It all began with a back-to-school party in the Bronx. Cindy Campbell’s specifically, and if she hadn’t asked her 16-year-old brother Cliff, who also went by Kool Herc, to be in charge of the music, and if while playing songs by James Brown and the Incredible Bongo Band, Cliff hadn’t passed the mic to his friend Coke La Rock, hip-hop…probably would have still been “born,” but the origin story wouldn’t be as romantic.
Cindy’s “Back to School Jam” was 40 years ago this month, on August 11, 1973, a date which most music historians consider to be the origin of one of America’s greatest cultural contributions. In honor of what happened at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, I think it’s time to put together a yearbook, of some of the biggest, most important names in hip-hop history, each given a superlative for their contribution. On and on, ’til the break of dawn.
