The conversation is taking place on our Facebook page. But, we thought we’d pull over our response to posts referencing the recent Wall Street Journal article about the museum.

Thanks for your post Ed. And we want you to know, that our plan and design for this institution is definitely a much different model than any other museum and that the substance within the facility will not be standard by any means.

We really feel like your comment might be one of, if not the best we’ve ever seen on here. The fact of the matter is… See More that we do understand the plight of the Pioneers and we have great sympathy for them. It is their legacies that was an original motivating force for us to erect this museum in the first place. But what the Pioneers don’t seem to understand, is not only is it not the responsibility of a non-profit to compensate artists just for being artists, but its also unlawful. NMoH would easily lose its 501(c)3 if the IRS ever caught wind of payments being made to random pioneers without any particular services having been rendered. Further, has anyone considered how many old school folks are really actually out there? Who’s to say what constitutes an “official pioneer”? If we compensate one, we would have to compensate them all! That would basically turn us into a welfare office, not a museum. And it would leave absolutely no resources left to serve any significant public interests, which at the end of the day, is what EVERY non-profit is supposed to do in some shape or form.

Nonetheless, and this is yet another factor not considered by the pioneers, ever since the Museum was founded, the Board put in place certain policies that would help enrich the livelihood of the Pioneers…policies such as the “Hip-Hop Heroes” fund; a fund that was enacted back in 2006 for the sole purpose of providing resources for pioneers and other old school/economically challenged hip-hop artists (ALL elements not just rappers) to get back on their feet. The way the fund works is that there will be a small percentage extracted from every museum admission ticket sold, every concert ticket sold, and every special event ticket sold that would go into an annuall fund that would finance special programs for these artists-NOT to be given to them in the form of a check! We plan to use the resources to do things like provide job training, or provide venues for them to give speeches, or help them with their marketing so they may reinvent themselves and put out new material–things of a nature that would enable them to help themselves. We feel like that is a better (and more legal) method for showing our respect for these artists and also helping them rebound. But we cannot implement these policies until we raise the necessary funds to erect a building. And the truth is, it will be close to impossible to do that if the “culture” continues to destroy itself from within. We don’t need constant bickering and antagonism, need UNITY.

Bottom line is this: as was said by Craig Wilson, the President, inside the Wall Street Journal this week, we are building this museum for HIP-HOP CULTURE, as a whole, not for any particular individual parts of it. Every single person involved with NMoH is 100% volunteer. Our ONLY motivation for doing this is the preservation of our Culture. We are all fans of the biggest form of music, art and culture in the world-why don’t we have a facility that shows this?!?? Rock has one, Country has one, Hip-Hop needs one! At NMoH, we have a phrase that we like to live by-its a simple question that can be asked of anyone who claims to be a part of our culture: ARE YOU USING YOURSELF TO BENEFIT HIP-HOP CULTURE OR ARE YOU USING HIP-HOP CULTURE TO BENEFIT YOURSELF?? I think the answer to this for NMoH is obvious and clear. How would the folks asking us for money answer this?