Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) launches a hip-hop music collaboration with The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in celebration of Hip Hop At 50 – Honoring 50 Years of Hip Hop: A Legacy of Rhythm, Revolution, and Soul.
Together with the MTA, UMe have created 80,000 “Metro Cards” available in subway vending locations across New York City. These collectibles feature four generational East Coast hip-hop icons, namely Cam’Ron, LL COOL J, Rakim, and Pop Smoke.
About the cards, Rakim commented, “From standing on top of the Empire State Building to grabbing a slice at the corner pizza shop, NYC creates iconic moments that are recognized around the world. But it doesn’t get closer to real city life than swiping a metro card and standing clear of the closing doors. It’s an honor to be celebrating the 50th Anniversary on the streets… and now below them… of the city where hip-hop was born.”
LL COOL J added, “When I first started in Hip-Hop, we were using tokens and then in the 90’s the MetroCard came out. And through the pandemic I remember riding the subway anonymously by myself. Now in 2023 I have my own limited-edition MetroCard in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop. This is a beautiful full circle moment. Hip-Hop is amazing!”
The LL COOL J cards are coinciding with the second year of The Rock The Bells festival in Forest Hills, Queens. Rock The Bells is dedicated to the ongoing preservation and illumination of the culture that Hip Hop has made global. This metro card project celebrates 4 watershed moments in New York hip hop and represents the ever-changing bedrock of the culture, this is a symbol to the next generation that ideas and self-expression matters, and putting a positive and uplifting message into the world can make you a super star.
Cards can be found across New York City. The LL COOL J cards can be found in Forest Hills at the 71st Ave metro stop in CTR areas N333, N333A, and N333B. In collaboration with the Shoot For The Stars Foundation, the Pop Smoke cards appear at the Canarsie-Rockaway Pkwy stop in CTR area R634, in addition to the New Lots Ave stop in CTR area H041. Vending machines with the Cam’Ron and Rakim cards will be revealed soon. As part of this initiative, hip-hop quite literally courses through the nervous system of New York City, adorning these subway locales.
Hip Hop 50 traces the history of rap music with a series of very special anniversary editions of classic albums on exclusive vinyl colorways throughout 2023. These LPs span Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded on June 2, Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III (Deluxe) on June 9, and Salt-n-Pepa’s Very Necessary on October 13. In the fall, releases include Gang Starr’s Daily Operation, LL COOL J’s Mama Said Knock You Out, Onyx’s Bacdafucup, and Guru’s Jazzmatazz Vol. 1 on November 3 followed by Public Enemy’s It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back on November 10.
Colorways and details will be revealed soon for these limited-edition pressings.