The Timeline
1925: Earl Tucker (aka Snake Hips), a performer at the Cotton Club invents a dance style similar to today’s hip-hop moves.
He incorporates floats and slides into his dance style.
Similar moves would later inspire an element of hip-hop culture known as breakdancing.
1940: Tom the Great (a.k.a. Thomas Wong) uses a booming sound system to please his audience.
Wong also utilizes hip American records to steal music-lovers from local bands.
1950: The Soundclash contest between Coxsone Dodd’s “Downbeat” and Duke Reid’s “Trojan” gives birth to DJ Battling.
1956: Clive Campbell is born in Kingston, Jamaica.
Campbell would later become the father of hip-hop.
1959: Parks Commissioner Robert Moses starts building an
expressway in the Bronx. Consequently, middle class Germans, Irish,
Italians, and Jewish, neighborhoods disappear in no time.
Businesses relocate away from the borough only to be replaced by
impoverished black and Hispanic families. Along with these poor people
came addiction, crime, and unemployment.
1962:James Brown records Live At The Apollo. Brown’s
drummer Clayton Fillyau influences a sound that is now known as the
break beat. The break beat would later inspire the b-boy movement, as
breakers danced to these beats at block parties.
1965: In a historic boxing bout, Muhammad Ali (born Cassius
Clay) defeats Sonny Liston in the 6th round. Before the bout, however,
Ali recited one of the earliest known rhymes:
Clay comes out to meet Liston
And Liston starts to retreat
If Liston goes back any further
He'll end up in a ringside seat.
Clay swings with a left,
Clay swings with a right,
Look at young Cassius
Carry the fight.
Liston keeps backing
But there's not enough room
It's a matter of time...
1967: Clive Campbell migrates to the United States at the age
of 11. Because of his size, kids at Alfred E. Smith High School nickname
him Hercules. He would later become a writer and change his name to
Kool Herc.
1968: A gang named Savage Seven would hit the streets of the
East Bronx. Savage Seven later transforms into Black Spades, before
eventually becoming an organization known as Zulu Nation.
1969: James Brown
records two songs that would further influence the drum programming in
today’s rap – “Sex Machines” with John Starks playing the drums and
“Funky Drummer” with Clyde Stubblefield on the drums.
1970: DJ U-Roy invades Jamaican pop charts with three top ten
songs using a style known as toasting.
The Last Poets release their self-titled debut album on Douglas Records
combining jazz instrumentations with heartfelt spoken word. (The Last
Poets would later appear on Common’s 2005 rap anthem, “The Corner.")
1971: Aretha Franklin records a well-known b-boy song “Rock
Steady." The Rock Steady crew would go on to rule in the world of
break-dancing, with members all across the globe.
1972: The Black Messengers (a group that staged performances
for The Black Panthers and rallies relating to black power movement)
feature on The Gong Show.
However, they are only allowed to perform under the alias "Mechanical Devices," because of their controversial name.
1973: DJ Kool Herc deejays his first block party (his sister's
birthday) at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, NY. Herc would often buy two
copies of a record and stretch the break parts by using two turntables
and mixing in both records before the break ends.
The Zulu Nation is officially formed by a student of Stevenson High
school named Kevin Donovan. Donovan later changed his name to Afrika
Bambaataa Aasim in honor of an ancient Zulu chief.
Courtesy NaijaBoy
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