MISSION

 

The Chicago Hip Hop Heritage Museum preserves, celebrates, and advances Chicago’s Hip Hop legacy through education, cultural experiences, and community engagement—using Hip Hop as a catalyst for creativity, empowerment, economic opportunity, and intergenerational connection.

 

VISION

 

To elevate Chicago’s contributions to Hip Hop on the global stage and build an institution that transforms that legacy into opportunity—fostering the artists, entrepreneurs, businesses, ideas, and creative industries that will shape Chicago’s cultural and economic future.

In June 2021, Custom Resources, the ChiRock Nation (Chicago Respect Our Creative Kids/Kings), and Diverse City collaborated to create the Chicago Hip Hop Heritage Museum to commemorate the 18th annual Hip Hop Heritage Month in July as designated by the City of Chicago. The exhibit opened July 3rd, 2021 and continued to build until January 2026. Through the work realized in this 4.5 year effort, a few thousand people from as far as 5 continents have received tours, and learned about the contributions of Chicago's Hip Hop culture spanning across the 5 elements of Hip Hop (Graffiti Writers, Breakers, DJs, Emcees, and Knowledge/Entrepreneurship). The impact of the museum has been immeasurable, and as a result the museum is included in a planned development project slated for a late 2027, early 2028 opening. In the meantime, founders Brian Gorman, Carrico "Kingdom Rock" Sanders, and Darrell "Artistic" Roberts will be looking to expand partnerships that will continue to push the mission of the Chicago Hip Hop Heritage Museum.