I might say my relationship with hip-hop and rap began as a child listening to Lupe Fiasco’s “The Cool” since it was all my cousin would listen to. The album was one of the first I’d put on my first generation iPod touch back in 2008. But truth is, it probably began earlier than that, considering I remember long car rides with my aunt blasting Jay Z’s “Black Album” or always talking about Nas.

I always appreciated the power behind the storytelling in rap. My grandma kept me well read, and the poetry in Lupe Fiasco’s lyrics inspired me as he did so many others. I am a poet because of him and so many others. I am not a rapper because my voice isn’t suited for that, nor do I have the level of braggadocio required.

I am, however, a documentarian because I believe in the power of Black people to tell our own stories. I do so with my camera most times and words at others. This page is a curated effort to share faces, places, and more around hip-hop and the culture. I want to share my vision of who’s who, who’s doing what, the BTS, the moments, the good, the bad, and the ugly from my lens.

This isn’t all of what sits in my archive, and this project will grow as I uncover more and more, but this is a foundation of what I hope will provide a large view of how expansive and vast hip hop is. Who knows, maybe a book or an exhibition will come out of it.