
NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 28: Rapper Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, of Run-DMC, attends Spin Magazine’s 20th Anniversary party at Webster Hall September 28, 2005 in New York City. (Photo by Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images)
Paul Hawthorne/Getty ImagesI'll have to admit when I first read this headline, I had to regroup! I realized I am older than hip hop!! GEESH!
Nonetheless, it was 44 years ago today that hip hop was born in the Bronx - creatively engineered by a DJ named Kool Herc. Little did he know he'd be credited with inventing one of the most important elements of hip-hop on this date back in 1973. He kept it really simple - he had a back to school jam at a gym on Sedgewick Avenue in the Bronx. Except this time, he decided to do something different.
During his set, instead of playing the songs in full, he played only the instrumental sections, or “breaks” and he when he did that, he noticed the crowd went crazy. During these “breaks” his friend Coke La Rock hyped up the crowd with a microphone. And with that, Hip Hop was born.