Hip-hop is 50. Its formula for global domination? Staying local

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4.3 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 10 August 2023

⏱️ 61 minutes

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Summary

When DJ Kool Herc spun records at a small party in the Bronx in August of 1973, no one would have predicted his unique style would give birth to the most influential and dominant music in the world: hip-hop. In this special episode, we're celebrating the 50th anniversary of the genre by looking at how and why the music has managed to remain a local phenomenon, even as it's taken hold of the world, and what's happening in some of the country's most vibrant scenes.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Here's a little story that must be told.
0:03.3	On a summer night in 1973, a couple of teenagers
0:06.7	threw a party.
0:08.0	And this party kind of changes the course of music,
0:12.1	but not just music, culture, media, fashion,
0:16.7	American history.
0:18.2	So picture the scene.
0:19.8	You're a kid in New York City in the Bronx.
0:22.7	There's a big 18th story apartment building
0:25.0	on Sedgwick Avenue.
0:26.3	And the party's happening in this little common room.
0:29.1	You paid something like $0.50 to get in.
0:31.8	You probably know most of the kids there.
0:34.0	The host of the party is this girl, Cindy Campbell,
0:37.0	who organized it just to raise money
0:39.0	so she could buy some new school clothes.
0:41.3	But the music, the music at this party
0:45.0	is being spun by Cindy's older brother, Clive Campbell.
0:48.5	Clive is 18.
0:50.2	He's better known as DJ Cool Herk.
0:52.8	And soon, he's going to be much better known
0:55.9	as one of the founders of Hip Hop.
	...

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