NEW YORK – September 30, 2026 – Rapper Nas and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sat down in the Bronx to discuss hip-hop’s past, present and future, using the conversation to connect the culture’s origins at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue with a new public high school built around hip-hop education.
The video, released by the NYC Mayor’s Office, moves between the recognized birthplace of hip-hop and the newly opened Bronx School of Hip Hop, where students are beginning the 2026-27 school year with a curriculum that connects traditional academics to emceeing, DJing, graffiti, breaking, music production and other elements of hip-hop culture.
The city’s message is broader than commemoration: New York is attempting to turn hip-hop’s history into an educational model for a new generation.
From 1520 Sedgwick Avenue to a New Bronx School
Much of the conversation centers on 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, the location New York City officially recognizes as the birthplace of hip-hop.
NYC DOT says that on August 11, 1973, Clive Campbell – DJ Kool Herc – and his sister hosted a back-to-school party there. The city describes the event as laying the foundation for hip-hop.
NYC DOT – Hip Hop Boulevard and 1520 Sedgwick Avenue
In the Mayor’s Office video, the history serves as the starting point rather than the conclusion. Mamdani argues that New York should not only celebrate where hip-hop began but continue creating institutions capable of supporting its future.
Bronx School of Hip Hop Opens for the 2026-27 School Year
The Bronx School of Hip Hop, school number 09X657, is a new public high school in District 9.
NYC Public Schools lists the school at 1600 Webster Avenue in the Bronx.
NYC Public Schools – Bronx School of Hip Hop official school page
The school is one of five new public schools announced for the 2026-27 academic year. NYC Public Schools says the Bronx School of Hip Hop uses hip-hop culture as a foundation for rigorous instruction while maintaining the standard academic curriculum.
The city says students study:
- emceeing;
- DJing;
- graffiti;
- breaking;
- knowledge of self;
- audio production;
- digital media;
- financial literacy;
- traditional academic subjects.
NYC Public Schools – Five New Public Schools Opening in Fall 2026
A School Built Around Hip-Hop as a Teaching Tool
The concept is not simply to create a school for aspiring rappers.
According to NYC Public Schools, hip-hop is being used as a framework for connecting classroom subjects to students’ cultural experiences and real-world applications. The curriculum combines arts-centered instruction with conventional academic requirements.
Students featured in the Mayor’s Office video describe seeing familiar cultural references – music, visual art and hip-hop history – incorporated into the learning environment.
One student says the first day helped make clearer what teachers meant by “using the elements of hip-hop to learn.” Another describes growing up with hip-hop at home, at family cookouts and throughout the neighborhood, and says seeing that culture become part of a public school feels significant.
Nas Focuses on Youth, Creativity and Opportunity
Nas focuses much of his part of the conversation on young people and opportunity.
He describes hip-hop as something created from difficult social and economic conditions and argues that innovation and creativity gave young people an alternative way to imagine their futures.
The rapper also says that many young people in neighborhoods like those where hip-hop developed had talent but lacked visible pathways toward different careers or lives.
His argument in the video is that institutions like the Bronx School of Hip Hop can provide young people with more structured opportunities than previous generations had.
The Mayor Connects Culture With Neighborhood Stability
Mamdani also links the discussion to a broader New York problem: people succeeding financially but feeling they must leave the neighborhoods where they grew up.
He asks how New York can make those same neighborhoods places where residents want – and are able – to remain after becoming successful.
The video does not announce a new housing policy connected to the school; those remarks are presented as part of the broader conversation about the future of New York neighborhoods.
The School Went Through the City Approval Process
The Bronx School of Hip Hop was not created solely through the September video.
NYC Public Schools records show that the Panel for Educational Policy approved the proposed opening and co-location of the Bronx School of Hip Hop, school number 09X657, with I.S. 339 and P.S. X469 in Building X147 beginning in the 2026-27 school year.
NYC Public Schools – December 17, 2025 School Utilization Proposals
NYC Is Treating Hip-Hop History as Civic History
The city has increasingly incorporated hip-hop history into official commemorations.
NYC DOT formally identifies Hip Hop Boulevard at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue and says the August 1973 gathering organized by DJ Kool Herc and his sister laid the foundation for the genre.
The new school represents a different form of recognition: instead of preserving hip-hop solely through monuments, street signs, concerts or anniversaries, the city is incorporating the culture into a public-school curriculum.
What Is Confirmed
- The Bronx School of Hip Hop is an NYC public high school.
- It opened for the 2026-27 school year.
- It is part of District 9 in the Bronx.
- NYC Public Schools says the school uses hip-hop culture as an instructional foundation.
- The curriculum includes emceeing, DJing, graffiti, breaking, audio production, digital media and financial literacy.
- The school’s opening and co-location went through the city’s formal Panel for Educational Policy process.
- New York City officially commemorates 1520 Sedgwick Avenue as the birthplace of hip-hop.
A Claim That Needs Careful Wording
The Mayor’s Office video describes the school in “first-ever” terms. Official NYC Public Schools materials clearly establish that it is a newly created public high school centered on hip-hop education.
However, the official city sources cited here do not independently establish a nationwide historical claim that no comparable public high school has ever existed anywhere else in the United States.
For that reason, Midtown Tribune describes it as New York City’s new Bronx School of Hip Hop rather than presenting an unqualified national “first-ever” claim as independently verified fact.
Key Facts
- Video premiere: September 30, 2026
- Participants: Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Nas
- School: Bronx School of Hip Hop
- NYC school number: 09X657
- Borough: Bronx
- District: 9
- Address: 1600 Webster Avenue, Bronx, NY 10457
- School year opened: 2026-27
- Hip-hop birthplace discussed: 1520 Sedgwick Avenue
- Historic date: August 11, 1973
- Historical figure: DJ Kool Herc
- Curriculum themes: emceeing, DJing, graffiti, breaking, audio production, digital media, financial literacy and standard academics
Official Sources and Primary Documents
- NYC Public Schools – Bronx School of Hip Hop official school page
- NYC Public Schools – Five New Public Schools Opening in Fall 2026
- NYC Public Schools – December 17, 2025 School Utilization Proposals
- NYC DOT – Hip Hop Boulevard / 1520 Sedgwick Avenue
Video
Mayor and Nas sit down to discuss the past, present and future of hip hop in NYC
NYC Mayor’s Office
Premiered September 30, 2026
Video summary: The conversation traces hip-hop’s origins in the Bronx, discusses the opening of the Bronx School of Hip Hop and focuses on how New York can support the next generation of artists and students.
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