Hip-Hop and the DJ’s Impact on Regional Styles of Rap Part 1

New York City.

The birthplace of hip-hop. Graffiti, break dancing beatboxing DJ’ing, and emceeing. Block parties had been a staple in urban areas since World War II, but the first hip-hop block parties would be hosted by Kool Herc in the Bronx on sedgwick avenue.

Kool Herc was born in Kingston Jamaica, but moved to the Bronx at the age of 12. By his early teens in 1973 he would host parties that mirrored the sound systems of Jamaica. At these parties, he came up with the original breakbeat by using 2 turn tables with the same record to repeat the “break” in James Brown’s “Give it up or turn it loose”.

The break is the part of the song where a voice or instrument is isolated from the rest of the sounds on the music and the break in this record was a simple vocal saying “Clap your hands! Stomp your feet!”. This technique would be called the merry-go-round technique and it didn’t take long for Kool Herc to change from repeating the break on a single record to playing different breaks on different records in sequence and on beat.

Other DJs would attend these parties, watching Kool herc work the turn tables like a scientist and then go on to host their own parties in the Bronx and other boroughs of New York City.

Jamaican influence on hip-hop didn’t stop with the early Djs with their sound systems. Another key element influenced by the island was the master of ceremonies or the MC often spelled “emcee”. The MC dates back centuries and was basically the host of the event. In Jamaica, the MC would do the same thing; introduce talent, keep the crowd into the party, and would say a toast in rhyme talking to the crowd and musicians.

Emcees quickly became stars in their own right and by the 80s we’d get emcees like the Sugarhill gang, Goldie, Africa Bambatta, the furious five, grandmaster flash, and others as the first generation of hip-hop vocalists and artists.

By the mid and late 80s, the second generation of hip-hop artists Run DMC, LL Cool J, MC Lyte, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, The Fresh Prince, Rakim, and Queen Latifah, mostly from New York, all from the northeast would break further into the airwaves penetrating Americas consciousness.

Djs would continue to play an important role in the spread of hip-hop as both a curator and a promotor of the music based upon the reaction of the crowd. DJs around the country would purchase these early hip-hop records and play them at parties and independent radio stations in their own cities.

DJs in each city would incorporate the fledgling genre from New York into their mixes with the other songs that were popular in their area.