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Cheatham County Exchange Events – Dean Harlem: Chief’s on Broadway – Main Street Media of Tennessee
Cheatham County Exchange Events – Dean Harlem: Chief’s on Broadway Main Street Media of Tennessee
A first look at the blinged-out hip-hop jewelry exhibit at AMNH
In the resonant words of A$AP Rocky, “The nails, the kilts, the pretty-boy swag, the pearls—I think it’s just being comfortable. I just express myself with fashion, and what’s fly is fly.” What’s fly is “Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry” at the American Museum of Natural History, a new show that features dozens of incredible necklaces, rings, watches, chains, and more worn by some of the biggest names in music.
A few highlights include T-Pain’s Big Ass Chain necklace, Ghostface Killah’s eagle arm band, Nicki Minaj’s Barbie pendant, Beyoncé’s nail rings, Cardi B’s nipple covers, and Slick Rick’s crown. While the pieces are a sight to behold up-close, the exhibit carries a much deeper meaning, especially as New York City wraps up its 50 years of hip-hop celebrations.
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Since the early days of the genre in the 1970s, artists have used jewelry to express themselves and form culture. Even hip-hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc wore a leather medallion on which he drew a self-portrait and his tag. Other groundbreaking artists like Slick Rick explored symbols of majesty with glimmering crowns and opulent chains. Soon, Flavor Flav created his own unique look with his oversize clock pendant; he now has a collection of more than 100, and you can see one of them in the show.
In the ’80s and ’90s, hip-hop artists and fans shopped at neighborhood stores in the Queens Colosseum Mall and Brooklyn’s Albee Square Mall. These shops stocked gold chains, nameplates, hoop earrings, and grills long before luxury brands embraced these trends. The exhibition pays tribute to these stores and the jewelers who run them. The Diamond District’s famed Jacob the Jeweler (Jacob Arabo) is pictured in the exhibition with a lyric from 50 Cent’s “Get In My Car” that goes: “Take her to the Diamond District, introduce her to Jacob. Tell her if she like me, she should keep me icey.”
Staten Island’s own Wu-Tang Clan was well known for their innovative jewelry. The collective’s Ghostface Killah even wore one of hip-hop’s most renowned pieces: a shiny gold arm piece with an eagle perched on top and diamonds glittering along each edge. It’s incredible to witness in person.
As the genre evolved into a world-wide cultural phenomenon, artists experimented with even more extravagant pieces and customizations like A$AP Rocky’s multi-color diamond nameplate necklace, Pharrell Williams’ ruby-and-diamond grill set, Takeoff’s “iced out” Audemars Piguet watch, Drake’s The Crown Jewel of Toronto pendant, and T-Pain’s Big Ass Chain necklace weighing more than 10 pounds with nearly 200 carats of diamonds.
While some hip-hop histories tend to forget women in hip-hop, guest curator Vikki Tobak made sure that didn’t happen in “Ice Cold.” As the author of the book Ice Cold: A Hip-Hop Jewelry History, Tobak is steeped in hip-hop culture and ensured women’s contributions were featured clearly. A few must-see pieces include Eve’s Ruff Ryders necklace, Beyoncé’s nail rings for the “Sweet Dreams” music video, Erykah Badu’s grill set, Cardi B’s nipple covers worn in the “WAP” music video, and Nicki Minaj’s pink-and-diamond Barbie pendant.
A quote from Minaj sits next to her necklace: “I always promote the girls to have their own stuff, be go-getters. Don’t depend on a man for anything [and go] to school.”
When you come from nothing, if you have the opportunity to buy yourself something incredible, you will.
Though the exhibition serves as a love letter to New York hip-hop, curators also shined a light on southern hip-hop’s distinctive spin on jewelry. Kevin “Coach K” Lee, co-founder of the Atlanta-based Quality Control Music, is an expert on the subject, as his agency pioneered the careers of Migos, Lil Baby, City Girls, and Lil Yachty. He served as a co-curator for “Ice Cold” and is quoted in the exhibit as saying, “[In] the South, where slavery was born in this country, we went from steel chains to diamond chains. There’s definitely some symbolism there. When you come from nothing, if you have the opportunity to buy yourself something incredible, you will.”
Curators strived to tell a complete story, from the beginning of hip-hop to today, celebrating iconic musicians and iconic pieces, Tobak explained. She and her fellow curators faced two major challenges: First, some artists hesitated to part with their beloved jewelry to loan it out for the show. Second, some pieces have been lost to time, like Cam’ron’s spinner globe, which has been melted down.
They are artifacts, pieces of history, just as important any geode.
“We all now are sitting here understanding that they are artifacts, pieces of history, just as important any geode,” she said, explaining why it’s important to preserve these pieces. “Hip-hop was not treated so great at certain points.”
In addition to Lee, fellow curators and advisors include Karam Gill, of the documentary series ICE COLD; Slick Rick; Roc Nation executive LENNY S.; history professor Tanisha Ford; jewelry designer Alex Moss; and more.
The museum’s president, Sean Decatur, says the exhibit is a perfect fit at the American Museum of Natural History, though some have told him the exhibit feels like an usual match.
“It is absolutely connected to both the mission of the museum and the history of our work here,” he said at an opening event for the exhibit. “Gems and jewelry have been part of the museum’s collection and exhibition program really from the very beginning, so for about 150 years now.”
Plus, he said, gems are both a product of the natural world and a way to show self expression and cultural identity through jewelry.
Take her to the Diamond District, introduce her to Jacob. Tell her if she like me, she should keep me icey.
“To bring that into our contemporary times, ways in which hip hop artists have worked with jewelers in order to create beautiful pieces that convey both individual identity but also, when taken as a whole, give a sense of the broader cultural impact, cultural sweep, and historical significance of hip-hop is incredibly exciting and fits in with the work of the museum here in many ways,” he added.
Inside this jewel box exhibit, hip-hop music plays in the background, of course. Here’s the playlist.
See “Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry” now at the American Museum of Natural History with general admission, which is pay-as-you-wish for New Yorkers. Find it in the Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals on the first floor.
Cheatham County Exchange Events – Dean Harlem: Chief’s on Broadway – Main Street Media of Tennessee
Cheatham County Exchange Events – Dean Harlem: Chief’s on Broadway Main Street Media of Tennessee
A Mediterranean restaurant with a hidden rooftop just opened in Chelsea
Industry vets Igor Drca and Miljan Komnenic—the team behind the now-closed West Village spot Recette and the still-kicking UWS restaurant The Consulate—have opened their largest NYC restaurant yet, and it’s got a hidden rooftop to boot.
Marsanne NYC has softly opened in the Chelsea neighborhood, taking over the Forager’s Market space at 233 Eighth Avenue, and the restaurant’s design brief was seemingly “plant lover’s dream.” Interior designer Larisa Mihajlova custom-designed the 150-seat space “to reflect the modern and warm connection with nature,” which means shrubbery projecting from the ceiling, art deco-style mirrors, and customized woodwork art installations.
All of that greenery and the volcanic rock details fits nicely with the modern Mediterranean focus happening on the menu—from an open kitchen, chef Zivko Radojcic doles out plates like carbonara-filled agnolotti with smoked confit chicken; pan-speared scallops with eggplant caponata and pine nuts; and branzino with basil tapenade and sundried tomato. To complement, cocktails are the kind of summery stuff you want to drink on vacation: a rummy Disco Sour sweetened with passionfruit and mango, and the Jardin, flavored with matcha and jalapeńo.
Speaking of bars, the 40-seater semi-private dining space “Le Mascaret Room” has its own dedicated drinks counter, as well a custom-made undulating wooden sculpture mounted on a wall (it’s meant to replicate twisting vines and flowing waves, natch) and a glass-encased wine cellar holding over 700 bottles.
And though that clandestine “Rooftop by Marsanne” is now only softly open for private events, it will eventually roll out wellness and DJ programming, and a drinks menu with wine-inspired cocktails, mocktails, and beer to go along with those unobstructed views of the Empire State Building. “Being able to offer a rooftop space that isn’t clearly visible is a fun talking point for us—it’s unexpected, and we love to surprise our guests with a great reason to keep your evening going. This is a charming, intimate rooftop and really feels like your best-kept secret,” the team said in a press release.
Check out those plant-filled Marsanne digs as well as some of the cocktails on offer below:
Dashi Okume is doing an udon omakase in Greenpoint
If you’re a ramen regular but want to mix up your noodle consumption a bit, it’s thique cousin udon is a tasty alternative. And now Dashi Okume, the Japanese grocery story and natural broth shop in Greenpoint (50 Norman Avenue), is kicking off a new weekend dinner series spotlighting the slurpy-ready stuff.
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Following their popular Oden Omakase series, the Brooklyn specialty store will feature Inaniwa-style udon noodles, a regional specialty of the Akita Prefecture of northern Japan that are “delicately thin and flat, known to be super smooth and silky on the palate, perfect for the warmer season.” As the Dashi Okume crew wrote on their Instagram, “To produce this delicious udon, skilled artisans go through four processes of kneading, twisting, stretching, and drying. Particularly, the technique called ‘Ayakake,’ where the dough is stretched thinly by hand, creates an incredibly smooth texture, pleasant mouthfeel, and an unexpected firmness despite its thickness.”
Offered every Friday and Saturday evenings (seatings will begin at 8pm), the shop’s Udon & Dashi Omakase will feature a seven-course tasting menu “that showcases the rich possibilities of dashi as a dashi store and fish from Toyosu in Japan, as we originate from the fish market,” the team posted on social. The noodles will act as the main, served with two types of tsuyu dipping sauce and Hakusen hon mirin.
Though the menu will change depending on the availability of ingredients, diners can expect dishes like a fried fish course (like a Hatahata Karaage, another specialty of Akita), as well as a bozushi (pressed sushi) item of the day, such as mackerel from Toyosu fish market flavored with Akazu red vinegar and Japanese mustard karashi. And, of course, there will be desserts, like a house-made yuzu sorbet.
The udon pop-up menu is priced at $85 per person, while a sake pairing is also available as an optional add-on for $50. Reservations can be made for Dashi Okume’s Udon & Dashi Omakase series over on Resy.
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A new Banksy Museum is opening on Canal Street this month
Following a slew of pop-ups and stand-alone exhibits, elusive England-based street artist Banksy is getting the New York City museum treatment: The Banksy Museum is set to debut at 227 Canal Street by Broadway on May 15.
According to an official press release, the space will display over 160 works by the artist—from his instantly recognizable street art to studio pieces, videos and animated visuals—making this “the largest display of Banksy work ever seen in a single setting.”
Similar destinations have already debuted in Barcelona, Brussels, Kraków and Paris, all of them projects by Hazis Vardar, also the brainchild behind the famous Palace Nightclub in France.
“Street art belongs in the raw setting of the streets,” said Vardar in an official statement. “But if people can’t see it, is it even art? Little of Banksy’s works are visible to the public at large. Most have been stolen for resale, inadvertently destroyed, or erased by overzealous city cleaning teams. Most of this transient art could only be viewed on tiny smartphone screens, which is no way to experience the scale or emotion of Banksy’s work. So we knew that we needed to create an exhibition that would bring Banksy’s art back before the public.”
To do the work justice, the creators of the museum created a space that “reflects the street experience” and employed a number of anonymous street artists to recreate Banksy’s work. That is all to say: what you’ll see on the walls and propped up for display won’t necessarily be Banksy’s own work but celebratory recreations of both iconic and lesser known pieces.
Tickets for the museum, which will be open daily from 10am to 8pm, are available right here. The exhibit spans the second and third floors of the building and, according to the press release, takes about an hour to be seen in totality—although you are encouraged to take in all the pieces at your own pace.