DJ Kool Herc DJs his first block party (his sister’s birthday) at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, New York

Subject

DJ Kool Herc; Bronx; Hip-Hop

Description

Considering the event is thought to be the birth of a globe-spanning, music-based culture almost half a century old, the ambitions that lay behind it were endearingly modest. Cindy Campbell just wanted to raise a bit of money before the new school term began to buy some clothes from boutiques on Delancey Street, 10 miles south on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, rather than wear the same clothes as her classmates who’d be shopping nearer home. So she hired the first-floor recreation room of the 100-unit apartment building they lived in, at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, and threw a party. The main attraction? Her 16-year-old brother, Clive – his height and muscles earned him the nickname Hercules – and his record collection.

The flyer was hand-drawn, on lined index file cards. “A DJ Kool Herc Party,” it read, in a quick pencil approximation of the elaborate spraycan slogans then appearing all over the Bronx: “Back to school jam.” The 9pm-4am party wasn’t going to break anyone’s bank: admission charges were 50c for “fellas”, 25c for ladies. Clive and Cindy’s dad got the drinks from a local cash-and-carry; their mum made some food.

Creator

Angus Batey

Source

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/13/dj-kool-herc-block-party

Publisher

theguardian.com

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