WORCESTER – As he was handed the mic, local Hip Hop artist Kaz Supernova looked around the Creative Hub art studio located at the corner of Main Street and Ionic Avenue. He paused and smiled.

“I’ve been a part of hip hop in Worcester since this was a furniture store,” he said as the two-dozen people in attendance laughed. Supernova was recently part of the official launch of the Living-Local Worcester Hip Hop Archive by the Worcester Hip Hop Congress. Members of the Congress explained that the purpose of the archive is to celebrate the “significant talent that exists within the Worcester Hip Hop scene.”

The Congress are constantly working to preserve local hip-hop related art, artifacts, audiovisual materials, publications, and images, while also building an educational programming around the contents of the archive in order to offer local residents the chance to experience the impact that local hip hop artists have on the culture of Worcester and how they influenced its development as an artform throughout the world.

 Supernova just happens to be the curator of the Congress. In fact, he is a veteran musician of more than 30 years. “Since the early 80s I’ve been a beat boy, an artist, a producer,” he said. Most recently, he has been producing a documentary called WorTown Rising, focusing on the first wave of hip hop into the city. “I’m just happy to be a part of this. While creating WorTown Rising, I’ve amassed a pretty big archive of hip hop stuff from all eras and generations so I’m looking forward to giving that back to the community and sharing that with everyone here.”

The initial project was made possible through a Scholarship in Action Seed Grant (Andrew W. Mellon Foundation) acquired by Holy Cross professor Megan Ross and Che Anderson, the deputy cultural development officer for the city, in collaboration with the Worcester Hip Hop Congress. The project will continue on as a venture of the Worcester Hip Hop Congress, led by a community committee. 

“Not only does Worcester have numerous talented hip hop artists from all of the different elements– be it emceeing, DJing, performing or graffiti art– but it also has a history and tradition dating back to the seventies,” Ross said. She mentioned several types of items that will be solicited from local artists, including posters, records, compilations of YouTube videos, artwork and various awards.

Anderson explained that the Worcester Hip Hop Congress is an arts nonprofit founded in 2021 by a collaborative of local artists, educators, and scholars with a shared love for hip hop and Worcester, MA. Several members of the Congress, along with local artists and volunteers make up the community committee overseeing the Living-Local archive. The committee includes Ross as chairperson; Supernova, is the head curator; and Manny Guerra, a legendary local hip hop performer, will serve as community liaison to the public. Other prominent members are Trevis Forbes from the hip hop crew Maz Wun; Cyrus Alexander, also known as Cyrus the Great; Kristian Rodriguez, who’s stage name is Nu Element; Tim Diaz, who goes by the name Blaze tha Bastard; Angel ‘DOS’ Geronimo, vice president of the Worcester Hip Hop Congress; Martha Diaz, associate curator and archivist at the Universal Hip Hop Museum; as well as Holy Cross student Martell Audate and local volunteer, Shardai Clarke.

“I’m really excited to be a part of this amazing team right here,” Anderson said. “I look around the room and I see a lot of people who have informed me of Worcester’s heavy role in hip hop … Every once in a while, you end up in a space and then you realize you are exactly where you’re supposed to be.”

Audate said he got involved with the project after taking Ross’ class at Holy Cross. “I really love hip hop and Prof. Ross has really opened my eyes to what Worcester has to offer and then we moved on to researching and now we’re working on this archive.” During his research, he reached out to different archivists around the country, such as the Smithsonian, the Universal Hip Hop Museum. Eventually, the committee was able to partner with the Universal Hip Hop Museum. “We came up with these four categories during our research,” he said. The categories were art and Artifacts, images, audio-visual, and publications. “We thought that these four categories best encompassed what Worcester has to offer when we show our archive off … Hopefully in the next three years, I can help make an impact on the Worcester community like you guys have made an impact on me.”

Cyrus the Great, a Worcester resident, said joining the committee sounded exciting. “Worcester hasn’t had anything quite like this. It’s very exciting and I feel very honored and privileged to be a part of a beautiful process like this,” he said.

Rodriguez said he is a Worcester resident “born and raised. I love Worcester and I’m glad to see some positive change going on in Worcester through hip hop because hip hop is my lifestyle … It’s good to be here with like-minded individuals.”

As community liaison for the committee, Guerra will be accepting any submitted hip hop material pertaining to Worcester. He said they will accept all digital material and all analogue material will be converted to digital. “I’m very happy and blessed to be here,” he said. “It’s good to see so many young faces and young heads interested to learn where hip hop originated from in the city … I am a community builder from back in the day and a hip hop pioneer and artist and excited to be part of this committee.”

Parts of the exhibit will go on display for the entire month of October at the Aurora Hotel at 660 Main Street. For more information about the Living-Local archive or to learn how to become a volunteer, contact the Worcester Hip Hop Congress at worcesterhiphopcongress@gmail.com.