Hip Hop: Conscious, Unconscious
Let's take a field trip to Fotografiska's exhibition
Last month, I checked out Fotografiska’s exhibition, Hip Hop: Conscious, Unconscious, in celebration of hip hop’s 50th anniversary this year. In partnership with Mass Appeal, the exhibition packs a compact yet comprehensive collection of photography and ephemera that features hip hop’s iconic artists and the cities that raised them.
This week, I wanted to share some of my favorite images from the exhibition. It closes on May 20th, so if you’re in NYC within the next two weeks, I’d recommend it. For the most part, the exhibition lets the images speak for themselves (read: minimal text) and presents them chronologically and by region, focusing on the Coasts and the South. It felt hard to narrow it down to these lucky 13 images since there were so many more captivating candid snapshots, glossy portraits, and magazine spreads. I hope you can go see it in person!
The exhibit opens with photographs of hip hop’s birthplace, the Bronx in the 70s, before there were any famous hip hop figures, only local heroes. I loved the photos of the breakdancers from this time, but especially this kid, captured in the joy of movement and performance.
While the exhibit focused on rappers and MCs the most, I was happy to see the other pillars of hip hop represented—breakdancers, graffiti artists, and DJs, in the beginning of the exhibition. Here we see Lady Pink, known for her daring and pioneering graffiti writing in train yards, beginning in the late 70s. (In case ya missed it, I wrote about her last year: Lady Pink’s Sublime Subways.)
So many of the photographs showed hip hop legends when they were up-and-coming artists in the early days of forming their styles and sounds. I especially loved the candid shots, like this one of Salt-N-Pepa. Side note: I recently enjoyed this New York Times Style Magazine article featuring Salt-N-Pepa and Issa Rae as part of their theme: “This Woman’s Work: 40 legendary female artists and the young women who remind them why they make art.”
This is my favorite photograph from the entire exhibition. We see Wyclef Jean in the foreground taking up the most space in the composition, but the focal point is (always!) Lauryn Hill. I love how the angles of the buildings receding in perspective and the neck of the guitar frame her. She crouches in the balance of the music and the city, eyes focused beyond what we can see.
Mary J. Blige’s debut album, What’s the 411? dropped in 1992, so this is MJB right before she hit it big. When I saw this in the gallery, I paused for awhile. There’s something about her expression here that I’m finding hard to describe, but I’m locked into her strong gaze and almost-smile. Even at 20 years old, she possessed this natural ability to draw people in and connect with them.
Eve and Lil’ Kim in 2001! I have no words! I have so many words! I see this picture of Eve and immediately hear the hook, “la la la-la-la-la~la la la-la-la.” I love the video for “Who’s That Girl” because it’s full of the most delicious early 00s video trends—cameos, liquid CGI effects, camera shots down narrow hallways, animation, and a Harlem Shake dance break! And if we’re watching early 00s videos, we can’t forget the incredible styling in Lil’ Kim’s video for “No Matter What They Say,” released a year before this photo shoot. For a deeper dive into the designers and stylists who shaped hip hop fashion, check out The Remix: Hip Hop x Fashion. This 2019 documentary highlights Misa Hylton, the visionary stylist and designer behind some of Lil’ Kim’s (and many others’) most memorable looks—yes, including that unforgettable purple pasty mermaid jumpsuit she wore to the 1999 MTV Music Video Awards.
I tried to reduce the glare and reflections from the glass that showed up in my photos with a little editing, but I left this photo of Erykah Badu’s portrait alone. I liked how this photograph of Outkast, hung on the opposite wall, appeared in the glass of her portrait, almost as a quiet acknowledgement of André 3000 and Erykah Badu’s history together.
Here are two of Brooklyn’s finest supergroups: Digable Planets and Black Star, aka Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def). I loved the nods to Brooklyn in these photographs, especially how the camera lens exaggerated the scale and might of the Brooklyn Bridge behind Digable Planets. Eddie Otchere shot this portrait of Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey (right) at a Jamaican diner on Nostrand Ave., as part of the artwork for their debut album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star.
Missy Elliott will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year, and I’m thrilled to see her get her flowers. DJ Kool Herc, one of hip hop’s founding fathers, is also an inductee for 2023, receiving the Musical Influence Award. Missy Elliott’s visuals—from her fashion to her videos, always featured elements of play and exaggeration, and this 1998 Spin Magazine shoot captures that essence so well here.
I’m ending with this film strip of Jadakiss laughing, because I’ve been listening to “We Gonna Make It”—one of the greatest hype tracks of all time—a lot this week. (Hope it hypes you up too!) My friend Felipe also put me on this YouTube channel, that blends the original song with the hip hop track that samples it. If you love going down the rabbit hole of tracing back samples, you’ll probably enjoy it too.
Images and caption information provided by Fotografiska.
If you’ve been to this exhibit, or felt anything from seeing these images, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments! Thanks for reading.
I also visited this exhibit in April and am working on a reflection for my newsletter as well -- your writing has repeatedly coincided with my own endeavors, and the photo of Eve was also one of my favorites. I spent the most time on the top floor watching the Video Music Box interviews; I wish we still had that type of media. Thank you for sharing this - I will link this in my reflection as well :)
Great writeup - loved your description of the Wyclef & Hill picture.