Hip hop

Hip Hop History
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in the late 60's early 70's there was a revolution goin on in the streets of NYC. we had some of the sickest gangs rumbling in the parks at midnight, and running the ghetto hoods block by block. Back then being in a gangs like being in a family. and your family was also your entire neighborhood. Some gangs stretched out throughout the entire NYC area, and had chapters in every borough.
BLACK SPADES
SAVAGE NOMADS
SAVAGE SKULLS
CHINGALINGS
GHETTO BROTHERS
THE IMMORTALS
YOUNG SINNERS
ROYAL CHARMERS
THE SEVEN CROWNS
JAVELINS
GLORY STOMPERS
BLUE DIAMONDS
Being raised in the Bronx myself, i grew up on east Treomont in Grand Concourse near Echo park (an area known for gangs and original hip hop jams). where i lived we were surrounded by Javelins and Black Spades. I was constantly learning my street knowledge by hangin out with baby javelins in Echo park when i was only around 6-7 years old. i drank my first liquor in echo park with SHORT STOP from the javelins, i smoked my first cigarette picking up buts off the streets while playing hookie at age 7, i started my first fire by echo park during school hours and watched the smoke rise till pedestrians yelled at me and i ran, i also learned my first tag and was givin the name "lil KOOL KAT" by my older sister. i was hung out my apartment window 4 flights by members of a gang called the IMPERIAL SPADES that my older sister CINDY hung out with. Every time my sis left the room they would grab me and hang me out the window. lol. i was always finding 007 knives, stilettos, and broken clackers (a toy that had two heavy balls attached to a string and made a click clack noise when you swung it. It was used as a gang weapon and became banned due to violence). during these times the music was based on allot of heavy rock (Jimi Hendrix), and heavy revolutionary soul (James Brown). i learned tons of ghetto rhymes growing up in the streets from the older cats.
Growing up amongst, gang violence, drugs, poverty, police harassment, broken down abandon buildings, and bad schools added to this rebellious attitude that the youth had towards society. it was like living in a war zone at times. hearing gun shots in the allies at night and seeing the blood stained streets the next morning on your way to school. that was mine and every other young kids life in the south Bronx during these times. back the rumbles could start over any thing from stepping on some ones shoes, messing with the wrong girls, or being in the wrong turf and not removing your colors (gang jacket). The south Bronx gangs emulated the biker gangs except most Bronx gangs couldn't afford bikes. So war seemed like the only vehicle that these gangs rode. and there was allot of wars. weapons of choice were zip guns (home made weapon), bats (sometimes with nails in them), Molotov cocktails, sawed off shot guns, hand grenades, chains, 007's, stilettos, clackers, nun chucks, pipes, ect. And to become a member of one of these gangs you would have to go through some sort of test. One such test was called the APACHE LINE, where a new recruit would have to walk in between two line of gang members and get beat down from one side to the other. Another test was RUSSIAN ROULETTE, and as brotha LUCKY STRIKES put it in the book YES YES YALL. Allot of potential gang members were left dead in abandon building, with the police thinking it was suicide and not a gang recruiting ceremony.
MUSIC
In every aspect of HIP HOP culture there is a connection of some sort of gang influence. in many cases HIP HOP heads were gang members them selves. lets take the DJ for example. while KOOL HERC gained respect from gangs by doin his thing, he was also shoutin them out on the mic, and keepin the peace in his jams. he developed a respect from these gang members by giving them respect during his jams. Gangs were also used as protection for DJ's and guarding equipment, and collecting money at the doors of jams. Then of course we have one the South BRONX's biggest gang leaders who turned his gang into the biggest hip hop movement in the streets of new york and eventually the world. I am talkin about AFRIKA BAMBAATAA and the mighty ZULU NATION. BAM gained his street movement with the BLACK SPADES, and soon turned the SPADES into the ORGANIZATION, and eventually the ZULU NATION. they were the the biggest and most feared as well. Aside from BAM there was DJ DICE from CHUCK CHUCK CITY CREW, DJ FLASH and the CASANOVA CREW, and many other DJ affiliations. gangs would show up to jams often to gain there respects, and if that didn't happen, to break sh%t up. but one of the most famous chants to come off during a ZULU jam was when a gang called THE GESTAPO would show up. and back the the ZULU mc's would get the crowd to chant ZULU!, but the Gestapo crew would respond GESTAPO!, in the end the mc would chant ZULU! and the whole crowd would chant back GESTAPO! and it became a popular chant during ZULU jams.
GANG INFLUENCE IN DANCE/UPROCKING (not to be confused with BBOYING)
now in dance, there is a significant amount of information that points to the fact that gangs had a major influence in a dance called UPROCKIN. one such fact is that all the gangs in NYC had a certain dance that they did before going to war. it was sort of like a gang member imitating what he will do to his enemy when they rumble. the dance involved strikes and movements of violence between two dancers. imitating (miming) weapons such as zip guns, knives, bats, and fists. This dance would later be emulated by a brother in BROOKLYN named "RUBBER BAND" (also a brother named "APACHE") who was eventually murdered over a dance battle gone bad. It is said that he was one of the greatest dancers on the streets. RUBBER BAND was also said to have laid the foundation of the dance with JERKS and BURNS and was responsible for takin the gang style dance to the clubs and made it popular with the DISCO CROWD and it eventually became a dance done all over the city by gangsters and non gangsters alike. But it was common knowledge that BROOKLYN mastered this dance with such crews as DYNASTY ROCKERS. (for more info on uprockin "UNITEDUPROCKERS").
GANG INFLUENCE IN WRITING/GRAFFITI
This is probably the easiest connection to make in reference to gangs inspiring elements in HIP HOP. the truth is evident in other cities where gangs marked there turf with there tags and signs and claimed there hoods with graffiti. allot of writers came from gangs, and while writing can be argued as being an element of HIP HOP, there were tons of writers that had nothing to do with HIP HOP and weren't even black or Latino. One of the first writers on record to hit up in NYC was a writer with GREEK origin named "TAKI", but also what needs to be noted is that the earliest writers that started the movement in NYC were in Philly, a writer named CORNBREAD wanted to please a girl he was after, so by taggin her name on her bus route he figured he can get her attention, and before you know it , writing flourished it's way to NYC. but aside from this history, writing was a one of the best ways to let any outside gangsters know what hood they were in so they can watch there step, and remove there colors (jacket with there names on it) before they would enter any other rivals area. This would be the same in almost every ghetto in America, from cholo gangs in LA , to the gangs in Chicago, as well as NYC. Well known WRITING CREWS from the early 70's included THE EBONY DUKNE , EX VANDALS.
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in 1955 in KINGSTON JAMAICA, a child was born who would eventually end up in one of the darkest ghettos in America, and father a culture that would soon change the sound of music .


the child's name: Clive Campbell (aka KOOL HERC)
the place: The BRONX
the culture: HIP HOP


Clive Campbell migrated to New York's west BRONX when he was only 12 years old. When the young Clive Campbell was attending Alfred E. Smith high school, he was constantly lifting weights in the school weight room. And when you add his huge body with his tallness that him as well as his brother KENNETH had. You would understand why the other kids nick named him HERCULES.
Initially HERC was down with a writing crew (graffiti group) young Herc was always inspired by the sounds and culture of his JAMAICAN roots, toasting, and the dubbing (mc'in and dj'in) that the DJ's had in his original birth place was instilled in his soul. He eventually got a system of his own and began dj'in locally to help make money to buy his lil sis some school clothes. His first DJ gig was a party in 1520 Sedgwick. in a small recreation center that his sister rented for about $25, and they would charge about 25 cents for girls and 50 cents for guys at that time. He began to throw many parties there before a predominantly African American crowd (at this time the Latinos were more heavily into LATIN DANCE and DISCO). that's where herc would also fine tune his personal love for the break sections of all of his records. Although herc could still get the crowd jumping by playing "Listen To Me" by Baby Huey full out. Through his knowledge that every Jamaican record had a dub side to it, he focused on the break downs of instrumentals, and drum solos. He new that by extending the break he could lock the crowd into a state of frenzy. You see herc studied the crowd response when ever the drum solo would kick in, and he figured that by extending that drum solo, he could keep the whole atmosphere in that one state. So he began buying two copies of each record, (which he would soak the labels off so that other DJ's couldn't find out what records he was playing) and began to manipulate the turntables when the break ended on one turntable he would start it all over again on the next turn table, and would do this over and over until he saw it fit to throw on the next crazy beat. he called this the merry go round. Not only was he known for having the funkiest breaks but hercs biggest claim to fame was his sound system. It was said that herc named his crew the herculoids, but he son clarified that the name herculoids was a name he gave to his sound system. It was so loud that no other DJ could compete with him in a park jam battle which a young up and coming DJ by the name of Africa Bambaataa found out when he was blown away by herc's system in a battle. Herc owned what was known as a macintosh amp, which at the time was the most respected power amp, and also had sure speaker columns, he dubbed his system the "HERCULORDS" and his distinct sound was based on his heavy bass. he was also quoted saying that the only person that was close to him ion his time was a kid named "SMOKEY". herc began playing in clubs like twilight zone, and eventually the hevalo club. as his fame grew other DJ's began to make there contributions to hercs sound. Herc was also known for toastin on the mic and shouting people out from the crowd to get more crowd response. this came from things he remembered from his native Jamaica. and he also had what was known as the first mc to rock a hip hop party. "COKE LA ROCK" and HERC also had an MC named "TIMMY TIM".
FAMOUS DJ'S THAT CAME AFTER HERC
AFRIKA BAMBAATAA: known as the man with a thousand records. BAM'S collection was no doubt the largest, and the most versatile. Bam was also the leader of the largest ghetto organization in NYC. The ZULU NATION. And eventually landed a major deal on TOMMY BOY RECORDS along with mc's POW WOW, GLOBE, and MR. BIG'S. they went on to record one of the most famous hip hop songs of all time. "PLANET ROCK".


GRAND MASTER FLASH: Known as the creator of the quick mix (speed) , cutting, and also makes claim along with DJ THEODORE for inventing the scratch., FLASH was also the DJ for one of the most influential hip hop groups "GRAND MASTER FLASH AND THE FURIOUS FIVE"
Mc's: COWBOY, MELLE MEL, KID CREOLE, MR. NES (SCORPIO)), RAHIEM.
they went on to record many hit records including one of the first rap records ever:
UNDER THE TITLE "THE YOUNGER GENERATION" SONG TITLE "WE ROCK SO MELLOW"
(this was actually the 2nd rap record release after king Tim the third).


GRAND WIZARD THEODORE: The inventor of the needle drop, and also the scratch. He was the younger brother of a well known DJ "MEAN GENE" and part of a crew called "THE L BROTHERS" and he eventually became part one the most famous crews "FANTASTIC 5" along with RUBY D, PRINCE WHIPPER WHIP, DATA ROCK, KEVIE KEV,. FANTASTIC 5 were well known for all there accomplishments. But they are best remembered for there battle against THE COLD CRUSH 4.


LOVE BUG STARSKI: Starski was probably the best party rocker of his time, he was one of the first DJ MC'S, and was also known for coining the mc rhyme phrase "HIP HOP SHOOWOP DA BOP. Starski is rarely given props for his accomplishments in HIP HOP. But his crowd rocking style gave way to many DJ's and mc's.


OTHER DJ's WHO PAVED THE WAY WERE:
CHARLIE CHASE: DJ for the cold crush four, and also known for bridging the gap between African American and Latino youth.


AFRICA ISLAM: Known as the son of BAMBAATAA, he was a bboy/ DJ, and had the perfect feel for playing breaks for the hardcore bboys. he had a crew called the MAY BERRY CREW with mc's DONALD D and KID VICIOUS.


GRAND MIXER DST: Besides being a dope BBOY / DJ / PRODUCER. DST had incredible DJ skills, and recorded some great under ground records with his crew "THE INFINITY RAPPERS" (MC'S SHAHIEM, and ), But DST will always be remembered by his work with HERBIE HANCOCK on the hit record "ROCKIT" back in the mid 80's.


WHIZ KID: This man was at one time know as the simply the best. All you ever heard in the streets was that nobody can mess with WHIZ KID. He showcases his versatility on the hit record "PLAY THAT BEAT" along with MC GLOBE of the soul sonic force. In this song WHIZ KID DEMONSTRATED different scratch for every name that GLOBE CALLED out. He is no longer with us and will be missed by all OG HIP HOPERS.
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