In the summer of 1973 in a clammy room on Sedgwick Avenue, NYC a group of partygoers danced their way into music history…
Like jazz before it and punk in later years, hip hop needed its gritty beginnings. It was an unintentional Big Bang moment, and it was DJ Kool Herc who lit the fuse.
1970s New York City was on fire, figuratively and literally. Many boroughs were in chaos, and large portions of the population were being forgotten about. Left to decay with little else but music for catharsis. Hip hop was born out of these smouldering ashes, but no one getting down to James Brown’s ‘Give It Up or Turnit a Loose’ with Kool Herc knew the impact it would have.
From gestation, to the establishing of its key pillars, to global, worldwide acclaim, hip hop has mutated and evolved. It’s sometimes lost its heart, it’s often reinvented all over again, but what’s certain is it’s unlike any other genre in the world.
Dublin DJ and Sticks Dublin chef Jonny Boyle has gifted us with a playlist of some uncelebrated gems that have broken the hip hop mould over the years. You can catch his @recordsyouwillwanttoown parties at Big Romance where you can buy the records he plays.
