[Afrika Islam]

Afrika Islam is one of the pioneers of Hip Hop, beginning his career in 1977 when he was just ten years old. He started by learning to remix tracks under the tutelage of Afrika Bambaataa before going on to become a legendary DJ, hosting one of the first-ever Hip Hop radio shows, being a key member of the Rock Steady Crew, and forging a long-standing collaborative relationship with superstar Ice T.

Zulu Nation is an international Hip Hop awareness group dedicated to “peace, love, unity, and having fun.” Starting in the late '70s in New York City, the Zulu Nation would convene youth events that combined all the various elements that now fall under the cultural umbrella of Hip Hop. Leather pendants like the present lot draw on contemporary pan-Africanist aesthetics that were popular throughout the "conscious rap" contingent of Hip Hop artists in the late 80s and early 90s—see Lot #45 for a later example of a similar pendant from De La Soul.