Play Audio Story Hip-Hop Icons
For the past 30 years, Mark Seliger and his team have had the privilege of photographing some of hip hop’s most iconic figures and promising new artists. We’ve curated a collection of our favorite shots and stories from our archive, capturing the essence of this vibrant culture.
Transcript
Photographing LL Cool J was really a debut for me in music photography. That was, I think, one of my first music pictures. And that was in Hollis Queens, at his grandmother’s house, who was not very pleased with us rolling up to the house without giving her a little heads up that we were coming out there. I guess nobody had called her. Evidently, LL was still asleep in his bedroom. She gave us access. I knocked on the door. A little voice in the dark said, He’ll be out in a second. That was LL, actually. He came out fully decked in his signature Kangol hat and red tracksuit, found a beautiful red wall in a little schoolyard about five minutes from the house. He knew what to do in front of the camera, and that was it. That was the beginning for me of many pictures in hip hop.