Photograph of Grandmaster Flash, NYC, late eighties: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

He is wearing a white t-shirt with a drawing of a face on it. It has text on it which reads [You got a problem?]. He is also wearing a white cap, a necklace, and has a mustache. His arms are behind his back and he is standing in front of a white wall.

There is a white border around the image. It is thinner on the two sides and thicker on the top and bottom. The back of the photograph has light grey text repeated upside down in diagonal lines. There is a tear on the left side from where tape used to be, and there are two pieces of tape at the top. There is also a yellow post-it note on the right side near the top. There is an inscription by Bill Adler on the bottom, handwritten in blue ink.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: late 1980s
• Photograph by: Michael Benabib, American, born 1962
• Subject of: Grandmaster Flash, American, born 1958
• Type: portraits
• Type: inkjet prints
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 15 7/8 × 11 in. (40.3 × 27.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 10 7/8 × 10 3/4 in. (27.6 × 27.3 cm)
• Place captured: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Photography
• Object number: 2015.132.88
• 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: © Michael Benabib Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.