Cornell Hip Hop Collection

Joe Conzo, Jr. Archive

The Cornell Hip Hop Collection is home to the archive of Joe Conzo, Jr., whom the New York Times called “The man who took Hip-Hop’s baby pictures.” Between 1976 and 1984, Conzo documented life in the South Bronx and the emergence of Hip Hop culture. More than 6,000 digitized images from his negatives are available for public browsing.

Hip Hop Event Flyers

The Cornell Hip Hop Collection includes thousands of event flyers preserved across multiple archives. Nearly 500 flyers advertising Hip Hop’s earliest live events in New York City (ca. 1977–1983) have been digitized for public access.

The Numbered Vinyl Records of Afrika Bambaataa

This digital collection offers a glimpse of vinyl records from Afrika Bambaataa’s archive in the Cornell Hip Hop Collection. It contains images of selected 12" vinyl records from his music collection—records that he numbered, signed with his name, and often annotated as he acquired them from the late 1960s into the early 1980s. Nearly 1,400 of the earliest numbered records in Bambaataa’s collection are included here, representing a small portion of his famed record library.

Ernie Paniccioli Photo Archive

Ernie Paniccioli is a photographer, author, and activist who has captured Hip Hop culture on film for more than 40 years. The Cornell Hip Hop Collection preserves his entire archive and has digitized many of his slides and negatives. Ernie Paniccioli has given his permission to make nearly 20,000 images from his files searchable by the public.

Charlie Ahearn Hip Hop Archive

COMING SOON
Charlie Ahearn is an American film director and video artist. He is best known as the director and producer of Wild Style (1983), celebrated as the first feature film to document Hip Hop culture. The Cornell Hip Hop Collection preserves Charlie Ahearn’s Hip Hop archive and has digitized hundreds of his photographs relating to the production and promotion of Wild Style.

Adler Hip Hop Archive

COMING SOON
Bill Adler was the first VP of Publicity for Def Jam Recordings, 1984-1990. His archive includes files on more than 1,400 Hip Hop artists and groups from the 1970s to the 2010s. The files include press clippings, photographs, record label artist press releases and bios, promotional flyers, and other ephemera documenting the history of Hip Hop.

The IGTimes Archive

COMING SOON
The IGTimes (International Graffiti Times) was the first underground zine devoted to aerosol and street art (1983-1994). Founded and managed by editor David Schimdlapp and Hip Hop cultural pioneer Phase2, the IGT collection includes approximately 940 slides used by Phase and Schmidlapp to educate audiences about street art and its culture. Their presentation, called the “Aerosol Art Armada” has been digitized for public access.