In the early 1980s, crews like Soul Patrol and The Home Boys Only were breakdancing across Madison and around the state. During the 1990s and 2000s, such Milwaukee rap artists as Speech from Arrested Development and Coo Coo Cal were climbing the Billboard charts. 

In those years, hundreds of other musicians, graffiti artists, rappers, dancers and deejays were proving the undeniable — but perhaps not well-known — fact that Wisconsin has a long history of creating hip-hop culture, music and art. It continues today.

That homegrown hip-hop history is the focus of “Lead Between the Rhymes,” an exhibit at the Wisconsin Historical Society, 816 State St. It culminates with a town hall-style community meeting on Feb. 28 that will not only celebrate Wisconsin’s hip-hop past and present but share visions for its future.

While Wisconsin may not be known as “a hotbed for hip-hop,” says Menkhu Ara Maat, co-curator of the exhibit, “it is here and it’s been here for decades.”

Maat says Wisconsin’s between-the-coasts location means that it benefits from influences nationwide — not only from New York City, where hip-hop was born, but other places it’s flourished, most notably Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago. “Given how many people have moved here from those areas — specifically Chicago — it’s inevitable that we would develop our own scene,” he says. 

The exhibit aims to make Wisconsin’s hip-hop history broadly accessible to fans and newcomers alike. Detailed explanations of the primary tenets of hip-hop (emceeing, aka rapping; breaking, aka breakdancing; deejaying, aka DJ-ing or turntablism; and graffiti). There are breakouts about some of rap’s biggest names — Biggie, 2Pac, Ice Cube and Jay-Z — as well as the founding efforts of DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa.

Including these outside-Wisconsin elements was important “to give people the backstory and foundation of where the hip-hop that’s here first came from,” explains Maat.

Maat, a breakdancer back in the day with the HBO crew, is known around Madison for infusing hip-hop into his work as a community center program director and for hosting beat battles. Joining him in creating the exhibit was Gregory “G!NX” Doby Jr., a local scene playmaker and platinum-certified producer who has worked with DMC from Run DMC, Bizzy Bone from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and Lloyd Banks from 50 Cent’s G-Unit crew.

The two men decided to create the exhibit (which had a previous, smaller iteration at the US Bank building on the Capitol Square) after kicking around the idea of a Wisconsin hip-hop hall of fame tied to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop in 2023. They decided instead to do a documentary about Madison’s hip-hop roots, but to create the current exhibit first.

The Wisconsin part of the exhibit focuses on pioneers of the state scene and crucial moments. Standouts include features on Kali Tribe, which was the first Milwaukee rap crew to have a video featured on BET, platinum-certified producer DJ Pain 1, Milwaukee native and songwriter Rico Love, Mazomanie native and frequent Eminem collaborator Skylar Grey, and Madison pioneer rap crew Fresh Force, among others. 

Another don’t-miss display is the huge graffiti mural celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop that was painted on the community art space near Eli’s Art Supplies on East Washington Avenue. The plywood mural was preserved and re-mounted in the exhibit. Also noteworthy is the 3D lenticular display “Madtown Marauders,” a who’s-who of local hip-hop VIPs based on the iconic album cover of Midnight Marauders by A Tribe Called Quest.

The exhibit also features tributes to folks like WORT-FM DJ Anne B. who’s credited with being the first radio DJ to play rap in Madison in the ’70s, and the late Clyde Stubblefield, longtime Madison resident and former drummer for James Brown, who is credited with creating the “Funky Drummer” beat that’s been extensively sampled in rap for decades.

The University of Wisconsin plays a role, too. The creation of the First Wave Hip Hop & Urban Arts Scholarship Program at UW-Madison and the story behind House of Pain’s “Jump Around” became a UW football anthem are here. And a whole lot more: local hip-hop educators, record labels, T-shirts, concert flyers, magazine covers and other keepsakes.

The exhibit-ending panel discussion, "The Future of Madison Urban Music," runs 1-4 p.m. on Feb. 28at the Wisconsin Historical Society. 

It will be “a true forum with different leaders from the community where we invite everybody to have a discussion about the current state of affairs of hip-hop in Madison,” says Maat. “We want to explore what we foresee for the culture here and what we want to see. And then come together with a plan to organize for what we want.”

Maat says he and Doby are looking to purchase a location that will become  a permanent home for the exhibit, that will also include an artists’ area for both creating and displaying art as well as multimedia and after school programs. And, the accompanying documentary is still in the works.

“We have a lot of great stuff planned,” he adds. “We’ve just got to keep taking steps and keep the beat going.”