( ENSPIRE Entertainment ) Ashanti, Jadakiss, and Ja Rule Light Up the City Gold for Hip-Hop’s 50th Birthday at Empire State Building
Last weekend Hip Hop’s official birthday was celebrated in many places. One of those celebrations took place in New York City at the Empire State Building. It was an intimate ceremony to celebrate the 50th Birthday of Hip-Hop. Chase Republic founder Harold Wilkerson in partnership with Dr. Charlene Thomas of VP of Marketing, Def Jam Records honored Hip-Hop at the Empire State Building. The Empire State Building is an iconic New York figure that has been mentioned in countless Hip Hop songs and music videos.
Grammy Winning Artist Ashanti, Grammy Nominated Artist Jadakiss, and Grammy Award Winning Artist Ja Rule, made history by flipping the switch to light the historic landmark gold and toasted the impact of the culture with Armand De Brignac Ace of Spades commemorating the moment. The Empire State Building stands as a towering metaphor for the rise of hip-hop culture. Both commanding attention on the urban skyline and embodying the genre’s unrelenting spirit of breaking barriers and reaching new heights.
Chief Marketing Officer, Universal Music Group Alexandra Hinkle presented the artists with plaques honoring them for their legacies. “To be here today to light up the Empire State Building and celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop with music’s royalty Ashanti, Jadakiss, and Ja Rule is beyond amazing, we wanted to show our gratitude for all the contribution that these three have made to Hip-Hop and to the culture,” said Alexandra.
Harold Wilkerson of Chase Republic made history curating the ceremony, where for the first time the Empire State Building celebrated Hip-Hop. Ashanti spoke about Hip-Hop and what sets it apart. “I think the passion and the heart of Hip-Hop is what separates us from every other genre, I’m honored to be here today to make history!”
To continue the celebration, Universal Music Group hosted a private reception where Ashanti and Ja Rule performed for fans and guests. “Hip-Hop is a genre that they counted out, and here we are today 50 years later as the Number 1 genre, and I’ve been blessed to be a part of 25 years of that, we did it for New York!!” said Ja Rule.
You can watch our recap of that historic day:
You can also see the private reception below as we were there front and center. as Ja Rule and Ashanti perform their hits!
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