Rap is a gimmick, but I’m for the hip-hop, the culture.

- Method Man

Origins: HIP HOP

Back in the early 70’s the Bronx was a hell hole. North of Manhattan, the buildings were burning and gang violence on every block set the tone for every day life on this small corner of the earth. 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, New York certainly seemed like an unlikely place to give birth to one of the most successful genres in the history of recorded music.

Jamaican Roots

Disco was the soundtrack of the New York nightclubs and by the mid 70’s it had taken over the airwaves too. Over in the Bronx, a young Clive Campbell, better known as Kool Herc wanted to play music at his own parties, but he wasn’t to keen on Disco.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Herc grew up listening to the local DJs at their neighbourhood parties. These gatherings were better known as Dance halls and the Dj’s would talk over the music, which was known as “toasting”.

Clive saw how influential these DJs were and the power their music had over their audience — so much so, that in the 60’s the leading political parties in Kingston would try to associate themselves with these sound systems, to gain popularity and more votes.