Herbie Hancock

Okay, so maybe he isn’t exactly well known for his forays into hip hop, but in 1983 his song “Rockit” from the “Future Shock” album took scratching into the mainstream. With the help of Grand Mixer D.ST., Hancock fused hip hop and jazz into a new sound.  Many groups today have experimented with the a similar theme.  Herbie and D.ST help start it all. Official Site – HerbieHancock.com Watch a...

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Lady B

Lady B is widely considered a hip-hop pioneer in Philadelphia. She graduated from Overbrook High School. Wendy Clark began spinning hip-hop records on WHAT 1340 AM in 1979 and solidified the hip-hop community in Philly. Starting out, fresh out of high school, hanging out at Kim Graves (Philly’s top night club at the time) she befriended the late great DJ, Lawrence Levan.  She would pick up the mic and mock Darryl Dawkins and Lloyd...

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Fab 5 Freddy

Anyone into hip hop during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s has undoubtedly heard of this guy. Fred Brathwaite was born in 1959. He has grown up to be one of hip hop’s most popular figures and he’s never had a hit single. F5F’s first exposure to hip hop culture was as a graffiti artist in the 70’s.  He studied painting in college. He is responsible for introducing Afrika Bambaataa to the uptown hip...

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Fatback

Fatback was basically a funk band that recorded in the 1970’s and 80’s. As far as this site is concerned, however, it is one track in particular that lands it a place on this site. The track is called “King Tim III (Personality Jock)”.  It was released in 1979 and is considered by many to be the first hip hop song in history. The song  was  released just before a certain other tune called “Rapper’s...

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Blondie

This is an example of non-hip hop group that produced a song that became part of the hip hop heritage. The group’s song “Rapture” from the 1980 album “Autoamerican” featured a rap from lead singer Debbie Harry where she mentions both Fab 5 Freddy and Grandmaster Flash. Fab 5 shows up in the video doing some fake graffiti in the background.  The song was hugely successful in both the US and UK. Official...

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