The Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx just secured $5 million in federal funding. The money will go toward completing construction of the Universal Hip Hop Museum, funding K-12 educational programming and building affordable housing in the surrounding area.
KRS-One and wife Simone G. Parker, Grandmaster Flash and Eric B. were on hand to celebrate the generous gift. They were joined by Senator Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senator Kristin Gillibrand and Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson who proudly declared they were “planting seeds for the next generation.”
“On behalf of Hip-Hop’s education piece, this is so important,” KRS-One said. Grandmaster Flash added: “I co-created what is unarguably the biggest music culture on planet earth.”
The Universal Hip Hop Museum was initially announced in 2017. Since then, it’s been collecting artifacts, constructing the building and securing funding.
“The Universal Hip Hop Museum may be the single most important project for the preservation of Hip Hop culture,” Kurtis Blow said at the time. “This new cultural institution will be a great new tourism destination for NYC and the Bronx. What a great day for Hip-Hop! Our four years of hard team work has paid off. I thank God, as I am elated to know that this mecca devoted to the cultural phenomenon of Hip-Hop will preserve not only my legacy but also the legacies of many others for the world to see.”
The 50,000 square-feet UHHM is part of a $349 million project alongside the Harlem River waterfront. Bronx Point’s first phase promises to deliver 542 units of permanently affordable housing to the Lower Concourse neighborhood with approximately 2.8 acres of public open space. It will also provide an array of cultural and community-focused programming, including the UHHM, an early childhood space run by BronxWorks and outdoor science programming run by the Billion Oyster Project.
In 2019, the State of New York donated a $3.5 million grant to the museum. Museum Director Rocky Bucano explained the museum will celebrate the four elements of Hip Hop culture: breaking, graffiti, DJing and MCing.
“The museum is part of the renaissance of the Bronx,” Bucano said at the time. “The Bronx is coming back, but the museum will be of the people and for the people.”
