Photograph of Naughty By Nature, Jersey City, NJ: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Treach is in the center. He is wearing a black leather jacket with circle patches on each side. The patch on the proper right reads [MALCOM X] at the top and [- TOUR] on the bottom. The patch on the left reads [FORTY ACRES AND A MULE FILMWORKS / BROOKLYN, N.Y.]. He is wearing denim shorts, long white socks, black boots, and a black hat with a white logo that reads [A/HAT]. He is also wearing several rings, a beaded bracelet, and a metal chain necklace with a lock on it. He is sitting on bricks with his right foot on a piece of wood and his left leg stretched out on the ground. His left hand is on his left thigh. He has a goatee and he also has sunglasses on top of his head. Vin Rock is behind him on the proper right side. He is wearing a black shirt with a face on it, a black jacket, black pants, and sneakers. He is crouching down with his hands on his thighs. His right foot is resting on a pile of bricks. DJ Kay Gee is on the proper left side. He is crouched down on top of bricks. He is wearing a black coat and pants, black shoes, a black hat, and sunglasses. His arms are crossed in front of him and are resting on his knees. He has a mustache. There is a brick wall in the background as well as crumbling bricks and pieces of wood on the ground.

There is no border around the image. Each side has a thin strip of white space. The back of the photograph has light grey text on the back, repeated in diagonal lines. This message is also repeated in several different languages. There is a series of numbers and letters typed vertically at the bottom center. There is a smudged inscription by Bill Adler at the top, handwritten in blue ink. There is another inscription that was written at a later time.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1993
• Photograph by: Michael Benabib, American, born 1962
• Subject of: Naughty by Nature, American, founded 1988
• Subject of: Treach, American, born 1970
• Subject of: Vin Rock, American, born 1970
• Subject of: DJ Kay Gee, American, born 1969
• Subject of: Malcolm X, American, 1925 - 1965
• Subject of: 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, American, founded 1986
• Type: portraits
• Type: inkjet prints
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 29 15/16 × 19 15/16 in. (76 × 50.7 cm)
• Place captured: Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Advertising
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Rappers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2015.132.105
• 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.