The Smithsonian Wants To Make Hip-Hop History With You!

If you’re a huge hip-hop fan, Christmas has come a bit early for you. The National Museum of African American History and Culture is partnering with the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings to create the Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap, a work that is described as “a cultural statement told through music, text, and powerful visuals.” The project is currently raising funds on Kickstarter.

The Anthology will include more than 120 tracks on 9 CDs, a 300-page book with 10 essays, never before published images, and a 9th Wonder Digital Remix based on Smithsonian Folkways’ catalogue, which is available exclusively from the Smithsonian through Kickstarter.com. The project is currently planned for release in December 2018.

Artists like Chuck D, MC Lyte, Questlove, and 9th Wonder sat on the advisory board that worked with the Smithsonian to create this Anthology. Industry veterans like Bill Adler and Bill Stephney as well as scholars such as Cheryl Keyes of UCLA were also on the board.

The Anthology will be a reward for backers contributing $100 and above. The pledges offer other awesome rewards too. Want your name in the book? That will be a cool $1,000. Want a tour of the National Museum of African American History and Culture led by Questlove? That will be $10,000.  The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture. It opened its doors to the public on September 24, 2016.

The pledge that is already sold out is the limited-edition Adidas sneakers for those pledging $1,500 and more. These unique sneakers will be hand-painted by artist Cey Adams and “no two pairs will be identical!”

With 22 days to go, the campaign has already raised over $120,00 of its $250,000 goal. If you would like to be part of making Hip-Hop history, visit the the Kickstarter page here.