1520 Sedgwick Ave., recognized as the birthplace of hip-hop.

It’s not often that the Bronx is mentioned in the same breath as Hollywood and Silicon Valley.

But an exhibit being planned at the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center in Washington, D.C. will pay homage to these areas and others as “hot spots” of innovation.

“We wanted to show that it’s not just a single inventor who creates something, but really a community that creates the right recipe for an invention,” said Laurel Fritzsch, who curated the Bronx portion of the exhibit.

The borough was selected for the innovations and inventions that gave rise to hip hop music.

“The Bronx (in the 1970s) is an interesting contrast to Silicon Valley, which is kind of the stereotypical example,” Fritzsch said. “Inventors in the Bronx had a lot of hands-on skills and were able to apply that in ways that led to the creation of these innovative sound systems.”

DJ Kool Herc performs at the Birth of the Boom Hip Hop Festival in 2011.

Hip hop pioneers like Grandmaster Flash famously created his own crossfader using spare parts. DJ Kool Herc expertly used Jamaican sound systems to create a unique sound that became rap music.

“Modern mixers and a lot of the speakers and sound systems came out of what (early DJs) created,” Fritzsch said.
The Places of Invention exhibit is slated to open in spring 2015 at the Lemeson Center, part of the National Museum of American History.

The Bronx section of the show will feature such period pieces as a boombox, vinyl records, hip hop flyers and videos. The exhibit will even feature a lamppost to be used to power music systems, a nod to when early DJs hotwired streetlamps, filching the electricity to run their equipment.

Visitors will also get to try their hand at mixing and scratching.

A turntable belonging to Hip Hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash is among other
hip-hop relics such as vinyl records, microphones and boom boxes
in the Smithsonian Institution.

“I think it’s really cool that they’re doing something like this,” said Grand Wizzard Theodore, credited with inventing scratching. “People need to know the history behind it all.”

Many, especially the younger set, he said, know so little about hip hop’s beginnings.

“Scratching plays such a major part in DJing,” he said. “It gives you the chance to express yourself, the chance to get into mixing. It’s just so important no matter the genre of music you’re into.”

Fordham University’s Mark Naison also lauded the project, noting the creative genius of the rap pioneers.

“There was all this inventing going on at the time so it makes perfect sense that they’re honoring the Bronx,” said Naison, professor of African American Studies and History. “It’s a wonderful thing they’re doing.”

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