LL Cool J, Nas, Lil Kim & More To Attend Universal Hip Hop Museum Groundbreaking Ceremony

Some of the most legendary names in Hip Hop history are scheduled to be part of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Universal Hip Hop Museum. The event is scheduled for today (May 20) along the Harlem River waterfront in The Bronx, New York.

LL Cool J, Nas, Lil Kim Fat Joe, Naughty by Nature, Grandmaster Flash, Slick Rick, Michael Bivins, EPMD, and more acts are expected to make appearances. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and City Council Member Diana Ayala will be in attendance as well.

The ceremony will also serve as the official launch of the Universal Hip Hop Museum’s capital campaign. The $349 million mixed-use building in the South Bronx is being developed by L+M Development Partners and Type A Projects.

In addition to being the future home of the Universal Hip Hop Museum, Bronx Point’s first phase will also provide the Lower Concourse neighborhood with 542 units of permanently affordable housing. Around 2.8 acres are being dedicated to public open space.

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Plans for the Universal Hip Hop Museum were first announced back in 2014, and a pop-up version of the institution was introduced in 2019. However, the initial 2020 date for the groundbreaking was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In February 2021, the forthcoming state-of-the-art facility received a $3.5 million grant from the city of New York. Earlier this month, Microsoft donated $5 million to expand the Universal Hip Hop Museum’s cultural heritage program, and the company was named the Official Technology Partner for the UHHM.

“Preserving the history of Hip Hop, celebrating the cultural contributions of the pioneers who paved the way for today’s Hip Hop generation to thrive and flourish, and promoting the positive economic and social aspects of Hip-Hop have been the sole focus of the UHHM for the past decade,” said Universal Hip Hop Museum Executive Director, Rocky Bucano.

The Universal Hip Hop Museum website lists Rocky Bucano, Kurtis Blow, Shawn LG Thomas, Grand Wizzard Theodore, Mickey Bentson, Joe Conzo Jr., and Grandmaster Melle Mel as Founding Members. Dallas Austin, Marq Hawkins, Ralph McDaniels, and Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis are among the individuals on the UHHM’s Advisory Board.