News

Rare Photos Of JAY Z, Nas, Queen Latifah & More To Enter The Smithsonian

blame it on Meka April 13, 2016
queen-latifah-smithsonian

Hip Hop continues to make strides in ins continual historical and cultural influence.

Following the inclusion of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, where J Dilla’s custom MPC calls its home, the Smithsonian has announced that close to 400 pictures journalist and former director of publicity at Def Jam Bill Adler has collected throughout his acclaimed career will be preserved at the National Museum.

Speaking to Smithsonian Magazine, Adler reveals that vintage photos of JAY Z, 2Pac, Eazy-E, Nas, Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC, KRS-One, Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, and even Jean-Michel Basquiat, among others, originally shown at his own Eyejammie Fine Arts Gallery in New York until 2007, will now be proudly shown at the National Museum.

“Photography to me is really a magical medium,” says Adler. “It’s just stunning.”

Adler recalls having more extensive files on some of the artists as a casual collector than his contemporaries in the music industry, and today much of his collection belongs to the Cornell Hip-Hop Collection.

“A lot of folks in the record business, or in the contemporary arts, I think, they don’t always have a sense of history. They’re too involved in the moment. I’m that unusual nerd,” he says.

Some of the photos can be viewed below. While there is no date which the photos will officially make their debut, several of them can be seen below.

ll-cool-j-smithsonian rakim-smithsonian-1 run-dmc-smithsonian eazy-e-smithsonian nas-smithsonian jay-z-smithsonian