 Yes, what a wonderful day. My name is Sheena Wright. I'm the first deputy mayor of New York City and Actually the mayor's out of town. So I'm the acting mayor And he would have been here and that you know, he but he sent me in his stead So excited to really continue the celebration of the 50th for the Department of Cultural Affairs We all grew up on hip-hop. 50 years. It's been the soundtrack to our lives It has also just been forward in fashion music but also entrepreneurialism and certainly art and that's what we're here to celebrate today and and the in the kind of Confidence it gives us the spirit that instills in us is what we continue to celebrate We in our administration. We really took the 50th anniversary to heart We had a lot of celebrations across the city and also made significant investments in New York City Housing Authority and our young people and gun violence prevention initiatives and environmentalism and Entrepreneurialism so we understand the how broadly it has impacted us and we are very very proud of our investment in public art As I said our commissioner Lori cumbo. It's been a priority of her in this administration and And and the project is not possible None of these projects are possible without partnership and our ability to partner with the hard rock cafe With amazing talented artists and community-based organizations make it all possible I want to acknowledge the hard rock hotel who worked with the Lisa project NYC To cover the cost of that incredible Beastie boy mural that you see No cost to the city at all in terms of the New York City government and Really an investment from partners who appreciate it want to uplift us all and we absolutely Have to applaud the artist himself shepherd fairy. There he is The founder of obey clothing and the most prominent street artists of his generation Thank you so much for your gift and your contribution To everyone. Thank you, and it is my my honor and pleasure to introduce Our artist shepherd to share a few words Yeah, thank you. Thank you for coming You know, I have to give of course a tremendous amount of credit to the Beastie boys as a as a source of inspiration And I'll get more into that But I couldn't have painted this mural without an incredible reference image of the Beastie boys Which was done by glennie freedman who is right here in the mix Glenn Glenn was doing a lot of work for Def Jam Records But prior to that he was one of the main documentarians of radical skateboarding and punk rock and the Beastie boys are sort of a You know an infusion of all of that They they love punk rock. They love skateboarding But then once they got into hip hop They immersed themselves in a way that allowed them to develop their skills really authentically and that's why they weren't seen as As interlopers they were embraced by people like Run DMC as well as the you know, just the rest of the existing hip hop scene And I think that in a lot of ways what they did Bringing a lot of their influences into what they into what they were creating musically It really expanded the audience for hip hop and they they are a direct product of new york city I have a quote from them which is The Beastie boys are a direct and memetic product of new york city The city taught us what to listen to how to dress and how to act we're forever grateful And I would say that they did a bit of teaching new york city after they were established How to dress and what to listen to as well. So it was paid forward Paid in full That's an eric being rock him reference, but anyway, anyway, anyway, um, I digress but um You know, I got my start as a street artist Here in new york city My best friend was going to nyu and I was driving here from road island almost every weekend and What I loved about street art was it It it favored people with courage even if they didn't have resources and that's what I think hip hop Allowed for people. It wasn't about music musical virtuosity. It's a bottom-up movement and you know, whenever someone says you're not doing it right Whether that's hip hop or that's graffiti or street art or any other form of music I think some people are motivated to prove those people wrong And hip hop being a dominant genre coming from the streets is proof of that concept And i'm really proud To celebrate that with this mural and with a lot of the other things I do So, um, you know, thank you to the hard rock. Thank you to lisa project for facilitating this It took a long time to bring it together. Thank you to my crew. Thanks to glenn And thanks to new york city And the beastie boys of course Paid in full. He's dropping rhymes of whatnot Um, and next up I want to introduce rain rata the executive director and curator for the lisa project nyc so I got So here so I'm going to speak a little uh serious for a moment because uh public art's important to me first acting uh acting mayor Right. Uh, thank you And uh colombo it's an honor to have you here as well as well as our uh Other officials So as a new yorker for the past 22 years Um, I've seen the city come out of covet with new challenges new extraordinary challenges And the important of public art has never been clearer Uh, revitalizing the city while at the same time, uh, celebrating the 50th anniversary hip hop Now public art becomes a part of that revitalization Public art reflects our culture our history our aspirations The power to heal inspire unite Honoring hip hop's 50th anniversary born on the streets of new york now a global phenomenon It's a tribute to resilience and creativity hip hop shows the hip hop's art shows the ability to break boundaries and unify Just as hip hop pioneers tuned a rather turned adversity into art. We can transform our city through public art This kind of public art New york city is known for its diversity. It provides a perfect canvas for telling hip hop's unique story across the city Public art isn't a luxury. It's a necessity fostering belonging Dialogue and there's that word again creativity Let's embrace public art public art's power to rebuild to reconnect to reinvigorate Let's continue to celebrate hip hop's 50th anniversary use it as a catalyst to raise our heads up Look up and enjoy the gift this masterpiece that shepherd fairy has gifted us By harnessing the transformative transformative power of public art We can create a brighter more inclusive and vibrant future Thank you. Thank you so much Uh, I want to next introduce david south us, uh hard rock cafe hard rock hotel new york general manager Who's financing made this all possible come on up david So I want to give the spirit of the beastie boys here this afternoon. So kick it You got a fight for your right to party All right So on behalf of the hard rock hotel new york, we're just delighted to be here this afternoon And uh, we're perfectly located on uh music row on 48th street, which has never been more alive So you haven't been down there. Please come check it out. You'll love it But I've been living that mantra of you got a fight for your right to party since 1986 when I was in college So thank you beastie boys for giving us so much to cherish Entertainment is that the is in our dna and everything that we do at hard rock Whether it be the cafe whether it be the hotels whether it be the casinos. It's everything we're about You can also check out the beastie boys on the 27th floor of our hotel When there's a whole display of them upstairs So go take a look and there's also several other Iconic hip-hop artists that are up there as well We consider it an honor to contribute and support the arts And the music scene in this great city As our properties devoted to so many artists connected to the five boroughs of new york We couldn't be more thrilled to partner with the lisa project new york city The new york city mayor's office and this exciting public art project Which not only celebrates the 50th anniversary of hip-hop But also underscores the transformative power of art And its ability to connect communities celebrate cultural legacies And inspired generations for years to come We have the opportunity to commission this incredible talented world-renowned artist shepherd fairy To recreate this iconic image of the beastie boys Captured by glenn freedman a true pioneer Of skate which i never got to do but maybe you could teach me Punk and a hip-hop photography. Thank you The mural is our visual tribute To the influence the beastie boys have had on the genre And they mark They made on the home of new york city We're forever grateful for the opportunity to leave a lasting impression which will be here for many years to come For new yorkers and look forward to the powerful conversation This this piece evokes In the future ahead. Thank you How much david and if i'm not if i'm right It's um the lisa project. We're doing this in in every borough, right? Yes, so this is this is menhattan, but in every single borough There's gonna be an amazing mural and public art that's dedicated to celebrate this But you know we're in menhattan and uh, we are joined today by our council member keith powers Who is also a hip-hop baby? I know he is So he's gonna come up and say a few words. Thank you. Thank you. I'm a punk rock, baby if i'm being honest um, i'm really happy to be here and this is Uh a great moment for me for three reasons number one is i live right here literally right here This is the train stop i take every single day. I took it down to city hall take it again down to city hall So having this right outside my house is pretty great and pretty perfect to somebody who did grow up on the beastie boys As well number two is told by glenn freeman. You go into my apartment right now There is a glenn freeman book of photos on my table right now. He's done the beastie boys Also did minor threat who's one of my all-time favorite bands Uh and 30 is music is the reason I got into politics when I was a teenager growing up in this neighborhood in these village It was punk rock and it was hip-hop as the driving forces for many of us It's something that opened up our eyes is to open up the city to us But it opened up our eyes to what's going on in our world and our city in our country every single day It created a new frontier for a lot of us of places where we may not visit But we heard about or things that we didn't know about open my eyes to social justice issues And to politics and it's the reason when I was in high school and college I started to think about the city and the world that was around me And so music is really the catalyst for so many of us to do What we are doing in our lives to try to improve the lives of people every single day And when we do three renaming which we did for the beastie boys a few weeks ago And we put up art and we celebrate them. It's not just to say here at this moment We're re-recognizing the work that you gave to us We're hoping that somebody will look up look up it and wonder who they are Maybe they'll open up their Spotify or whatever you guys use and uh apple music I don't know but whatever people maybe they'll open it up and they'll listen to the beastie boys And they'll get familiar with their music if they weren't before it'll be a reminder Of them or something that will open up their eyes for the first time as well So it's not just a tribute It's it's honoring them into the future as well by making sure that other people recognize understand What they contributed and it's right the beastie boys are new york city All the way through and through and to be part of this day to celebrate them a couple weeks going out today Is really honoring the memory of so many Is already honoring the moment for so many of us in new york city who listened to them Grew up on them and really became full new yorkers By listening to them. So thank you to the hard rock. Thank you to shepherd. Thank you to glenn. Thank you to everyone and of course madam mayor For uh To my former colleague lord combo Lisa project to everyone because I think new york is smiling very big on the beastie boys today Thank you One last thing. Um, I don't oh can't leave without hearing from our commissioner from the department of cultural affairs Oh, no. Oh, she said no, but she looks so good How is she not prepared? But I do well and with saying that as I said public art and and how art and culture impacts us drives us forward Is something that she champions for us and we really are appreciative of her leadership. So I think uh, are we done? All right, we want to do a big picture Yeah, we turn this so it's facing the mural here Yeah, so it's facing york if you want this in here, right? Everyone gets together here at the background Actually, we might have to lose this Yeah, can we move this can we move this actually? Yeah, actually farther back would be better All right for lisa project over here lisa project over here Shepard gonna get one there there we go