The Smithsonian has announced a massive new Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap box set, tracing the history of the genre from its origins through its massive impact on global music. Co-produced by the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, D.C. and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, the nonprofit record label arm of the Smithsonian Institute, the massive collection will arrive August 20. Watch the trailer for the project below.
The Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap box will chronicle the four-decade history of the genre through the African American lens, spanning the years 1979-2013. The story of hip-hop will be told through 129 tracks across nine CDs, along with hundreds of photographs, and a 300-page coffee table book featuring 11 essays from prominent music scholars, authors, and journalists. Essays will cover topics such as graffiti, women in hip-hop, and more.
The work to curate the Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap box set began in 2014 from an executive committee including artists like Chuck D, Questlove, and MC Lyte, writers and scholars Adam Bradley, Jeff Chang, Cheryl Keyes and Mark Anthony Neal, early Def Jam senior executives Bill Adler and Bill Stephney, and producer and educator 9th Wonder.
“Born in Bronx and raised across the American West and South, hip-hop is one of the most influential genres of music in the modern era,” Kevin Young, the Andrew W. Mellon Director of NMAAHC, said in a press release. “Through beats, dynamic rhymes, and pointed lyricism, hip-hop has provided a platform for communities and generations to voice their ongoing struggles and has changed society and culture around the world.”
Dwandalyn R. Reece, NMAAHC’s associate director for curatorial affairs, curator of music and performing arts and producer of the anthology, added: “We wanted the Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap to be reflective of the culture, of the music, of the people, of everything that is part of hip-hop.”
The Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap box set follows Smithsonian Folkways’ the Anthology of American Folk Music and Jazz: The Smithsonian Anthology.
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