the sounds that changed the world

New Hip Hop Museum U.S. tour hits Houston showcasing 50 years of world-changing culture

The Hop Hop Museum is coming to Houston.

Hop Hop Museum/Facebook

The 50th anniversary of hip-hop may have happened this past August, but we aren’t done with the celebration just yet.

The Hip Hop Museum is in the midst of The Hip Hop Museum Tour, which will be stopping in Houston on Saturday, November 4 at The Houston Event Venue. How legit is this traveling museum? It's backed by entertainment company Mass Appeal, and CÎROC Ultra-Premium Vodka, (the official vodka of Hip Hop 50, in case anyone was keeping score).

Ahead of the museum's 2025 opening date, the touring exhibit will feature early hip-hop artifacts from 1973-1990, highlighting important firsts along the genre’s road from block parties to sold-out stadiums.

The tour, which started (of course) in New York City and will stop in Atlanta, Charlotte, Los Angeles, and Miami, will tell the story of the pioneers who created and cultivated a sound that sent waves around the world. Each tour stop will shine a light on the cultural and social accomplishments of a community that fought for a voice and prevailed, moving the needle on what hip-hop was and ultimately could be.

All the artifacts are courtesy of rapper Prime Minister Pete Nice, formerly of 3rd Bass, the ‘90s hip-hop group that dropped such hits as “The Gas Face” and “Pop Goes the Weasel.” In a new YouTube video, Nice explains why The Hip Hop Museum needed to happen. “In 50 years, there has never been one location to actually preserve the legacy and the history of hip-hop,” he says. “We are The Hip Hop Museum and we are the official record of hip-hop.”

That won’t be the only hip hop-related event popping off that weekend. On Thursday, November 2, author Lance Scott Walker (Houston Rap Tapes) will be in town to discuss the making of his 2022 book DJ Screw: A Life in Slow Revolution. UH Special Collections will also be on-site with a pop-up exhibit of DJ Screw artifacts.

The Hip Hop Museum Tour will be at The Houston Event Venue, 5601 Navigation Blvd, at 10 am. The Lance Scott Walker book talk will be at the San Jacinto Memorial Building Auditorium at Houston Community College Central Campus, 1300 Holman St., at 6 pm.

Kings of Comedy

Houston rap legend Willie D toasts 60th birthday with comedy roast

Photo by Spike the Designer

Willie D will celebrate his 60th birthday with a roast.

It appears that one of Houston’s rap legends saw Netflix’s Roast of Kevin Hart and decided to do one for himself — but funnier.

Willie D, from the pioneering Houston hip-hop group Geto Boys, is bringing the celebrity roast back to its roots with The Roast of Willie D: Cooked by Legends, going down at Sugar Land’s Smart Financial Centre on Wednesday, October 28.

The rapper/media personality/community advocate, who will turn 60 on Sunday, November 1, will be using his birthday celebration to remind everyone that roasts are meant to be familial, funny, and ultimately a good time for everybody.

“What people forget is that roasts started at the barbershop, street corners, family gatherings, and are rooted in community, ” D said in a statement. “What we’re seeing today sometimes comes off as manufactured cruelty, and I’m not with that. Roasting should leave your audience laughing, not ready to fight.”

Comedian/Original King of Comedy D.L. Hughley will serve as roastmaster, with Cedric the Entertainer (another fellow King), Houston’s own Ali Siddiq, and other as-yet-announced special guests appearing on the dais, ready to roast the man of the hour. Live music is also scheduled, which means we may get some performances from Willie D himself. (Let’s hope he performs “Clean Up Man” so we can see this guy again.)

Willie D adds that he can’t think of a better way to celebrate a milestone most doubted he would reach. “All my life, people said I wouldn't live to be 18 years old, and I pinched myself every birthday,” he said. “Getting to 50 years old was great, but getting to 60 really, in my opinion, deserves a pat on the back.”

The one-night-only event will be recorded live for television, with tickets going on sale this Friday, August 21, at 10 am. (The artist presale tickets are this Wednesday, August 19, at the same time.) For more info, visit the Smart Financial Centre website.

celebrities performing-arts concerts willie d