It’s only right that New York City‘s Metropolitan Transportation Authority gets in on the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, as the city has played such a monumental role in the genre’s trajectory. The MTA partnered with Universal Music Enterprises to unveil a limited line of MetroCards featuring portraits of four iconic New York City rappers: LL Cool J, Rakim, Cam’ron and Pop Smoke.
Currently, only LL Cool J and Pop Smoke’s stylized MetroCards are available for purchase, though Rakim and Cam’ron’s MetroCards will be available later on in the month. Each rapper’s MetroCards are available to pick up in their respective boroughs – with Queens-born-and-bred LL Cool J’s cards stationed in Forest Hills-71st Avenue station (E, F, M, and R lines), also where his Rock The Bells festival just took place for a second year in a row, and Brooklyn‘s own Pop Smoke’s cards available at the Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway station (L line) and the New Lots Avenue station (3 line).
The MTA released 40,000 LL Cool J and Pop Smoke cards total, and will drop 40,000 more MetroCards featuring Rakim and Cam’ron soon. Rakim, who grew up on Long Island, and Cam’ron, who was born and raised in East Harlem, will be available later this month at machines throughout the city. Check out all four of the limited-edition MetroCards, as well as a closer look at LL Cool J’s and Pop Smoke’s cards, in the Instagram post below.
In other 50 years of hip-hop news, check out Hypebeast’s roundup of commemorative hip-hop festivals.
