Rap is defined as talking in rhyme
to a beat while hip hop is referred to as the culture that embraces rap,
graffiti, dancing and that whole urban lifestyle rooted on the streets.
Talking to a beat is not new (from
African griots to poetry slams) but the advent of rap as it’s known today began
as a kind of backlash against the disco era. While there is no true originator,
Clive Campbell or DJ Kool Herc has been dubbed the godfather of hip hop or one
of its founding fathers. In 2007, the address where it all began, 1520 Sedgwick
in the Bronx, was officially recognized by New York State as the birthplace of
hip hop.
Herc is short for Hercules, a
nickname tied his athletic ability as well as his commanding height of six feet
five inches. The oldest of six children, Campbell emigrated with his family
from Kingston, Jamaica in 1967 when he was twelve. They joined other Jamaican transplants
in the Bronx, one of New York City’s poorest boroughs with neighborhood gangs
and a high crime rate.
Using records from his father’s
collection and memories from Jamaica of banks of speakers set up for parties,
Herc merged the two at a sister’s party. This was his first DJ gig. He rigged
the speakers to make the sound louder and began using two turntables with
duplicate records. That way he could extend the breaks or beat section that the
dancers liked. What began as rec room parties moved on to the outdoors where Herc
would “borrow” power for his turntables and speakers from any handy electrical
source. He also brought in his friend
Coke La Roc to act as MC and keep the crowd energized with responses to his
calls during the breaks. He went on to DJ at more parties, parks, school events
and eventually clubs. His first professional gig was at the Twlight Zone in
1973.
Herc became the B-Boy, the B
standing for Beat, Break or Bronx. Since he played a mix of funk, soul, jazz,
even disco records, focusing on the break of each, he also had a role in the
beginning of sampling.
But he was not the one to make the
first rap record. It gets complicated. Some say that honor goes to Harlem
rapper King Tim III by Fatback. He would also do the call and response during
Fatback’s breaks. Or the first was
“Rappers Delight” by Sugar Hill Gang or “Superrappin’” by Grandmaster Flash and
the Furious Five. Grandmaster Flash did release the
“The Message” in 1982, the lyrics chronicling real life in the slums. There is
also no doubt that rap received a big boost when Run DMC recorded “Walk This
Way” with rock band Aerosmith in 1986, bringing the genre into the mainstream
where it remains today, far from its humble beginnings in the Bronx.
In 2011, DJ Kool Herc underwent
surgery paid for by donations since the hip hop pioneer had no health
insurance.
Sources:
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