THE original home of hiphop music . . . unfortunately, the east coast rapped itself into a rut years ago. Last month, an eagerly anticipated reunion show by NYC stalwarts The Wu-Tang Clan failed to shift tickets or move the (mostly white) audience; now the National Museum of American History . . . aka The Smithsonian . . . plans to put the city's hip-hop heroes under glass. The Smithsonian's forthcoming 'Hip-Hop Won't Stop' show will celebrate the life and rhymes of NYC legends like Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa (below).

While it's nice to see the godfathers of the most potent music phenomenon of the past quarter-century getting their due, the Big Question is: Where does hip-hop go from here?