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Respect Mag's 'Greatest Day In Harlem' Cover Remembers The Day Hip-Hop's Greatest United

In 1998, Slick Rick, Rakim, Fat Joe and even Shaq joined community leaders for XXL's recreate of Art Kane’s iconic 'Jazz Portrait.'

It’s been 20 years since the “The Greatest Day In Harlem” took place and now, Respect Magazine is taking a look back at one of hip-hop’s greatest days ever.

Originally, XXL Magazine united the the culture’s gatekeepers with many of the newer artists making noise at the time. It brought the likes of KRS-ONE, Rakim, Slick Rick, Russell Simmons, Grandmaster Flash, A Tribe Called Quest, Jazzy Jeff and more together with newbies like Mack 10, Fat Joe, Goodie Mob, and others in Harlem on September 29, 1998.

The cover it generated, which included all of the above named and so many more, was a recreation of Art Kane’s iconic Jazz Portrait, one of the most famous photographs in music and magazine history. The Respect feature includes quotes from the celebrated day and words from Sheena Lester, the original author of the story and Jonathan Rheingold’s original photos, including the negatives.

Rheingold also includes a foreword to the piece and says that “I’m both glad and grateful to have taken part in that afternoon for the ages on a famous Harlem block in 1998. The memories of it still dazzle.”

Read the entire feature here and relive one of hip-hop culture’s greatest days ever.

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