The Art of Storytelling: A Hip Hop Time Capsule

Key mementos to help rap live on.

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The Art of Storytelling: A Hip Hop Time Capsule - From Rakim to A$AP Rocky, the BET Hip Hop Awards, which aired last night, gave love to hip hop old and new. But what if the HHAs aren't enough to preserve the culture for future generations? In a thousand years, when Martians touch down, how will our great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren explain hip hop and its achievements to them? We have the answer: a time capsule. Here, we've assembled a list of key hip hop mementos that best sum up this incredible music and culture. Click on and take a good look, 'cause once we bury our time capsule, you won't see them again — unless you're around in 3012. —Alex Gale (Photos from left: Courtesy Bad Boy Records, Kevin Mazur/WireImage, Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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The Art of Storytelling: A Hip Hop Time Capsule - From Rakim to A$AP Rocky, the BET Hip Hop Awards, which aired last night, gave love to hip hop old and new. But what if the HHAs aren't enough to preserve the culture for future generations? In a thousand years, when Martians touch down, how will our great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren explain hip hop and its achievements to them? We have the answer: a time capsule. Here, we've assembled a list of key hip hop mementos that best sum up this incredible music and culture. Click on and take a good look, 'cause once we bury our time capsule, you won't see them again — unless you're around in 3012. —Alex Gale (Photos from left: Courtesy Bad Boy Records, Kevin Mazur/WireImage, Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

"Rapper's Delight" 12-Inch - What better way to set off our time capsule than the song that helped start it all? Sugar Hill Gang's classic "Rapper's Delight" was the first hip hop song to break through and it still bangs today. Note that we used a vinyl copy — hip hop started on wax, not CD or MP3. (Photo: Sugar Hill)

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"Rapper's Delight" 12-Inch - What better way to set off our time capsule than the song that helped start it all? Sugar Hill Gang's classic "Rapper's Delight" was the first hip hop song to break through and it still bangs today. Note that we used a vinyl copy — hip hop started on wax, not CD or MP3. (Photo: Sugar Hill)

Boom Box - Before Apple earbuds or jeeps with booming systems, the boom box — aka "ghetto blaster" — was the best way to listen to the best hip hop. And plus, it just looked cool.(Photo: PM Images / Getty Images)

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Boom Box - Before Apple earbuds or jeeps with booming systems, the boom box — aka "ghetto blaster" — was the best way to listen to the best hip hop. And plus, it just looked cool.(Photo: PM Images / Getty Images)

Nas - “The Genesis,” Illmatic (1994) - Illmatic introduces us to one of hip hop’s most cinematic rappers with an intro that contains audio clips from Wild Style, a movie that inaugurated hip hop into film.(Photo: Columbia Records)

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Illmatic cassette - Nas' 1994 solo debut, Illmatic, is arguably the perfect hip hop album and it's a great way to represent just how poetic, lyrical and introspective rap can be. Plus, we've got it on cassette — true, CDs were already popping off at this time, but a grimy New York album like this sounds better on a Walkman with tape hiss. (Photo: Columbia Records)'

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Motorola 2-Way Pager - Hip hop has always stayed on top of the latest technological trends, from beepers to iPhones to iPads. This short-lived, turn-of-the-millennium innovation, which helped introduce texting in the days before phones could do it well, wouldn'tve reached such massive (and brief) popularity if it wasn't for rappers name-dropping in it every other song. (Photo: Motorola)

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Motorola 2-Way Pager - Hip hop has always stayed on top of the latest technological trends, from beepers to iPhones to iPads. This short-lived, turn-of-the-millennium innovation, which helped introduce texting in the days before phones could do it well, wouldn'tve reached such massive (and brief) popularity if it wasn't for rappers name-dropping in it every other song. (Photo: Motorola)

Grandmaster Flash's First Mixer - Sometimes hip hop has even driven technological innovation in a more hands-on way. Myth has it that Grandmaster Flash, for example, built the first DJ mixer with a cross fader using parts from Radio Shack and a junkyard. We've included that Frankenstein-ed mixer here: Not only does it show hip hop's talent for making lemonade out of lemons, but it reps for DJs, the foundation and curators of the culture. (Photo: David Corio/Redferns)

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Grandmaster Flash's First Mixer - Sometimes hip hop has even driven technological innovation in a more hands-on way. Myth has it that Grandmaster Flash, for example, built the first DJ mixer with a cross fader using parts from Radio Shack and a junkyard. We've included that Frankenstein-ed mixer here: Not only does it show hip hop's talent for making lemonade out of lemons, but it reps for DJs, the foundation and curators of the culture. (Photo: David Corio/Redferns)

Biggie's Coogi Sweater - Getting fly and fresh has always been an important part of hip hop culture. And few did it better than the late, great Notorious B.I.G., the self-proclaimed "ugly as ever" rapper who went from "ashy to classy." And nothing sums up Big's swag better than one of his signature vivid sweaters from Italian designer Coogi. (Photo: Courtesy Bad Boy Records)

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Biggie's Coogi Sweater - Getting fly and fresh has always been an important part of hip hop culture. And few did it better than the late, great Notorious B.I.G., the self-proclaimed "ugly as ever" rapper who went from "ashy to classy." And nothing sums up Big's swag better than one of his signature vivid sweaters from Italian designer Coogi. (Photo: Courtesy Bad Boy Records)

Run-DMC's Shell-Toe Adidas - A hip hop classic that made history: Adidas were the shoes of choice for old-school pioneers Run-DMC, and they spread the gospel with their classic "My Adidas," which helped make the brand a streetwear staple worldwide and landed the group one of hip hop's first endorsement deals.  (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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Run-DMC's Shell-Toe Adidas - A hip hop classic that made history: Adidas were the shoes of choice for old-school pioneers Run-DMC, and they spread the gospel with their classic "My Adidas," which helped make the brand a streetwear staple worldwide and landed the group one of hip hop's first endorsement deals.  (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Flavor Flav's Clock Necklace - What's a time capsule without a time piece? Flavor Flav's signature ticking jewelry is iconic rap fashion. And despite Flav's reality-show present, don't forget about his past, as a member of Public Enemy, the perfect embodiment of rap's ability to speak the truth and put the powers that be on notice.  (Photo: Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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Flavor Flav's Clock Necklace - What's a time capsule without a time piece? Flavor Flav's signature ticking jewelry is iconic rap fashion. And despite Flav's reality-show present, don't forget about his past, as a member of Public Enemy, the perfect embodiment of rap's ability to speak the truth and put the powers that be on notice.  (Photo: Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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Kick, Push - Lil Wayne, who was recently quoted saying that he is retiring from rap to focus on his new passion, skateboarding, rides the indoor ramps at 1 OAK Nightclub inside the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. (Photo: WENN.com)

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Lil Wayne's Skateboard - Hip hop is going places in the new millennium, literally and figuratively, and Lil Wayne's favorite mode of transportation is a great way to show it. Just like rap, Weezy has come far, from tween trap rapper to one of hip hop's biggest superstars and record execs. And he's expanding to weird, new, unexpected places that no one thought he, or hip hop, could go — like skateboarding. (Photo: WENN.com)

Amazing Music Documentaries - Brooklyn keeps on taking it. Yesterday, Dec. 4, Jay celebrated his birthday by releasing a 24-minute documentary that takes a look at his eight-show run at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, which he co-owns. He's seen performing, walking the arena, and even taking the subway to the arena before the last show. Here, in light of Hov's latest win, BET.com takes a look at some incredible music documentaries. Lights, camera, action. —Alex Gale(Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

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Jay-Z's Nets Jersey - Jay-Z's Nets jersey — emblazoned with "Carter" on the back — is the perfect final addition to our time capsule. It's the embodiment of hip hop's rags-to-riches story and unlimited potential. Hov went from Marcy to Madison Square to his own team. By the time this capsule is finally pried open, we can only imagine how far hip hop will have come. Sky's the limit. (Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)