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[Shad]
This is Hip Hop today.
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A global phenomenon thatpermeates just
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about every facet of society.
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From business and sports,
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to pop culture and politics.
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-I've got 99 problems and now Jay Z's one.
-[audience laughter]
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[Shad]
At this point, Hip Hop doesn'tjust influence the mainstream.
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It is the mainstream.
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But despite its success,
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the rich history of Hip Hop's origins
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is often glossed over.
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[hip hop rock music]
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??
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[Shad]
Why does all this matter to me?
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Well, because Hip Hop isa big part of my life.
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My name is Shadrach Kabango
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and firstly, I'm an MC.
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??Check it out, I'm just spitting thatfor the love of spitting rap ??/i>
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??Hits like Nickelbacksinging with The Diplomats ??/i>
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[Shad]
I fell in love with Hip Hopback in the '90s,
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and at that time, it was all aboutBiggie, Common and Eminem.
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And since then, I've followedHip Hop's growth and journey.
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I even studied Hip Hop in university.
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??Tell me who's the sickestKid, I'm putting on a clinic, listen ??/i>
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[Shad]
But I know there's a whole historythat came before Big and Em.
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A history that's been forgotten.
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??I'm ahead of my time, waitNow I'm ahead of the times ??/i>
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??Sped up ahead of the beat ??/i>
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[Shad]
So, I'm going to the source,to meet with Hip Hop's stars,
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its innovators,
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its moguls
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and its pioneers.
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I'm going to unravelthe true story of Hip Hop.
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["Hip-Hop" by Dead Prez playing]
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??Uh, uh, uh, 1, 2, 1, 2 ??/i>
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??Uh, uh, 1, 2, 1, 2, uh, uh ??/i>
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??One thing 'bout musicWhen it hit you feel no pain ??/i>
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??White folks sayit controls your brain ??/i>
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??I know better than thatThat's game and we ready for that ??/i>
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??Two soldiers, head of the pack ??/i>
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??Matter of fact, who got the gat?And where my army at? ??/i>
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??Rather attack and not react ??/i>
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??It's bigger than hip-hopHip-hop, hip-hop, hip ??/i>
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??It's bigger thanhip-hop, hip-hop, hip-hop ??/i>
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[sirens and street noise]
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[Shad]
There's only one placeto start a story about Hip Hop,
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and that's here.
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New York City.
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I'm an MC today, but of course,I was a fan first.
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And for any Hip Hop head,a trip to New York
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is full of remindersof Hip Hop's deep history.
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Even decades after it's birth,
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the echoes of Hip Hop'searly days are everywhere.
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But to really understand Hip Hop's story,
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I got to take you a step back,
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to the early 1970s,just before it all began,
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when a different sound ruled New York.
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[disco music]
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??
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[Kurtis Blow]
You haveto understand, disco was hot.
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Late '60s and the early
'70s disco came and hit.
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It was an explosion.
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[disco music]
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??
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[Kurtis Blow]
Everyone had on suits
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and silk dresses
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and you dress your best to go to the club.
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Everyone was disco crazy.
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[disco music]
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You had CEO's,
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athletes, entertainers,
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whoever was so-called celebrity.
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So, everybody's perceptionin New York City
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was like, "Yo,
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look at the fur coats,
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look at the Rolls Royce's,
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look at the champagne,
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look at the diamonds,
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look at the sex.
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Look at all the moneyand the famous people."
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People in the world,
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especially in America,
thought New York City was heaven.
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But back then the Bronx was burning.
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[fire truck horn]
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[reporter]
The South Bronxbelieved, by the city,
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to be the worst fire area in the country.
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There were 12,300 fires here last year.
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It is as if there is a war going on.
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Many parts of the South Bronxlook like a city under siege,
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with entire blocks wiped out,
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buildings decimated, debris everywhere.
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[Grandmaster Caz]
I grew upin the Bronx during the '60s.
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It was like Beirut.
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You know, in certain parts
of the Bronx, man.
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I mean, when they say
the Bronx was burning,
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the Bronx was burning.
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??Cold, cold eyes, upon me they stare ??/i>
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??People all around meand they're all in fear ??/i>
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[Joe Conzo]
You go upinto the middle of the Bronx
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and it's just
these pockets of devastation.
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You know, it was amassive urban decay.
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??From my party house ??/i>
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??I'm afraid to come outside ??/i>
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??Although I'm filled with love ??/i>
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??I'm afraid they'll hurt my pride ??/i>
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[Grand Wizzard Theodore]
South Bronx where we lived at
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people were struggling, man.
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You had single parents,
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they were on welfare,
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you know, people wasn't really working.
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There wasn't really no jobs
and stuff like that.
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You couldn't go in certain areas, man.
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You couldn't go in that area,
you can't go in this area,
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you couldn't go in that area.
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You had killings, you had muggings,
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you had peoplegetting killed by the police,
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people going to jail forthe rest of their lives.
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[Joe Conzo]
It was that boiling point
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to just give birthto something from nothing.
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And out of all that turbulenceand upheaval
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was the birth of Hip Hop.
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[Shad]
While the grown-upsof New York City
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lost themselves in the glitter of disco,
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the kids in the Bronxsearched for something different.
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And they'd find it in the rec room partiesof a local DJ,
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Kool Herc.
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The man who threw Hip Hop's first party.
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??
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[Kool Herc]
This is the birthplace.
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The big bang.
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1520, right here.
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Where it all began.
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[Shad]
1520 Sedgwick Ave?
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Yes. The kitchen and the two windows
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were the recreation room.
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At the time, the gangs was, you know,
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terrorizing the house parties and stuff.
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So, we asked could we
give a party, you know.
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They liked what I
was playing and...
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the rest is history.
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[Shad]
Could you describe the atmosphere
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at that party, August 11?
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[Kool Herc]
The place could only
hold a good probably forty,
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fifty people in there at the most.
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I'd get some milk crates,
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no chairs or nothing,
just some crates.
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You know, my friends,
they're having a good time.
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[funk music]
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??Watch me now ??/i>
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??Feel the groove ??/i>
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??Into something ??/i>
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??Going to make you move ??/i>
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[DJ Red Alert]
My first time goingto a Kool Herc party
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was up on the west side of the Bronx.
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It looked liked it was kind of
a rundown condemned building.
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But females just hanging around in there.I'm like, "Oh, okay."
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So, as we get closer and closerto start hearing some sounds
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and that's when I got to
realize that was Kool Herc.
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??
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[Melle Mel]
Herc's partieswas, like, really surreal.
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Their voices went through a echo chamber
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and back then they're like, you know,
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we were smoking some weedand some angel dust.
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It's just loud, booming music.
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It's kind of dark, smokey
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and their voices coming in echo.
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Ra-ra-ra-ra!
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Tee-tee-tee-tee!
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Ta-ta-ta-ta!
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Pop-pop-pop!
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And you're just coming through all that
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and guys is looking, and people dancing.
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And just a vibe that, you know, Herc had.
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Like, it looked excitement and
a little bit of danger.
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??
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[Kurtis Blow]
I remember just goingto the bass speaker
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and sticking my head in the bass speaker
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and closing my eyes and the bass would
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just rumble all through my body.
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All the way down to my toes.
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??
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[Shad]
A lot of people claimto have been at that party
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but how many people
were really at that party.
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-They wasn't there, they heard about it.
-[both laughing]
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Their big brother told them,
their big sister told them.
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They hear the-- the war stories and stuff.
They wasn't there.
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I asked them how old they was,
once they tell me, he wasn't there.
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That's it.
How old you are? Yeah, right.
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[Kurtis Blow]
Herc, he was a revolutionary.
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He revolted.
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He did not want to play the disco musicthat we heard on the radio.
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He wanted to give us the music that
we grew up on, the soul music
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and it was incredible
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because in the world of disco,
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here's this DJ coming out
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playing this special kind of music.
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And that was so importantto the birth of Hip Hop
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that we're gonna play funk music.
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[funk music]
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[GrandMixer DXT]
You're listening to,
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like, the greatest records you ever heardand never heard any of them before
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and never heard them on the radio.
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You don't hear them on the radio,
you don't hear them anywhere.
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These are part
of the sacred crates of Hip Hop.
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[Shad]
And-- and the music selection,
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I mean, we hear about
Scorpio and The Mexican.
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I mean, what else
is kind of side by side with that?
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[chuckling] That's one thing I don't do...
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-give out names to records.
-Oh, that's true actually.
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What am I doing?
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[Kool Herc] You gotta hear it.
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Everybody can't have
your records to hide it.
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'Cause if everybody have my record,
why come to my party?
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[Dan Charnas]
Herc throwswhat most people believe
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is the first Hip Hop party.
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Why is it the first Hip Hop party?
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00:10:02,063 --> 00:10:05,283
It's because of the recordsthat Herc plays
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00:10:05,367 --> 00:10:08,750
but also because of theway he plays those records.
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He plays just the breakdown
sections of these records,
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where all the instruments drop out
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00:10:14,409 --> 00:10:17,094
and it's just the drums
or drums and bass.
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[hip hop music]
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??
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00:10:21,182 --> 00:10:24,435
[Kurtis Blow]
And that was so importantto the birth of Hip Hop.
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Music that has a special part in it,
which is a break.
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Every song he played
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had a breakdown
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00:10:33,374 --> 00:10:35,723
where the drummerwould do this thing.
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[mimics drum beats]
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00:10:37,774 --> 00:10:41,111
[drum beats playing]
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Herc came up with the idea of, like,
"Let me extend this break beat,
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so, I'm gonna go from this record
on this turntable,
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to this record on this
turntable." And it extends.
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And it'd create almost a new song.
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00:10:52,539 --> 00:10:56,126
[GrandMixer DXT]
I've never seenanyone have two copies of a record
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and keep going back to
the part where we normally
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would pick the needle up and put it back.
238
00:11:00,335 --> 00:11:01,939
So, there's this silence for minute.
239
00:11:02,023 --> 00:11:03,307
Now, that was continuous
240
00:11:03,391 --> 00:11:05,249
and he called it the Merry-Go-Round.
241
00:11:06,094 --> 00:11:08,529
[funk music]
242
00:11:09,361 --> 00:11:11,377
??
243
00:11:20,442 --> 00:11:23,661
[Kevin Powell]
And people don't realize itgave name to those kids who were dancing
244
00:11:23,737 --> 00:11:25,655
because they became known as breakdancers
245
00:11:25,739 --> 00:11:28,116
because they were dancing
to those break beats.
246
00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:30,035
??
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[Kurtis Blow]
Guys in that circle, theywere dancing against each other,
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trying to be James Brown.
249
00:11:39,127 --> 00:11:41,379
-Doing that fancy footwork.
-Yeah, yeah.
250
00:11:41,463 --> 00:11:43,648
Everybody wanted
to be James Brown and dance.
251
00:11:43,732 --> 00:11:45,628
That's how b-boying started.
252
00:11:45,712 --> 00:11:49,187
??
253
00:11:50,905 --> 00:11:52,492
[GrandMixer DXT]
And thenthere was this whole thing
254
00:11:52,576 --> 00:11:54,525
depending on what neighbourhoodyou were from.
255
00:11:54,609 --> 00:11:56,827
We had a terminology called A Number 1.
256
00:11:56,911 --> 00:11:59,322
Which meant you was
the best b-boy from your crew.
257
00:11:59,406 --> 00:12:00,937
So, when you go to these parties you go,
258
00:12:01,021 --> 00:12:04,035
"Yo A1, I'm A1 b-boy, so
259
00:12:04,110 --> 00:12:06,529
if you can burn me, you
can burn my whole crew.
260
00:12:06,613 --> 00:12:08,865
'Cause I'm better than all of them."
You know what I'm saying?
261
00:12:08,949 --> 00:12:12,327
And so, by the way, I was the A1 b-boy
from my neighbourhood.
262
00:12:12,451 --> 00:12:15,201
??
263
00:12:18,333 --> 00:12:20,251
[Shad]
Kool Herc inspiredthe Bronx's b-boys
264
00:12:20,335 --> 00:12:21,783
with his Merry-Go-Round technique.
265
00:12:21,867 --> 00:12:26,149
But if you look hard at the party flyers,he wasn't rocking the crowd on his own.
266
00:12:26,233 --> 00:12:28,459
Herc had a partner with a mic in his hand.
267
00:12:28,543 --> 00:12:30,227
Hip Hop's first party rocker,
268
00:12:30,311 --> 00:12:31,562
Coke La Rock.
269
00:12:31,646 --> 00:12:34,482
[echoing]
270
00:12:38,712 --> 00:12:40,308
[Shad]
-You good?
-All good, fantastic.
271
00:12:42,049 --> 00:12:45,042
[Shad]
Why don't we start back withwhen you first hooked up with Herc.
272
00:12:45,126 --> 00:12:47,183
You're in the rec room.
It's just neighbourhood people.
273
00:12:47,267 --> 00:12:49,289
-Just neighbourhood people.
-Yeah.
274
00:12:49,373 --> 00:12:51,220
Herc's in the room playing the music.
275
00:12:51,304 --> 00:12:53,019
-Yeah.
-And everybody's out there dancing.
276
00:12:53,103 --> 00:12:57,024
But first time I got on the mic, I used tojust holler out my friend's names,
277
00:12:57,108 --> 00:12:58,025
like shout outs.
278
00:12:58,081 --> 00:13:02,168
You had Easy Al, Skip from the joint,
Paradise, Reggie Red.
279
00:13:02,252 --> 00:13:05,672
See, I used to do like this, like,
my man Reggie be out, I'd be like,
280
00:13:05,779 --> 00:13:11,005
"Yo, Reggie, go-go-go move your car.
You're double parked in ra-ra," you know.
281
00:13:11,089 --> 00:13:12,253
And we, like, sixteen.
282
00:13:12,337 --> 00:13:14,321
The girls be like,"Oh, he got a car."
283
00:13:14,405 --> 00:13:16,261
So, when you come back inthe girls are like,
284
00:13:16,345 --> 00:13:18,471
"You ain't got no car,"
you know?
285
00:13:18,555 --> 00:13:21,982
After that, it didn't stop.It got better every time.
286
00:13:22,066 --> 00:13:24,685
We went from maybe fifty people,to a hundred,
287
00:13:24,769 --> 00:13:26,264
a hundred to five hundred.
288
00:13:27,238 --> 00:13:29,557
We had everybody in our party,
289
00:13:29,641 --> 00:13:31,892
I mean, we had the killers,
we had the robbers,
290
00:13:31,976 --> 00:13:34,528
we had the dancers,
we had the regular party people.
291
00:13:34,612 --> 00:13:36,414
You weren't there
to get on the mic at first,
292
00:13:36,498 --> 00:13:38,144
you had another job at the party.
293
00:13:39,083 --> 00:13:43,773
Yes. I used to sell cannabis, you know.
Little nickel bags of cannabis, you know.
294
00:13:43,857 --> 00:13:46,607
And I went from, like I said,
nickel bag, half an ounce
295
00:13:46,691 --> 00:13:48,259
quarter pound, pound.
296
00:13:48,728 --> 00:13:52,046
I'd bag up a quarter pound,
and sell 160 nickels in two hours,
297
00:13:52,130 --> 00:13:54,281
while I'm playing the music and talking.
298
00:13:54,365 --> 00:13:55,366
So.
299
00:13:56,034 --> 00:13:58,352
[Shad]
So, you're on the mic shouting out.
300
00:13:58,436 --> 00:14:01,055
Yes, as long as the music's not stopping,
the rocks are dropping,
301
00:14:01,139 --> 00:14:03,190
the champagne is flowing,
the freaks will be going.
302
00:14:03,274 --> 00:14:06,026
Hotel, motel. You don't tell,
we don't tell.
303
00:14:06,110 --> 00:14:07,445
One time route nine.
304
00:14:08,245 --> 00:14:09,897
You see what I'm saying?
This was back then.
305
00:14:09,981 --> 00:14:12,066
Nobody was talking on the mic, man.
306
00:14:12,150 --> 00:14:13,701
There's not a man that can't be thrown,
307
00:14:13,785 --> 00:14:16,137
a horse that can't be rode,
a bull that can't be stopped,
308
00:14:16,221 --> 00:14:19,056
and there's not a disco that Kool Herc
and Coke La Rock can't rock.
309
00:14:20,667 --> 00:14:22,383
How'd the crowds respond
when you do La Rock?
310
00:14:22,467 --> 00:14:23,577
Ah! Crazy!
311
00:14:23,661 --> 00:14:24,812
I couldn't stop it, man!
312
00:14:24,896 --> 00:14:27,256
[funk music]
313
00:14:27,340 --> 00:14:29,081
[echoing] Not a disco that Kool Herc
314
00:14:29,165 --> 00:14:31,986
and Coke La Rock can't rock.
315
00:14:32,070 --> 00:14:34,465
[Melle Mel] A lot of peopledon't know what they did,
316
00:14:34,906 --> 00:14:37,258
simply 'cause they weren't thereto see them do it,
317
00:14:37,342 --> 00:14:39,894
but that was the foundation of everything.
318
00:14:39,978 --> 00:14:42,463
The b-boy and that whole sound system era
319
00:14:42,547 --> 00:14:45,435
and all the foundationthat became MC'ing.
320
00:14:45,850 --> 00:14:47,334
Actually, they did everything.
321
00:14:47,418 --> 00:14:49,970
They just did it so early in the game
322
00:14:50,054 --> 00:14:51,639
you know, that people, you know,
323
00:14:51,723 --> 00:14:52,807
they just didn't see it.
324
00:14:52,891 --> 00:14:55,142
[GrandMixer DXT] And we all watched them
325
00:14:55,226 --> 00:14:56,844
and wanted to be like them
326
00:14:56,928 --> 00:14:58,979
and wanted to playthose records like them.
327
00:14:59,063 --> 00:14:59,980
The seed is planted.
328
00:15:00,064 --> 00:15:03,881
??
329
00:15:07,544 --> 00:15:09,754
??No matter how hard you try ??/i>
330
00:15:09,838 --> 00:15:11,923
??You can't stop us now ??/i>
331
00:15:14,232 --> 00:15:16,997
[Shad] For the lucky few who witnessed it,seeing Herc spin breaks
332
00:15:17,081 --> 00:15:18,365
tapped into something elemental
333
00:15:18,449 --> 00:15:19,433
that changed them.
334
00:15:19,517 --> 00:15:20,484
??
335
00:15:21,402 --> 00:15:23,506
[Shad] The kids at Herc's partiesbecame more than b-boys.
336
00:15:23,934 --> 00:15:26,182
They became Hip Hop's first converts.
337
00:15:26,881 --> 00:15:29,043
And one of those earlyconverts was a young DJ
338
00:15:29,127 --> 00:15:31,032
from the east side of the Bronx,
339
00:15:31,116 --> 00:15:32,145
Afrika Bambaataa.
340
00:15:33,134 --> 00:15:34,849
It's been a long timesince Bam first planted
341
00:15:34,933 --> 00:15:36,988
Hip Hop's flag in the Bronx River houses.
342
00:15:37,435 --> 00:15:39,634
But even today, he's a local hero.
343
00:15:40,204 --> 00:15:42,223
-Long time no see.
-Oh, how you doing?
344
00:15:42,307 --> 00:15:45,392
How you feeling, boo?
Alright, that be good.
345
00:15:45,476 --> 00:15:47,494
Peace and honor brother.
One love.
346
00:15:47,578 --> 00:15:48,829
What's up? Yes sir, yes sir.
347
00:15:48,913 --> 00:15:49,796
How you doing man?
348
00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:50,763
-Good.
-Everything good?
349
00:15:50,847 --> 00:15:52,867
It's one of the originals, too,
from the early days.
350
00:15:52,951 --> 00:15:54,847
That's right.
One of the originals.
351
00:15:55,287 --> 00:15:56,704
-Yes, sir.
-1595.
352
00:15:56,788 --> 00:15:59,740
-That's right.
-Bambaataa.
353
00:15:59,824 --> 00:16:02,325
??Renegades of this atomic age ??/i>
354
00:16:03,928 --> 00:16:06,357
??This atomic age for renegades ??/i>
355
00:16:07,799 --> 00:16:09,275
[Shad] Could I ask youabout the first time
356
00:16:09,359 --> 00:16:11,137
that you heard Herc play?
357
00:16:11,816 --> 00:16:14,152
[Afrika Bambaataa] I heard Hercon the west side of the Bronx,
358
00:16:14,701 --> 00:16:18,359
um, playing that set, uh, in Cedar Park.
359
00:16:18,443 --> 00:16:20,120
And, um, hearing Herc on that side
360
00:16:20,204 --> 00:16:21,343
playing the beats
and everything like that.
361
00:16:21,427 --> 00:16:24,098
I said, "Well, I got a lot of
those records and then some."
362
00:16:24,182 --> 00:16:27,374
And I started spinning a lot of thatwith my groups on this side of town.
363
00:16:28,586 --> 00:16:30,529
You know I'm gonna say something,
I love him.
364
00:16:30,613 --> 00:16:32,373
I'm old school, been here forever,
365
00:16:32,457 --> 00:16:34,875
Zulu Nation. We here.
366
00:16:34,959 --> 00:16:37,378
This is Bronx River. It started here.
367
00:16:37,462 --> 00:16:40,281
This where it's at.
You hear the records back in the days,
368
00:16:40,365 --> 00:16:42,449
Bronx River rolling thick.
369
00:16:42,533 --> 00:16:44,551
Bronx River, this is
what did his thing here, man.
370
00:16:44,635 --> 00:16:46,387
We're going to-- me and you gonna get it.
371
00:16:46,471 --> 00:16:47,688
This is real, this is right?
372
00:16:47,772 --> 00:16:50,357
This is one of my original
family brothers right here.
373
00:16:50,441 --> 00:16:52,276
One of the original family brothers there.
374
00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:57,464
[Shad] A lot of accountsof that time, people said
375
00:16:57,548 --> 00:16:59,934
that they were very scared ofcoming to this neighborhood.
376
00:16:59,989 --> 00:17:01,866
[Afrika Bambaataa] There wasmany people who was scared
377
00:17:01,950 --> 00:17:04,702
to come to this neighborhood
because we was no joke.
378
00:17:04,789 --> 00:17:07,942
But we had all the street gang,
um, organizations
379
00:17:08,026 --> 00:17:09,718
who would pack this place up.
380
00:17:10,661 --> 00:17:12,445
Our whole kingdom, huh.
381
00:17:12,530 --> 00:17:14,147
Black Spade areas,
382
00:17:14,232 --> 00:17:15,316
Savage Spades.
383
00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:17,451
Nobody come messing
with the Spades areas.
384
00:17:17,535 --> 00:17:20,037
Especially in the Bronx,never in the home of God.
385
00:17:20,761 --> 00:17:23,290
I got into street gangs, the Black Spades,
386
00:17:23,374 --> 00:17:26,226
a lot of other groups I was
in before I became a Spade,
387
00:17:26,310 --> 00:17:28,692
Power Bronx, Savage Nomads.
388
00:17:30,167 --> 00:17:33,901
But Spades was one of the groupsthat I really loved a lot.
389
00:17:33,985 --> 00:17:36,737
It was a lot of unity in the group.
390
00:17:36,821 --> 00:17:39,740
[GrandMixer DXT] The Black Spades,the biggest gang in the Bronx
391
00:17:39,824 --> 00:17:41,875
dominated the street culture there.
392
00:17:41,959 --> 00:17:45,179
They were like the conquerors, you know.
393
00:17:45,263 --> 00:17:46,930
They would go from
394
00:17:47,014 --> 00:17:48,916
area to area conquering.
395
00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:51,218
You either convert
or you get wiped out.
396
00:17:52,236 --> 00:17:56,923
[Disco Wiz] For me, being a Spanishcat trying to be a DJ, it was rough.
397
00:17:57,007 --> 00:17:59,236
Blacks and Puerto Ricans
were killing each other,
398
00:17:59,733 --> 00:18:01,701
you know, because
of the street gang culture.
399
00:18:02,447 --> 00:18:05,966
[Shad] What was happening, in yourunderstanding, as a Black Spade,
400
00:18:06,050 --> 00:18:08,052
that made you want tobring more peace and unity?
401
00:18:10,118 --> 00:18:12,754
[Afrika Bambaataa] A lot of uswas killing each other for nothing
402
00:18:12,838 --> 00:18:14,808
or fighting against eachother for foolishness,
403
00:18:14,892 --> 00:18:17,144
that we need to turn thisaround and get the community
404
00:18:17,228 --> 00:18:19,013
to start organizing themselves.
405
00:18:19,097 --> 00:18:20,547
But we also had many other consciousness,
406
00:18:20,631 --> 00:18:23,951
um, organizations that was out here
407
00:18:24,035 --> 00:18:26,771
all coming to wake up
many of the communities.
408
00:18:26,855 --> 00:18:29,656
Like the Nation of Islam,Black Panther Party,
409
00:18:29,740 --> 00:18:31,058
The Young Lords Party.
410
00:18:31,142 --> 00:18:33,527
We had to change the paradigm
411
00:18:33,611 --> 00:18:35,996
and try to teachand wake up the communities
412
00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:39,700
to be warriors for your communityinstead of being destructors.
413
00:18:39,784 --> 00:18:42,469
[leader] Brother Benson
here is our brother here, man.
414
00:18:42,553 --> 00:18:44,872
He's like my brother, too!
You can dig that, too!
415
00:18:44,956 --> 00:18:48,130
[leader] I tell you right now.
If any of my members came to your turf,
416
00:18:48,214 --> 00:18:50,345
you try to match me,
I guarantee they'd pay for it.
417
00:18:50,429 --> 00:18:52,191
They came up there in trucks on our turf.
418
00:18:52,275 --> 00:18:54,786
[leader] You want to know
when we came to your turf, man?
419
00:18:54,870 --> 00:18:55,817
When Black Benji died, man.
420
00:18:55,901 --> 00:18:57,871
That's when we came
to your turf for static, man.
421
00:18:57,955 --> 00:18:59,586
[Afrika Bambaataa]
Well, the process was definitely hard
422
00:18:59,670 --> 00:19:01,722
to deal with a lotof street organizations,
423
00:19:01,806 --> 00:19:04,258
to get involved withwhat we trying to do
424
00:19:04,342 --> 00:19:07,728
but I had a strongreputation for organizing.
425
00:19:07,812 --> 00:19:10,290
And had much respect
426
00:19:10,374 --> 00:19:12,332
with many of the different leaders
427
00:19:12,416 --> 00:19:14,648
that they had
in the different street organizations.
428
00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:17,838
-President Young Sinners.
-Vice President of the Young Sinners.
429
00:19:17,922 --> 00:19:20,908
-Vice President Young Saints.
-President of the Young Cobras.
430
00:19:20,992 --> 00:19:23,797
[Afrika Bambaataa] You had to work onthe leaders that would lead the followers
431
00:19:23,881 --> 00:19:27,881
to come aboardand be part of what we was doing now.
432
00:19:27,965 --> 00:19:31,685
Organizing and letting them know,you know, this is where we going.
433
00:19:31,769 --> 00:19:34,888
I developed a vision forThe Universal Zulu Nation
434
00:19:34,972 --> 00:19:36,924
in peace, unity, love and having fun.
435
00:19:37,008 --> 00:19:38,132
[man] Yo, Bam, I love you!
436
00:19:38,216 --> 00:19:39,426
One love to you too, Ackie!
437
00:19:39,510 --> 00:19:40,585
-[man] All day!
-Yes, sir.
438
00:19:41,571 --> 00:19:42,847
Peace!
439
00:19:43,904 --> 00:19:45,432
[Kurtis Blow]
Bambaataa was instrumental
440
00:19:45,516 --> 00:19:48,035
in stopping a whole lotof that gang violence
441
00:19:48,116 --> 00:19:50,201
and he convinced the Black Spades
442
00:19:50,284 --> 00:19:51,786
to start the Zulu Nation.
443
00:19:51,889 --> 00:19:54,291
[hip hop music]
444
00:19:56,660 --> 00:19:57,910
??
445
00:20:00,030 --> 00:20:01,847
[Grand Wizzard Theodore]
When he formed The Zulu Nation,
446
00:20:01,931 --> 00:20:04,785
it was a melting potof different gang members
447
00:20:04,869 --> 00:20:08,558
and people wanting tostraighten their lives out
448
00:20:08,642 --> 00:20:11,389
and the music was another wayfor them to get into that, so...
449
00:20:11,976 --> 00:20:13,494
People were getting into MC'ing.
450
00:20:13,578 --> 00:20:16,563
People were getting into DJ'ing.People were getting into graffiti.
451
00:20:16,647 --> 00:20:20,190
It was a way for you to release
whatever pressure you had.
452
00:20:20,274 --> 00:20:22,628
[hip hop music]
453
00:20:24,147 --> 00:20:25,447
??
454
00:20:27,558 --> 00:20:28,775
[Afrika Bambaataa]
The Universal Zulu Nation
455
00:20:28,859 --> 00:20:31,328
was about organizing the people.
456
00:20:31,802 --> 00:20:33,780
Bringing the DJ's, the MC's,
the aerosol writers,
457
00:20:33,864 --> 00:20:37,584
the b-boys, the b-girls
and that fifth element, knowledge.
458
00:20:37,668 --> 00:20:39,620
'Cause we put it together
as a culture movement,
459
00:20:39,704 --> 00:20:42,288
you know, and that's when
we put the label Hip Hop on it.
460
00:20:42,372 --> 00:20:44,269
??Well if you're lookingfor the perfect beat, people ??/i>
461
00:20:44,353 --> 00:20:46,360
??Well here's a perfect beat for ya ??/i>
462
00:20:46,444 --> 00:20:48,328
??Soulsonic stay aim ??/i>
463
00:20:48,412 --> 00:20:50,998
??With a chorus you can sing, round up ??/i>
464
00:20:51,082 --> 00:20:53,367
[Grandmaster Caz] Bam startedinviting people to Bronx River.
465
00:20:53,431 --> 00:20:55,475
He like, "Yo, everybody,come to Bronx River.
466
00:20:55,558 --> 00:20:59,312
It's gonna be one big great set.
Everybody can get on."
467
00:20:59,432 --> 00:21:01,702
He brought us all together,
like, "Yo, come here."
468
00:21:01,786 --> 00:21:04,478
Is the Bronx in the house?
469
00:21:04,562 --> 00:21:06,146
Is everybody in the house?
470
00:21:06,230 --> 00:21:08,949
-[cheering]
-Hit it!
471
00:21:09,033 --> 00:21:10,984
??Everybody just listen up ??/i>
472
00:21:11,068 --> 00:21:11,985
??Everybody just ??/i>
473
00:21:12,069 --> 00:21:14,488
??Just hold your hands in the air ??/i>
474
00:21:14,572 --> 00:21:16,790
??And wave 'em like you just don't care ??/i>
475
00:21:16,874 --> 00:21:19,526
??Say Z-U-L-U ??/i>
476
00:21:19,610 --> 00:21:21,128
??That's the way you say it ??/i>
477
00:21:21,212 --> 00:21:22,129
??ZULU ??/i>
478
00:21:22,213 --> 00:21:23,864
??What's the name of this nation? ??/i>
479
00:21:23,948 --> 00:21:26,111
[chanting] ZULU! ZULU!
480
00:21:26,617 --> 00:21:28,202
[Grand Wizzard Theodore]
Bam decided to make sure
481
00:21:28,286 --> 00:21:30,237
that no matter what colour you are,
482
00:21:30,321 --> 00:21:33,240
you know who your ancestors were
483
00:21:33,324 --> 00:21:37,813
and basically brought
knowledge to Hip Hop.
484
00:21:38,329 --> 00:21:41,741
[GrandMixer DXT] Here comes this guysaying his name is Afrika Bambaataa
485
00:21:41,825 --> 00:21:43,650
and for me I go to this party
486
00:21:43,734 --> 00:21:46,166
and I'm hearing these beatsand I'm seeing Zulu
487
00:21:46,250 --> 00:21:49,017
and Afrika and it automaticallymade sense.
488
00:21:49,101 --> 00:21:51,425
??Everybody say Zulu ??
489
00:21:51,509 --> 00:21:53,727
-??Everybody ??/i>
-??Zulu ??/i>
490
00:21:53,811 --> 00:21:57,164
[GrandMixer DXT] I grew upwhere I was taught and conditioned
491
00:21:57,248 --> 00:21:59,600
when I see Africa or hear African
492
00:21:59,684 --> 00:22:02,002
or anything like that, I'm running.
493
00:22:02,086 --> 00:22:05,396
I've been trained to disconnectfrom my heritage.
494
00:22:06,123 --> 00:22:10,994
Bambaataa and The Zulu Nation,
that whole ideal rescued
495
00:22:11,542 --> 00:22:13,964
that consciousness for me.
496
00:22:14,383 --> 00:22:15,908
??
497
00:22:20,057 --> 00:22:22,760
[Shad] Herc forgedthe foundations of Hip Hop
498
00:22:22,844 --> 00:22:24,758
and Bam built a community around it.
499
00:22:24,842 --> 00:22:27,552
But as an art form,Hip Hop was still very raw.
500
00:22:28,546 --> 00:22:30,353
But there was someoneworking on changing that.
501
00:22:30,968 --> 00:22:35,435
On the south side of the borough,there was a mad scientist tinkering away,
502
00:22:35,519 --> 00:22:37,976
perfecting what Herc and Bam had started.
503
00:22:38,060 --> 00:22:39,473
[record scratching]
504
00:22:39,557 --> 00:22:41,375
??Good times ??/i>
505
00:22:41,459 --> 00:22:45,656
??Good times, good timesGood times, good times ??/i>
506
00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:48,448
[record scratching]
507
00:22:48,532 --> 00:22:49,560
[Grandmaster Flash]
Coming up
508
00:22:49,644 --> 00:22:54,561
I had this fascination
with electrical items.
509
00:22:54,635 --> 00:22:56,846
Anything that plugged into the wall
510
00:22:56,929 --> 00:23:00,099
um, you know, the hair dryer,the washing machine,
511
00:23:00,182 --> 00:23:02,894
curling iron, whatever.
If it was unscrewable
512
00:23:03,013 --> 00:23:07,095
and you was able to get the back
off of it, I would take them apart.
513
00:23:07,179 --> 00:23:11,104
And I also had a fascinationwith things that spun around,
514
00:23:11,188 --> 00:23:14,174
like the dryer, spin stage,
515
00:23:14,258 --> 00:23:17,077
uh, bicycle wheels and I would
516
00:23:17,161 --> 00:23:20,638
spin the wheels and justwatch the wheels go around.
517
00:23:21,479 --> 00:23:22,683
And I remember my father,
518
00:23:22,767 --> 00:23:25,852
he would come home from a hard dayof work and go in his closet
519
00:23:25,936 --> 00:23:29,356
and pull out these black discsthat were inside this cardboard sleeve.
520
00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:31,048
And he would bringthese black discs over
521
00:23:31,132 --> 00:23:33,137
to this wooden boxthat was in the living room,
522
00:23:33,577 --> 00:23:37,931
and he would put this blackdisc inside of this machine
523
00:23:38,015 --> 00:23:39,835
and sound would come out.
524
00:23:40,498 --> 00:23:43,729
I found this to be very intriguing.
525
00:23:44,654 --> 00:23:47,778
So, once I figured out how sound worked
526
00:23:48,225 --> 00:23:52,045
I would go down to backyards looking for
527
00:23:52,129 --> 00:23:54,545
amplifiers and looking for turntables.
528
00:23:54,932 --> 00:23:56,349
Looking for receivers.
529
00:23:57,034 --> 00:24:00,487
And taking resistors, capacitors, diodes,
530
00:24:00,571 --> 00:24:03,023
transformers from oneand kind of putting it into
531
00:24:03,107 --> 00:24:05,025
another to try to build that.
532
00:24:05,109 --> 00:24:08,564
And then my speakers, I foundin the back of abandoned cars.
533
00:24:09,418 --> 00:24:13,089
It didn't sound like much butwe were pretty cool with it.
534
00:24:13,172 --> 00:24:14,131
[chuckles]
535
00:24:14,218 --> 00:24:16,285
[static buzzing]
536
00:24:16,369 --> 00:24:21,052
??The Grand Master Flash ??/i>
537
00:24:23,391 --> 00:24:27,716
[heavy beats and scratching]
538
00:24:29,466 --> 00:24:32,041
[Fab 5 Freddy] Flash looked so greatdoing what he did back then,
539
00:24:32,125 --> 00:24:33,172
very stylistic.
540
00:24:33,609 --> 00:24:36,654
The way he moved, hit the,
hit the switches, the buttons.
541
00:24:36,737 --> 00:24:39,240
Watching him was justdazzling and mesmerizing
542
00:24:39,343 --> 00:24:40,527
and so exciting.
543
00:24:40,574 --> 00:24:43,577
It was so different,like, yo, like, from another planet.
544
00:24:43,814 --> 00:24:46,450
And I was just bitten
by the fever of it all.
545
00:24:49,305 --> 00:24:52,477
You know, and Flashwas very intelligent, almost scientific.
546
00:24:52,561 --> 00:24:56,710
He had these ideas
about a way that he could
547
00:24:56,794 --> 00:24:58,728
mix these records seamlessly
548
00:24:59,190 --> 00:25:01,381
and that would send him on like this
549
00:25:01,465 --> 00:25:03,417
research and development process
550
00:25:03,501 --> 00:25:06,803
that was key in himperfecting his technique.
551
00:25:07,396 --> 00:25:09,221
??
552
00:25:09,974 --> 00:25:12,988
[Grandmaster Flash] Watching most DJ'sI grew up hearing two things.
553
00:25:14,151 --> 00:25:17,954
Back then there were people
doing mixes on the air on radio,
554
00:25:18,900 --> 00:25:23,236
and they would do disco mixes wherethey would mix in and out of a record
555
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:25,882
really slow, blends.
556
00:25:27,157 --> 00:25:29,744
And then, Herc's style was the opposite,
557
00:25:30,611 --> 00:25:33,594
I called it, uh, disarray in unison.
558
00:25:34,239 --> 00:25:35,355
I like that, I like that.
559
00:25:35,439 --> 00:25:38,418
[Grandmaster Flash] He wouldplay a song and take a drum solo
560
00:25:38,502 --> 00:25:40,753
and expound and extend it back.
561
00:25:41,205 --> 00:25:43,790
But the chances of alwaysgetting the needle
562
00:25:43,874 --> 00:25:46,292
in the right place was slim to none.
563
00:25:46,376 --> 00:25:48,728
So, both styles were frustrating to me.
564
00:25:48,812 --> 00:25:51,965
[Melle Mel] The other guys, you know,they just blend it out in between records
565
00:25:52,021 --> 00:25:54,565
and it'd be this big, you know,fucking jumble, like...
566
00:25:54,648 --> 00:25:58,444
[scatting]
567
00:25:58,556 --> 00:25:59,882
And then you'd hear the other record.
568
00:25:59,966 --> 00:26:02,342
They didn't even, it wasn't even
clean like that.
569
00:26:02,426 --> 00:26:03,944
You know, it was just crazy.
570
00:26:04,028 --> 00:26:08,148
[Grandmaster Flash] Most DJ's,
they concentrated their efforts on
571
00:26:08,232 --> 00:26:09,749
the tone arm.
572
00:26:09,833 --> 00:26:13,100
It would be totally sloppy off beatand I seen a lot of that.
573
00:26:13,583 --> 00:26:15,689
I knew there has to be a better way
574
00:26:15,773 --> 00:26:18,358
and after trying many different things
575
00:26:18,442 --> 00:26:20,952
I placed my fingers on the vinyl.
576
00:26:23,013 --> 00:26:24,014
I let it go.
577
00:26:25,015 --> 00:26:26,818
Stopped it. Let it go.
578
00:26:27,673 --> 00:26:28,785
Stop it.
579
00:26:30,125 --> 00:26:31,338
I said to myself,
580
00:26:31,422 --> 00:26:35,618
"I have absolute control of the record."
581
00:26:36,715 --> 00:26:40,540
But the taboo thing was you're not
supposed to touch the middle of the vinyl.
582
00:26:40,965 --> 00:26:42,443
DJ's are gonna hate you.
583
00:26:42,527 --> 00:26:45,625
People are gonna hate you.
You're gonna ruin these records.
584
00:26:47,304 --> 00:26:52,151
I decided that this
was the only way to do this.
585
00:26:52,876 --> 00:26:55,862
And then, what I did wasso that I could find the break quicker,
586
00:26:55,946 --> 00:26:57,365
I took a crayon
587
00:26:57,449 --> 00:26:58,906
and I would make a circular mark
588
00:26:58,990 --> 00:27:00,200
where the break lived.
589
00:27:00,284 --> 00:27:01,635
[scratching]
590
00:27:01,719 --> 00:27:05,407
[Grandmaster Flash] So, the circular mark
is where the break lived.
591
00:27:05,491 --> 00:27:08,258
And the other mark
is the intro to the break.
592
00:27:08,342 --> 00:27:10,544
[record scratching]
593
00:27:10,628 --> 00:27:13,980
So, what I would do
is count how many times
594
00:27:14,064 --> 00:27:16,226
it passed-- it passed the tone arm.
595
00:27:16,900 --> 00:27:18,084
One.
596
00:27:18,168 --> 00:27:19,319
Two.
597
00:27:19,403 --> 00:27:20,420
Three.
598
00:27:20,504 --> 00:27:21,655
Four.
599
00:27:21,739 --> 00:27:22,889
Five.
600
00:27:22,973 --> 00:27:23,924
One.
601
00:27:24,008 --> 00:27:25,498
Two. Three...
602
00:27:25,582 --> 00:27:29,095
I figured out a way to do this with never
603
00:27:29,179 --> 00:27:31,698
touching the tone arm.
604
00:27:31,782 --> 00:27:38,871
??Good times, good timesGood Times, good times ??/i>
605
00:27:38,955 --> 00:27:40,790
Now we know where we are.
606
00:27:40,874 --> 00:27:42,395
We're not guessing anymore.
607
00:27:43,368 --> 00:27:44,785
We're not guessing anymore.
608
00:27:44,869 --> 00:27:46,112
Faze.
609
00:27:46,196 --> 00:27:47,197
Faze.
610
00:27:48,369 --> 00:27:49,449
Faze.
611
00:27:49,533 --> 00:27:52,118
??Good-- Good-- Good-- Good times ??/i>
612
00:27:52,202 --> 00:27:54,721
The idea that
this technology is not simply
613
00:27:54,805 --> 00:27:55,986
something to play the record.
614
00:27:56,857 --> 00:27:58,962
That I can play the technology.
615
00:27:59,046 --> 00:28:02,392
To me, it's in a tradition of--
of great black music.
616
00:28:02,476 --> 00:28:04,531
You know, the saxophone'sa classical instrument
617
00:28:04,615 --> 00:28:07,133
that's not really essentialto the classical cannon,
618
00:28:07,217 --> 00:28:09,017
but it was taken by black musicians,
619
00:28:09,101 --> 00:28:12,472
who make itinto the central instrument of jazz.
620
00:28:12,556 --> 00:28:14,774
The electric guitar. Wah!
621
00:28:14,858 --> 00:28:16,249
You know Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry.
622
00:28:16,333 --> 00:28:18,777
They made it into some new thing.
623
00:28:18,861 --> 00:28:20,647
And I feel the same wayabout Grandmaster Flash
624
00:28:20,711 --> 00:28:23,047
because the turntables were
made into an instrument.
625
00:28:23,130 --> 00:28:24,465
??
626
00:28:28,844 --> 00:28:32,181
[GrandMixer DXT] Flash is the onewho said take a closer look
627
00:28:32,264 --> 00:28:35,059
at your mixer and your turntables.
628
00:28:35,173 --> 00:28:37,874
Take a closer look at that.
You know what I'm saying?
629
00:28:37,958 --> 00:28:39,666
He's the first one to cut the beats
630
00:28:39,750 --> 00:28:41,520
where it's more like he's editing.
631
00:28:41,604 --> 00:28:44,370
So, he connected technique and technology.
632
00:28:45,372 --> 00:28:46,623
That's Grandmaster Flash.
633
00:28:47,132 --> 00:28:50,052
[funk music]
634
00:28:51,762 --> 00:28:53,480
[Jazzy Jay] He would sparka whole generation
635
00:28:53,564 --> 00:28:56,083
of second string cats like myself,
636
00:28:56,167 --> 00:28:59,152
Grand Wizzard Theodore, you know,
GrandMixer DXT,
637
00:28:59,236 --> 00:29:00,754
Charlie Chase, you know,
638
00:29:00,838 --> 00:29:03,089
even down to the Jam Master J's,
639
00:29:03,173 --> 00:29:05,125
the DJ Premiers, you know.
640
00:29:05,209 --> 00:29:07,027
Flash was turntable god to us.
641
00:29:07,111 --> 00:29:09,424
??
642
00:29:13,350 --> 00:29:15,168
Same basics.
643
00:29:15,252 --> 00:29:17,637
[Grandmaster Flash]
So, I'm quite proud
644
00:29:17,721 --> 00:29:22,142
that my sciencehas been tooken to so many levels
645
00:29:22,226 --> 00:29:25,800
and I see so many DJ'sdo super incredible things.
646
00:29:25,884 --> 00:29:27,847
You know, but the realfact of the matter is
647
00:29:27,931 --> 00:29:30,650
when there's cutting, crabbing, flaring,
648
00:29:30,734 --> 00:29:32,726
scratching, sucka zucka.
649
00:29:32,810 --> 00:29:35,352
Give me no credit for
none of those things.
650
00:29:36,672 --> 00:29:41,494
But what I will say it'd
be in totally impossible
651
00:29:41,578 --> 00:29:44,164
to do any of those things
652
00:29:44,248 --> 00:29:46,132
without what I invented.
653
00:29:46,216 --> 00:29:48,784
[funky beats]
654
00:29:49,236 --> 00:29:51,684
??
655
00:29:52,289 --> 00:29:56,176
[Shad] Grandmaster Flash,Afrika Bambaataa, and Kool Herc
656
00:29:56,260 --> 00:29:57,711
created Hip Hop's foundation
657
00:29:57,795 --> 00:29:59,883
by spinning break beatsfor people to dance to.
658
00:30:00,597 --> 00:30:03,249
Their work is so fundamentalto creating Hip Hop,
659
00:30:03,333 --> 00:30:06,086
that in Hip Hop circles they'reknown by a loftier name:
660
00:30:06,170 --> 00:30:07,437
The Holy Trinity.
661
00:30:08,238 --> 00:30:11,191
But when people think about Hip Hop,they don't picture DJ's.
662
00:30:11,275 --> 00:30:12,537
They picture rappers.
663
00:30:13,610 --> 00:30:15,195
So, how did rapping begin?
664
00:30:15,279 --> 00:30:17,114
When did the beats meet the rhymes?
665
00:30:22,207 --> 00:30:24,543
I've read you say that rap
was always there.
666
00:30:24,655 --> 00:30:26,823
What do you mean by that?
"Rap was always there."
667
00:30:27,421 --> 00:30:29,506
Well, rap was always there as, um...
668
00:30:29,590 --> 00:30:32,801
You could go to the '30sand you had Cab Calloway,
669
00:30:33,689 --> 00:30:35,281
um, doing the "Hi-De Hi-De, Ho"
670
00:30:35,365 --> 00:30:37,016
and the call and response back with that.
671
00:30:37,100 --> 00:30:39,886
??Hi-de hi-de hi-de, hi ??/i>
672
00:30:39,970 --> 00:30:42,555
??Hi-de hi-de hi-de, hi ??/i>
673
00:30:42,639 --> 00:30:45,558
??Ho-de ho-de ho-de, ho ??/i>
674
00:30:45,642 --> 00:30:48,628
??Ho-de ho-de ho-de, ho ??/i>
675
00:30:48,712 --> 00:30:50,797
[GrandMixer DXT] And thenthere's the gospel quartet guys.
676
00:30:50,881 --> 00:30:53,633
??Oh, oh, Noah ??/i>
677
00:30:53,717 --> 00:30:57,037
The gospel choir style
is more like sing rhyming.
678
00:30:57,654 --> 00:30:59,806
??Stop still and listen' to me ??/i>
679
00:30:59,890 --> 00:31:01,754
??God walked down to the brandy sea ??/i>
680
00:31:01,838 --> 00:31:04,074
??He declared the eve of decent for man ??/i>
681
00:31:04,158 --> 00:31:06,713
??And then he decide to destroy the land ??/i>
682
00:31:06,797 --> 00:31:08,748
??He spoke to Noah and Noah stopped ??/i>
683
00:31:08,832 --> 00:31:11,359
??He said, "Noah, I want youto build me an ark" ??/i>
684
00:31:11,443 --> 00:31:15,822
[Afrika Bambaataa] You could have the--
the poetry, um, rap of Gil Scott-Heron,
685
00:31:15,906 --> 00:31:21,294
The Last Poets, The Watts Prophets,Sonia Sanchez, Wanda Robinson.
686
00:31:21,378 --> 00:31:24,664
Uh, you could havethe political rap of Malcolm X.
687
00:31:24,748 --> 00:31:28,268
You talk about somebody's mama
that was coming with Muhammad Ali.
688
00:31:28,352 --> 00:31:32,138
This may shock and amaze ya,
but I will destroy Joe Frazier.
689
00:31:32,222 --> 00:31:35,456
Some people say you better watch
Joe Frazier. He's awful strong.
690
00:31:36,159 --> 00:31:38,645
I said tell him to try Ban roll on.
691
00:31:38,729 --> 00:31:41,564
[Nelson George] I just think
it's always been a, a black thing
692
00:31:42,139 --> 00:31:43,850
to talk smooth, you know,
693
00:31:43,934 --> 00:31:46,019
and-- and on a mic and be entertaining.
694
00:31:46,103 --> 00:31:47,320
You talk about Barry White,
695
00:31:47,404 --> 00:31:49,522
you talk about Issac Hayes.
696
00:31:49,606 --> 00:31:52,859
I mean, there's a huge legacyof rhythmic talking
697
00:31:52,943 --> 00:31:55,711
over beats that Hip Hopis an extension of.
698
00:31:56,546 --> 00:32:00,156
And then also,there is a style of talking over a mic
699
00:32:00,684 --> 00:32:04,175
that comes outof the radio DJ's of New York.
700
00:32:04,259 --> 00:32:05,605
Gary Byrd,
701
00:32:05,689 --> 00:32:07,173
Ken Spider Web,
702
00:32:07,257 --> 00:32:08,608
Frankie Crocker,
703
00:32:08,692 --> 00:32:11,044
these guys were super entertaining.
704
00:32:11,128 --> 00:32:13,112
I mean, you can find Frankie Crocker tapes
705
00:32:13,196 --> 00:32:15,014
where he's damn near rapping over beat.
706
00:32:15,098 --> 00:32:18,117
[Frankie Crocker] Like I always say baby,
bound to put more dips in your hips,
707
00:32:18,201 --> 00:32:19,485
more cut in your strut,
708
00:32:19,569 --> 00:32:21,187
and more glide in your stride.
709
00:32:21,271 --> 00:32:24,169
You see, they call me wax paper
'cause I'll rap on anything.
710
00:32:25,876 --> 00:32:28,288
Call me aluminum foil
'cause my rap is so strong.
711
00:32:29,718 --> 00:32:31,965
And when it gets good to 'em
they call me candy paper
712
00:32:32,049 --> 00:32:33,791
'cause the rap is definitely sweet.
713
00:32:35,052 --> 00:32:36,690
[Grandmaster Caz]
Frank Crocker's the first black cat
714
00:32:36,774 --> 00:32:38,772
on the radio that you heard like that.
715
00:32:38,856 --> 00:32:41,341
And, you know,he'd say his little phrases,
716
00:32:41,425 --> 00:32:42,842
Yes, indeed, baby doll.
717
00:32:42,926 --> 00:32:47,480
You're now listening to the sounds
of the Grandmaster Caz.
718
00:32:47,564 --> 00:32:51,924
All inside your mind one time
as we do it to you like this.
719
00:32:52,449 --> 00:32:55,555
So, basically, that's wherethe street DJ's picked that up,
720
00:32:55,639 --> 00:32:58,558
did the same thingand it evolved into what we do.
721
00:32:58,642 --> 00:33:00,894
Frankie Crocker
is not a founder of Hip Hop
722
00:33:00,978 --> 00:33:05,265
because he hated rap
but he hated it because
723
00:33:05,349 --> 00:33:07,545
they kind of bit a lot of his shit.
724
00:33:07,629 --> 00:33:10,403
[Shad] So then, who's the first personthat you saw rap
725
00:33:10,487 --> 00:33:13,328
in the stylethat we associate with hip hop today?
726
00:33:13,857 --> 00:33:14,841
Controversial.
727
00:33:14,925 --> 00:33:16,910
That's controversy right there.
728
00:33:16,994 --> 00:33:20,113
There are a few, uh,
answers to that question.
729
00:33:20,197 --> 00:33:21,881
A few different opinions.
730
00:33:21,965 --> 00:33:23,773
But I tell ya,
731
00:33:23,857 --> 00:33:29,188
out of New York disco came this cat,DJ Hollywood.
732
00:33:29,272 --> 00:33:32,645
Hollywood is the king of rap,the first king of rap,
733
00:33:32,729 --> 00:33:35,361
definitely, the golden voice,you can't get around it.
734
00:33:35,445 --> 00:33:39,132
He's the first guy I ever saw
do rhythmic rap.
735
00:33:39,216 --> 00:33:41,209
??Everybody, clap your hands ??/i>
736
00:33:41,293 --> 00:33:43,403
??Now, I don't mean to brag or boast ??/i>
737
00:33:43,487 --> 00:33:45,614
??I'm like the hot butteron your morning toast ??/i>
738
00:33:45,698 --> 00:33:47,573
??I'm not a Duracell, I'm an alkaline ??/i>
739
00:33:47,657 --> 00:33:49,681
??So, let's have a good time ??/i>
740
00:33:49,765 --> 00:33:53,212
??That's right ya'llAnd you don't stop, keep on ??/i>
741
00:33:53,296 --> 00:33:54,279
??Yes, it's Hollywood ??/i>
742
00:33:54,363 --> 00:33:57,255
??I turned outbecause that is all I be about ??/i>
743
00:33:57,340 --> 00:33:58,985
[Shad] I've heard fromsome early pioneers
744
00:33:59,069 --> 00:34:01,594
that you're the first rhythmicrapper they ever saw.
745
00:34:02,005 --> 00:34:04,054
So, who are your influences?
746
00:34:04,938 --> 00:34:08,870
As a kid growing up, uh,
the things that I encountered,
747
00:34:08,954 --> 00:34:11,193
uh, being with older people.
748
00:34:12,193 --> 00:34:16,402
I heard Frankie Crocker,and I heard The Last Poets,
749
00:34:16,485 --> 00:34:18,250
and I heard Pigmeat Markham.
750
00:34:18,654 --> 00:34:21,188
But I didn't know, at the time,
that that's what I was doing.
751
00:34:21,272 --> 00:34:22,507
Okay, tell me about
Pigmeat Markham.
752
00:34:22,592 --> 00:34:24,010
That's a name I've never heard.
753
00:34:24,094 --> 00:34:26,913
[Pigmeat Markham] Hear ye, hear ye.This court is now in session.
754
00:34:26,996 --> 00:34:29,882
His Honor, Judge PigmeatMarkham presiding.
755
00:34:29,966 --> 00:34:32,351
[DJ Hollywood] Pigmeat Markham hada record called, "Here Comes The Judge".
756
00:34:32,436 --> 00:34:34,954
??Hear ye, Hear yeThe court is swinging ??/i>
757
00:34:35,038 --> 00:34:37,156
??Just about ready to do that thing ??/i>
758
00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:39,525
??I don't want no tearsDon't want no lies ??/i>
759
00:34:39,609 --> 00:34:41,860
??And above all I don't want no alibis ??/i>
760
00:34:41,945 --> 00:34:44,330
??This judge is hip and that ain't all ??/i>
761
00:34:44,414 --> 00:34:46,632
??He'll give you timeif you're big or small ??/i>
762
00:34:46,716 --> 00:34:48,935
??Fall in line, this court is deep ??/i>
763
00:34:49,019 --> 00:34:50,203
??Peace, brother ??/i>
764
00:34:50,287 --> 00:34:53,272
??Uh, oh! Here come the judgeHere come the judge ??/i>
765
00:34:53,356 --> 00:34:55,541
??Everybody knows thathe is the judge ??/i>
766
00:34:55,625 --> 00:34:57,894
??
767
00:34:58,692 --> 00:35:00,402
And the music would go...
768
00:35:00,485 --> 00:35:04,031
[imitating music beat]
769
00:35:04,134 --> 00:35:06,465
[imitating music beat]
770
00:35:06,549 --> 00:35:09,504
"Here Come the Judge" is one
of the break beats we would rhyme over.
771
00:35:09,588 --> 00:35:11,792
??Gather here, gather hereThe court of swing ??/i>
772
00:35:11,876 --> 00:35:13,226
??You're just about ready to ??/i>
773
00:35:13,310 --> 00:35:16,562
That's absolutely what we're doing
in terms of Hip Hop.
774
00:35:16,646 --> 00:35:18,731
??Hey, everybody, near and far ??/i>
775
00:35:18,815 --> 00:35:21,234
??I'm going to Paris to stop this war ??/i>
776
00:35:21,318 --> 00:35:23,202
??All those kids gotta listen to me ??/i>
777
00:35:23,286 --> 00:35:25,838
??Because I am the judgeAnd you can plainly see ??/i>
778
00:35:25,922 --> 00:35:30,309
??I wanna big round table when I get thereI won't sit down to one that's square ??
779
00:35:30,393 --> 00:35:33,212
??I wanna lay down the lawto them that brought it ??
780
00:35:33,296 --> 00:35:36,082
??I'll bust some headbecause I am the judge ??
781
00:35:36,166 --> 00:35:39,052
[DJ Hollywood] Pigmeat Markhamintroduced me to the flow of it
782
00:35:39,136 --> 00:35:41,220
and the humor.
783
00:35:41,304 --> 00:35:44,029
[singsong] Throw your hands in the air
and wave 'em like you just don't care.
784
00:35:44,113 --> 00:35:46,659
If you got on clean underwear
somebody say, "Oh yeah."
785
00:35:46,743 --> 00:35:48,761
??Just throw your hands in the air ??/i>
786
00:35:48,845 --> 00:35:50,830
??Wave 'em like you just don't care ??/i>
787
00:35:50,914 --> 00:35:53,166
??And if you came outto work your body this morning ??/i>
788
00:35:53,250 --> 00:35:55,251
??Somebody say, "Oh, yeah" ??/i>
789
00:35:55,332 --> 00:35:56,708
??Oh, yeah ??/i>
790
00:35:56,820 --> 00:35:58,545
[DJ Hollywood]
I was able to tell a joke,
791
00:35:58,629 --> 00:36:00,673
I was able to sing to some records,
792
00:36:00,757 --> 00:36:02,842
I was able to just rap on other records.
793
00:36:02,926 --> 00:36:07,273
And my love for making people smile
794
00:36:07,357 --> 00:36:10,516
by saying things that's--
what be going on?
795
00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:13,870
Hey is, how many-- how many ladies
in here are a brick house?
796
00:36:14,656 --> 00:36:15,847
Yay!
797
00:36:16,291 --> 00:36:18,927
Oh, that ain't no brick house.
That's a project.
798
00:36:19,011 --> 00:36:21,394
??You just wiggle your hipsand you rub your knees ??/i>
799
00:36:21,478 --> 00:36:23,495
??And you better do any way you please ??/i>
800
00:36:23,579 --> 00:36:25,628
??Now, the best waysto get into the swing ??/i>
801
00:36:25,712 --> 00:36:27,900
??Is to act like you'redoing the shig-a-ling ??/i>
802
00:36:27,984 --> 00:36:30,736
[Kurtis Blow] He was the masterof the crowd response.
803
00:36:30,820 --> 00:36:33,773
I mean, he had peopleeating out of his hand
804
00:36:33,857 --> 00:36:37,043
because the crowd felt likethey were a part of the show.
805
00:36:37,127 --> 00:36:38,945
That's what he brought into the table
806
00:36:39,029 --> 00:36:40,338
and he did it with rhythm.
807
00:36:41,031 --> 00:36:44,450
??Well I'm bonafide and I'mqualified and I'm solidified ??/i>
808
00:36:44,534 --> 00:36:47,587
??To do anything your heart can stand ??/i>
809
00:36:47,671 --> 00:36:49,589
??So, it all depends on you ??/i>
810
00:36:49,636 --> 00:36:53,765
??Now, I'm listed in the yellow pagesall around the world ??/i>
811
00:36:53,849 --> 00:36:56,226
??I got 21 years' experience ??/i>
812
00:36:56,309 --> 00:36:58,186
??In loving sweet, young girls ??/i>
813
00:36:58,270 --> 00:36:59,312
That was his rhyme.
814
00:36:59,396 --> 00:37:02,691
That rhyme right therewas his master rhyme
815
00:37:02,774 --> 00:37:05,569
that everybody in New Yorkknew that rhyme.
816
00:37:05,655 --> 00:37:09,366
Every MC mimicked that rhymein their repertoire.
817
00:37:09,948 --> 00:37:11,408
[Russell Simmons]
DJ Hollywood and Eddie Cheba
818
00:37:11,494 --> 00:37:13,412
and I guess you could say Lovebug Starski
819
00:37:13,493 --> 00:37:16,788
were the ones who were the,uh, more high-brow rappers.
820
00:37:16,872 --> 00:37:19,416
But, you know, a lot of the rappers would
say these high-brow rappers,
821
00:37:19,502 --> 00:37:22,421
they really weren't from the hip hop--
Of course they were, they were rappers.
822
00:37:22,505 --> 00:37:23,944
They were great.
823
00:37:24,004 --> 00:37:28,258
There were a lot of rappers in the street
and they were popular,
824
00:37:28,345 --> 00:37:30,663
and they would draw a lot
of people for a dollar.
825
00:37:30,747 --> 00:37:34,033
But Hollywood would draw people
for six dollars and fifty cents.
826
00:37:34,117 --> 00:37:37,403
Hollywood was the one who got paid
and he's the one who had a big car.
827
00:37:37,487 --> 00:37:38,688
So, Hollywood was the star.
828
00:37:39,122 --> 00:37:41,040
[Melle Mel] The whole thingboils down to this:
829
00:37:41,104 --> 00:37:42,856
Hollywood was disco.
830
00:37:42,939 --> 00:37:46,318
Hip hop was based
on the break beat, that beat.
831
00:37:46,429 --> 00:37:48,347
The difference between a Hip Hop party
832
00:37:48,431 --> 00:37:50,816
and a disco party, was like,
Hollywood and them
833
00:37:50,900 --> 00:37:53,152
was rapping R&B and disco.
834
00:37:53,236 --> 00:37:55,855
His shit was Love Is the Message.Our shit was Apache.
835
00:37:55,939 --> 00:37:56,922
They didn't really rock that,
836
00:37:57,006 --> 00:37:59,058
you know, we was rockin'that and break dancing.
837
00:37:59,142 --> 00:38:00,826
You know, the b-boy shit.
838
00:38:00,910 --> 00:38:04,630
In order to go to a Hollywood party,
you had to have a suit and tie on.
839
00:38:04,714 --> 00:38:07,733
If you don't got no suit and tie on,
you're not getting inside.
840
00:38:07,817 --> 00:38:10,102
And we were able to getinside there sometimes,
841
00:38:10,186 --> 00:38:13,128
and then we started breaking and hewould cut the music off and be like,
842
00:38:13,212 --> 00:38:16,321
"Yo, we don't do that here. No, there's no
breaking here. We can't do that here."
843
00:38:16,389 --> 00:38:19,684
[Grandmaster Caz] "Take thatHip Hop shit out to the street.
844
00:38:19,796 --> 00:38:21,772
Take that shit out to a Kool Herc party.
845
00:38:21,856 --> 00:38:25,151
We grown and sexy up in here."And that was their attitude.
846
00:38:25,235 --> 00:38:29,055
Not just Hollywood,
but all of them club DJ's.
847
00:38:29,139 --> 00:38:30,756
What can you say about the contention
848
00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:34,827
that-- that comes from
a lot of the Bronx pioneers that say--
849
00:38:34,911 --> 00:38:38,214
that say that disco
and Hollywood was a different thing?
850
00:38:38,940 --> 00:38:41,327
Hip Hop lives because of this.
851
00:38:42,757 --> 00:38:48,761
Because of the ability to communicate
with the spoken word and rhythm.
852
00:38:48,845 --> 00:38:49,972
The rapper
853
00:38:50,460 --> 00:38:53,978
is the one that brought
this thing over the top
854
00:38:54,634 --> 00:38:56,515
and this is what Hollywood did.
855
00:38:56,599 --> 00:38:59,980
I don't know people, you know,
have given him the proper respect.
856
00:39:00,064 --> 00:39:01,388
And was he not Hip Hop?
857
00:39:02,172 --> 00:39:03,356
He's Hip Hop, too.
858
00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:05,558
Don't take my word for it.Take the crowd's.
859
00:39:05,642 --> 00:39:07,793
When you're talking about rap,Hollywood was the best.
860
00:39:07,877 --> 00:39:09,095
He's the best pure rapper.
861
00:39:09,179 --> 00:39:10,763
He was the one who opened the door.
862
00:39:10,847 --> 00:39:13,994
He was the one. He's the reason
they made a rap fucking record.
863
00:39:14,684 --> 00:39:15,801
How 'bout that?
864
00:39:15,885 --> 00:39:17,876
Hollywood's the reason that
rap records had to get made.
865
00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:19,110
??Sha na na ??/i>
866
00:39:19,546 --> 00:39:21,121
??
867
00:39:23,226 --> 00:39:25,311
??Take the train, take the train ??/i>
868
00:39:25,395 --> 00:39:26,379
??Take the train ??/i>
869
00:39:26,463 --> 00:39:28,124
??Hoo ha, hoo ha ??/i>
870
00:39:28,208 --> 00:39:32,338
[Shad] To some, Harlem's DJ Hollywoodwas hip hop's first rhythmic rapper.
871
00:39:32,913 --> 00:39:34,954
But to others, as a disco DJ,
872
00:39:35,038 --> 00:39:37,223
Hollywood isn't a part of Hip Hop at all.
873
00:39:37,307 --> 00:39:39,803
And that's because the debateabout Hollywood is really
874
00:39:39,887 --> 00:39:42,395
an argument about what makesHip Hop, Hip Hop.
875
00:39:42,479 --> 00:39:43,963
And to the heads in the Bronx,
876
00:39:44,047 --> 00:39:45,711
Hip Hop was all about the breaks.
877
00:39:46,249 --> 00:39:48,067
So, I'm going back to the Bronx
878
00:39:48,151 --> 00:39:52,055
to learn how Grandmaster Flashhelped form Hip Hop's first super group.
879
00:39:52,822 --> 00:39:54,899
??We're the Furious Fiveplus Grandmaster Flash ??/i>
880
00:39:54,983 --> 00:39:56,924
??Giving you a blast to show the flash ??/i>
881
00:39:57,008 --> 00:39:59,324
??So to prove to you allwe're second to none ??/i>
882
00:39:59,408 --> 00:40:01,216
??We're going to make5 MC's sound like one ??/i>
883
00:40:01,300 --> 00:40:02,716
??We gotta dip with the dive ??/i>
884
00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:05,362
[Grandmaster Flash] I decided to debut
at the park. I said to myself,
885
00:40:05,446 --> 00:40:10,427
"I'm gonna play the most exciting pop
part, back to back back to back to back."
886
00:40:10,511 --> 00:40:12,456
One, two to the beats.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.
887
00:40:12,540 --> 00:40:14,080
It had everybody in a frenzy.
888
00:40:14,511 --> 00:40:16,295
Instead of everybody into a frenzy,
889
00:40:16,379 --> 00:40:19,031
they were pushing past the
ropes trying to figure out
890
00:40:19,115 --> 00:40:20,599
what it was that I was doing.
891
00:40:20,683 --> 00:40:23,574
I didn't want fascination.
I wanted them to be dancing.
892
00:40:24,063 --> 00:40:26,234
I-- I cried for, I don't know-- for days,
893
00:40:26,318 --> 00:40:30,397
because I'm like, "After all this timewhy won't this work?"
894
00:40:31,347 --> 00:40:34,980
I decided I had to start talking,
but I couldn't talk very well and play.
895
00:40:35,064 --> 00:40:38,884
So, I would put the microphoneon the other side of the table.
896
00:40:38,968 --> 00:40:41,373
And anybody that can vocalize
897
00:40:42,204 --> 00:40:43,389
could be on my team.
898
00:40:43,473 --> 00:40:44,724
What happened with Flash
899
00:40:44,808 --> 00:40:47,850
is he came into our neighbourhood,
900
00:40:47,934 --> 00:40:50,850
it was like one of the jamsthat he used to do in the park.
901
00:40:50,934 --> 00:40:53,001
You know, so he used to just have a mic
902
00:40:53,085 --> 00:40:55,000
and people used to give shout outs
903
00:40:55,084 --> 00:40:57,136
or tell somebody your
mother's lookin' for 'em.
904
00:40:57,220 --> 00:40:58,971
Or, you know, just something weird.
905
00:40:59,055 --> 00:41:02,408
And, you know, Flash don't really gota real good speaking voice.
906
00:41:02,492 --> 00:41:04,143
He's not real quick and witty.
907
00:41:04,227 --> 00:41:06,011
He's had all the technical skills.
908
00:41:06,095 --> 00:41:08,080
And the whole time, me andmy brother, Kid Creole,
909
00:41:08,164 --> 00:41:10,483
we used to practice it in the house.
910
00:41:10,567 --> 00:41:12,585
You know, so we, you know,was pretty polished,
911
00:41:12,669 --> 00:41:14,840
you know, even beforewe ever did anything.
912
00:41:14,924 --> 00:41:17,022
And then he just laid
the mic down, you know,
913
00:41:17,106 --> 00:41:18,368
and I pick up the mic,
914
00:41:18,452 --> 00:41:19,558
and I started, you know,
915
00:41:19,642 --> 00:41:21,427
started saying
my little rhymes or whatever.
916
00:41:21,511 --> 00:41:24,113
And from-- from then on we was in.
917
00:41:24,557 --> 00:41:26,482
??/i>
918
00:41:28,117 --> 00:41:29,385
Hi, Mom.
919
00:41:30,009 --> 00:41:31,834
??
920
00:41:32,789 --> 00:41:35,752
[Melle Mel] At first, it wasGrandmaster Flash with the three MC's.
921
00:41:35,836 --> 00:41:38,511
That was Cowboy and my brotherCreole and me.
922
00:41:38,595 --> 00:41:40,613
The fourth member wasa good friend of ours.
923
00:41:40,697 --> 00:41:43,048
And he was a b-boy, too,and that was the Scorpio.
924
00:41:43,132 --> 00:41:44,884
And then we gotthe fifth member from another
925
00:41:44,968 --> 00:41:47,903
group and that was Rahiem.
So, that was the Furious Five.
926
00:41:48,311 --> 00:41:50,222
??Introducing the crewya got to see to believe ??/i>
927
00:41:50,306 --> 00:41:52,458
??We're one, two, three, four, five MCs ??/i>
928
00:41:52,542 --> 00:41:54,527
??I'm Melle Mel and I rock it so well ??/i>
929
00:41:54,611 --> 00:41:56,695
??And I'm Mr. Nessbecause I rocks the best ??/i>
930
00:41:56,779 --> 00:41:58,898
??I'm Rahiem in allthe ladies' dreams ??/i>
931
00:41:58,982 --> 00:42:01,117
??And I'm Cowboyto make ya jump for joy ??/i>
932
00:42:01,201 --> 00:42:02,935
??I'm Creole, solid gold ??/i>
933
00:42:03,019 --> 00:42:04,203
[Shad] What was the first time
934
00:42:04,287 --> 00:42:05,604
you're presenting that kind of show
935
00:42:05,688 --> 00:42:07,447
where the MC's are at the forefront?
936
00:42:07,531 --> 00:42:10,776
Our party became different
because Flash might spin
937
00:42:10,860 --> 00:42:14,722
a little bit but then we would come on,and we would do a set.
938
00:42:14,806 --> 00:42:17,917
It was more based on a showthan just a guy that talked on the mic.
939
00:42:18,001 --> 00:42:19,218
We elevated it.
940
00:42:19,302 --> 00:42:20,451
It's show time now.
941
00:42:21,971 --> 00:42:23,389
[announcer] Ladies and gentlemen,
942
00:42:23,473 --> 00:42:25,991
it's now the time
943
00:42:26,075 --> 00:42:32,856
for the Grandmaster Flashand the Furious Five MC's!
944
00:42:39,307 --> 00:42:41,740
??We're coming, we're comingWe're coming ??/i>
945
00:42:41,824 --> 00:42:44,109
??We're coming, we're comingWe're coming ??/i>
946
00:42:44,193 --> 00:42:46,345
??We're coming, we're comingWe're coming ??/i>
947
00:42:46,429 --> 00:42:47,713
??We're here ??/i>
948
00:42:47,797 --> 00:42:50,282
[Melle Mel] Our thing becamemore like a concert than a party.
949
00:42:50,366 --> 00:42:52,151
We wanted to be elevated.
950
00:42:52,235 --> 00:42:54,987
'Til then, MC'ing wasbasically behind ropes.
951
00:42:55,071 --> 00:42:57,456
Nobody really caredif they was even seen or not.
952
00:42:57,540 --> 00:43:00,526
But we wanted to be
up here and look down,
953
00:43:00,610 --> 00:43:03,662
and we wanted the crowd
to be down there and looking up.
954
00:43:03,746 --> 00:43:05,865
We gonna be heard and noticed.
955
00:43:05,949 --> 00:43:09,101
That changed the dynamicsof Hip Hop from being
956
00:43:09,185 --> 00:43:11,837
a DJ-orientated cultureto where the rap
957
00:43:11,921 --> 00:43:13,706
is the dominant part of Hip Hop.
958
00:43:13,790 --> 00:43:16,141
-??We're the kings of swing ??/i>
-??And we're chosen to rule ??/i>
959
00:43:16,225 --> 00:43:18,310
??The deans of cleaninside the cool school ??/i>
960
00:43:18,394 --> 00:43:20,854
??We're the chiefs of reliefcontained by wild beasts ??/i>
961
00:43:20,938 --> 00:43:23,266
??The finesse of the WestThe masterpiece of the East ??/i>
962
00:43:23,350 --> 00:43:27,324
Their routines,
where you're in and out with the five guys
963
00:43:27,408 --> 00:43:30,055
and just the fun they were
having on a song.
964
00:43:30,139 --> 00:43:31,957
They were just so incredible
965
00:43:32,041 --> 00:43:35,027
that I just separatedthem from anything else
966
00:43:35,111 --> 00:43:36,431
going on in Hip Hop.
967
00:43:36,515 --> 00:43:38,656
??When you come insidethere in the place tonight ??
968
00:43:38,740 --> 00:43:41,081
??We're gonna make you feelfine and feel just right ??/i>
969
00:43:41,165 --> 00:43:43,122
??Well, we're GrandmasterFlash and the Five MC's ??/i>
970
00:43:43,206 --> 00:43:45,504
??And we're guaranteedto rock you to your knees ??/i>
971
00:43:45,588 --> 00:43:47,640
??Huh huh ??/i>
972
00:43:47,724 --> 00:43:49,975
So, at that point in time there
973
00:43:50,059 --> 00:43:53,078
I knew that this thing was exploding.
974
00:43:53,162 --> 00:43:54,546
Poof!
975
00:43:54,630 --> 00:43:57,750
All of a sudden, you know,the itinerary gets bigger.
976
00:43:57,834 --> 00:44:01,086
We're doing two shows,same day, different states.
977
00:44:01,170 --> 00:44:02,888
So, we're on Lear jets.
978
00:44:02,972 --> 00:44:05,157
From there... Germany, Paris.
979
00:44:05,241 --> 00:44:07,560
We're co-headlining withpeople like the Jacksons
980
00:44:07,644 --> 00:44:09,094
and Rick James.
981
00:44:09,159 --> 00:44:12,078
So, Hip Hop was going someplace.
982
00:44:12,162 --> 00:44:14,372
??Like dynamite before it blows ??/i>
983
00:44:14,455 --> 00:44:18,042
??Who needs a bandwhen the beat just goes boom ??/i>
984
00:44:19,455 --> 00:44:21,457
??Just let us rock you ??/i>
985
00:44:26,796 --> 00:44:29,431
[mellow acoustic guitar playing]
986
00:44:32,110 --> 00:44:34,510
??
987
00:44:40,927 --> 00:44:42,852
??
988
00:44:48,217 --> 00:44:49,167
[Shad] Sometimes in Hip Hop,
989
00:44:49,251 --> 00:44:52,846
we like to say that this musicand culture started from nothing.
990
00:44:52,930 --> 00:44:56,880
But what I've actually discovered is thatHip Hop comes from everything.
991
00:44:57,332 --> 00:45:01,586
Hip Hop is funkand rock and soul and jazz.
992
00:45:01,669 --> 00:45:05,048
It's gospel and toasts and nursery rhymes.
993
00:45:05,134 --> 00:45:06,168
It's even disco.
994
00:45:06,955 --> 00:45:09,388
Hip Hop is also politics and technology
995
00:45:09,472 --> 00:45:12,341
because these are the forcesthat pushed it to become a culture.
996
00:45:13,412 --> 00:45:16,378
But, more importantly, it's allthese things put together.
997
00:45:17,487 --> 00:45:19,164
But as important as these pioneers are,
998
00:45:19,248 --> 00:45:21,113
they're still only part of the full story.
999
00:45:21,984 --> 00:45:22,956
In those early years,
1000
00:45:23,040 --> 00:45:25,304
Hip Hop was a largely underground culture
1001
00:45:25,388 --> 00:45:27,694
and a long way awayfrom taking over America.
1002
00:45:28,391 --> 00:45:30,206
No one had even made a rap record yet.
1003
00:45:30,760 --> 00:45:33,829
So, it's pretty clear my journeyhas only just begun.
1004
00:45:38,498 --> 00:45:40,750
[break beats playing]
85701
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