In 2006 the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History announced an initiative to gather objects near and dear to those in the hip hop industry to build a permanent collection including vinyl records, microphones, clothes, handwritten lyrics, boom boxes, etc. Hip hop heavyweights including Grandmaster Flash, Russell Simmons, and MC Lyte were only a few of the first artists to contribute to the collection. The initiative, entitled “Hip-Hop Won’t Stop: The Beat, The Rhymes, The Life,” was simply a sneak peek into other plans the nation’s largest museum complex had in store. “RECOGNIZE! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture” opened on February 8th this year at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. The exhibit includes large scale oil paintings from artist Kehinde Wiley that depict legends such as LL Cool J and Ice-T as John D. Rockefeller and Napoleon, respectively, poetry by Nikki Giovanni, photography of various hip hop artists by David Scheinbaum, large scale graffiti by local artists Tim Conlon and Dave Hupp, experimental film by Jefferson Pinder, and a multimedia installation piece by Shinique Smith.

The purpose of the exhibit was to use portraiture as a method of displaying various sides of hip hop, from its poetic origins to its haughty ambitions to its many re-presentations and re-interpretations in everyday life. This was not the first, nor will it be the last exhibit on hip hop in a museum. However, it is the most visible exhibit to come to an internationally recognized museum in the nation’s capital, a frequent stop for international tourists and tourists coming from around the country. As such, its visibility is unparalleled. The works included are impressive and vibrant. The Kehinde Wiley large scale portraits all but steal the show with clashing colors and rich tapestries of detail. The Scheinbaum photographs are grainy, personal, unapologetically truthful and raw. The graffiti by Conlon and Hupp light up the exhibit hallways and transform the traditional museum atmosphere into a contemporary and lively environment. The exhibit dares you to reckon with it, and forces you to pay attention.

Despite its fresh appeal, the exhibit succeeds in some areas more than others. The vast array of media represented leaves one feeling a bit disjointed as one moves from room to room, and there is a general lack in contextualization for the various music artists portrayed. Should the National Portrait Gallery push itself even further beyond its limits to be more informational to the uninformed? In this regard it certainly is light years ahead of its close neighbor in repute and artistic display, the National Gallery of Art. For curators, there is a fine line of walking between too much interpretation and not enough. Frank Goodyear, one of the three curators for the show says the point is to “re-center hip hop as one of the key cultural achievements of the last 20 to 30 years.” The exhibit functions as a gateway to understanding how the cultural phenomenon of hip hop has affected a sampling of artists working in various media, and how it continues to affect the international cultural community. One must remember that this is, after all, an art gallery – not a history museum - and as such, it is up to the visitor to glean as much as they can from the exhibit. The visitors’ personal commitment to hip hop is the true test as to how much they can and will take away. For members of the ThisIsRealMusic community it is hardly a test. It is a step in the right direction. It is home.

For more information on the RECOGNIZE! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture exhibit, visit the website: http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/recognize/