'Kool Keith' / 'Black Elvis,' In My Bathroom '99: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A color photograph of Kool Keith in the photographer's bathroom.

The image presented is round, with a distorted, fisheye view of Kool Keith wearing a light tan leather jacket and looking into a white hand mirror that he holds with his proper left hand. His proper right hand is behind his head and he wears a black Elvis-style pompadour wig. The back of his hair is visible reflected in the small wall mirror behind him. The room is a small, white walled bathroom. The walls have been covered in posters and magazine tear-outs of sports stars, musicians, and women. A grey metal pipe runs vertically to the right of the wall mirror and the top of a toilet is visible in the lower right corner of the image. Keith stands below the shower curtain rod, from which hang one red and one white towel.

There are two identical prints, 2015.132.355.1 and 2015.132.355.2. Beneath the image of .1 is a handwritten inscription reading ["KOOL KEITH" / "BLACK ELVIS" WHAT HAVE YOU... / IN MY BATHROOM '99 ... WHAT IS THIS, A BEAUTY SALON?] along with the photographer's signature [Ricky Powell / '03]. The second print has no inscriptions, front or back.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1999; printed 2003
• Photograph by: Ricky Powell, American, 1961 - 2021
• Subject of: Kool Keith, American, born 1963
• Subject of: Elvis Presley, American, 1935 - 1977
• Subject of: Ricky Powell, American, 1961 - 2021
• Type: chromogenic color prints
• Medium: dye and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (2015.132.355.1 Sheet): 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2015.132.355.1 Image): 9 1/2 × 14 in. (24.1 × 35.6 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2015.132.355.2 Sheet): 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2015.132.355.2 Image): 9 1/2 × 14 in. (24.1 × 35.6 cm)
• Place captured: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Hair
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Rappers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2015.132.355.1-.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Ricky Powell Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.