New York City's Hip Hop Legacy, Memorialized In Street Signs
In New York City, there are street signs practically everywhere you look: regulations, noise violations, directions, and -- at least for the moment -- rap lyrics. Street artist and graphic designer Jason Shelowitz, known as Jay Shells, has been installing these signs at various locations in the city to memorialize their mention in hip hop lyrics. According to Shelowitz, it all started with Big L's "Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous."
"I was actually just working in my home studio on some fine art, listening to music as I always do,” he says. “And this particular Big L song came on that I’ve heard hundreds of times in my life. And I kind of heard myself going along with the lyrics and heard myself say, ‘On 139 and Lenox Ave. there’s a big park.’ And I just thought, ‘It would be really cool to mark that spot.' It’s such a specific area.”
Since then, Shelowitz has placed signs in front of places as famous as Carnegie Hall (which is mentioned in Busta Rhymes' "Bounce") and as far and obscure as the Smith Haven Mall in Suffolk County, Long Island (a nod to R.A. the Rugged Man's Smithhaven Mall.)
Even though the signs frequently get stolen, Shelowitz continues to put more out there. He hopes to pursue more permanent installations that aren’t “technically illegal.”
“New York is so full of history, and so many amazing things happen on virtually every corner every day and throughout history,” Shelowitz explains. “And nobody knows... So many tourists, so many people that live here don’t even know. You walk right by this corner and this is part of a famous song. And I think you should know it.”
Check out a Spotify playlist of all of the songs used in the "Rap Quotes" project below.
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