In the summer of 1984 I spent a day wandering the streets of Boston with my best friend, Pace. I was snapping pictures, taking in the vibe of a city full of contradictions - Shriners took over Downtown Crossing in their funny cars and funny hats. A homeless guy slept on a bench at the Public Library. A baby wandered into a magician’s street show. And the FloorLords popped, locked, and flipped the fuck out for a rapt audience at Faneuil Hall.
In 2023, those photos were added to the Massachusetts Hip-Hop Archive, included in the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame, and displayed as part of the Hip-Hop: Seen/Unseen public art exhibition, a carefully curated collection of early concert flyers and rare photographic archives from 1979 to the present, this mini-exhibition, nestled within the Dewey Square Plaza on Rose Kennedy Greenway.
It was just a summer day, bored in Boston, with a bestie. And yet something was in the air that day that still feels relevant all these years later. You never know what this moment will mean. Feel it if you can.
