SPINNINGFIELDS PARTNERED WITH THE MANCHESTER HIP HOP ARCHIVE TO CREATE A FREE POP-UP EXHIBITION THAT CELEBRATES THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIP HOP CULTURE.

Situated inside the ground floor unit of NCP on New Quay Street, Spinningfields presented an exhibition displayed over 250 items from the 1970s to present day, that encapsulated the evolution and impact of Hip Hop on our city’s artistic, social, and political landscape.

Open to the public, the collection included clothing, photographs, records, sketchbooks, posters and flyers that vividly showcase core elements of Hip Hop – emceeing, deejaying, breakin’ and graff.

Highlights included a 106FM D.I.Y. pirate radio transmitter built by Sergei (DNA) that was used to fearlessly broadcast unauthorised signals from makeshift studios and tower blocks across Manchester in the 2000s, introducing listeners to grass root DJs and artists.

The legacy of 106FM lives on, having since transformed into Unity Radio 92.8FM, the first independent black music radio station at Media City.

Other gems surfacing from the vaults of the Manchester Hip Hop Archive’s collection included cassette tape recordings of the late Stu Allan’s “Bus Diss” radio show from the 1980s, vintage Adidas from 1984, a Mr Scruff sketch book with ‘Keep It Unreal’ post card artworks spanning 20 years of shows at Band on the Wall, along with significant streetwear items from the pioneering boutique, The Sheep Store, acknowledged as one of the earliest, if not the very first, grey importers of the Supreme, X-Large, and Stussy brands within the UK.

A party thrown by DJ Kool Herc and his sister Cindy at 1520 Sedgewick Avenue in the Bronx on 11 August 1973 is officially recognised as the birthday and birthplace of Hip Hop. 50 years later, Hip Hop is a global cultural movement that’s richly woven into the fabric of our own city, for which Spinningfields was proud to authentically showcase the Manchester Hip Hop Archive’s unique collection of memorabilia and materials that demonstrate the city’s position in the history of UK Hip Hop.