Hush Hip Hop Tours NYC

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March 27, 2017

Yep. I went on one. This is how it happened and why I actually enjoyed myself and totally recommend going on Hush Hip Hop Tours in NYC.

My husband’s cousin and his fiancee came to visit us for three weeks. His cousin is a hip hop artist in Germany and was very excited about coming to the birth place of the art form he adopted. So in preparation (like a good German) he bought all of us tickets to the Hush Hip Hop Tours.

I reluctantly went because:

a) I grew up during the East Coast- West Coast hip hop feud and I’m from Oakland. It seemed blasphemous to admit there was any value to hip-hop history outside of Tupac and yes a nod to the The Sugarhill Gang for popularizing it all.

b) I had not idea how much I didn’t know

c) I really hate being taken on theme tours that have to deal with any kind of anything outside of food, wine, and history (not hip hop history).

So my cousin-in-law dragged all of us out of the house at 9am on a Saturday (fml) to go to midtown Manhattan to go on the Hush Hip Hop Tours to learn about hip-hop which I assumed I knew enough about because I had “lived it.”

I was so wrong

I loved the tour. It was MC’ed by the one and only Grandmaster Caz who was born and raised in the Bronx and one of the original pioneers of hip-hop as we know it. We took a bus tour to various historical sites of hip-hop including Sedgwick Avenue where the first hip-hop party was throw.

As a special surprise the family of the director of the Netflix Special The Get Down was on tour so they added to the flare!

We learned about four elements of hip hop, the graffiti, break dancing, the DJ, and the people.

We were entertained by members of the Rock Steady Crew and they taught us some moves. We walked down the streets where hip-hop graffiti are permanent fixtures and took photos, we formed a dance circle, and learned about the history of hip-hop through landmarks and Grandmaster Caz’s magical way of informing us.

On the way back guests – the brave and talented ones- entertained us with a rap battle.

Truth is — this tour left me with an appreciation for hip hop, Harlem, the Bronx, and NYC. You just realize how much history each block you walk down has and how people from all over the boroughs, and especially the Bronx, have shapped America and the world as we know it.

So yes, use a guest as an excuse, and book a tour with Hush Hip Hop Tours in NYC. You’ll be happy you did.

Have you gone on a tour with them before? What did you think?