Vikki Tobak

VIKKI TOBAK is an author, journalist and curator. She is the author of critically lauded books

CONTACT HIGH: A VISUAL HISTORY OF HIP-HOP Clarkson Potter/Random House, 2018)

and ICE COLD: A HIP-HOP JEWELRY HISTORY (Taschen 2022). Her work has appeared in

Complex, Rolling Stone, The FADER, ESPN’s The Undefeated, Mass Appeal, Paper, Vibe, i-D,

the Detroit News, The Library of Congress and more. Tobak is also the curator of the traveling

Contact High exhibition at the Annenberg Space for Photography, The International Center of

Photography, Manarat Al Saadiyat (MAS)in Abu Dhabi and MoPOP (Museum of Pop Culture).

Tobak and the exhibition were nominated for a Lucie Foundation Award for Curator / Exhibition

of the Year. She is a former producer and columnist for CBS, CNN and Bloomberg News. Vikki

got her start as a culture editor for Paper magazine before going on to work at Payday

Records/Empire Management working with groups including Gang Starr, Jay-Z, Mos Def, Show

and AG, Jeru and other hip-hop legends of the Golden Era. She has lectured widely about music

photography and contemporary culture at American University, The Schomburg Center, The

Kennedy Center, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.