Jeffrey Brown:

The exhibition traces decades of history, artifacts like handbills for block parties in the Bronx in the late '70s, and a handwritten essay by a young Tupac Shakur comparing black men to American revolutionaries.

We see hip-hop's entry into mainstream TV shows, deejay gear, including this turntable used by Grandmaster Flash, and graffiti's rise from underground to art galleries, and, of course, music everywhere, including in a large first room that offers hands-on experience.

Today, of course, hip-hop is a global industry and culture, but one, this exhibition argues, still rooted in the local.

Eric Arnold is a longtime bay area music journalist and writer.