Flier for the 87 Def Jam Tour at the Oakland Coliseum: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black and white handbill flier for the 1987 Def Jam Records tour featuring headliners LL Cool J and Whodini with Eric B. and Rakim, New Choice, Roxanne Shante, and Too Short at the Oakland Coliseum, Saturday, October 3, 1987.

The flier has [Miller Genuine Draft CONCERTS] in white text in a black rectangle across the top, followed by [THE 87 Def Jam / TOUR] with "87" in large white numbers within a black square. The center of the flier has "L.L. COOL J" and "WHODINI" in decorative black text followed by the rest of the performers listed in white text within a black rectangle. The lower third has the venue and ticket information. There is no text or inscriptions on the back.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1987
• Distributed by: Def Jam Recordings, American, founded 1984
• Subject of: LL Cool J, American, born 1968
• Subject of: Whodini, American, founded 1981
• Subject of: Rakim, American, born 1968
• Subject of: Eric B., American, born 1965
• Subject of: Roxanne Shanté, American, born 1969
• Subject of: Too Short, American, born 1966
• Created by: New Choice, American, 1986 - 1988
• Type: fliers (printed matter)
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W: 5 3/8 × 4 1/8 in. (13.7 × 10.5 cm)
• Place depicted: Oakland, Alameda County, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Rappers (Musicians)
• Topic: Rhythm and blues (Music)
• Topic: Urban life
• Object number: 2020.38.2.2
• 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 displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.