Kool Herc's: The Creation Of Hip-Hop

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There are many artists throughout the 1960’s and 70’s who claimed to be the founding artist that created hip-hop. Taking a look back at that time in our musical history there is one name that stands out above all others when it comes to the creation of hip-hop, and that name is Clive Campbell also known as Kool Herc born April 16th, 1955. Many say that hip-hop was born the day that the Jamaican born artist stepped foot in Bronx, New York. As he grew up in New York he was surrounded by the sounds and sights of the neighborhood parties called dancehalls, and the smooth sounds produced by the DJ’s, known as toasting.
In 1969 Clive Campbell was already frequenting the local clubs. As a dancer and someone who did not typically appreciate the DJ’s …show more content…

DJ Kool Herc noted that “breaking” was street slang at the time which meant “getting excited”, “acting energetically”, or “causing a disturbance”. In order for Clive to take off in this …show more content…

Hip-hop was created as a means to bring an end to the racial crime and the fear that came from the large collections of gangs at this time. Due to the fear of the Bronx citizens of being terrorized by any number of gangs, the clubs were vacant and house parties no longer consisted of strangers, House parties only lasted for a short period of time. The children still needed a place to let our their pent up energy. This is when Clive Campbells sister Cindy Campbell came up with an idea to have him play music in the recreation room of his housing block for back-to-school parties, Sedgewick Towers. Clive Campbell’s first sound system was nothing compared to what we have today, it was comprised of two turntables that were connected to two amplifiers and a Shure ‘Vocal Master’ PA system with two horribly loud speaker columns. This quickly became the go-to for youngsters to be able to socialize, dance, and enjoy their nights. With the clubs and other musical venues of Bronx struggling due to street gangs, different class DJ’s playing to an older crown fond of the disco era, and commercial radio catering to a different demographic distinct from the younger crowd in the Bronx, this quickly gave attention to Clive Campbell. With this attention he began to move his music to the