his 2012 song “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst.” Death—or the spectre of it—along with notions of ascension and the afterlife frequently appear in hip-hop lyrics, from pouring one out for a friend who has passed to the precarity of being Black in an urban environment and never knowing which day is your last to meditations on the kind of immortality conferred by fame.
Inspired by themes of ascent in the culture, artists create works that invite reflection. Ordinary objects transform into altars and monuments, and images of Black bodies melt into heavenly clouds. Hip hop is a cultural form that artists use to process, grieve, and remember those lost.
Pause and reflect on the lives and experiences amplified by the works on view.
Above image: A man displays a T-shirt tribute to rapper Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G., during the funeral procession route through Brooklyn, March 18, 1997. Photo by Jon Levy/AFP via Getty Images
Reverse image: YG with a picture Nipsey Hussle at a BLM protest in Los Angeles, June 7, 2020. Photo by Tommy Oliver, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Tommy and Codie Oliver
Lauren Halsey,
born Los Angeles, CA 1987
Prototype Column For Tha Shaw (RIP The Honorable Ermias Nipsey Bussie Asghedom) II, 2019
hand-carved glass fiber reinforced gypsum
Cool white gypsum columns rise to the ceiling from square bases, recalling the architecture of ancient Greece, Rome,
or Egypt. On their surfaces, Lauren Halsey interspersed contemporary figures and imagery among traditional Egyptian motifs. Winged figures share space with Los Angeles street scenes, graffiti, lowriders, and a profile of the city’s skyline.
Prototype Column For Tha Shaw (RIP The Honorable Ermias Nipsey Hussle Asghedom) I and II are a memorial and monument to the late rapper Nipsey Hussle (1985-2019). Evoking both the hieroglyphs and monumental tombs used by the ancient Egyptians to commemorate the life and death of their rulers, Halsey’s columns act as a way to honor the legacy of those lost too soon.
Rennie Collection, Vancouver 2023.299
Texas Isaiah and Ms. Boogie,
Texas Isaiah born New York, NY
Ms. Boogie born New York, NY
Pelada: Chapter II, 2021
pigment-based inject print
Courtesy of the artists 2023.281
Texas Isaiah,
born New York, NY
Untitled, 2023
mixed media
Courtesy of the artist 2023.246
Ms. Boogie, an Afro-Latina transgender rapper, proudly stands by an open gate in denim cut-offs and a blue-and-purple top. Pelada means “naked” or “peeled” in Spanish. The image bears witness to Ms. Boogie during the conception of her debut album The Breakdown, which celebrates the transformative and transcendent experience of the evolution of her personhood.
In front of the image lies an altar with devotional candles, photographs taken by the artist, his baby pictures, pairs of Nikes, offerings for Baltimore-based artists, a New York Yankees fitted baseball cap, and more. This altar is a small glimpse into the practice that centers and grounds Texas Isaiah’s life and career.
Both works explore how Isaiah has extended notions of worship, prayer, remembrance, and the importance of paying homage to the land and fellow creatives.
Maxwell Alexandre,
born Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1990
I saw things I imagined, 2020
liquid shoe polish on brown kraft paper
In a palette of browns and gold, shadowy musicians perform and crowd surf. A sea of fans, many of whom bask in the energy of the concert, raise their glowing phones as an act of worship.
Brazilian artist Maxwell Alexandre created this work as part of his Pardo é Papel series. Pardo (Portuguese for “brown”) is the government census term for citizens of Afro-Brazilian heritage or mixed race. Using everyday materials like kraft paper and shoe polish, Alexandre emphasized the brown skin tones of these concertgoers while also elevating rap music as a type of ascension and the performance as a near-religious experience.
Zabludowicz Collection 2023.343
Robert Hodge,
born Houston, TX 1979
Promise You Will Sing About Me, 2019
mixed media collage constructed of canvas, enamel and acrylic paint, household items (shelves, books, a vase, artificial flowers, a model ship, a globe, fabric, reclaimed paper, newsprint, and hemp thread)
Courtesy of the artist and David Shelton Gallery, Houston 2023.272
Lauren Halsey,
born Los Angeles, CA 1987
Prototype Column For Tha Shaw (RIP The Honorable Ermias Nipsey Bussie Asghedom) I, 2019
hand-carved glass fiber reinforced gypsum
Cool white gypsum columns rise to the ceiling from square bases, recalling the architecture of ancient Greece, Rome, or Egypt. On their surfaces, Lauren Halsey interspersed contemporary figures and imagery among traditional Egyptian motifs. Winged figures share space with Los Angeles street scenes, graffiti, lowriders, and a profile of the city’s skyline.
Prototype Column For Tha Shaw (RIP The Honorable Ermias Nipsey Hussle Asghedom) I and II are a memorial and monument to the late rapper Nipsey Hussle (1985-2019). Evoking both the hieroglyphs and monumental tombs used by the ancient Egyptians to commemorate the life and death of their rulers, Halsey’s columns act as a way to honor the legacy of those lost too soon.
Rennie Collection, Vancouver 2023.298
Nina Chanel Abney,
born Harvey, IL 1982
Untitled, 2022
collage on panel
Amidst a cacophony of images and symbols including cars, a yacht, palm trees, and dollar signs, nude women dance around a central male figure with a single tear. This collage is based on the work Nina Chanel Abney created as cover art for rapper Meek Mill’s (born 1987) 2021 album Expensive Pain. When the image appeared on buses and billboards, it sparked a public debate: Does Abney’s exaggerated abstraction of Black feminine sexuality celebrate or critique the sexist stereotypes found in many hip-hop videos and lyrics?
Courtesy of the artist and Pace Prints 2023.215
Various Artists,
Compilation of 16 CDs,
1987-2022
2023.264.1-.16
POSE
From the club to backyards and bedrooms, from online to on the street and onstage, the works in these galleries explore what one’s gestures, stance, and mode of presentation can communicate to others. Here, artists explore and explode stereotypes of gender and race, examine the line between appreciation and appropriation, consider the relationship between audience and performer, and ask which bodies are considered dangerous or vulnerable and who decides.
For some, self-presentation is a means of survival, for others a way to claim space in a hostile world, for still others a tool in changing dominant narratives about what can be communicated through the body. As part of its total project of creating a new canon, hip hop’s aesthetics of the body refuse to conform to one standard and instead open up new ideas of what the body can say.
How do you want to be seen?
Above image: David Banner and Ludacris at “Diamond in the Back” video shoot, Atlanta, 2004. Photo by Julia Beverly, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture © Julia Beverly/Ozone Magazine
Reverse image: Salt-N-Pepa (left to right: Sandra “Pepa” Denton, Deirdre “Spinderella” Roper, and Cheryl “Salt” James), New York, 1987. Photo by Janette Beckman/Getty Images
Michael Vasquez,
born St. Petersburg, FL 1983
Chain Strangle, 2010
acrylic on canvas
In this painting, three men in vibrant red clothing display gang hand signs and boastfully show off their chain jewelry in front of a picket fence. The energetic brushwork captures both the immediacy of the moment and something of the mood of the figures. Artist Michael Vasquez explores the human need for community that is found in gang culture.
Gang culture is not synonymous with hip-hop culture. They are distinct, yet one is often depicted in the other. However, this association between gangs and hip hop, real or imagined, has done indisputable harm. For example, many recent court cases have attempted to use rap lyrics as evidence of criminal activity and violence.
Vasquez poignantly captured these men’s relationship to one another through his sensitive rendering of their gestures, demeanor, and settings, with the full knowledge of both their perceived menace and their vulnerability.
Collection of Arthur Halsey Rice 2023.302
Amani Lewis,
born Baltimore, MD 1994
Swamp Boy, 2019
acrylic, oil pastel, glitter, embroidery, and screen print on canvas
As cameras flash and phone screens glow, West Baltimore rapper Butch Dawson (born 1993) grasps a microphone during a concert for his 2018 EP Swamp Boy. The audience crowds close to Dawson, suggesting an intimate location. Over the last two decades, Baltimore has been a hotbed for underground music and art, with venues like the CopyCat, Floristree, Bellfoundry, Annex, the Paradox, and the Crown, creating safe spaces for entertainers and partygoers alike.
dddAmani Lewis built this collage from digitally edited images and blurred and manipulated photographs that they then screen printed onto canvas and finished with painted details. The live performance photography that is the source material for this work gives the collage its sense of immediacy, as though we too, are at the club.
Courtesy of the artist 2023 .225
Jonathan Lyndon Chase,
born Philadelphia, PA 1989
Sunday Morning Music Video, 2020
acrylic, glitter, spray paint, and marker on muslin
Rubell Museum 2023.304
Caitlin Cherry,
born Chicago, IL 1987
Bruja Cybernetica, 2022
oil on canvas
A parade of performers, including hip-hop duo City Girls (founded 2017), rapper Bia (born 1997), and avatars from the game The Sims 4, create a wavering grid. In the bottom right corner, the presence of an anonymous white cameraman suggests how these women play with power dynamics. The overlay of patterns and highly artificial color palette recall the technologies used to circulate and reproduce depictions of women-real and virtual-in the digital space.
Bruja Cybernetica (Spanish for “cyber witch”) by Caitlin Cherry invites us to think about how women wield power and control over their online appearance. As the artist has said, “I consider how the history of painting has simultaneously neglected and warped images of Black femmes and how technology can stand to do the same or redeem or liberate our self-image.”
Courtesy of the artist and The Hole 2023.217
Monica lkegwu,
born Baltimore, MD 1998
Open/Closed, 2021
oil on canvas
Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Myrtis 2023 .220.1, .2
Devin Allen,
born Baltimore, MD 1988
You Can’t Raid the Sun, 2020
pigment-based inkjet print
Composed like a class picture yet exuberant as a snapshot of friends, this portrait by Devin Allen documents hip-hop artists and activists from Baltimore. The image references Gordon Parks’ 1998 iconic photograph, A Great Day in Hip Hop, on view at the exhibition entrance, which itself was an homage to the historic 1958 photograph, A Great Day in Harlem, by Art Kane.
Courtesy of the artist 2023.244
Adrian Octavius Walker,
born St. Louis, MO 1988
A Great Day in St. Louis, 2022
What would Gordon Parks’ A Great Day in Hip Hop (see image) look like if it were taken in St. Louis today? That is exactly what local photographer Adrian Octavius Walker sought to do when he gathered much of the St. Louis hip-hop community on nearby Art Hill. Showcasing the strength and depth of the city’s hip-hop presence, the image celebrates the rich diversity of the genre’s legacy.
Gordon Parks, American, 1912-2006; after Art Kane, American, 1925-1995; A Great Day in Hip Hop, cover image for XXL magazine issue #7, 1998; © The Gordon Parks Foundation