Please join XXL veteran journalists and contributors on May 9, 2023 — Sheena Lester, Datwon Thomas, Bonsu Thompson, Larry H

Almost 25 years ago, on September 29, 1998, I placed my Rolleiflex camera in my shoulder bag and took the train up to 126th Street to meet Gordon Parks on the block where he would capture history for XXL — a magazine I helped launch in ’97. I spent the day with Mr. Parks for what would become one of my greatest life moments.  

I was always drawn to journalists and photographers. In my era, they were the documentarians of the golden age of hip-hop journalism: The Source, Vibe, Rap Pages, Ego Trip, On the Go, Stress, 4080 and, of course, XXL … those were the days, man. Although one of the greatest photographers to ever live, Parks had never documented hip-hop culture, and he was about to make some noise.

17 East 126th Street had already made history in 1958 with Art Kane’s original shoot for Esquire, coined “A Great Day in Harlem,” in which he captured 57 legendary jazz musicians. It was a powerful and cerebral moment watching the sun attempt to shut down the shoot of close to 200 rap legends as Parks was waiting to press the shutter-release button. He got the shot and history was made. As the dozens of rap artists dispersed, I took out my camera going through 10 rolls of film. I made it a mission to identify other folks who were snapping photos that day and developed the largest archive of behind-the-scenes photos of that “great day.”  

I am honored to receive the invitation from Fotografiska to moderate a discussion about the legendary photoshoots from ’58 and ’98. iD8 Entertainment has published a special-edition journal for the evening, in which I edited, entitled “Hip-Hop’s Greatest Day” — giving a glimpse of some of the day’s images that were captured by Parks’ protégé Johanna Fiore, former SLAM editor Ben Osborne and myself. (Shout out to Paul Scirecalabrisotto for the masterful design work).  

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It is incredible witnessing Kane’s photo continuing to reunite people 25 years later.  I’ve learned firsthand: Most great work is that which stands the test of time — which can only be realized later in one’s life when least expected.  

With the soon-to-be-released, five-episode podcast series on Audible (in which I am Executive Producer) entitled “The Greatest Day”, about Sheena Lester’s story of making the impossible happen, it is truly an honor to continue to strive to make sure this day is never forgotten and recognized as the greatest day in hip-hop history.

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JONATHAN RHEINGOLD, RESPECT. Founder

Gordon Parks prior to capturing Hip-Hop’s Geratest Day. Photo: © Johanna Fiore

What also turn out to be … Hip-Hop’s “greatest” block party! Photo: © Johanna Fiore

The post A Great Night In Hip-Hop. Paying Tribute to Hip-Hop’s Most Iconic Photo at Fotografiska NY appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Maybe my years as editor-in-chief of Rap Pages had inured me to the idea of an impossible cover. Difficult? Sure. Impossible? Nope. There was nary a cover concept, no matter how odd or unlikely, that Rap Pages’ wildly imaginative edit squad couldn’t somehow massage into viability, then, ultimately, reality. We snuck onto government land to shoot Goodie Mob immersed in a dank pond where snakes swam almost as freely as fish. We talked Lauryn Hill into being slathered in sky blue body paint from her ears to her ankles. We even persuaded a lovely young model named Shonda Santiago to let Ol’ Dirty Bastard cup her bare breasts to playfully kick Rolling Stone’s infamous 1994 Janet Jackson cover in its shins. Gathering as many hip-hop artists we could on the same Harlem stoop beloved jazz visionaries like Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey and their ingenious ilk once famously posed for Esquire? Hell, what was so hard about that? Granted, recreating Kane’s seminal image wouldn’t be easy. But, so what?

If there was ever a creative crew outside the Rap Pages squad that could do it, this was the one. Larry “The Blackspot” Hester had left Vibe with me to run XXL as the consummate lieutenant to my captain; we were clearly on a mission to tread some new and exciting territory. Everyone was. The skeletal staff at SLAM, Harris Publications’ wonderfully raw basketball magazine, had become its hip-hop cousin’s editorial girders by default after its original leaders’ departure: the wise and wily Tony Gervino, shit-talker extraordinaire Scoop Jackson, razor-witted Russ Bengston, mercurial design man Don Morris, deadline regulator Anna Gebbie and Ben Osborne, the young Wonder Twin opposite XXL’s zealous Datwon Thomas, the two our pack’s hungry, playful cubs, eager to learn and mature at their protective elders’ sides.

The post The Greatest Day In Harlem: The Game Changer appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.