This Is Hip Hop: West Coast
Featuring, Traci Bartlow
This Is Hip Hop: West Coast
Featuring: Traci Bartlow
During the spring of NMAAM’s yearlong celebration of Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary in 2023, the West Coast was highlighted through the work of Oakland native Traci Bartlow.
Bartlow parlayed her experience in the entertainment industry into a career as a Hip Hop photojournalist in the 1990s. She photographed for local and national music magazines, record labels, and captured a wide range of portraiture and live concert performances throughout the Bay Area. Over the decade, she archived thousands of images documenting the region’s rise and its enduring impact on Hip Hop culture nationally and internationally.
Her photographs, accompanied by in-depth interpretations developed specifically for the This Is Hip Hop: West Coast exhibition, offered visitors an intimate look at the people, places, and moments that shaped West Coast Hip Hop.
Left to Right: Traci Bartlow, Averianna the Personality