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Some hip-hop relics such as vinyl records, turntables and boom boxes have been collecting dust for three decades. But the Smithsonian Institution is going to change that.

On Tuesday, pioneering hip-hop artists including Afrika Bambaataa, Russell Simmons and Grandmaster Flash will turn over their collections to the National Museum of American History.

The museum is announcing plans for a collecting initiative called "Hip-Hop Won't Stop: The Beat, The Rhymes, The Life." The project will trace hip-hop from its origins in the Bronx in the 1970s to its current global reach.

The permanent collection is expected to cost as much as $2 million and take up to five years to complete.

A formal announcement is planned for Tuesday in New York.

Relics? Like classical hip-hop era timepieces? Priceless.