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A Great Day in Hip Hop

{{Short description|1998 photograph by Gordon Parks}}

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{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}

{{Infobox artwork

| title = A Great Day in Hip Hop

| image_file = A Great Day in Hip Hop, by Gordon Parks.png

| alt =

| type = Street photography

| artist = Gordon Parks

| completion_date = {{start date|1998|09|29}}

| city = Harlem, New York

| owner = The Gordon Parks Organization

| caption = XXL #7 centerfold of the photograph

}}

A Great Day in Hip Hop is a black-and-white photograph of over 200 hip hop artists and producers in Harlem, New York, taken by photographer Gordon Parks on September 29, 1998.{{cite web|last1=Grove|first1=Rashad|title=10 Must-See Films At The 2019 Urbanworld Film Festival|url=https://www.bet.com/article/2yi05c/10-must-see-films-at-the-2019-urbanworld-film-festival|website=BET|access-date=April 28, 2024|date=September 17, 2019}} It was commissioned by XXL magazine, as a homage to Art Kane's A Great Day in Harlem, photographed in 1958.

The photo was featured on the cover of December 1998's special edition of XXL,{{cite magazine|last=Hinckley|first=David|date=September 30, 1998|title=Rappers Retake Famed Pic|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-rappers-retake-famed-pic/146250022/|via=Newspapers.com|magazine=New York Daily News|page=39|access-date=April 29, 2024}} titled "The Greatest Day in Hip Hop", as the date of photoshoot coincided with the release dates of albums from Jay-Z, A Tribe Called Quest, OutKast, Brand Nubian, and Black Star.{{cite web|url=https://rockthebells.com/articles/sept-29-1998-greatest-release-day-in-hip-hop-history/ |title=RTB REWIND: THE GREATEST RELEASE DAY IN HIP-HOP HISTORY? |website=Rock The Bells |date=September 29, 2022 |last=Howard |first=Jacinta |access-date=March 22, 2024 }}{{cite web|last1=Purdom|first1=Clayton|title=Seinfeld ends, TRL begins, Titanic goes on and on: 17 pop culture windows into 1998|url=https://www.avclub.com/seinfeld-ends-trl-begins-titanic-goes-on-and-on-17-p-1828472471|website=The A.V. Club|date=August 22, 2018|access-date=April 28, 2024}}

Background

File:17 E. 126th St, Harlem.jpg|access-date=April 28, 2024|date=November 30, 2018}}]]

In 1995, Life Magazine commissioned a retake of A Great Day in Harlem gathered ten of the surviving musicians from the photograph, with Parks photographing where they stood. American writer Michael A. Gonzales wrote about the photograph, “As a Harlem boy born a few blocks away from the brownstone where Kane shot the ensemble of jazz musicians, I knew firsthand how much the community had changed in the 40 years since the original picture was taken. That neighborhood had seen it all—from riots and blackouts to heroin and the crack years.”{{cite web|last1=Gonzales|first1=Michael A.|title=XXL’s A Great Day in Hip Hop: 16 Years Later|url=https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2014/09/xxls-greatest-day-in-hip-hop-feature|website=Red Bull Music Academy|date=September 29, 2014|access-date=April 29, 2024}}

Three years after the photograph, 177 participants were assembled, including rappers, producers, and influencers, on the stoop of brownstone number 17. The photograph would represent the following generation, giving a new touch to the 1958 photograph.{{cite web|last1=Rosenberg|first1=Josh|title=How Sheena Lester Recreated One of Esquire's Most Iconic Photographs|url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a44347824/a-great-day-in-hip-hop-photograph-true-story/|website=Esquire|date=July 17, 2023|access-date=April 29, 2024}} Various rappers including the Beastie Boys, Big Pun, Public Enemy, KRS-One, and most members of the Wu-Tang Clan were invited to attend, but did not attend or cancelled the invitation.{{cite web|url=https://www.mtv.com/news/4t2pfh/top-rappers-to-say-cheese-for-great-day-in-harlem-update |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322235228/https://www.mtv.com/news/4t2pfh/top-rappers-to-say-cheese-for-great-day-in-harlem-update |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 22, 2024 |title=Top Rappers To Say 'Cheese' For 'Great Day In Harlem' Update |website=MTV |date=September 8, 1998 |access-date=March 22, 2024 |last=Reiss |first=Randy }}

Musicians in the photograph

The photograph features over 200 people, including artists who participated without an invitation and bystanders who happened to be at the scene. XXL staff identified 177 people:{{cite magazine|author= |title=Hip-Hop America|magazine=XXL|location=New York|pages=86–118|publisher=Harris Publications|date=December 1998|volume=3|number=1 #7}}

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Aftermath

A Great Day in Hip Hop received national attention through the XXL magazine, paving the way for many shoots in various cities including Atlanta, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Houston, the following years.{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/@unclecrizzle/my-long-lost-unpublished-piece-on-great-day-in-hip-hop-shoots-634478ef15f |title=MY LONG-LOST, UNPUBLISHED PIECE ON 'GREAT DAY IN HIP-HOP' SHOOTS |publisher=medium.com |date=September 28, 2018 |last=Lindsey |first=Craig D. |access-date=March 22, 2024 }}

The following year, West Coast rappers gathered together for a photo shoot known as A Day in the West in Los Angeles, with rappers including Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Cypress Hill, Warren G, DJ Quik, King T, and more present.{{cite web|url=https://www.mtv.com/news/ps8tkf/snoop-dogg-mack-10-xzibit-to-come-together-for-a-day-in-the-west |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322234310/https://www.mtv.com/news/ps8tkf/snoop-dogg-mack-10-xzibit-to-come-together-for-a-day-in-the-west |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 22, 2024 |title=Snoop Dogg, Mack 10, Xzibit To Come Together For "A Day In The West" |website=MTV |date=July 13, 1999 |access-date=March 22, 2024 }}

In 2005, MTV would organize an event for Atlanta's most notable rappers including Ludacris, T.I., Young Jeezy, Killer Mike, and DJ Drama.

References

{{reflist}}

Category:1998 works

Category:1998 in American music

Category:1998 in art

Category:1998 in New York City

Category:1990s photographs

Category:Black-and-white photographs

Category:Harlem

Category:Photographs of the United States

Category:1990s in hip-hop

External links

  • [https://www.gordonparksfoundation.org/education/features/a-great-day-in-hip-hop A Great Day in Hip Hop] at The Gordon Parks Foundation

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