Smithsonian gets into hip-hop

For nearly three decades, hip-hop relics such as vinyl records, turntables, microphones and boom boxes have collected dust in boxes and attics. On Tuesday, owners of such items – including pioneering hip-hop artists such as MC Lyte, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash – blew the dust off and carried them to a Manhattan hotel to turn them over to National Museum of American History officials.

The museum, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is embarking on a collecting initiative, “Hip-Hop Won’t Stop: the Beat, the Rhymes, the Life.”

The project, the beginnings of a permanent collection, will gather objects that trace hip-hop’s origins in the Bronx in the 1970s to its current global reach. It is expected to cost as much as $2 million and take up to five years to complete.

Museum officials have yet to raise the money, which will come from private donors. They will use the funds to pay for artifacts, record oral histories and mount an exhibit telling hip-hop’s story.

Hip-hop is considered one of the most powerful cultural explosions ever. Today, it’s incorporated into marketing to sell everything from cars and clothing to food and furniture.

“Hip-hop was born in New York, but it’s now a global phenomenon,” said Valeska Hilbig, a National Museum spokeswoman. “It’s here to stay, and it’s part of American culture just like jazz is part of American history.”