DJ Kool Herc

In 1973, the term “hip-hop” was still several years away from first being coined. It all started with a party Cindy Campbell threw to raise money for back to school threads. The party was held at 1520 Sedgwick Ave, The Bronx, NY in a small community room.

Little did Cindy know what was about to evolve that will change the musical world from then on. Cindy ask her DJ brother Clive to provide the music.  Clive Campbell was born in Jamaica and inspired by DJs in Kingston, was known for his vast musical Collection on record and his tall, musclebound physique where he earned the nickname Hercules.

He would become to be known as DJ Kool Herc. The party was a huge success and Dj Kool Herc became famous across the Bronx and soon he would be  be heralded as the architect of an entirely new music.

The party was a huge success and Dj Kool Herc became famous across the Bronx and soon he would be  be heralded as the architect of an entirely new music.

Merry-go-round

Herc noticed that people tended to like to dance during the spots in songs where the vocals would drop out, leaving only the percussive section,  HERC developed a two-turntable technique that he called “merry go round,” which he would spin the same record on each of the turntables and switched back and fourth between them to loop the best parts of the turntables record.

Herc invented the break beat, which became the foundation over which MCs would later rap their lyrics to the isolated beats and dancers would gather in cyphers to display the best dance moves, Herc later to dubbed them B-boys.

Herc’s playlist included such as It’s Just Begun by the Jimmy Castor Bunch became an anthem for what was soon a large and growing audience. He’d play James Brown, but not the singles just the raw cuts from live albums.

Herc pre-eminence along with the other two members , Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash are hip-hop’s culture founding holy trinity.  

In 2007, 1520 Sedgwick Ave to became officially recognized as hip-hop’s birthplace.

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