The second of the four original elements of hip-hop, Disk Jockeying-aka DJing aka Turntable-ism, is said to have originated in the South Bronx in the mid 70’s. The DJ was responsible for bringing sound, rhythm, and reason to hip-hop culture; without which there would have been no rapper and/or no b-boy.

However, the purpose of nmoh.org, during the pre-construction phase of the Museum, is not to provide a comprehensive history on any of the four elements. Instead, this site means to provide members of hip-hop culture with something that no other website can; an in-depth glimpse into how this element will be represented within the World’s first hip-hop museum.

The following summary is a rendition of current design protocols for the Museum facility. NMoH has published these designs, prematurely, for the purpose of keeping hip-hop fans around the world informed on our development progress, but mostly to encourage comments, questions and suggestions from the visitors of this website. The Board of Governors for the Museum mandates we take into serious consideration any and all comments from the public; as we envision this will be the first museum in history to be created by a plethora of suggestions from the public. This will be an institution designed for hip-hop culture, by hip-hop culture.

It is important to realize that the National Museum of Hip-Hop will not be a reproduction of the traditional museum; filled with permanent and temporary exhibits. NMoH will consist of 75% interactive activities and about 25% exhibitions. The Museum Campus will consist of the museum facility, two public parks, an exterior promenade and a separate concert hall for the Hall of Fame. The museum facility will be divided into four elemental departments, a central cafeteria, two public parks and a restaurant/lounge. Each of the four departments represents an element of hip-hop. The DJing Department, focusing mainly on technology, is the second largest of the four departments.

This department will be approximately 15,500 square feet and will be comprised of crate-digging archive stations, a comprehensive hip-hop vinyl record library, and a complete radio station for live broadcasting. The crate-digging stations (click here to view diagram) will be where visitors can go to review or research a digital archive of thousands of mixtapes, CDs and live recordings of hip-hop DJs from all over the world. If it has been recorded, we will have it! Also within the crate-digging stations, patrons can sit and record their own mixes and take them home! The record library(click here to view diagram), an extension of the NMoH Hip-Hop Library, will be home to the largest collection of vinyl rap albums in the world. Members will be able to listen to any record they want within the library walls. The radio station will be approximately 500-800 square feet and will operate a live broadcast for the New York Metro area. This station will be dedicated to only true hip-hop; showcasing local/underground rap as well as celebrity artists from around the world. Radio talk shows and community initiatives will also be significant staples of the station.

As with every elemental department, the DJing Department will offer a full disk-jockeying workshop as well as U.S. college-accredited production, engineering, and record industry management courses. The workshop will give visitors of all ages a chance to learn exactly what it takes to be a real hip-hop dj; from the history of production and technology to technique & turntable-ism processes and much more. Workshop teachers will consist of some of the top djs and producers from around the world, as well as engineering professors from the top recording studios around the New York Metro area.

The featured contest for the DJing department will be a bi-monthly experience called “The Golden Turntables Competition. This event will be a competition involving the best hip-hop djs around the world, who will showcase their turntable skills at NMoH in front of a live as well as televised audience. There will be a total of 6 winners per year. Before the end of each fiscal year, each of the 6 winners will compete to declare one final Golden Turntable Champion. The champion will receive a set of National Museum of Hip-Hop Golden Turntables plus various awards and prizes and become the official DJ for the annual Hall of Hip-Hop Induction Ceremony that year.

So as you can imagine, the DJing Department will have a great deal to offer to its visitors. Besides what has been illustrated here, there are many more features of this department. However, we feel like there are many more that can be developed! This is where you come in. Tell us what you think about our proposed ideas. Tell us what we can do to make them better—whether by additions or subtractions. Tell us how you think we should devise the criteria for DJ artist Hall of Hip-Hop inductions. Tell us about your favorite hip-hop DJs from around the world, and why they should be featured within the Museum. We are building this facility for YOU! So we want to hear from you…we are really going to take the dopest suggestions under serious consideration; and any ideas we consider, we will post props for on the website! PEACE.

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