Kool Herc

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OldSchoolHipHop.Com Hall of Fame 2006

 

1520 Sedgwick Avenue

1520 Sedgwick Avenue – The Birthplace of Hip Hop

Did you know that a man named Clive Campbell who was born in 1955 in Kingston, Jamaica is The Father of Hip Hop?

Why don’t you?

Kool Herc emigrated to the Bronx in 1967 when he was 12 years old.  While attending Alfred E. Smith High School he spent a lot of time in the weight room.  That fact coupled with his height spurned the other kids to call him Hercules.

His first deejay gig was as his sister’s birthday party.  It was the start of an industry.

1520 Sedgwick Avenue.  The address of Herc’s family and the location of the recreation room where he would throw many of his first parties as the DJ.

Herc became aware that although he new which records would keep the crowd moving, he was more interested in the break section of the song.  At this point in a song, the vocals would stop and the beat would just ride for short period.  His desire to capture this moment for a longer period of time would be a very important one for hip hop.

Herc would purchase two copies of the same record and play them on separate turntables next to each other.  He would play the break beat on one record then throw it over to the other turntable and play the same part.  Doing this over and over, he could rock any house in NY.  (Not to mention it being an early form of looping that would be made easier through electronic sampling.)

He would dig in crates and look everywhere to find the perfect break beat for his parties.  He didn’t care what type of music, because he only needed a small section of a song for his purposes.

His first professional DJ job was at the Twilight Zone in 1973.  He wanted to get into another place called the Hevalo, but wasn’t allowed…yet.

His fame grew.  In addition to his break beats, Herc also became known as the man with the loudest system around.  When he decided to hold a party in one of the parks, it was a crazy event.  And a loud one.  At this time Afrika Bambaataa and other competing DJ’s began trying to take Herc’s crown.  Jazzy Jay of the Zulu Nation recalls one momentous meeting between Herc and Bam.

Herc was late setting up and Bam continued to play longer than he should have.  Once Herc was set up he got on the microphone and said “Bambaataa, could you please turn your system down?”  Bam’s crew was pumped and told Bam not to do it.  So Herc said louder, “Yo, Bambaataa, turn your system down-down-down.”  Bam’s crew started cursing Herc until Herc put the full weight of his system up and said, “Bambaataa-baataa -baataa, TURN YOUR SYSTEM DOWN!” And you couldn’t even hear Bam’s set at all.  The Zulu crew tried to turn up the juice but it was no use.  Everybody just looked at them like, “You should’ve listened to Kool Herc.”

Finally his fame peaked and at last, in 1975, he began working at the Hevalo in the Bronx.  He helped coin the phrase b-boy (break boy) and was recently quoted as saying he was “the oldest living b-boy.”

As competing DJ’s looked to cut in on the action, Herc would soak the labels off his records so no one could steal his beats.

Grandmaster Flash had another story about Herc in his heyday

Flash would go into the Hevalo to check out Herc, but Herc would always embarrass him.  He would call Flash out on the mike and then cut out all the highs and lows on the system and just play the midrange.  Herc would say, “Flash in order to be a qualified disc jockey…you must have highs.”  Then he would crank up the highs and they would sizzle through the crowd.  Then he would say, “And most of all, Flash, you must have…bass.”  And when Herc’s bass came in the whole place would be shaking.  Flash would get so embarrassed he would leave.

After a while spinning the records got to be an all intensive thing and Herc wouldn’t have as much time to talk to the crowd and get them going.  He needed someone else to help out and act as the Master of Ceremonies for him.  And thus, for all practical purposes, Coke La Rock became the first hip hop MC ever.

Another club that Herc rocked was the Sparkle located at 174th and Jerome Avenue in the Bronx. This was the spot that came before the Hilltop, 371 (DJ Hollywood’s spot) and Disco Fever.

In 1977, Herc’s career began to fall.  The rise of Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five, and Bambaataa’s various crews with their polished emcee styles put Herc at a disadvantage.  One night he was stabbed three times at his own party and his career never fully recovered.

He appeared as himself in the film Beat Street.

Kool Herc played his last Old School party in 1984.

Most recently he has appeared on Terminator X’s release “The Godfathers of Threat” and with the Chemical Brothers on their album “Dig Your Own Hole.”

Similar to Bambaataa he does appear in Europe and New York from time to time.

Although he is not part of the hip hop vocabulary of most of those who listen to it these days (unfortunately), Kool Herc is the father of this underground sound from New York that found its way to becoming a worldwide phenomenon.

Kool Herc lives on…

 

Here’s a good NPR interview with Herc from 2005

Listen to Herc Explain What He Calls the Merry Go Round

Back to DJ’s Biographies

Author: JohnG

Administrator of OldSchoolHipHop.Com

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12 Comments

  1. Oh my goodness, did I NOT have a serious flashback listening to that merry-go-round!! I remember being on the dance floor waiting for the song to end so I could take a sit-down. Next thing I know, I’m still dancing and didn’t even realize the song had actually changed. We would be dancing for at least 20,30 minutes before the merry-go-round stopped. We were soaked, couldn’t get fat dancing that way. A whole lot of couples really got together on the dance floor. After the merry-go-round, we would scream, “Play a slow song.” Those were great times. Thanks so much Kool Herc. What a fond memory.

  2. i think that kool herc should be donated to by many rap aritist

    if you want to know evan more about him ask me i did a report on him

  3. Anyone know this? where you can contact?? thanks

    Alguien sabe como esta?? donde se puede contactar??? gracias

  4. Anyone know this? where you can contact?? if anyone has information please sirvampire11@hotmail.com .. thanks

  5. yo

  6. What’s up. This is Mike from Tattoo Seen. You spinner for me in my Grand opening in west village about 15 years ago. Are you avail to spin for my event on Oct.24 12-6pm?

  7. so cooll

  8. What happened to the people that stabbed Kool. Was the murderers close to him?

  9. thanks for the love my dudes. I am probably gonna drop a mixtape soon. be on the look out.

  10. Great story! Kool Herc should be in the Rock n Roll HOF. Props to him for posting on your blog too. Salute!

  11. To DJ kook Herc I learn the break beat from you in 1974 when i became a DJ thank you so much because of you I am still spinning on the west coast strictly old school DJ Derrick T Sacramento Ca. One love

  12. Herc! Herc! glad you are better, I’m glad I was the first to scratch on the Herculoid (your 1st round draft pic as you call it) when you needed someone to battle Theodore, Flash and Jazzy Jay. I was able to go and DJ old school flavor all around my military duty stations. Now that I am retired I can realize how much you helped my career. One love DJ Blackjack (original Herculord) see you when I come through NYC.
    Black

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Kool Herc Needs Help to Afford Medical Procedure - NYTimes.com - [...] Kool Herc, the turntable magician known as the Father of Hip-Hop, needs help conjuring up some money to cover…
  2. Son of South End gangster to compete in VH1's White Rapper Show - On The Download - [...] to head to the South Bronx, birthplace of the scratch, home to the Cold Crush Brothers and Kool Herc.…
  3. Hip Hop Anthology; The Rockin’ World of Kool Herc | View From The Gallery - [...] As Hip Hop became a global phenomenon interest in Herc seemed to remerge. He appeared as himself in the…
  4. Unsung Heroes of The Hop. – Welcome To The Fold - [...] has lost that spirit that brought it out of the grid systems of New York, the sound systems of…
  5. Music Is Hiroyuki Ito's Visual Muse - NYTimes.com - [...] sound of the city — everything from Talking Heads and Television, John Zorn and John Coltrane or D.J. Kool…
  6. DJ Kool Herc by Theodore D. | Word 2 Youth - [...] http://www.oldschoolhiphop.com/artists/deejays/kooldjherc.htm – Source [...]
  7. Scarface + Dopeman Music Mixtape = Another Classic | @carltonstith - [...] legendary Kool Herc heralded the movement by selling his recorded live sets on the streets of New York City.…
  8. 40. rocznica powstania hip hopu | U Call That Love - [...] ludzi na małe imprezy, głównie z cyklu back-to-school. W trakcie tych niewielkich eventów Kool Herc szybko zauważył, że wszyscy…
  9. Who created hip hop music? | Music Confirmation - […] Old School Hip Hop: Kool Herc […]
  10. references | patosworldofsampling - […] 2010. Kool Herc Biography. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.oldschoolhiphop.com/artists/deejays/kooldjherc.htm. [Accessed 30 April […]
  11. Hip Hop History, Bible Deep Cuts, and Naming | ReadyMadeBouquet - […] dude even knew about DJ Kool Herc, [and more, here] (one of the founders of Hip-Hop culture as we…

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