WELCOME TO THE TEMPLE OF HIP HOP
"The Temple of Hip Hop
is a Hip Hop cultural Association"
The Temple of Hip Hop is a Hip Hop preservation ministry, archive, school and society established in 1996 to ensure the proper preservation and the ongoing development of original Hip Hop as a divinely inspired global culture of peace and prosperity. Beginning as The Stop The Violence Movement with the collaborative song Self-Destruction in 1989, which influenced the west-coast collaboration song All In The Same Gang in 1990, followed-up by Human Education Against Lies (H.E.A.L.) another Hip Hop collaborative effort in 1991, The Temple of Hip Hop preserves and teaches the original principles of Hip Hop, as peace, love, unity and safely having fun as the fundamental purposes for the practice of breakin (break-dancing), emceein (rap), graffiti art (aerosol art), deejayin (the cuttin, mixin and scratchin of recorded materials), and beat-boxin (making music with various parts of one’s body).
As a “temple” for Hip Hop, our vision is to offer our people (the Hip Hop community) not only a “safe space” to develop their arts and ideas, but from this cultural platform, traditional values and important historic events are also preserved, explained and passed-on as well. This will only strengthen our Hip Hop community and those that participate in it. The Temple of Hip Hop in the City of Newark then becomes a model for other cities interested in seriously impacting their entire population in effective and culturally meaningful ways.
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Where do the world’s urban people go for not only real and useful advice, but also for real and useful Hip Hop opportunities? With young people out of work and having no safe-space to go to express their creativity, and older people also out of work with knowledge and skill having no place to teach and guide such creativity, The Temple of Hip Hop also becomes that generational bridge that connects the vibrancy of young minds with the wisdom and skill of experienced elders which will also create a much needed “local economy”. This is what America’s streets are in need of at this time, and this is what a “temple” for Hip Hop offers. This is the vision.
But such a vision could not have been achieved without the leadership of Mayor Ras J. Baraka and his Chief of Staff Amiri Baraka Jr. These men not only saw the vision, but Amiri Baraka Jr. in particular, put together a team of government officials also committed to the vision; most of whom were “Hip Hop” themselves. This resulted in a 26,000 square-foot recreation center formerly known as the “TRECenter” being transformed into “The Temple of Hip Hop”—Hip Hop’s first international cultural center. Here, Hip Hop finally has a home.
“We need somewhere, a Hip Hop complex itself, a large place that every artist who comes to New York who’s somebody will have to come through there and perform. And that money goes somewhere for us for whatever we want to do with it. It’s about money and what Hip Hop’s money can do for community and for us political wise. It’s a force! It just hasn’t been harnessed yet. We need somewhere that IS Hip Hop”. (Kool DJ Herc—1994)
Well, that vision, spoken first by Kool DJ Herc in 1994, has been realized in 2024 (actually 2023). Again, located in Newark New Jersey, The Temple of Hip Hop is what is actually needed in many of today’s urban areas worldwide. It is obvious to all who work with young people in urban areas that too many common institutions have disappointed too many common people. Young adults today (especially those immersed in urban life) are simply not interested in the same old “school-to-work” scenario as the basis for learning and living. Most young adults today don’t want to learn valueless skills in boring places; they want to learn useful life-skills that take them places! This is what the Temple of Hip Hop offers through the correct practice of Hip Hop. The thirst for basic spiritual, philosophical and indigenous knowledge alongside music, art and dance is on the rise amongst today’s young adults because this is precisely what is needed at this time.
If you are interested in beginning, or deepening, your Hip Hop spiritual path, you can start by getting yourself a copy of The Gospel of Hip Hop and joining our free Sunday teachings on our Youtube channel: