Here I Am is the first monograph of Lisa Leone’s photographs, documenting the energy, creativity, and people who shaped hip hop during its formative years in the early 1990s. Spanning the Bronx, Paris, and Los Angeles, Leone’s photographs capture hip hop in its nascent and most authentic form, when music, dance, art, and fashion coexisted and collectively transformed popular culture.

From Nas during the first studio recordings that would become Illmatic to Snoop Dogg on the set of his first music video, from a young Debi Mazar on the stoops of the West Village to Grandmaster Flash at a Rock Steady reunion, Leone’s photographs provide an intimate look at the people and places that forged—and continue to influence—the energy of hip hop.

“Hip Hop was an amalgamation of disciplines that coexisted and collectively changed the world we knew. Today its divided existence pales to its once innocent intentions of being acknowledged. Lisa’s photography captures a culture in transition; it is through her lens that one can appreciate the journey of the young artists who helped pave the way for generations to come.”
– Mare139

The book features texts by Rosie Perez, Fab 5 Freddy, Nas, and others, complementing Leone’s photographs and providing additional perspectives on the culture and artists documented throughout the book.