Don't Wait Til It's Cool
Studio Showing: Saturday August 12, 2023 | 6 - 10 pm
The Frame | 4732 Monroe Rd Suite 110, Charlotte, NC 28205
"This exhibition from North Carolina Always shows that this city—and further, the entire state—has an existing community and vibrancy that hasn’t waited for everyone else to take notice." -Andy Smith, Charlotte Magazine July 2018
"Don't Wait Til It's Cool", the first archival project from North Carolina Always, explores the relationship between North Carolina's hip-hop culture, music venues, and the various photographers that capture those artists on stage and beyond. This exhibition features photographic works from artists that have supported North Carolina’s Hip Hop Community through their lenses.
Titled after a quote from Charlotte rapper, Elevator Jay, "Don't Wait Till It's Cool to Rep the Carolina's", this exhibit examines the development of hip-hop as an art form and the pride North Carolinian Hip-Hop Artists have for their state and respective communities. 'Don't Wait Til It's Cool' hopes to invoke discussion about the role of photography in a music artist's development, arts place-making, and hip-hop's representation in the public arts sector.
This growing exhibit features photographs of 9th Wonder, Rapsody, Phonte, Big Pooh, Lute, Elevator Jay, Deniro Farrar, Well$, Pierce Freelon, Ace Henderson, The Real Laww, and more. Currently, there are eighteen photographers featured in this collection: Orchid Chamblee, Joseph “Headgraphix” Headen, Johnny Lee Chapman III, Saloan Dunlap, Chris Charles, Evan Anderson, Blaine Butler, Tre Bravo, Blaine Butler, Will Jenkins, Jalen Marlowe, Malik Burns, Casha Mosley, Tory Silinski, Myles Harris, Kevin “Surf” Mitchell, Dj Pauly Guwop, and the curator- Chanel A. Nestor
'Don't Wait Til It's Cool' hopes to invoke discussion about the role of photography in a music artist's development, arts place-making, and hip-hop's representation in the public arts sector.
‘Don’t Wait Til It’s Cool’ has been viewed in Charlotte and Durham, NC. For additional information the exhibit or if you would like to feature this exhibit in your area, please contact Chanel A. Nestor, Founder of NC Always, info@ncalways.org.