Happy 44th Birthday Hip-Hop!!!

On August 11, 1973, DJ Kool Herc hosted a back-to-school party in the South Bronx that would change music forever. By isolating and extending the percussion breaks in funk and soul records, Herc created the blueprint for an entirely new genre.

The importance of DJ Kool Herc

Clive Campbell, a.k.a. the Jamaican-American DJ known as DJ Kool Herc (which was an evolution of the nickname "Hercules" that he picked up in the neighborhood), was instrumental in the creation of the sound of hip-hop. Not only did his Jamaican roots bring forth the idea of having a DJ (or "selector") rapping (or "toasting") over the music they were playing, but he also brought the reggae sound system set-up to parties. What Herc was mostly known for was what he dubbed the "Merry-Go Round," a technique that he used to elongate certain parts of funk records that the kids on the dance floor would lose their shit to. That section of the record is also known as "the break" (or "the get down,") and those sections of these funk records became popularly known as "breakbeats."

The beauty of Herc's set-up was that once he would find that section of the record, he would create a loop live in front of the crowd using the two turntables and the crossfader on the mixer, allowing the dancers to go ballistic to the extended breakbeat.