10 exhibits that need to be in the Hip-Hop Hall Of Fame museum

The announcement that a new museum called the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame is due to open in Harlem, New York, next year that will "offer important and unique documentation of hip hop's development and its impact on social trends" got us thinking about the potential exhibits that will be on display.

As well as providing incredible music, hip hop is one of the most consistently thrilling genres to follow in terms of the entire world around it. The beefs! The outfits! The controversial moments! See below for our picks on the must-have displays.

We’ve all been there: waking up the morning after a heavy session, nervously checking your e-mail and finding out you’ve drunkenly ordered two marble statuettes, five washing up brushes and a chaise lounge. Woops. Spare a thought, then, for French Montana, who in April 2013 fired out the iconic social media update “Got so high last night bought 2 baby tigers” with accompanying pictorial proof. While subsisting through to the next pay day with a month of eating ramen (off exceedingly clean pates) isn’t much fun, the task of planning nine life time’s worth of care for two future killing machines on a hangover is enough to send anyone over the edge. As an exhibit showcasing the excess hip hop stars are prone too, we suggest a zoo enclosure is added into the Harlem museum and for French Montana’s big cats to happily roam.

Did Tupac own any upper body clothing? The jury’s out. The East Coast rap legend was certainly not bashful about showing off those chiselled abs with “THUG LIFE” tattoo emblazoned boldly across. Despite all the glitz and bling associated with hip hop, this stripped-back, simple look remains one of the genre’s most memorable. And since the museum is located in Harlem, Tupac’s birthplace, his inclusion is a no brainer.

Hip hop has had to put up with a lot of bullshit. Especially from “serious music fans” (aka dreary lad rock) who find the idea of anything other than guitars and lyrics about lager unsettling. Jay-Z hit back in hilarious fashion at Glastonbury in 2008. The choice to book him as the headline act had received a lot of criticism from many of these “serious” “music” “fans”, including Noel Gallagher who said: "Glastonbury has a tradition of guitar music … I'm not having hip-hop at Glastonbury. It's wrong." God forbid it progresses with the times, hey? Jay-Z responded by walking on stage to play a smirk-filled rendition of Oasis’ tired ‘Wonderwall’, before launching into a fiery performance of ’99 Problems’. No fucks given.

A fine example of the excessive bling hip hop is famed for is the amount gigantic clock chains Flavor Flav possesses. They become really handy when you need to tell the time, are stood in front of a body-height mirror, and it’s 6 o’clock, 12 o’clock, or half past each hour, so there’s no confusion with the reverse reflection.

Working both solo and alongside Chad Hugo as The Neptunes, Pharrell has produced many of hip hop’s finest beats. His output has been so consistently excellent (‘Blurred Lines’? – never heard of it) that we’re starting to think the range of thinking caps he wears possess some kind of powers. Also, plenty of them have been bizarre, like that get up from the 2014 Grammys pictured above.

The get ups Missy Elliott dons are always spectacular. There was the US Marine look, that mirror-clad tracksuit from the ‘WTF (Where They From)’ video, the pink fur Adidas shell she repped at the Grammys in 2003, and so on. Get them all in.

Somehow, Kanye West vs. Taylor Swift escalated into the most talked about music feud in recent memory. Kanye leaping to proclaim support for friend Beyoncé losing out to Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009 sparked a beef that’s still on going. Stages along the way include then President Barack Obama calling Kanye a “jackass”, a confusing plan to run for office together in 2020 after burying the hatchet, and then Kanye fucking things up again with 2016 track ‘Famous’ he which he rapped: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that bitch famous.” Yikes.

Hip hop is packed full of alter egos: Eminem and Slim Shady; Tupac and Makaveli; Tyler, Creator and Wolf Haley; Flying Lotus and Captain Murphy; and so on. Nicki Minaj alone has around 15 different characters she explores through her music. One of the most prominent is The Harajuku Barbie, or simply Barbie as she’s commonly referred to. A plastic doll range showcasing each character would be fun for all the family.

50 Cent vs. Murder Inc. stands out as one of hip hop’s most hotly contested beefs, far and away above Kanye and Taylor's small tiff. In the year 2000 a boiling point was reached after the Fiddy track ‘Ghetto Qu’ran’ leaked and he was accused of snitching on the illegal dealings of Murder Inc. crew members such as Kenneth McGriff. The response was swift and deadly: 50 Cent was shot nine times, through the hand, arm, hip, both legs, chest and left cheek, in a drive by attack, leaving him permanently scarred but, impressively, alive to tell the tale.

50 Cent, real name Curstis Jackson, had the last laugh, going onto body the careers of Murder Inc. in a long-running feud. Jackson turned out as the clear winner, and Murder Inc. have gradually faded into obscurity while 50 has released a string of internationally chart-topping albums. If anything could give an indicator as to how totally 50 knocked Ja Rule’s mojo to the ground, it’s that the Murder Inc. affiliate’s latest project was the disastrous Fyre Festival. Still, we’d welcome new Ashanti material any time.

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Staff Writer, follow him on Twitter