If, 44 years ago today, you were looking forward to going to DJ Kool Herc’s party at 1520 Sedgwick Ave, then you were about to become part of a major historic event. For this is where Hip Hop was born, where the acknowledged godfather of Hip Hop DJ Kool Herc introduced the “merry go round” technique of playing breaks over and over to keep the beat going. These days you just press the loop button.
And the rest is literally history, and we give huge thanks for Kool Herc and the pioneers of Hip Hop for developing a culture that has spread around the world and to some degree changed the lives of the people it has touched. It made me into a b-boy, and then a DJ, and some 34 years after buying my first hip hop record, I’ve developed a career that has seen me be able to give at least a little something back.
And to commemorate this historic day, Google has posted a new doodle on their homepage, one that gives a brief history of Hip Hop, and then turns into a truly addictive pair of turntables with a small crate of breaks. It’s nuts that I’m sat next to piles of next level shiny with thousands of records, but I’m hopelessly addicted to this doodle.
Anyway, happy birthday Hip Hop. Salute!