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. 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, 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.

Background

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.”

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. 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.

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:

8Ball A+ A-Plus Afrika Baby Bam Ali Shaheed Muhammad Akil Shabazz Andre Harrell Angie Stone Baby Sham Barron Ricks Benny B Big Gipp Big L Binky Mack Black Thought Boo Kapone Brew Buckshot Busta Rhymes Cam'ron Canibus Cappadonna Casper Ced Gee CeeLo Green Chris Stein Common Cold Hard Cris Lowe D-Nice Da Brat Daddy-O Deborah Harry Del Dice Raw DJ A-Dam-Bomb DJ Chuck Chillout DJ Clue DJ Evil Dee DJ Jazzy Jeff DJ Hollywood DJ Nabs DJ Scratch DJ Scratcha DJ Tony Tone Doctor Ice Domino E-40 E-Swift Easy A.D. Ed O.G. Fab 5 Freddy Fat Joe Freddie Foxxx Grandmaster Caz Grandmaster Flash Greg Nice Grege Morris Gregory Phillips Hakim Heather B The Hulkster Inspectah Deck Jadakiss Jagged Edge Jane Blaze Jarobi Jayo Felony Joe Clair John Forté Jermaine Dupri Juju K.P. Kamal Gray Kangol Kid Kasino Kay Gee Kid Capri Kidd Creole Kilo Kingpin Shaheim King J. Britt King Britt Kool Herc Kool Keith Kool Moe Dee Khujo Kris Kross Kurupt Liffy Stokes Loon Lord Jamar Lord Have Mercy Lord Tariq Luke Mack 10 Mark Sexx Marley Marl Maseo Melle Mel MC Booo MC Eiht MC Knight MC Serch MC Shan MJG Mike Gee Milk Dee Mos Def Mr. Reck Muggs MyQuan Jackson Never Nikki D Opio Paula Perry Pee Wee Dance Pete Rock Peter Gunz Phesto Phife Dawg Pop La B Posdnuos Pras Psycho Les Q-Tip Queen Pen Questlove Rah Digga Rakim Rampage Reggie Reg Richie Rich Rodney C Russell Simmons Saafir Scarface Schoolly D Shaquille O'Neal Sheek Louch Shyheim Slick Rick Smooth B Special K Spliff Star Steele Sticky Fingaz Styles P T Baby T La Rock T-Mo Tajai Talib Kweli Tash Teddy Ted Tek Tela Thomas Anthony Treach Trugoy Tuffy Twista U-God Vinny Wildstyle Willie D. Wise Intelligent Wyclef Jean X1 Xzibit Yoda

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.

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.

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

External links A Great Day in Hip Hop at The Gordon Parks Foundation