A new museum in the Bronx, New York, traces the history and cultural impact of hip hop, with help from Microsoft AI.

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Only posted part to read, more in the link with a video as well

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"It's more than just music now. It's everything." That's Universal Hip Hop Museum Executive Director Rocky Bucano, on explaining the far-reaching cultural impact of hip hop, and why it deserves to be celebrated and chronicled as a legitimate art form.

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The mission of the museum is to give visitors "a broader understanding of hip hop history and hip hop culture, so that they walk away feeling empowered and inspired by what has happened in the genre and how the music has become a part of their everyday existence... We want them to feel a sense of pride," says Bucano.

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The ambitious project has been eight years in the making thus far, and crews are just now breaking ground in the South Bronx—the undisputed birthplace of hip hop—for the future home of UHHM. In the meantime, UHHM has launched a pop-up exhibition across the road from its future home to give the community a taste of what's to come in 2023. Called the [R]Evolution of Hip Hop, it's dedicated to exploring the foundations of hip hop, decade by decade. Beginning with its origins in the 1970s, the exhibit will cycle through a new decade of hip hop culture every six months.

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And that's where Microsoft comes in. After seeing the successful collaboration between The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MIT, and Microsoft, UHHM curators sought out assistance from Microsoft as well as MIT professor D. Fox Harrell, who also heads up the university's Center for Advanced Virtuality. Their goal was to use AI to help categorize the complex evolution of hip hop and create a personalized experience for every visitor who sets foot in UHHM.

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"Our role was to develop this personalized experience that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to give people a glimpse into the history of hip hop. MIT professor D. Fox Harrell "We created a kind of engine that used a social science model of musical identity to help categorize users in terms of their musical preference... But we wanted to make it a conversational, engaging experience. And the Microsoft Conversational AI allowed us to do this."

The Breakbeat Narratives uses Microsoft AI to share various narratives around the history and impact of hip hop, centered around the five core elements including: MCing, turntablism, breakdancing, graffiti art, and knowledge. With these "Cosmic Elementals" as your guides, you can explore various narratives, using your personal taste in music as an entry point.

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https://www.microsoft.com/inculture/arts/universal-hip-hop-museum-mit-ai/?ocid=AID3008616_QSG_BNR_401842

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Does this mean Nadella has Da Funk now? (not sure whether I'll check this out - is it all online?)

I remember listening to MCs at block/house parties when I lived in the South Bronx during the early-to-mid 70s. Who knew that would develop into a part of American culture and a global phenomenon? Amazing.

uPtoWnNY said: