About Hip Hop Historian Society

The Hip Hop Historian Society (HHHS) is a Leeds-based community organisation dedicated to documenting, preserving and celebrating the history, culture and people of Hip Hop.

Our story began long before the Society was formally established. Since the early 2010s, Leeds Hip Hop practitioners, artists, educators, researchers and community organisers have worked to ensure that the city’s Hip Hop heritage is recognised, recorded and passed on to future generations. This work grew through community events, exhibitions, oral histories, collecting and collaboration with Leeds Museums and Galleries.

In 2018, the Hip Hop Historian Society was formally established as an independent community-led collective, bringing together people with a shared commitment to protecting this history. At its heart is the belief that Hip Hop history is living history — carried by the people who created it, experienced it and continue to shape it.

HHHS works across archiving, heritage, education, research, exhibitions, oral history and community events. We work alongside Hip Hop practitioners, cultural organisations, museums, universities and communities to uncover stories, preserve important artefacts and create opportunities for people to engage with Hip Hop history in meaningful ways.

Our work contributed to the development of A Hip Hop Journey: 50 Years of Kulture at Leeds City Museum, a major exhibition co-curated with the community that attracted more than 82,000 visitors and went on to win a Museums + Heritage Award in 2024.

But our work is about more than exhibitions. It is about people, memory, identity and place.

We believe the stories of DJs, MCs, writers, breakers, artists, producers, photographers, promoters, educators, record shops, venues and communities all form part of the wider history of Hip Hop.

We are here to make sure those stories are not lost — and that the people who lived them have a voice in how they are remembered.