Competition was, and remains, a prime motivator in the hip hop realm. It was a code that has flowed through hip hop ever since: 1) Use skills and whatever resources are available to create something new and cool 2) Emulate and imitate the genius of others but inject personal style until the freshness glows. The effect that night was electric, and soon other DJs in the Bronx were trying to outdo Herc. It was a technique that filled the floor with dancers who had spent days and weeks polishing their moves. He spun the same record on twin turntables, toggling between them to isolate and extend percussion breaks-the most danceable sections of a song. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.ĭJ Kool Herc is credited with throwing the switch at an August 1973 dance bash.
From a whole lot of nothing-and a whole lot of imagination-hip hop took form.ĭJ Tony Tone and DJ Kool Herc, 1979 © Joe Conzo, Jr. It was the early 1970s and times were tougher than usual for the poorer parts of urban America. The elements of hip hop came together in the Bronx borough of New York City. Hip hop, in other words, is a way of living-a culture. But it also has blended and transcended them to become a means for seeing, celebrating, experiencing, understanding, confronting, and commenting on life and the world. Hip hop embraces these artistic elements, most definitely.
