Celebrate the Fiftieth Anniversary of Hip-Hop With Theyshootn's Banshee House Exhibition

If a picture contains a thousand words, then an image of hip-hop’s greatest wordsmiths must be worth millions. To honor the genre’s fiftieth anniversary of its inception, typically attributed to a Bronx night in August 1973, local photography collective Theyshootn will showcase hip-hop culture at the Banshee House with the exhibition Hip-Hop ’til Infinity.

Armando Geneyro of the Theyshootn collective spearheaded the show. His decade-plus in Denver gave him the connections to pull together the wide-reaching feat, which is no ordinary exhibit. From 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday, August 11, the photographs will be complemented by music from DJ Vandelay, KDJ Above and DJ Lazy Eyez. It will be an even bigger scene for the show's final evening on Saturday, August 12, which includes the same DJs as well as breakdancers, tattoo artists offering custom designs, live painting and a photography workshop that welcomes all skill levels.

Meanwhile, the photography in Hip-Hop ’til Infinity, which Geneyro says is inspired by similar exhibits held in such hip-hop meccas as New York and L.A., conveys the melting pot of Denver hip-hop. “Denver is very much a mixture of all these different styles,” Geneyro says. "So when you have artists like Trev Rich, AP or the ReMINDers, artists that really cemented themselves as figureheads of hip-hop in Denver, I think it's a tribute to the perseverance of hip-hop in Colorado.”

Hip-Hop ’til Infinity includes photography from seven members of Theyshootn: Geneyro, Blake Jackson, 3rd Dvision, Amanda Lopez, Anthony Maes, Mike Thurk and Trevor Traynor. All based in Denver, each photographer has a deep reverence for hip-hop culture, Geneyro says, particularly how the genre uplifts often unheard voices. He notes that much of the concert photography reflects the DIY qualities that hip-hop is built on. “A lot of the photos you'll see, there was no press passes,” he says. “We literally bought tickets to get in and we snuck our camera in.”
The exhibit pays special attention to Denver, capturing many of the iconic venues and hangouts the city offers. While some of the photos are of well-known legends of the game, such as Pusha T and Lupe Fiasco, Hip-Hop ’til Infinity also pays tribute to local players who were instrumental in expanding the genre’s influence in Denver.

“There's photos of the legends and some pioneers, and then there's photos of underground royalty,” says Geneyro. “And there's photos of the new voices in hip-hop and where hip-hop is going.”

Local legends honored in the exhibit include DJs B*Money and Sounds Supreme, who were both active promoters of the Colorado hip-hop scene before their passing. B*Money gained prominence for his scratch work on Basementalists, an underground radio station in Boulder, and Sounds Supreme for his role as the co-founder of the Solution, a weekly hip-hop party that began in February 2007.

Geneyro, who started listening to hip-hop while growing up in California, discovered B*Money and Sounds Supreme fifteen years ago while he was living in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on military assignment. Inspired by the community the promoters were curating, Geneyro settled in Denver two years later.

“Hip-hop was my everything growing up, man. It was my first love. It was my greatest teacher,” Geneyro says. “I think I've learned more important lessons listening to hip-hop than I could ever have learned from any institution.”

With Hip-hop ’til Infinity, Geneyro incorporates his photography — or “full-time side hustle,” as he puts it — with his passion for hip-hop culture, working with the rest of Theyshootn and an extensive network of community collaborators to familiarize Denver audiences with hip-hop's history.

“Hip-hop has always been the language of the youth and the language of the underrepresented,” Geneyro says. “It's the language of those who aren't heard the loudest. It's the language of the people that are stepped on. It's the language of the poor. I think hip-hop culture represents all that. It represents the streets; it represents how we feel threatened by the police.

"With the photography, especially," he adds, "the exhibit tries to showcase the voices of that early struggle in the ’80s and ’90s, and the struggle of what the youth go through today.”

Hip-Hop ’til Infinity, 6 p.m. Friday, August 11, and Saturday, August 12, Banshee House, 2715 Larimer Street. Tickets are free, but guests can RSVP in advance.