Putting Together a Hamburger, a Neighborhood and Hip-Hop

Putting Together a Hamburger, a Neighborhood and Hip-Hop

Robert Stolarik for The New York Times

DMC, as in Run-DMC, at Hollis Famous Burgers. He said he hoped the records and other items on the walls would help people in the neighborhood — his old neighborhood — realize the power of persistence to succeed, whatever the odds.

By COREY KILGANNON

On a nondescript street corner in Hollis, Queens, a small — and quite affordable — burger joint opened recently.

The place, Hollis Famous Burgers, offers mini-burgers for $1; for that price diners get a complimentary viewing of the Hollis Hip Hop Museum. The word “museum” might be a bit of an overstatement, given the space, but the collection and what it celebrates are not, at least not to the people behind it.

There are more than 100 items on the walls testifying to the neighborhood as a fertile ground for hip-hop artists. Along with a helping of chicken wings, washed down with a cup of “Hollis Famous” lemonade, customers can examine the hit CDs of local rap legends, like Ja Rule, LL Cool J, and Irv Gotti, the founder of Murder Inc., the hip-hop record company that launched several careers.

“Hollis is our Motown, our Nashville, our Beale Street,” said Orville Hall, 42, the owner of the restaurant, and a childhood friend of the members of Run-DMC, which happens to be the best-represented rap group in the burger joint — rather, museum.

At the grand opening on Thursday afternoon, Mr. Hall explained that there was something about Hollis “back in the day” that seemed to nurture hip-hop artists. There was a keen desire for live D.J.’s and M.C.’s at local parties.

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