Nashville’s hip-hop legacy is deep, broad and rich, with some of the finest lyricists, performers and producers — and plenty of musicians who combine all of those categories and more — you’ll hear anywhere. The National Museum of African American Music has been celebrating the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip-hop with This Is Hip-Hop, a rotating exhibition in the museum’s lobby that puts the spotlight on people who’ve found their voices within the genre.
Not long after we recognized This Is Hip-Hop for its special perspective in our annual Best of Nashville issue, word came that the next rotation would focus on rap in Music City. For the next few months, the displays will feature materials from folks like Street Symphony, Count Bass D, A.B. Eastwood, Ron Gilmore and R.A.P. Ferreira in an installation called The State of Hip-Hop.
We’re thrilled and delighted that the museum is including some of the Scene’s coverage of Nashville hip-hop as well. There’s a special opening ceremony at NMAAM tonight, Nov. 16, starting at 6:30 p.m. Admission to the event is free, but you must RSVP via the museum’s website. If you can’t make it, head to the museum when you can and take some extra time to check this out as you enter.
Personally, I’d like to shout out freelance contributors who’ve diligently followed local rap since I’ve been at the music editor’s desk, including Lance Conzett, D’Llisha Davis, P.J. Kinzer, Brittney McKenna and Charlie Zaillian. Also deserving major props is Sean L. Maloney, who wrote this week’s cover story on onetime mixtape-slinger and CMA’s recently crowned New Artist of the Year Jelly Roll, and who covered Nashville hip-hop for years in his Party and Bullshit column. Plenty more have covered hip-hop for us over the years — it’s a dynamic scene with lots to take in, and it’s a big part of the ongoing story of local music.
