DJ Kool Herc:〈〈

DJ Kool Herc, born as Clive Campbell, was one of six children born to Keith and Nettie Campbell in the capital city of Jamaica. He has been repeatedly crowned the father of hip-hop, and like many other hip-hop artists, he was influenced by the sounds of Caribbean music that he himself heard firsthand growing up in Jamaica. Much like his own block parties in the Bronx, DJ Kool Herc was influenced by neighborhood parties at dancehalls in Kingston and loved the music, the energy, the dancing, and the unifying vibes they brought to the community.

At the age of 12, DJ Kool Herc immigrated with his family to the Bronx, where they lived at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, the birthplace of hip-hop. What DJ Kool Herc did to revolutionize music was his use of two turntables and his emphasis on a short, heavily percussive part of the song, which he called the “break.” Herc was especially talented in seeing what the b-boys and b-girls liked to dance to on the floor (which also spurred the other element of hip-hop culture, break dancing) and he saw that the dancers liked the “breaks” the most. What he did with these breaks formed the foundation on what the music of hip-hop grew from: he took the breaks, isolated them, and eventually prolonged them as well. He also created his signature “The Merry-Go-Round” in which he would switch from break to break at the apex of the party. He was known from using beats from The Incredible Bongo Band, some vocals from James Brown, and other bands like Babe Ruth in his mixes.

(Below is a video taken from YouTube of DJ Kool Herc speaking about “The Merry-Go-Round” Move, submitted by user Rupert Till)

Ghetto Brothers:〈〈

Founded by Benjamin Melendez (“Yellow Benjy”), the Ghetto Brothers were a one of the first hip hop groups that strove to better their communities through their musical talents. Even though the Ghetto Brothers were classified as a “gang,” they did not fit the original violent stereotype. Instead of trying to attract bad attention to their neighborhood, they sought to keep drug dealers and other criminals out of their neighborhoods.

While most women gang members at the time were seen as pure sexual objects, the Ghetto Brothers made a subgroup within their gang, the “Ghetto Sisters,” and predominately consisted of the girlfriends of the male members. And instead of being treated as inferiors, the “Ghetto Sisters” were treated as equals with their male counterparts.

Besides their community goals, the Ghetto Brothers produced music that reached many different audiences, whether it was Black, White, or Latino. It featured, “A unique musical celebration of Beatles-influenced garage pop harmonies, traditional Latin percussion, heavy Santana-esque rock rhythms, and Motown flavour connected with the people and brought them together…”

Another interesting fact is their peaceful ways. Cornell “Black Benjy” Benjamin was another brother in the Ghetto Brothers that was killed when trying to resolve an argument between two gangs. Instead of retaliating and causing a large uproar, the Ghetto Brothers arranged a meeting to call a truce between the gangs in the South Bronx and other New York City areas. This meeting was known as the “Hoe Avenue Peace Meeting,” and occurred on December 8, 1971.

Afrika Bambaataa:〈〈

The Ghetto Brothers were not the only Hip Hop founders that were present at this meeting. As a Black Spades member, Afrika Bambaataa attended the “Hoe Avenue Peace Meeting” and witnessed the decently successful truce that occurred between the different gangs.

Afrika Bambaataa is considered one of the three Godfathers of Hip Hop, and contributed to the Hip Hop movement through his stylization of Black and R&B music. He added drum machines and electronic beats that aided in spreading Rap music throughout the Bronx and elsewhere.

After quitting the Black Spades, Afrika started Zulu Nation, a youth group with the goal to keep the awareness of Hip Hop and its culture prevalent in modern society, and to expose this culture across cultural and racial borders. Bambaataa explained that his goal was by stating, “The Universal Zulu Nation brought together the elements of peace, unity, love and having fun, which helped to eliminate any old gang activity that might creep up at a party…We called all of our productions Nubian Productions, because we felt it was important to take on our Africanism and bring it to the youth early on.” 

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five:〈

Most famous for their hit “The Message” and one of the most notorious hip-hop groups of the early era of the history of hip-hop was a group known as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Forming the group in 1978 in the South Bronx, DJ Grandmaster Flash teamed up with five other rappers to make one of the most important hip-hop groups of all time; the Furious Five consisted of Melle Mel, Kidd Creole, Cowboy, Mr. Ness/Scorpio, and Rahiem. What made the group so luring was their use of two turntables, break-beat deejaying, choreographed stage routines, and strong lyricism. Although not the starters of conscious rap, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five certainly rose to fame through the messages they were relaying through their music, and influenced other rappers and hip-hop artists after them. The gradual shift to rap came in 1977 when Grandmaster Flash began collaborating with rappers like his friend Cowboy, Kidd Creole, and Melle Mel. They called themselves the Three MCs and it was actually Cowboy who created the term ‘hip-hop’ while joking with a friend who had just joined the U.S. Army, by scat singing the words “hip/hop/hip/hop” in a way that mimicked the rhythmic march of soldiers marching. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five appealed to the public and made hip-hop more and more popular in the late 70s.

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