King of kool
DJ Kool Herc / Hawaii will get the chance to pay respects to America’s real DJ hero when the legendary DJ Kool Herc hits Nextdoor for two shows this week.
Before he became a musical pioneer, the boogie-down Bronx native was just a party rocker playing funk-filled jams at the park.
As the story goes, Herc brought his sound system–which consisted of two turntables, a guitar amp and some oversized house speakers–to rock a party. Hip-hop was born.
He and Coke La Rock, who is widely credited as having been the first hip-hop emcee, formed one of the first hip-hop duos. Herc, a living legend, provided the tunes for some of the first freestyle ciphers and b-boy battles–ever! It’s hard (not to mention a little painful) to believe that he has never recorded an album.
Some 30 years later, the 54-year-old, who influenced greats such as Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa–and paved the way for generations more–is still on his lifelong hip-hop grind. Advocates, Herc included, are out to preserve his name to ensure his contributions are never forgotten. Forget a legend? Never that.
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