The Breaks New York City, having just given birth to the modern live dj, was now ready to bear a sibling. Known for her tough love, the next offspring to emerge from this epi-center of creativity was HIpHop. Known as 'the breaks' before Dj Hollywood's name HipHop spread, this sound art would come to dominate urban youth culture and spur some of the most revolutionary advances of the live sound artist. Originating in the Bronx, and recognizable as a specific flavor of sound, ‘the breaks’ were small sections of records isolated and repeated to create an extended montage. The first to drop the breaks was Kool DJ Herc; born in he sought to bring the sound system to America. Combined with the style of mixing invented by Grasso, Grand Master Flash created non-stop breaks mixes, live. The evolution of the dj species was accelerated when the disco tradition, originating from the discaire, was added to the heavy aesthetic of the Jamaican sounds- - - the sum was hip-hop. More than music, hip-hop would develop into a full-fledged culture from the hands of these three mobile djs. Afrika Bambaata, the master of records, would be highly influential in the cultural development and diversity of hip-hop. The dj species had come in threes once again, this time it was an American triumvarate of turntable musicians. A second generation of hip-hop djs would follow Herc, Bambaata, and GMF, developing the additional characteristics of hip-hop and the hip-hop dj. The advent of percussive sounds made by rapidly moving the record back and forth would develop into scratching and later Turntablism, the most advanced form of the dj species. Some of the greatest musicians of the late 20 th century would pass through, unrecognized by traditionalists, beneath the guise of the hip-hop dj. Hip-hop djs were unnoticed by most, and idolized by the few who were aware of their immense talent. The deejay of Jamaica would be recast as the MC (Master of Ceremonies) in America, first by Coke La Rock and later by others including the Furious Five. The MC would become the rapper in the 80s and attempt to steal hip-hop from the dj. There were exceptions, and the venerable MCs remaining would aid hip-hop in its return to its true form in the 90s. These lyricists knew the power of the dj species was far greater than any DAT recording, and live shows were not intended to be studio sessions with an entrance fee. Hip-hop culture abounded with audio and visual artists. Grafitti was an expression of the angst felt in life and the beauty that could be wrought from it. Originally, the writing on the wall was simple ‘tags’ or ‘one-liners’, names or pseudonyms often with street numbers. Many hip-hop djs’ stage names originated as tags, beginning with Kool DJ Herc and others such as Grandmaster Flowers who wrote, ‘Flowers and Dice’. An art form with no gallery fees has seen its credibility tested, by art critics and law enforcement alike. Some graf artists drew acclaim in Avant-garde showings, while others refused mass appeal and insisted the art must stay underground. A definitive element of hip-hop culture, graf leaves visual rhythms emblazoned on buildings and rooftops, reflecting the syncopation of drums and snares exiting the speakers. Dancing to hip-hop music would become an art form of its own. Labeled break dancers, in reference to the music drawn from the records, these dancers were called ‘b-boys’ as well. Turning wind mills, performing the worm, and later popping and locking, b-boys exemplified the passionate nature of hip-hop breaks. Many of the dancing styles deployed by b-boys were adopted by dancing schools wishing to emulate the emotion of the streets. These four artforms together form the culture of hip-hop. Known as the ‘four elements’, graf writing, MCing, djing, and b-boying, are all responsible for the reduced number of gangs in this country. Hip-hop has become a channel for many forces over the years, both good and bad, but the predominantly positive message of hip-hop cannot be ignored. At the heart of hip-hop are the dj and the music, and together they pulsate the rhythm providing the lifeblood of the other three elements, defining hip-culture as it continues into the twenty-hundreds. The acknowledged father of hip-hop djing is Kool DJ Herc. Born as Clive Campbell in Kingston, Jamaica c. 50s, in 1967 Campbell moved to the West Bronx and began attending Alfred E. Smith High School. As a youth Herc had seen and heard the sounds of the Beat Street in downtown Kingston. Dissatisfied with the entertainment offered in his new home in America, craving a different sound, Herc built his own sound system to showcase his taste in music. He named his first sound Herculoids, it consisted of two Pioneer PL-15’s, a Sony microphone mixer, and a Shure pre-amp and column speakers. This set-up was powerful enough to deliver the earth-pounding bass that Herc had grown accustom to in Kingston. The first true hip-hop parties were dj-ed by Herc at the Hevalo. Herc also displayed the power of Herculoids at the Twilight Zone on Jerome Ave. in the Bronx and the Executive Playhouse. Herc would often wire Herculoids directly into the access panels of lampposts and hold parties in parks and basketball courts in the Bronx, providing entertainment while defining the essential elements of hip-hop djing. Unlike Grasso and his disco mixing style, blending the sounds of two records, Herc would only let the sound from one record at a time play through the speakers. However, Herc’s style of mixing was far from being isolated to one record, he was constantly changing from one record to another, hunched over his turntables and mixer intently focussed on the output of Herculoids. Herc did not use audio cues from headphones or a monitor speaker instead he would use the label of the record as a visual cue. What Herc was watching for were the beginning and end of ‘breaks’, an extensive percussion section in a record, in relationship to the record label. Grandmaster Flash would later refine this technique describing it as his “clock theory”. Herc would place the needle on the exact place on the record where the breaks would begin and then fade directly to that turntable. To place the needle in the right groove on the record took extraordinary hand-eye coordination, dexterity, and concentration. Performing this technique required a dj to know his records like the back of his hand. In fact, memorizing specific grooves on dozens of records is more akin to knowing your own fingerprints. By using two of the same records, or two records with extensive breaks, Herc could provide his audiences with non-stop breaks. To repeat specific breaks, Herc would put two of the same records on his turntables. Placing the needle in the exact groove, he start one record at the beginning of the breaks. When the breaks ended on the first turntable, he would set the needle of the second turntable at the beginning of the breaks section, and then using his mixer, fade quickly, ‘cut’, to the second turntable, starting the breaks over again. When the breaks ended on the second turntable, he would cue the beginning of the breaks again on the first turntable and fade back to that turntable. ‘Doubles’ is a current term for this coupling of two records which are the same in all respects, excepting the labels are sometimes placed slightly different from one record to the next. Repeating this in succession would create a breaks loop and essentially a new song altogether, made of specific portions of artists’ works isolated and repeated. Using two different breaks with their own characteristics, from artists who might not even collaborate with another, Herc would create an eclectic mix of breaks unable to be heard anywhere else. Whether Herc was spinning doubles or using a variety of breaks to creat a sophisticated mix of separate artists, the effect was profound. At the most basic level Herc’s breaks sets were an interpretation of the original artists’ works captured in the vinyl rotating on his turntables. However, by isolating definite aspects of the musical information imprinted on the records in his collection, Herc was determining the musical output of Herculoids. He was creating entirely new musical compositions with the components available to him. The breaks that Herc preferred were rhythmic sections composed primarily of bass and percussion, avoiding vocal elements of the records in favor of the instrumental portions. Highlighting the percussion and bass in particular was similar to the Jamaican sounds’ choice of records, but more precise, controlling small segments of the records rather than the records themselves. The Jamaican sounds had added a ton of acoustics to the records they played, but the foundation they built upon remained a single record. Constantly changing the basis of his mix, Herc shed the ties to specific to a specific artist or record; the music exiting Herculoids was highly concentrated, saturated by the breaks he had carefully chosen. By attaching these snippets of music together, a coherent musical fabric was created, geared specifically for the ears of the Bronx audiences. Herc’s sets were analogous to the British invasion of Duke Vin, providing sweet sounds for the musical palette of those who’s taste for the music being offered had soured. Disco did not appeal to the audiences that Herc sought, his rhythmic breaks were explosive, vibrant, and hard echoing the life of the streets in which he played. Herc’s early hip-hop sets intertwined and became synonymous with the Bronx neighborhoods in which he played, the breaks not only could be heard, they could be seen in the hard-pounding fast-paced visual rhythms that accompany inner city life. The breaks Herc chose were taken from various musicians who are considered R&B, Soul, or Funk artists. But, the breaks these artists recorded on records would form the roots of Herc’s sets, essentially qualifying them as the first hip-hop records. Some of his early vinyl included works by James Brown, “Sex Machine”, “Give it Up or Turn it Loose”, and “It’s Just Begun” by the Jimmy Castor Bunch, and the Incredible Bongo Band’s “Apache”. Herc also used tracks heavily laden with bass such as “Listen to Me” by Baby Huey and the Babysitters and “Get into Something, Follow Me”, by the Isley Brothers. When shopping for records, Herc would check for specific bassists and drummers on the album jackets, often following musicians from band to band in his record collection. Just as the Jamaican djs, Herc was extremely secretive regarding his record collection and which records he was playing. Herc’s breaks style found many admirers, as well as imitators who hoped to copy his playlist. Herc responded by switching the labels on his most coveted records, sometimes scratching and washing them off, mimicking the one-off white label records created by the Jamaican sounds. Someone hoping to cop Herc’s style would be mislead by looking at the label of the record that was playing at the time. They would realize their mistake when they returned home from the record store searching in earnest to find breaks that weren’t there. Herc had switched the label, and those who intended to profit from his endless searching to find the perfect breaks, were left with a useless record as their just desserts. After upgrading to a MacIntosh Amplifier, revered by all djs at that time, Herc had the power to convey his musical message to his audience and leave his breaks audibly imprinted on their minds. The strength of Herculoids and Herc’s selection of breaks inspired the audience to dance in time with the thundering beat. Eventually these dancers, who were mostly Hispanic, created moves especially for Herc’s breaks. Herc called these dancers, b-boys, short for ‘break-boys’. Break dancing, as it is often called, would soon blossom into an artform all its own. Many hip-hop djs soon had crews that included b-boys; DJ Smokey and his Smoketrons, a group of dancers, would entertain along with others including Lovebug Starski, at the Burger King Disco, a chain restaurant during the day and a disco at night. Crews comprised of djs and b-boys continue to this day, epitomized by the Rock Steady Crew acknowledging the togetherness of hip-hop djs and dancers. The b-boys response to the breaks played was a clear indication to the dj of which breaks were hot and which were not. Many of the breaks records that became classics were those that the b-boy’s favored. If Herc’s b-boy’s didn’t incite the crowd to ‘freak’, he would call upon his right-hand man, Coke La Rock, who would call out to the crowd over the records as Count Machuki had for Tom the Great Sebastian. The man who first described the breaks as “hip-hop”, DJ Hollywood, had also reincarnated the Jamaican deejay in America, calling out rhymes over his records to inspire his audiences and focus their attention towards the dancefloor. DJ Hollywood had been spinning disco records in Harlem since 71, at clubs such as 371 and the Charles Gallery, and was a huge influence in the growth of early MCing. Hollywood soon began to incorporate more breaks into his sets, and his extensive rhyming in tune with the beat drew an enormous response from his audiences, displaying the captivating power of the MC. Hollywood, who learned to mix from Bojangles, without the use of headphones on a microphone mixer, was also the first dj who widely distributed tapes of his sets, ‘mix-tapes’, recorded on 8 track cassettes. However, it was Coke La Rock, considered the father of today’s rappers and MCs, who first defined the role of calling out rhymes over the records as separate from the dj, and was the first to be labeled MC (Master of Ceremonies). Coke La Rock earned his title, Master of Ceremonies, hosting Herc’s parties, rhyming as he guided the audience’s intensity , ensuring the party was jumpin’ all night. He coined many traditional hip-hop phrases including, “Rock the house”, “To the beat y’all”, and “You don’t stop”. Coke La Rock inspired Herc’s audiences, allowing Herc’s attention to remain on the breaks, while the audience grew towards a frenzy. Eventually, Herc would take other djs under his wings to guarantee the growth of the hip-hop dj species. Just as Clement Dodd had taken on apprentices, Herc brought Clark Kent and The Whiz Kid up through the ranks of djing. He was coaching them, allowing them the opportunity to come up as musicians in an encouraging and enlightening environment.