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THE HARTRANFT BASKETBALL COURT REVIVAL

“You love to hear the story again and again
of how it all got started way back when
The monument is right in your face
Sit and listen for a while to the name of the place…”

MC Shan, The Bridge (1987)

This legendary opening verse — of one of the most important rap songs made during the Golden Era of Hip-Hop — names key figures in the formative days of rap music, figures you would only know if you were there, first hand. The making of this project, both in sight and sound, felt like this.

Our story begins way before Hip-Hop, before the chiseled “1973” keystone was set into the community center, and involves many more amazing people than our walls could allow.

Welcome to the monument of our living story. The place might change but the names will stay the same. We say those legendary names loudly, proudly. They’re with us, and now, with you…

Listen…

— Shawn Theodore

Galleries Photographs by Shawn Theodore

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