Happy Birthday to the “Godfather Of Hip-Hop” Kool Herc

It seems as if last year the hip-hop community was fearful of what would happened to the ‘Grandfather’ of hip-hop, and today, we celebrate another year of his life. DJ Kool Herc is ultimately credited as the man behind creating hip-hop music, as well as the technique of isolating and prolonging the break in a track which in turn created breakdancing culture. As an immigrant from Jamaica, Herc found himself at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, NY in the height of gang violence. Shortly after moving, Clive Campbell, who became known under the name DJ Kool Herc(ules), and his sister started throwing parties in the recreation room of their building to deter youth from gang activity in the socio-economic turmoil.

On August 11th, 1973 (speculated day), Kool Herc and his sister threw the first party of many, charging females 25 cents and 50 cents for males to attend. While Kool Herc deejayed, Coke La Roc toasted over the mic marking the first representation of rapping. At the same time, while Herc extended the break in a song (using two turntables, a mixer and two copies of the same record), b-boys and b-girls were able to dance for longer periods of time, creating the second foundational element of hip-hop culture. Oh, and amongst the attendees were Grandmaster Caz, Red Alert and KRS-One! Likewise, DJ Kool Herc inspired other founding fathers of this culture, including Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa, who also claimed to be at 1520 Sedgwick that historic day.

Let’s just be blunt: without DJ Kool Herc, there wouldn’t be a hip-hop culture. So today, we celebrate the life of Clive “DJ Kool Herc” Campbell, his legacy, his accomplishments, his health, and what he’s given to us. Thank you and happy birthday!

Erin Lowers Bad Perm