The 2023 NYC Cypher: “You are now entering a community”

O Cypher de 2023 em Nova Iorque: “Você está entrando em uma comunidade”

Abstract:

This photo essay presents photos from an edition of The New York City 1 Train Cyphers, a series of events that promote hip-hop, street culture, and community in the Bronx, NYC. The event has two slogans: “NYC Cypher: You are entering a vibe” and “NYC Cypher, you are entering a community”. It reunites rappers, photographers, and art performers. The Bronx is considered the birthplace of hip-hop, even though hip-hop’s origins trace back to Jamaica. The key artistic elements of hip-hop culture are MCing and DJing (rap and music production), graffiti art, and breakdancing. Marginalized communities have historically used art to express their everyday experiences, making art presentations both moments of pleasure and of social resistance. As KRS-One, one of the most iconic Bronx rappers, states: “Rap is something you do; hip hop is something you live” (PQ 2019: 2).

Keywords:
Hip-Hop; Urban Culture; Community Building; Street Performance; Cultural Resistance

Resumo:

Este ensaio fotográfico apresenta fotografias de uma edição do The New York City 1 Train Cyphers, uma série de eventos que promove o hip-hop, a cultura de rua e o espírito comunitário no Bronx, em Nova York. O evento tem dois slogans: “NYC Cypher: Você está entrando em uma vibe” e “NYC Cypher, você está entrando em uma comunidade”. Ele reúne rappers, fotógrafos e artistas performáticos. O Bronx é considerado o berço do hip-hop, embora as origens do hip-hop remontem à Jamaica. Os principais elementos artísticos da cultura hip-hop são o MCing e o DJing (rap e produção musical), a arte do grafite e o breakdance. Comunidades marginalizadas têm, historicamente, usado a arte para expressar suas experiências cotidianas, tornando as apresentações artísticas momentos tanto de prazer quanto de resistência social. Como afirma KRS-One, um dos rappers mais icônicos do Bronx: “O rap é algo que você faz; o hip-hop é algo que você vive” (PQ 2019: 2).

Palavras-chave:
hip-hop; cultura urbana; construção de comunidade; performance de rua; resistência cultural

INTRODUCTION

The 1 Train NYC Cypher is the largest New York City Cypher at present and is promoted by the House of Muelz, a creative company in the Bronx, led by Steve Muelz. The series of events promotes rap music, hip-hop culture, and a sense of belonging in the Bronx every year, continuing its legacy. The event has two slogans: “NYC Cypher: You are entering a vibe” and “NYC Cypher, you are entering a community”. The event serves as a hub and platform for connecting artists, as well as a point of friendship and camaraderie.

As photographs can convey what texts may not (Novaes 2008), this photo essay aims to convey a sense of the event, its “vibe,” and its “community.” I participated in the event as a photographer and videographer alongside many other photographers, most of whom were invited by Steve Muelz. I went with a group of photographers from Washington, DC, where I lived at the time, to spend the weekend in New York. At the end of the event, we all provided the photos to Steve. I knew no one at the event other than the group I came with, but by the end, I had made many connections with Hip-hop artists who were always excited to see the photos we had taken of them.

Hip-hop is not only a music genre or a dance style, but a complex cultural movement. At its core, hip-hop emerged as a fusion of diverse cultural influences within a social environment characterized by poverty and limited perspectives. Although hip-hop is often credited with originating in the Bronx, its cultural roots trace back to Jamaica (Nascimento 2014). Hip-hop originated in the 1970s at parties organized by DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican-born DJ, in the Bronx, New York City, and frequented by African Americans and immigrant youth.

Still, the Bronx remains one of the most significant neighborhoods in hip-hop history, as it was home to some of the most influential rappers, including KRS-One, Big Pun, Kool Keith, Slick Rick, Lord Finesse, Melle Mel, Canibus, Fat Joe, Remy Ma, and Diamond D. As KRS-One, one of the most iconic Bronx rappers, states: “Rap is something you do; hip hop is something you live” (PQ 2019: 2). This statement reflects the deeper cultural meaning of hip-hop, which goes beyond artistic expression.

The key artistic elements of hip-hop culture include MCing and DJing (rap and music production), graffiti art, and breakdancing. These forms of expression convey the everyday experiences of marginalized communities. These communities often face systemic neglect, poverty, and violence, making artistic expression not only a moment of pleasure but also a form of resistance. For Rosa, “hip hop is configured as a narrative about an experience of subalternity rooted in colonialism and slavery” (Rosa 2014: 29, quoted in Santos 2019: 131).

While the capitalistic society reduces individuals to numbers, reproducers, or consumers, hip-hop offers a revolutionary sense of embodiment, belonging, and identity. In this scenario, cyphers and rap battles serve as vital gathering spaces for rappers, beatmakers, listeners, and other artists, including photographers, videographers, and breakdancers. These events foster both artistic creativity and community building.

For the sociologist Robert Nisbet (1993), community synthesizes the profound psychological aspect of human life: the well-being derived from group aggregation, which does not originate solely from the convenience of roles or elements of nationality. The community represents the link that truly unites humans in their deepest motivation. My goal as an anthropologist and photographer was to demonstrate the power of community and the energy it creates, as the New York Cypher’s slogan suggests.

The photos from the Cypher were later included in a virtual exhibition that I curated, titled “The power of community,” in which I showcase three different events: the Acampamento Terra Livre 2024 in Brazil, the NYC Cypher 2023, and an International Students’ Party in the US. The purpose of this virtual exhibition is to prompt reflection on the importance of community events, the emotions they evoke, and the strength that comes from coming together to celebrate or discuss.

THE 2023 NYC CYPHER: “YOU ARE NOW ENTERING A COMMUNITY.”

Figure 1
The rapper performs while the crowd watches carefully, taking photos and filming. Source: Author.

Figure 2
The crowd watches the rapper perform while photographers take photos. Source: Author.

Figure 3
A rapper performs while people film and watch carefully. Source: Author.

Figure 4
A rapper performs in the middle of the crowd. Source: Author.

Figure 5
Rapper performs while the crowd laughs. Source: Author.

Figure 6
A rapper performs while people watch and film. Source: Author.

Figure 7
A performer dressed as Jesus arrives at the Cypher. Source: Author.

Figure 8
Rapper performs while the public watches. Source: Author.

Figure 9
Steve Muelz, photographer and promoter of the CYPHER, congratulates one of the rappers. Source: Author.

Figure 10
Steve Muelz is interviewed about The CYPHER while photographers and videographers try to get the best shots. Source: Author.

Figure 11
People laugh together after the end of the Cypher. Source: Author.

Figure 12
A rapper performs while people take photos. Source: Author.

Figure 13
Steve Muelz claps the interviewer while a photographer takes photos. Source: Author.

REFERENCES

• NASCIMENTO, Mayk Andreele do. O mundo do rap: entre as ruas e os holofotes da indústria cultural 2014. Doctoral dissertation, Universidade Federal da Paraíba - João Pessoa. https://repositorio.ufpb.br/jspui/handle/tede/9729
  » https://repositorio.ufpb.br/jspui/handle/tede/9729
• NISBET, Robert A. 1993. “Comunidade”. In: Marialice M. Foracchi; José de S. Martins (orgs.), Sociologia e sociedade: leituras de introdução à sociologia Rio de Janeiro: LTC, [n.d.]. pp. 215-232.
• NOVAES, Sylvia Caiuby. 2008. “Imagem, magia e imaginação: desafios ao texto antropológico”. Revista de Antropologia, 51(2): xx-xx. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-93132008000200007.
  » https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-93132008000200007
• PQ, Rory. 2019. “Hip hop history: from the streets to the mainstream”. Icon Collective, November 13. https://www.iconcollective.edu/hip-hop-history/
  » https://www.iconcollective.edu/hip-hop-history/
• SANTOS, Giovanna Silveira. 2019. “Movimento hip hop: masculino e masculinizado?”. Humanidades & Inovação, 6(16): 131. https://revista.unitins.br/index.php/humanidadeseinovacao/article/view/1835
  » https://revista.unitins.br/index.php/humanidadeseinovacao/article/view/1835

• Data Availability Statement
  All photographs and materials analyzed in this study are included in the published article.

Edited by

• Dossier Editors
  Adriana Facina
  Programa de Pós-graduação em Antropologia Social, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
  http://[e-mail] | https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9381-5134
  Silvia Capanema
  Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, pesquisadora de Pléaide/Campus Condorcet, pesquisadora bolsista CNRS CREDA-IHEAL (2024-2025)
  [e-mail] | https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1607-2055

Data availability

All photographs and materials analyzed in this study are included in the published article.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  20 July 2026
• Date of issue
  2026

History

• Received
  31 May 2025
• Accepted
  19 Mar 2026