This Thursday (May 21), a number of Hip-Hop luminaries and other music legends were on-hand for the groundbreaking for the Universal Hip-Hop Museum. Nas, LL Cool J, Fat Joe, Lil Kim, Naughty by Nature, Grandmaster Flash, Slick Rick, Michael Bivins and EMPD were all in attendance.
"Hip hop is one of those things that really gave my life meaning," LL Cool J said. "It made me feel like I really could do something with my life."
The facility is a $349 million mixed-use project along the Harlem River waterfront in the South Bronx. The facility is being developed by L+M Development Partners and Type A Projects. The rap legends were there with Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. Thursday to break ground on the first phase of Bronx Point, soon to be the permanent home of the Universal Hip Hop Museum. The museum has been in the works for more than ten years.
"It's going to be be global destination," Diaz said. "It's going to be an economic engine."
"This museum is being built by those who come from Hip-Hop," Executive Director Rocky Bucano said. "It's not coming from outside of Hip-Hop."