The Godfather of Hip Hop celebrates his birthday today!
DJ Kool Herc was born on this day in 1955 in Kingston, Jamaica.
Herc pioneered extending the breakbeat on records by playing the same record on two turntables and cueing the break. The effect it had on dancers at parties was emulated all over NYC, and eventually spawned the culture of Hip Hop.
Herc coined the terms “B-Boys” and “B-Girls” for the dancers who were “breaking” on the floor and was the main influence on other founding fathers of Hip Hop culture Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, and eventually the Sugarhill Gang.