1973
East Coast
↑ See it on the mapThe Bronx
New York City
Breakbeats · block parties · the merry-go-round
Ride the roster2:40Story, bloodline and 8 names
11 August 1973, rec room of 1520 Sedgwick Avenue: Kool Herc runs two copies of the same record and loops the drum break so the dancers never have to stop. Everything downstream of that — the DJ, the MC, the b-boy, the writer — starts in this borough, in parks, with power hijacked from lampposts.
Origin · Start of the line
Where the line starts. Everything after this is downstream.
Next stopsHarlem, New Jersey, Downtown Manhattan, Queens, South Central (LA) and 31 more
Zulu NationCold Crush BrothersBoogie Down ProductionsD.I.T.C.
Roster
1975
Grand Wizzard Theodoredeep cut
Invented the scratch as a teenager, by accident, being yelled at by his mother.
1978
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five
Turntable science plus Melle Mel — the first rap record about anything.
1979
Cold Crush Brothersdeep cut
The great live park crew — routines, harmonies, tapes traded for decades.
1990
Lord Finesse & D.I.T.C.deep cut
Diggin' in the Crates — Showbiz, Diamond D, Big L: rap's producers' producers.