Unsung heroes of Kansas City hip-hop and R&B get their moment in new exhibit

Many people think of jazz or blues as the only musical pillars of our city’s history.

Finally, generations of unsung local heroes are just now being recognized for their contributions to the city’s music, thanks to the “House of Hits,” an R&B/hip-hop exhibit at the Black Archives of Mid-America.

The exhibit, put on by the National Art Soul Experience (known more commonly as ASX), seeks to highlight the many local artists old and new who do not get the credit they deserve.

“This marks the 25-year anniversary of our organization, and we asked, how do we celebrate the occasion?” says Ken Lumpkins, creator of ASX. and curator of the exhibit. “When we looked back, we saw we had so many success stories that came from here that nobody discusses when we talk music.”

Lumpkins, 51, for over two decades has organized events ranging from music to arts festivals. The Kansas City native has always worked to bring together creatives in order to make something fresh and exciting for his hometown. He feels that the spotlight placed on jazz can overshadow other musical styles that Kansas Citians have excelled in.

“I think there is a notion of what KC was from its heyday and taken this image of the ’20s and ’30s and built a sort of brand around it. We have been a big part of history past jazz. So why not claim everything when it comes to what we have created?” he says.

He looked to shed much needed light on people who not only influenced local music but music genres as a whole. One individual who is featured prominently in the exhibit is Kansas City native Big Joe Turner, a jack-of-all-trades type who moved from blues to jazz to swing. He, however, is known to many musical historians as one of the precursors of rock ’n’ roll. His original recording of “Shake, Rattle and Roll” was one of the many songs by Black musicians that Elvis Presley covered, solidifying him as the “King of Rock.”

“How is there a Kansas City man who helped pioneer one of the most popular music genres and we don’t talk about him? People like him and Marva Whitney, who started out as a backup dancer for James Brown and became a recording artist herself. People may not know her name but she has been sampled so much in hip-hop her music has become recognizable,” says Lumpkins.

Lumpkins is always surprised to see how many people are unfamiliar with local artists like platinum-selling R&B group Bloodstone. The exhibit has an entire room dedicated to the local group, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. The group is most known for the 1973 hit “Natural High,” which has been used in numerous forms of media, such as the 1997 film “Jackie Brown.”

The exhibit is spread among three areas with an impressive array of items provided by local collectors, such as instruments, gold records, concert posters and clothing. Wanting to show the constant evolution of Kansas City artists, Lumpkins made sure to show current acts creating a name for themselves today. Many locals would only expect to see rapper Tech N9ne or singer Janelle Monae. ASX hopes to bring more attention to creatives from Kansas City who have been dominating in the industry yet not getting the recognition they deserve.

One featured local artist is singer, songwriter and producer Joseph Macklin, who goes by the stage name Jo Blaq. Macklin, who is a Grammy-nominated producer in his own right, spoke at the exhibit debut.

“People say that Kansas City doesn’t have a sound,” Macklin said as he stood in front of a wall of local current producers such as himself and Grammy winner Brian Kennedy. “Without the people on this wall, a lot of the records you hear on the mainstream, they are created by people from Kansas City. So a lot of people got their sound from us. When people say Kansas City doesn’t have its own sound, it is because we are the sound.”

The “House of Hits” exhibit runs until Friday, Oct. 7, during regular business hours at the Black Archives of Mid-America, 1722 E. 17 Terrace.