Never-before-seen photos of some of hip-hop's legends on display in NYC
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of hip hop and Good Day NY got a peek inside the "In Your Grill" exhibit at Legacy NYC on the Lower East Side.
Legacy NYC is a cultural gallery space that highlights local New York artwork.
The exhibit takes you on a hip hop journey through time.
Tupac Shakur, photo by Michael Benabib.
The "In Your Grill" exhibit features photographs of hip hop legends like Snoop Dogg, LL Cool J, Eric B + Rakim, and Tupac.
The photos in the exhibit were taken by Michael Benabib, a celebrity photographer whose work has been featured on magazines like Source, Vibe and Rolling Stone and more.
Benabib is best known for his portraits of prominent celebrities like David Bowie, Tupac Shakur, Sean Combs, Keith Richards and numerous others.
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Benabib said his journey started outside of Def Jam Records and rap pioneer Russell Simmons' office. "I saw everybody out on the sidewalk there, and I started taking pictures…" he said.
Benabib said he slid an envelope with pictures underneath Russell Simmons' door and got a call the next day to do his very first hip hop photo shoot.
"Aaliyah..I don't even need to open my eyes, I could just start clicking the camera," Benabib said about photographing the late singer Aaliyah.
Many of the late artists featured like Aaliyah, Eazy E, Heavy D, Left Eye, and DMX are frozen in time within the gallery.
"We are paying respect to their memory by keeping them alive by looking at their photos, by listening to their music," he said about all the late artists that have since passed away.
The "In Your Grill" exhibit will take place at Legacy NYC art gallery April 14 to April 27. The exhibit opens at 11 a.m. and closes at 10 p.m. ET.