Mel 'n' Me (Melle Mel of the Furious 5 and Harry Allen): Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black and white photograph of Melle Mel and photographer Harry Allen.

The two are pictured in the center of the image, standing in a dark room. Mel is on the left, wearing a studded leather jacket over a zebra print shirt. The jacket also has striped shoulder boards and metallic stripes just above the elbow. A pair of white sunglasses are hooked on a necklace at his chest. Allen is on the right, wearing a dark jacket over a dark colored button down shirt. A light colored bag strap is across his proper left shoulder and his arms are crossed in front of him. Both men are looking directly at the camera and smiling. A third, unidentified individual is partially visible behind Allen.

On the verso is an adhesive label with the Eyejammie.com logo and [Title: Mel n' Me (Melle Mel of the Furious Five and Harry Allen)] printed in black text.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: early 1980s
• Photograph by: Unidentified
• Subject of: Melle Mel, American, born 1961
• Subject of: Harry Allen, American, born 1964
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 10 7/8 × 13 15/16 in. (27.7 × 35.4 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 8 9/16 × 12 15/16 in. (21.8 × 32.8 cm)
• Place captured: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Rappers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2015.132.46
• 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: © Harry Allen Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.