ITHACA, N.Y. (March 26, 2013) – Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Caz and other legends are coming back to Ithaca for the opening of the Cornell Hip Hop Collection’s first major exhibition and a community-wide celebration of hip-hop.

Joining them are MC Sha-Rock of the Funky Four + 1 More (the first influential female rapper), Rahiem of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (the first hip-hop group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), JDL of the Cold Crush Brothers, Crazy Legs and Popmaster Fabel of the Rock Steady Crew, the GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan, Breakbeat Lou and TATS Cru — just to name a few.

The exhibition kicks off Ithaca’s community-wide “Hip Hop: Unbound from the Underground” celebration and features artifacts from Cornell University Library’s collection. It’s the world’s largest archive on the birth and spread of hip-hop culture, which turns 40 in 2013.

Exhibition highlights include:

• Research footage, original artwork, photography and film production notes from 1983’s “Wild Style,” the first feature film about hip-hop culture, directed by Charlie Ahearn;
• Blackbooks and drawings by Golden Age graffiti writers, such as Iz the Wiz and SEEN;
• Early sound recordings of live jams and examples of the first wave of hip-hop on wax;
• Original flyer artwork by Buddy Esquire, “The King of the Flyer”;
• The work of celebrated filmmakers and photographers, including Joe Conzo, Ernie Paniccioli, Jamel Shabazz and Janette Beckman; and
• Items on loan from friends of the Hip Hop Collection, including never-before-seen clips of the earliest-known film footage of a hip-hop performance, shot by Timothy C. Brown Sr.; an interactive audio recording session of “Louder than a Bomb,” provided by Johnny Juice of Public Enemy; and Rahiem’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction statue.

“Now Scream!” opens on Friday, April 5 and runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Kroch Library, level 2B. It will have extended gallery hours on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

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