Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons has announced a new series of documentaries, presenting The Definitive History Of Hip-Hop. As reported by Pitchfork, it’s not clear if Simmons’ projects will air on TV, the internet, or in theaters, but they hope to track the rise of rap culture from its origins in ’70s Brooklyn into the worldwide, billion-dollar industry it’s become today. Utilizing archival footage and celebrity interviews, the project aims to shine a spotlight on “the OGs of this disruptive force in entertainment, the lesser known artists who’ve fallen out of history or favor, and the icons who are now household names.”
Simmons’ isn’t the first project in recent memory to cast a nostalgic eye backwards as hip-hop enters middle age. Straight Outta Compton and the upcoming Tupac biopic All Eyez On Me both made waves by dramatizing key moments in the artform’s evolution, while Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix series The Get Down covers its origins, albeit from a fictionalized point of view.