Artists such as Nas, Lil'Kim, Fat Joe and many other rap legends gathered Thursday in the Bronx to celebrate the creation of the Universal Hip Hop Museum in the borough considered the "mecca" of rap and hip-hop.

The museum has just launched a fundraising campaign for the construction of the facility.  The museum will open in 2023, on the genre's symbolic 50th birthday, as legend has it that hip hop was born at a party in the Bronx inside a building on Sedgwick Avenue in 1973. 

The construction of the museum has been rumored for 10 years, and is now becoming a reality as part of Bronx Point, a $349 million urban development project on the banks of the Harlem River that works for affordable housing, public spaces, and cultural and community initiatives.

Iconic hip-hop representatives arrived at the event and took to the microphone to share the experiences the music genre has brought them. Nas stated that hip hop "taught him more than schools" and acknowledged being proud to lend his support to the cultural center.

"Hip hop is one of those things that really gave my life meaning. It made me feel like I could really do something with my life," said rapper LL Cool J, who has become one of the ambassadors of the museum under construction.

The Universal Hip Hop Museum project will span more than 4,600 square meters in the "mecca" of The Bronx, and its mission will be to provide a "space for audiences, artists and technology to come together, creating educational and entertainment experiences around the "hip hop culture of the past, present and future."