A G R E AT Y E A R I N H I P H O P

them jazz giants Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, and Count Basie.

The re-creation idea was initially shot down, but Sheena Lester,

XXL’s editor-in-chief at the time, insisted that they could do it. She sensed that the idea would not only make a powerful statement about

hip hop but also signal the arrival of XXL as a viable and smarter al-ternative to the other hip-hop magazines. Next, she set her sights on Gordon Parks, the legendary photojournalist and artist extraordinaire.

One day while she was meeting with Harry Allen, a longtime hip-

hop journalist, in uptown New York, she received a phone call from a

staĆł member. She was told that Parks had declined their invitation to photograph the event. Friends and XXL staĆł persuaded Lester to make a personal plea to the famous photographer. She phoned and, again,

he politely declined. Then, Lester made her last and what turned out

to be best pitch, telling Parks, �śNot only do we want you take this

picture, we believe that no one else should take the picture but you.”

After hearing that, Parks relented and agreed to come on board.

Though there were several photographers the magazine could

have assigned to the shoot, the choice of Parks issued an important

statement about hip hop’s respect for and grasp of American history.

Parks had emerged from obscurity in the 1940s to earn a reputation

as a rare storyteller. His pictures brilliantly captured the texture of everyday black life and have since become a treasured historical

record of America’s ongoing quest for racial justice. Parks’s emer-

gence as a world renowned photographer symbolized an important

turning point in America.

Early in his career Parks viewed the camera as his weapon against

racism. When he stepped behind the camera, he produced almost

magical photos with a new gaze, a new way of seeing and portraying

black American life. It was, after all, his stylish and even innovative approach to American cinema that brought to life the generation of

pop culture icons like Shaft that so many of hip hop’s MCs, filmmak-

ers, and artists turn to for creative inspiration. Though the eighty-

five-year-old Parks was several generations removed from the

subjects he photographed, XXL’s decision to choose him was fitting.

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