The Black Urban Times
He pioneered hip-hop and was instrumental in the Smithsonian Institution Museums commemorating the genre.
He's known as the "George Washington" of Hip Hop and he launched a campaign to save 1520 Sedgwick Avenue from developers by getting New York state officials to declare the apartment building a landmark - one of the birthplaces of Hip Hop.
Yes, we're talking about DJ Kool Herc, one of hip-hops founding fathers who has reportedly fallen on hard times.
He earned the title of "break beat" creator after he began using two copies of the same record to focus on the jarred, short part of the song: "breaking." The move set the Bronx afire and introduced a new genre of music to the world.
Herc, born Clive Campbell in Kingston, Jamaica moved to the Bronx with his parents in 1967.
Campbell's height and presence on the basketball court earned him the nickname Hercules (shortened to Herc) at Alfred E. Smith High School in the Bronx. His graffiti crew, the Ex-Vandals later added "kool" to "Herc" thus giving birth to "DJ Kool Herc."
His dee-jaying days began in 1974 in the recreation room of the building he grew up in at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx. He and sister Cindy began hosting small back-to-school parties there.
What began as neighborhood gatherings evolved into annual events that went down in history. The siblings had no idea their parties would become the spot for what History Detectives titled a "cultural revolution" called Breaking Dancing.
This was where an extended an instrumental beat (breaking or scratching) would allow one to rap or break dance during the break/scratching portion of the song.
From then on, no one asked, "Who's Herc?" He was a household name and rising. From the West Bronx recreation room he moved on to the Twilight Zone, then on to the Executive Playhouse on 173 street in the Bronx, then high schools, community centers, and eventually, parks.
Speaking in his native tongue, Jamaican patois, Campbell explained: "My muddah roots come from St. Mary (a parish in Jamaica), yunno. A man named George inspirate I from Jamaica, yunno...and he lived pon Victoria Street, yunno... and used to come with the big sound system. It was devastating, cause it was open air,when it rained that's the dance.... I did a lot of things from Jamaica,and I brought it here and turned it into my own little style."
Herc on MySpace
Campbell went on to act in the 1984 motion picture Beat Street, starring as himself. The film depicted early 80s hip hop culture in New York City: break dancing, dee-jaying, and graffiti.
It was official, Herc was on top of the world.
Then, during the mid-80s crack craze era, Herc's downward spiral began when he became addicted to crack-cocaine after the death of his father.
"I couldn’t cope," said the 55-year-old, "so I started medicating."
Several web sites reported Monday that Campbell was suffering from an undisclosed medical condition and in "dire need" of financial support as he does not have health insurance. The hip hop pioneer was reportedly released from an un-named hospital Sunday and now faces a mountain of bills.
The Guardian's music blog read:
XXL blog reported that a fundraiser, organized by DJ Tony Touch, was scheduled for Tuesday February 1 at the East Village’s Sutra Lounge in honor of Herc, but no further details were available.
If you would like to donate to the Herc's cause, you may do so by sending monetary donations to:
Kool Herc Production PO Box 20472 Huntington Station, NY 11746.
He's known as the "George Washington" of Hip Hop and he launched a campaign to save 1520 Sedgwick Avenue from developers by getting New York state officials to declare the apartment building a landmark - one of the birthplaces of Hip Hop.
Yes, we're talking about DJ Kool Herc, one of hip-hops founding fathers who has reportedly fallen on hard times.
He earned the title of "break beat" creator after he began using two copies of the same record to focus on the jarred, short part of the song: "breaking." The move set the Bronx afire and introduced a new genre of music to the world.
Herc, born Clive Campbell in Kingston, Jamaica moved to the Bronx with his parents in 1967.
Campbell's height and presence on the basketball court earned him the nickname Hercules (shortened to Herc) at Alfred E. Smith High School in the Bronx. His graffiti crew, the Ex-Vandals later added "kool" to "Herc" thus giving birth to "DJ Kool Herc."
His dee-jaying days began in 1974 in the recreation room of the building he grew up in at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx. He and sister Cindy began hosting small back-to-school parties there.
What began as neighborhood gatherings evolved into annual events that went down in history. The siblings had no idea their parties would become the spot for what History Detectives titled a "cultural revolution" called Breaking Dancing.
This was where an extended an instrumental beat (breaking or scratching) would allow one to rap or break dance during the break/scratching portion of the song.
From then on, no one asked, "Who's Herc?" He was a household name and rising. From the West Bronx recreation room he moved on to the Twilight Zone, then on to the Executive Playhouse on 173 street in the Bronx, then high schools, community centers, and eventually, parks.
Speaking in his native tongue, Jamaican patois, Campbell explained: "My muddah roots come from St. Mary (a parish in Jamaica), yunno. A man named George inspirate I from Jamaica, yunno...and he lived pon Victoria Street, yunno... and used to come with the big sound system. It was devastating, cause it was open air,when it rained that's the dance.... I did a lot of things from Jamaica,and I brought it here and turned it into my own little style."
Herc on MySpace
Campbell went on to act in the 1984 motion picture Beat Street, starring as himself. The film depicted early 80s hip hop culture in New York City: break dancing, dee-jaying, and graffiti.
It was official, Herc was on top of the world.
Then, during the mid-80s crack craze era, Herc's downward spiral began when he became addicted to crack-cocaine after the death of his father.
"I couldn’t cope," said the 55-year-old, "so I started medicating."
Several web sites reported Monday that Campbell was suffering from an undisclosed medical condition and in "dire need" of financial support as he does not have health insurance. The hip hop pioneer was reportedly released from an un-named hospital Sunday and now faces a mountain of bills.
The Guardian's music blog read:
"[He] who we call the father of hip-hop, Kool Herc, is not doing well," DJ Premier revealed on his Sirius XM radio show this weekend. "Since he's very sick and has no insurance ... [he] needs to pay his bills so he can get out of hospital."
"We spoke today, and he needs some help to pay his bills for the hospital because he can't hold it down," Premier said. "And being that he is the man who set this whole culture off, ya'll should be wanting to do it any type of way that you can." Friends have provided an address for donations to the DJ, and while Kool Herc was released from hospital on Sunday, according to DJ Tony Touch, he is "still in dire need of financial aid."
XXL blog reported that a fundraiser, organized by DJ Tony Touch, was scheduled for Tuesday February 1 at the East Village’s Sutra Lounge in honor of Herc, but no further details were available.
If you would like to donate to the Herc's cause, you may do so by sending monetary donations to:
Kool Herc Production PO Box 20472 Huntington Station, NY 11746.
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