The Hip Hop Museum, slated to open its doors to the public in the summer of 2026, will be the first dedicated to exploring the genre’s history and social impact on the culture and its influence beyond the basics of art and ethnic constraints. The 55,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility, located in New York’s Bronx borough is intended to educate, inspire, and empower marginalized communities domestically and globally by celebrating hip hop’s past and present while envisioning the future of the genre’s potential to bring communities and people around the nation and the world together to promote awareness and understanding of the music and the culture. The first-of-its-kind museum was founded by hip-hop pioneers Rocky Bucano, Kurtis Blow, Grandwizzard Theodore, Grandmaster Melle Mel, and Joe Conzo Jr.
THHM will feature a team of scholarship historians specializing in various aspects of hip hop, including fashion, film, and politics, and use VR and AI technology to enhance the project’s visitor experience. Additionally, a special partnership with JP Morgan Chase will allow patrons to focus on financial literacy and community empowerment through its focus on mentorship programs and educational resources to foster entrepreneurship and creativity among youth.
“This has been a passion project of mine for 16 years. When I began with the concept 16 years ago, just as an audacious dream, you know,” explains THHM co-founder and CEO Rocky Bucano. “I was thinking about the importance of hip-hop and knowing that … there was no permanent home to celebrate and preserve hip-hop and bring people to a safe space where they could learn about hip-hop history and culture.”
THHM will provide a platform to share insights and bring attention to the financial aspects of developing a successful career in hip-hop and help aspiring and established artists promote and share insights regarding the unique requirements to enjoy successful musical careers and expand resources to cultivate and advance hip-hop as a transformative force for people and communities worldwide.
“Hip-hop has always been a leader in providing insights and information to people who live in marginalized communities, whether it’s groups like Public Enemy, or groups like NWA and Compton or, you know, people like us, Sister Soldier or Queen Latifah, the music has always resonated as a source of information. As Chuck D says, it’s the CNN of the hood,” Bucano added enthusiasm.
The Atlanta Daily World spoke with the hip-hop afficianado regarding the museum, the the origins of hip-hop and THHM’s partnership with JP Morgan Chase.
On the beginnings of hip-hop and the birth of The Hip Hop Museum concept …
There was a paradigm shift in music. In the early ‘70s, when hip-hop was coming of age or just getting started, disco was king. So Donna Summers, The Tramps, [and] all these groups that were prominent on radio but not prominent in the streets. [And the things we listened to in the streets were not played on radio. We listened to, James Brown, Funky Drummer, Parliament, Funkadelic, Sly and the Family Stone. Some of these artists were very popular but still were not played on mainstream radio because disco was so over the top. We grew up watching Soul Train and stuff like that, so the teens that wanted to take this to the next level, were really innovators. And it’s that innovative spirit that really allowed for hip-hop to become what it is.
On the evolution of hip-hop …
Hip Hop samples everything from jazz to punk to rock, the blues, country. And when you sample all these different genres, and you put them all together to make what is called Hip Hop, or rap music, it becomes special, becomes unique. It sets itself apart from everything else. And that’s, and that’s the uniqueness. It’s it’s always been driven by you, and it continues to evolve and change every generation. So that’s why hip hop has lasted so long. Because back in the 80s, when hip hop, the fresh records like Run DMC and LL Cool J came out, radio did not want to play hip hop or rap on the radio. They wanted to play, you know, Patti LaBelle cool in the gang and all those groups, which is great, you know, they want to play that, but the kids wanted to hear what they were hearing in the parks. And that, that revolution allowed for the music to really grow and become what it is.
On the JP Morgan Chase connection …
So JP Morgan Chase was looking for an organization that can fit into their community mission of empowering the people who live around their different Chase branches, and to provide financial mastery programs to help uplift the people in these neighborhoods with credit management, wealth management and access to new capital to start small businesses. And when they were looking at different organizations, they basically found us- The Hip Hop Museum, and said our missions aligned.
Our missions are on track and serve a mutual purpose. And because of that relationship, we were able to bring the hip-hop stars into their local community branches and talk about everything from starting in music, or having their first contract So bringing all these different people, creative people, business people from the community, to meet people that live in the community and share their stories is very impactful, because people learn from others.
Basically, its taking resources and bringing it back to the community, so that the people who live in those communities have access to information that they may not otherwise get. We’ll talke about how to apply for a small business loan and how to make sure that you understand how paying your mortgage is going to help build your credit and create generational wealth. … And even outside of the banking system, just showing people how others were successful in getting their own businesses off the ground.
With Chase, we will use our space at The Hip Hop Museum to bring people in and have courses about financial literacy, basic financial management, business operations, marketing, different parts of the corporate lifestyle, so that people understand you don’t necessarily have to work in a company to learn how to manage a company. You can come in here and see how it’s done from others who are currently doing it.
We will have K through 12 programs. We have scholars to put [on] college level programs and the like. But the relationship with Chase is so strong we want to make sure that people from all age groups understand the power of money.
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