North Philly Book Store Serves As Unlikely Incubator For Hip-Hop
By Cherri Gregg
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Hip-hop music was born in the Bronx 42 years ago this week, and a North Philadelphia book store is serving as an incubator for budding artists in the genre.
Located at Broad and Erie, Black and Nobel Bookstore is best known for its program that ships books to prisons, but they're also known as the place to get the books, clothing, films and music of the streets.
"We grew up in hip-hop and we saw it develop," explains store employee Tyson Gravity.
On any day, the store gets visits from rappers like Freeway or Meek Mill as well as budding artists like PNB rock, a 23-year-old artist from Philadelphia.
"There wasn't a lot of places in Philly that gave the underground a shot and that's what we did," says store founder Hakim Hopkins.
Hopkins -- once a drug dealer-- has changed his life. He celebrates hip-hop not on its birthday, August 11th, but on the 17th -- the birthday of Marcus Garvey.
"To celebrate all of the things that we learned from his journey on how to be an entrepreneur and stuff," Hopkins says.
The goal: getting more hip artists to thrive.
