For the first time, items from Emory’s Rose Library will be on exhibit at the world’s busiest airport, where millions of travelers coming through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport can take a break and explore materials about the history of hip hop in Atlanta and its torchbearer, EarWax Records.
“Beyond the 50: Continuing Hip Hop’s Legacy” celebrates 50 years of hip hop music and looks to the future. The traveling exhibit pays homage to EarWax Records, which opened on Peachtree Street in 1993, and its owner, Darryl “Jasz” Smith. The store, which closed in 2007, was known for its community vibe, hard-to-find music — especially hip hop — and its live performances, which included Atlanta’s OutKast.
The free exhibit is located in Concourse E, near the Delta Sky Club between gates E11 and E15. The large cases housing the materials make the display easy to spot.
“Beyond the 50” opened Nov. 15 and will run for two years. Concourse E hosts both domestic and international flights, so a variety of audiences will see the exhibit on their way to and from their travels.
The exhibit features a replica of the original EarWax store as well as production equipment, records, artist posters, mix tapes, stickers, graffiti, various boomboxes, books on hip hop and education, and vintage hip hop magazines. Drawn from the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library and the personal collections of Smith and his collaborators, the display highlights the breadth of the EarWax materials held at Emory.
“Beyond the 50: Continuing Hip Hop’s Legacy” follows the successful 2023 exhibition, “You Don't Got Dis: A Hip Hop Legacy.” That previous show, curated by Smith and displayed at Emory’s Science Gallery Atlanta, traced the pivotal, genre-defying story of EarWax Records and its impact on Atlanta’s music scene. “Beyond the 50” expands on this legacy, offering new perspectives on EarWax’s history, its key figures, and the enduring impact of hip hop.
“EarWax Records played a critical role in elevating the artistry and craft of hip hop and its creators,” says Valeda F. Dent, Emory’s vice provost of libraries and museum.
“Jasz Smith is a brilliant curator and historian, and we are absolutely thrilled that the 2023 exhibit he and his team created will live on in the busiest airport in the world. We expect thousands of visitors to interact with the re-creation of EarWax's shop and artifacts as they pass through the airport this holiday season and beyond.”
The exhibit is also a way to inspire travelers to consider what they could do and create with Rose Library materials.
“It’s important that people are aware of what we have at the libraries because hopefully that knowledge will enable them to take the next step of using our materials to produce scholarship, art, documentaries or personal research projects,” says Clint Fluker, senior director of culture, community and partner engagement for Emory University Libraries and Museum. Fluker served as curatorial director for “Beyond the 50” and “You Don’t Got Dis.”
Two turntables and a microphone
The exhibit’s first display case revives the EarWax store entrance, with images of hip hop and R&B artists visible in the windows.
“We wanted to recreate the original storefront,” says Smith. “And there are six lightboxes in the window of artists like OutKast, Future, Ludacris and T.I.”
The second case reflects the history of hip hop, displaying factoids and materials such as record album covers, flyers, framed photographs, books and promotional materials.
For the third case, “We built a recording studio that has original studio equipment, and we created a tribute to Patchwerk, which is the oldest still-standing hip hop studio in Atlanta,” says Smith. “I have some record plaques from Patchwerk in there, and I have their rug.” The case displays sound mixers, turntables, record awards and posters promoting DJ events.
The fourth case, called “Hip Hop is Global,” shows how the genre has grown beyond the neighborhood to have a worldwide impact in music and marketing. The case is filled with magazines, clips of performance flyers, books, documentary DVDs and different styles of boomboxes. Two hip hop documentaries play on screens.
The Emory-airport connection
The idea for “Beyond the 50” emerged from ongoing discussions within the airport about how to honor Atlanta’s cultural leadership on a global stage, says Jess Bernhart, the airport’s art program manager. The airport’s relationship with Emory began last year, when the airport exhibition “This Land Calls Us Home,” featuring works by Indigenous artists, traveled to Emory and was displayed this spring in the Woodruff Library’s Schatten Gallery.
“Hip hop may have started in the Bronx, but Atlanta has played a defining role in its evolution — and EarWax Records is a central part of that history,” says Bernhart. “When Emory Libraries approached us about exhibiting archival materials related to EarWax, we immediately recognized the opportunity to introduce this story to millions of travelers.”
Exhibiting Emory Libraries and Rose Library collections at the Atlanta airport is an ideal way to spread the word about Emory’s humanities research offerings to a global audience.
“My hope for this exhibit is that it will inspire visitors and local residents to visit the Rose Library to learn more about the fabulous collections, including EarWax Records, that we have,” says Dent. “I also hope the exhibit makes a positive impression on potential future students and their families and highlights Emory’s libraries as a key player in the Atlanta pop culture, historical and archival space.”
Referring to the current exhibit’s predecessor, “You Don't Got Dis: A Hip Hop Legacy,” Dent says, “None of this would have been possible without our partners from Science Gallery Atlanta,” expressing gratitude for the involvement of the original partners from Science Gallery Atlanta — Deborah Bruner, Alexis Faust and Floyd Hall — as well as Smith and Fluker.
Both Emory Libraries and the Atlanta airport envision collaborating on future exhibitions.
“This project has demonstrated how powerful it is when a world-class research institution and the world’s busiest airport combine their strengths,” says Bernhart. “Emory brings depth, scholarship and stewardship of Atlanta’s cultural memory; the airport offers extraordinary public visibility. There are many stories within Emory’s collections that deserve a global audience, and we would welcome future opportunities to bring them to life at ATL.”
“Beyond the 50” will be on display when thousands of soccer fans, players, and coaches from around the world pass through the airport when the World Cup comes to Atlanta in June and July of 2026.
While this exhibit offers a brief look into the EarWax world, the EarWax Records archive at the Rose Library is an essential resource for studying Atlanta’s hip hop landscape — and it’s open to visitors.
“We are really interested in connecting our collections to the pulse of our community,” says Fluker. “When we do that, our collections naturally become part of the ecosystem. For example, OutKast was recently inducted into the Hip Hop Hall of Fame. This is a major moment for the city, so it’s great that we are also providing this opportunity for people to learn more about the hip hop landscape in Atlanta, while all eyes are looking toward the city.”
Appointments are available to view these primary source materials by contacting rose.library@emory.edu.
Photos courtesy of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Jasz Smith