Before your favourite Hip Hop DJ, favourite MC, favourite Rap or Hip Hop song, favourite Hip Hop Group or duo, Your most memorable Hip Hop Concert, Best Hip Hop Radio Station, best Hip Hop Actor, best Hip Hop Clothing Line, best Hip Hop record label, best producer, best executive and your best Hip Hop club or moment. Before any stars materialised from the genre of Hip Hop, There was a man by the name of DJ Kool Herc. His real name Clive Campbell.
A Jamaican-American DJ from the Bronx. Born April 16 1965 in Kingston Jamaica, Kool Herc was known for isolating the instrumental portions of songs on records and switching from one break beat to another. This method would eventually be widely known as sampling and mixing.
DJ Kool Herc engaged in talking in rhythmic phrases to the beat of the music, which we now refer to as RAPPIN’…. The dancers who danced to these records were at the time referred to as Break Boys or Break Girls widely referred to as B Boys & B Girls.
These styles or techniques were emulated by the likes of Lovebug Starski, Grand Master Flash, Afrika Bambaataa and The Sugarhill Gang, taking this genre to the masses and followed by a legion of other DJs & MCs globally making it commercially successful, viable and eventually the biggest selling genre over 2 decades later.
This led to the birth of the genre as we know it today called hip hop. This year we proudly celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop.
Kurtis Blow real name Kurtis Walker was the first commercially successful rapper and the first to sign with a major record label in 1980.
Records like The Message by Grand Master Flash and the Furious 5 is the first globally impactful & socially conscious record which is still relevant till this day as it’s subject matter, a position that inner cities around the world still find themselves in today. This song was chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry in the USA.
ABOVE: An original copy of the message released in 1982.
This copy has the actual lyrics printed on the sleeve. (Photo & item provided by Cole’s Art Gallery & Collectibles: follow us on Instagram colesartgallery )
The role of handling the turntables and mixers became more of a specialised area and skill in terms of scratching, cutting and mixing records. Many DJ’s would go on to be respectable producers. (Marley Marl, DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Scott La Rock & Dr Dre just to mention a few).
The role of handling the microphone, talking in rhyming phrases, moving the crowd and punctuating the DJ’s break beats with his phrases became the role of the MC known as the Master of Ceremony. A title most MC’s would place before their names. These MC’s are sometimes referred to as rappers depending on their target audience or commercial success. (Melle Mel, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick). The hip-hop movement progressed into other areas such as Graffiti Art, Break Dancing & fashion became a clear indication of one’s affiliation with the culture.
As technology improved, more advanced equipment would be created to make the process more technical but also more creative and in some cases more fluid for producers to develop their own sounds, styles and techniques.
Ultimately, digging through crates of records, finding distinctive sounds, melodies and in some cases, vocals and sound effects, remains an organic method of making hip-hop music, with beatboxing in some cases being used to substitute beats and drum machines as clearly demonstrated by the likes of Doug E Fresh and Rahzel.
DJ Kool Herc was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 3 May 2023 for his Musical influence. Kool Herc’s contribution is an inspiration and a constant reminder that some of the best creations sometimes come from the basic things around us. Namely, talent, passion, imagination, focus, dedication and resilience. Doing what we love and loving what we do.
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