| | Kool Herc | |
| More on Hip-Hop - Allen Iverson's Hip-Hop - Articles - Biographies - Lyrics - Photos - Screensavers - Tracks to download - Videos - Wallpapers | Clive Campbell better known as Kool Herc (the graffiti tag or nickname that he would spray paint on the side of subway cars in the Bronx) was born in 1955 in Jamaica. As a young man he had been strongly influenced by the Jamaican dance hall traditions of sound systems and the DJ technique of Toasting. He moved to New York in 1967 and according to Time magazine, had been asked in 1971 by his sister Cindy to DJ at a party in the rec room of a high rise. After this initial performance he started being requested to perform at parties on a more regular basis, giving his first block party in 1973. He attempted to incorporate the Jamaican tradition of toasting (reciting improvised rhymes over dub versions of reggae records), however people in the Bronx were not interested in listening to reggae. So he would recite his rhymes over the short percussive sections of the day's popular songs. Herc noticed the dancers enthusiasm for the funky drum portion of a song. So by means of using two turn tables, he would pick out these rhythmical sections "breaks" of popular songs and join them together in a large rhythmical collage. He achieved this by means of cutting (switching) from one turntable to the other, whilst cuing the first turntable to play another break. This created the illusion of extended rhythmical sections in the music, these rhythm sections became known as "break beats". The music which drew from a wide cross section of funk, soul , jazz and pop, all now being placed in a melting pot and fused together through the use of the turntable (this pre-dating and partially introducing sampling). Herc would predominately use James Brown and Mandrill to supply the grooves behind the break beats. Herc would tailor his sets for participants most of whom he knew by name Calling out improvised words and greetings over the music, using audience members names he tried to provoke the crowd into a response, "Yo this is Kool Herc in the joint-ski saying my mellow-ski Marky D is in the house". This style of toasting became known as "emceeing". During the "break beat" section of Herc's performances, dancers would compete with each other, showing off their latest moves in the street arena setting. Herc entitled these dancers "b-boys" (break boys) and "b-girls" (break girls). Their style of dance was angularpt, acrobatic, involving sharply snapping the head and limbs, later becoming more energetic, introducing spins, freezes and body rocks. Kool Herc eventually turned his attention to the complexities of DJ while two friends "Coke La Rock" and "Clark Kent" took over the emceeing. This became the first "emcee" team, known as Kool Herc and the Herculoids. His career ended when he was involved in a knife attack, being stabbed twice in the side and once across his hands. | |
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