Dani Williams stands next to the hip-hop divas section of U-M’s Hip Hop @ 50 exhibit at Haven Hall’s GalleryDAAS. Photo by Lori Stratton.
I remember the moment I fell in love with hip-hop.
It was 1985, and my older brother had rented VHS copies of the films Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo from our local video store.
Seeing the breakdancing prowess of Kelly, Ozone, and Turbo in the films instantly captured my attention and spurred nine-year-old me to experiment with some moves of my own.
While I couldn’t quite emulate the popping, up-rocking, down-rocking, or power moves of the films’ heroes, I embraced a love of dancing and developed my own quirky style over the years.
As I grew up, I danced to the music of Run-D.M.C., Beastie Boys, Salt-N-Pepa, LL Cool J, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock, Young MC, MC Hammer, and others.
By high school, I had started learning about three of the five elements of hip-hop—rapping, DJing, and breakdancing—and would encounter the other two—graffiti and historical knowledge—as an adult.
Today, these five elements provide the foundation for a hip-hop history exhibit hosted by the University of Michigan’s Department of Afroamerican and African Studies on display at Haven Hall’s GalleryDAAS through September 4.
Known as Hip Hop @ 50: Defs, Dates, Divas, Detroit & Dilla, the exhibit celebrates the 50th anniversary of the culture and explores its evolution across music, society, fashion, language, entertainment, and politics.
“A big part of this exhibit is highlighting the significance of lyricism and it’s one form of poetry or writing. Words have power; words have meaning,” said Dani Williams, co-curator of the exhibit and an administrative coordinator/project coordinator with U-M’s DAAS.
“That is why a big part of this exhibit talks about the different influences hip-hop has had on just Black revolutions in general.”
It also takes inspiration from U-M associate professor Stephen Ward’s “The History and Evolution of Hip Hop” class and a question he raises—“When did you fall in love with hip-hop?”—that’s featured in the 2002 film Brown Sugar.
“The film begins with one of the two main characters, Sidney, who’s a journalist asking various hip-hop figures—luminaries—when did you fall in love with hip-hop?” said Ward, who serves as one of the exhibit’s faculty consultants along with Deidre D.S.SENSE Smith.
“And so when I decided to start the class a decade ago, I thought of that question as a way to frame the class. The official title is ‘The History and Evolution of Hip-Hop,’ but the unofficial title is ‘When Did You Fall in Love With Hip-Hop?’”
But Ward clarifies that key question is being asked mainly at a societal level.
“In other words, we’re recognizing that now hip-hop is this major global force. Hip-hop is popular culture, but it hasn’t always been that way,” he said.
“In the class, our investigation is to explore how and why that came to be and track its development and evolution to becoming what it is now. For most students in the class and throughout their lifetime, hip-hop has been a major force.”
Outside of the class, Ward, Williams, and exhibit co-curator Elizabeth James have been involved with GalleryDAAS for several years. At one point, the idea for the exhibit emerged during conversations and activities with their department.
“Through that conversation, we knew we wanted a section for our divas, or like women in hip-hop specifically,” Williams said. “A lot of brain power and thought went into that particular wall. In general, we wanted to honor as many people throughout this timeline as possible, but also hold space for some artists that aren’t as well known or are newer. That’s why we have Megan Thee Stallion and Curtis Roach alongside bigger names like Kayne West, DMX, and Public Enemy. We’re trying to have a nice variety of artists, but ultimately really wanting to highlight Black revolution through music.”
To create the exhibit, James collected the information, assembled a “Hip-Hopography” of sources, and compiled a narrative displayed over nearly 40 panels alongside photos of iconic magazine and album covers.
Then Williams took that narrative and designed the informational panels lining GalleryDAAS’s walls.
“It took about a semester, but we’re very proud of the end result,” said Williams, who’s a U-M alum with a background in film, media, and advertising.
Hanging overhead from GalleryDAAS’s ceiling are several star-shaped photos of late hip-hop artists as an in-memoriam tribute. TLC’s Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, Dwight Arrington “Heavy D” Myers, and Tupac Shakur are among the late artists honored.
Much of their music and that of other hip-hop artists is celebrated and included on a “DAAS Hip-Hop Gallery Playlist,” which features 100 songs available on Spotify.
The exhibit team surveyed students in Ward’s classes last fall to learn about their top five artists, songs, albums, and moments/developments in hip-hop.
“It’s data that we used to influence who was featured in the timeline, but also who’s featured on the playlist,” Williams said. “[U-M student] Holden [Hughes] synthesized a lot of it to create the playlist.”
In addition to the playlist, Hughes is working with Ward on a hip-hop history website, which will include information from Ward’s classes and exhibit materials about the 50th anniversary.
“I brought Holden on, and he’s done more of the work populating it,” said Ward, who had Hughes in his class two years ago.
“The goal is to create it as something that can be a repository, an addendum, or an additional resource to go along with the class. This fall will likely be the first time I use it with the class.”
The Hip Hop @ 50 exhibit features nearly 40 panels of information and photos. Photo by Lori Stratton.
Inside the gallery, the exhibit starts with a definition of hip-hop and an overview of its cultural movement and revolution across the globe. Once the overview is established, it explores the “old school roots” of hip-hop in the South Bronx from the early ‘70s to the mid-‘80s.
“It’s the precursor to our timeline, which starts with DJ Kool Herc’s August school party that he threw [in 1973] … and [hip-hop] evolved from there. We transition to the early days of hip-hop and the establishment of a DJ and an MC,” Williams said.
“We reference Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa, and it talks about advancing the studio DJ tradition through synthesizers and the 808 drum machine.”
By the ‘80s, several commercial hip-hop films were released, including Wild Style (1982), Style Wars (1983), Beat Street (1984), Krush Groove (1985), and Disorderlies (1987). In tandem, major record companies partnered with independent labels and producers specializing in “rap music.”
“[Stephen] Ward also assigns Beat Street in ‘The History and Evolution of Hip-Hop’ class,” said Williams, who took the course as an undergrad at U-M.
The exhibit also includes a terminology component for the five elements of hip-hop—DJ, MC, graffiti, breaking, and historical knowledge.
Terms like “back spinning,” “syncopation,” “wild style,” “popping,” and “praxis” highlight the lexicon that’s evolved with hip-hop over the years.
“It gives you a feel for what the different terms are and then breaks down those terms based on the category they fall under,” Williams said.
Along with terminology, the exhibit explores the growth of hip-hop in Detroit, which started with a breakdancing style known as the “Jit.” The dance included footwork combinations, drops, and spins that arose in the ‘70s with the Jitterbugs.
In the ‘80s, hip-hop grew alongside techno and the sounds of radio DJ Charles “The Electrifying Mojo” Johnson. It also solidified with hip-hop artists like A.W.O.L., Boss, Awesome Dre, and Smiley.
In Detroit, hip-hop continued to evolve with Eminem; producer Helluva; groups like Street Lord’z, the Eastside Chedda Boyz, and Slum Village; and later Big Sean, Tee Grizzley, Royce da 5’9”, and Sada Baby.
“We also have Maurice Malone, who was a fashion designer and opened the original Hip Hop Shop on 7 Mile in Detroit. On this same panel, we have Eminem who’s featured in 8 Mile,” Williams said.
A crucial part of Detroit’s hip-hop history includes the late J Dilla as well. The exhibit honors his monumental contributions to beat-making, his prolific collaborations with other artists, and his influential legacy as a producer.
“We even do an excerpt on J Dilla and his impact specifically,” Williams said. “We just want to highlight the ways in which different artists created a soundscape that influenced a generation and multiple generations.”
Alongside their male counterparts, Detroit also serves as a hub for women in hip-hop. Artists like Miz Korona, Mahogany Jones, Deidre D.S.SENSE Smith, and others have significantly impacted music and culture and expanded their focus to include social justice issues.
Outside of Detroit, hip-hop divas like Sylvia Robinson, Roxanne Shante, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Missy Elliott, Kash Doll, Cardi B, and more have demonstrated their resilience while facing colorism, misogyny, and other obstacles.
“Women have a deep influence over this genre, and I don’t think they get enough rep for it,” Williams said. “One of our first visitors started on the [divas] wall, so that was encouraging to see that it was the initial thing she went to.”
The remainder of the exhibit traces the growth and evolution of hip-hop and its artists through the mid-‘90s to the mid-2010s to COVID and the rise of emerging platforms like Twitch, TikTok, and OnlyFans.
“We quote [producer] Taz Taylor saying, ‘The world is never going to be perfect … It’s up to us as humans to adapt to our surroundings to make the most of every situation,’” Williams said.
“We even end it with a brave new world—because with TikTok and social media in general—it’s shifting and changing the way that people connect [with] and listen [to] and stream music. It’s the excitement for how the industry is going to evolve over the next five years.”
Lori Stratton is a library technician, writer for Pulp, and writer and editor of strattonsetlist.com.
The U-M exhibit, Hip Hop @ 50: Defs, Dates, Divas, Detroit & Dilla, is available Monday through Friday from 10 am-4 pm by appointment at Haven Hall’s GalleryDAAS through September 4. To schedule a visit, email daas-info@umich.edu or call 734-764-5517.
Related:
➥ “50 Years of Hip-Hop: Influential albums from Washtenaw County” [Pulp, January 10, 2024]
