When Bambaataa began hosting his legendary Zulu Nation block parties in 1977, the South Bronx, N.Y., native and Black Spades warlord intended the gatherings to provide a peaceful environment for fellow former gang members looking for a positive outlet. In November, DJ Kool Herc, now 68, will finally be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for his foundational contribution to popular culture. Soon, other pioneers like Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa would follow his lead. He became known for his mammoth speakers, a six-foot tower-of-sound he called the “Herculoids,” which frequently overpowered opposing DJs in the parks and at the clubs. ![]() And Herc, who got the nickname “Hercules” because of his massive, muscle-bound 6-foot 5-inch frame, unveiled a new turntable technique known as “the merry go ‘round,” in which he would use two versions of the same record to extend the song’s meatiest section, igniting dancers he dubbed the break boys (B-boys) into a frenzy.Īfter the party, Herc’s stature only grew. The 300-plus revelers that paid 50 cents (boys) and 25 cents (girls) to get inside were treated to a playlist of future hip-hop-DJ staples that included “ It’s Just Begun” by the Jimmy Castor Bunch and classic cuts from James Brown, the Isley Brothers and the Incredible Bongo Band. Its hand-drawn promotional flier, which declared “A DJ Kool Herc Party,” was written in early New York-style graffiti. And she knew the best person to draw the type of enthusiastic crowd needed: Cindy’s 18-year-old brother, Clive “DJ Kool Herc” Campbell.Įverything about the “Back to School Jam” was hip-hop years before the term had been coined. Yet when Cindy Campbell decided to throw the now legendary party credited as the big bang of rap music, making history was the last thing on her mind she simply wanted to raise money to buy new clothes for kids for the upcoming school year. 11, 1973, inside a recreation room at 1520 Sedgwick Ave., a 102-unit residential apartment complex in the Bronx borough of New York City. The musical and cultural movement that would become known to the world as hip-hop began on Aug. (Steven Ferdman / Getty Images) DJ Kool Herc invents hip-hop ![]() (Lil Uzi Vert finally got there in early July with his “Pink Tape.”) But the truth is that nearly every album that topped the chart had hip-hop in its grooves, be it SZA’s “SOS,” on which the R&B singer spits rhymes with wit and dexterity, or Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time,” a country record laced with woozy trap beats. Hands were wrung a few months ago when pundits realized that no rap album had made it to the top of the Billboard 200 during the first half of 2023 - a seemingly dramatic shift from 2022, when LPs by six rappers had hit No. ![]() Yet 50 years after hip-hop was born, we find ourselves needing to call attention to its endurance, to get our minds around the thing somehow, not because of what it was but because of what it continues to be. Too many stars, too many songs, too many places, too many scandals: Hip-hop is an entire universe - a musical genre, sure, but also an attitude, a language, a business, a culture - and the thing about a universe is that it has no bounds. How to encompass half a century of hip-hop? You start by acknowledging you can’t.
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