Master Gee and DJ Boom on their love for hip-hop and the importance of preserving the artform

June 30th, 2023

From left to right: Master Gee, the founding member of the hip hop group The Sugarhill Gang and the executive director of The National Hip Hop Museum, and Jeremy Beaver (aka DJ Boom), the founder and collector for The National Hip Hop Museum. The guests talk about the evolution of hip hop, the importance of studying the artform and the mission of The National Hip Hop Museum. (Photo credit: The National Hip Hop Museum )

DJ Kool Herc is credited with launching the hip-hop movement while deejaying at a back-to-school party in 1973.

Six years later, the art form would go mainstream when Wonder Mike, Big Bank Hank, and Master Gee dropped their first pioneering record in 1979.

“Rapper’s Delight” by The Sugar Hill Gang was the first rap single to become a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

Fast forward to roughly five decades, the “Rapper’s Delight” remains one of the emblematic tracks of hip-hop.

For “Closer Look’s” Hip-Hop at 50 series, Rose talks with Master Gee, the founding member of the group The Sugarhill Gang and the executive director of The National Hip Hop Museum, and Jeremy Beaver (aka DJ Boom), the founder and collector for The National Hip Hop Museum.

The guests talk about the evolution of the genre, the importance of studying the art form and the mission of The National Hip Hop Museum.

“One of the main reasons I’m a part of this museum is because being a person that brought it to the world, I felt it was my responsibility to preserve it for the world,” said Master Gee.