DJ Kool Herc
DJ Kool Herc is a Jamaican-American DJ and musician whose Bronx parties in the 1970s helped establish hip-hop culture and breakbeat DJing.
Breakbeat: A rhythmic passage in a song, often led by drums, that DJs isolate or repeat. Herc extended these passages so dancers could keep moving through a song.
1520 Sedgwick Avenue: A Bronx apartment building associated with an early party hosted by DJ Kool Herc in 1973. The building’s recreation room is linked to the party often cited as an early hip-hop gathering.
Grandmaster Flash: A Bronx DJ who developed precise turntable techniques and became a major early hip-hop figure. He expanded the technical possibilities of DJing after Herc established break-centered party music.
Hip-hop culture: A cultural movement built around forms including DJing, MCing, breaking, and graffiti art. Herc’s parties helped bring these practices together as a shared Bronx scene.
Merry-Go-Round technique: A DJ technique that alternates between copies of a record to repeat a musical passage. Herc used this method to lengthen break sections at parties.
Jamaican sound system culture: A Jamaican tradition of mobile DJs, powerful speakers, records, and spoken performance at public dances. Herc brought sound-system sensibilities from Jamaica into the Bronx party scene.
Afrika Bambaataa: A Bronx DJ and organizer who helped shape early hip-hop and founded the Zulu Nation. He became another central figure in the early Bronx scene alongside Herc.
Breakdancing: A performance style derived from breaking, popularized through hip-hop and later media. The dance’s visibility grew from the break-focused parties Herc helped pioneer.
Two-turntablism: The practice of manipulating records and turntables as instruments in hip-hop DJing. Herc’s break-extending approach helped establish the practices later grouped under turntablism.
Bronx: The northernmost borough of New York City, with diverse communities and a history of urban change. Herc’s parties took place in the borough where hip-hop culture began to coalesce.