A musical genius who was far ahead of his time. This man should be far more famous than he is - not just inside the hip hop community but in music period. He literally invented one of the most popular genres of music in existence.
@@chenchen_02_ Many people played a hand in the creation of Hip-hop. Disco King Mario, Grandmaster Flowers, Pete DJ Jones, etc etc not just one man stop it.
Herc should put that 8mm footage out. He's crazy for holding on to that and not digitizing it. That film is the earliest footage of a hip hop party. Looks like 1974-1976
in 1973 KOOL HERC was still begging his father for father for $2 to buy records....he was a broke ass kid from the projects....john jelly benitez from burnside was spinning in clubs....that is why he went on to produce MADONNA records in the '80s while kool herc was throwing $2 dances at the projects.....in 1973 we were dancing in st mary's park where rubber band (THE BEST BREAK DANCER IN THE BRONX) got killed in 1974 or 1975....I hear KOOL HERC also says he is an EX VANDAL, too...the membership of the EX VANDALS is well documented; KOOL HERC doesn't appear anywhere.
@@champagne_bath_8964 yeah but if you wanna go there then you might as well stay James brown started this hip hop shit the dancing the break beats if you wanna go there ...
@@dweezybarter3642 James brown is huge a part of that movement indeed but not the sole creator but played a huge contribution his group members were also apart of a very diverse parliament and parliament has changed many groups and diverse artists who help create rap since 1940s and 50s not getting as popular until the 1960s brown was a lead singer working along side many of the group members almost like a wu-tang clan
In 79 when I was 9 years old my "cool" cousin who knew I loved all "different" kinds of music brought me a mix tape she got for me in NYC and said, "I bought this out of some hip dudes trunk, you won't get this in stores lil buddy" I it up like the 4th of July and a lifetime love of hip hop was born. For a skinny white kid in the country back then, it was a whole new world for me and the images they painted with their words in my mind, and I dunno “¯\_(ツ)_/¯“ but I think and feel, were a big part of making me the artist I am today at 50. It was Dope 👈(my logo) then and now!!! Much love!!! ✌
just imagine being at a party in the mid/late 70s and this guy mixing just the now called breakbeats of the records back and forth. Must have been incredible!! I don't think there will be much more human creativity (simple? yes, but how game changing!!) in music or lets say "groundbreaking moments/techniques" like this in the future which will leave such an impact in music culture and industry worldwide.
It would be so wild to have never heard anything like this before, and then realizing that there was a DJ doing this in real time of only the most bad ass parts of records. Like wizardry.
I can appreciate today's innovation, but no doubt this is the foundation and deserves all the respect it can be afforded. Today's vibes wouldn't be there without this that came before.
@Widdy Having seen both Herc and Flowers back in the day, I would say that Flowers was a much better DJ but Herc was one of the first to totally isolate breaks along with John Luongo and Walter Gibbons. Flowers was more of a disco DJ
Serato was created to kill what he started, now with that being said, take a look at your favorite Dj that pushes serato and dj controllers off on the masses.
Anyone that is a Dj should show mad respect to him and any hip hop artist cause without him you got nothing. He should be getting some kinda royalty rights for starting all of it and be in the Hall of Fame
Here is a TRUE history lesson of the origin of hip hop. "Kool Herc went on Maury Polvich show to take a lie detector test' and the test results came back "YOU ARE NOT THE FATHER" it is very clear hip hop and rap music is African Americans culture and music created and originated by African Americans not carribeans or kool herc. he moved to america at age 12 in 1967. around the time hip hop was bubbling up. you telling me he brought hip hop culture or music with him. Herc didn't create or originate nothing in hip hop including extending / juggling, looping break beats or the merry go round the made up name he created for it. he leaarned all of that from african american DJ's. he just wants to be in the history books. he used to tell the truth early on. He said he used to attend disco parties and the djs were playing break beats while the people there were breakin and yes that was the term used in 1970 for break dancing. being done before herc. he wasnt the first to do anything in hip hop including his merry go round technique. Disco DJ's at disco clubs and parties would extend the breakdown of records for as long as 20 minutes at times to get the kids to get funky or break dance. That is what break dance means to dance on the breakdowns, DJ's would loop the break from turntable to turntable while the kids got funky on the dance floor break dancing. soul train was started in the late 60s in chicago as traveling record hops by Don Cornelius, where he traveled around to different venues putting on his dance record hops. the show went live on tv in 1970 were young kids dance to the latest funk soul rnb music. the soul train line literally was the DJ playing extended beats of records while the soul train dancers would do the latest dance crazes like poppin pop lockin robot breakin and hundreds more dance crazes. that was watched by millions. this was the early foundation of hip hop which included james brown who used to dance to extended breakdowns of the beat for as long as 30 minutes in his shows. Some may say pigmeat markums here comes the judge, you included, is not a hip hop record but it has every element and the black spades and others around those neighborhoods who are the real founders of pretty much every element of hip hop culture said that is who they were copying when they would battle snap (rap) to music at block parties and just on the street corners in the neighborhood. block parties, toasting, sound systems, rapping, breakin, graffiti, and every other element of hip hop was created and influenced here in America by African American's. Not the Caribbeans. U-roy and other Jamaican Artists and toasters said they got their music culture from our music and DJ's so how could they have originated it. in fact, ska, rocksteady, and reggae music was directly inspired by African American music and culture. Many of the early pioneers of ska and rock steady which became reggae music said they were copying and inspired by African American music, and culture. FBA (Foundational Black Americans) originated and created hip hop period. not kool herc or carribeans. . you should know this. with your extensive research. Herc did not create the extended breakbeat. So that is out. he didnt create the merry go round technique, he just put a name to what he was copying. African Americans created most of the worlds most popular music genras and subcultures. that is a fact. so stop with the ambiguity and if you are trying to truly get to the truth, then tell the truth and stop leaving it open for interpretation. African Americans created hip hop and rap period. Rap literally goes all the way back to slavery in the usa. kool herc and other carribeans here contributed and participated like the rest of the early pioneers. but they didnt start nothing accept maybe grandmaster flash with some of his techinlogical inventions and theories around turntabalism, but that is not the creation of turntabalism, deejaying or hip hop, but an elevation. a contribution of one element of the art form. if Jamaicans were listening to African Americans DJ's (Deejays) and were inspired to copy it, they couldn't have done it first, thus they didn't create it. dancehall which started in the late 70s was a speed up more rhythmic reggae inspired music form which was inspired by ska, which was literally inspired by African American music and DJs. see how the ball goes around. you people at this point ( And I'm talking to some of the people in your comments and just in general about these debates and responding to some of the statements you made in your videos), are down right disrespecting African Americans and their long and arduous creation of the culture. let me again explain it to yah, in my fake Jamaican accent. i love my Jamaica seestas and brudas but this gotta stop. The rhythmic rhyming of vocals of African American toasting (Jive Talking) influenced the development of toasting in Jamaica and development of the dancehall style In the late 1950s deejay toasting (In Jamaica) was developed by Count Matchuki. He conceived the idea from listening to disc jockeys on American radio stations. He would do African American jive over the music while selecting and playing R&B music. Deejays like Count Machuki working for producers would play the latest hits on traveling sound systems (African American inspired mobile Dj systems) at parties and add their toasts or vocals to the music. These toasts consisted of comedy, boastful commentaries, half-sung rhymes, rhythmic chants, squeals, screams and rhymed storytelling, which was inspired by African American minstral shows and stage shows (Of course they added their own flare making it their own style) but that's my point. Creativity comes from inspiration. They were inspired by African American Deejaying and Music Culture but they then made it their own. That's like how everything else is created Later in the 1960s toasting deejays included U-Roy and Dennis Alcapone, the latter known for mixing gangster talk with humor in his toasting. In the early 1970s, toasting deejays included I-Roy (his nickname is in homage to U-Roy) and Dillinger, the latter known for his humorous toasting style. In the early 1970s Big Youth became popular. In the late 1970s, Trinity followed and they all said they were inspired by and emulating African American music and culture with their own flair. This all comes back around full circle to African American Culture and music. Not saying we created everything but out of shear necessity we created our own cultures and music, as well as many other American traditions. sometimes we get credit for it but in the broader scheme of things it is hidden from American society and thus hidden from the world as a form of deliberate oppression and deliberate cultural appropriation. This goes on a lot. We don't get the credit for a lot of our contributions to the world. and really it's by design. These historians know the truth about it but African Americans are discredited in place of other people. This has to stop. Go read a book on the inventions and innovations that African Americans have contributed to the world and you will literally be shocked beyond belief. how can you be the root of hip hop music when hip hop music is literally African American music. disco, r&b ,funk ,jazz, and anything else you wanna mix in there that we created. Herc already said it was alread bubbling up and he was inspired by other DJ's and what he was hearing and seeing. if he wasnt the first to juggle break beats, didnt create or the music that was inspiring it, he wasnt the first throwing parties in the park. wasnt the first throwing house partys, how could he have invented it. This is a stupid argument. he came over here and seen African Americans are lit. and got inspired like everyone else in the world. hes not the creator. one of the early pioneers yes. creator no. Herc literally does not even know how to dj. Look at what he is doing in his video explaining the merry go round technique which is just beat juggling and looping or extending the beat. It literally does not match up to how cross fading works. He is a huge fraud and liar. That is why you see no video of him dj'ing and your telling me this guy created extended break beat juggling and looping and hip hop. This is blasphemy in its highest form and literally the text book definition of cultural appropriation, and it is being deliberately and blindly spread around the world, stealing the real credit from the real African American pioneers and creators. Rappers Delight literally copied that song by the Jubilaires' in this video Go Listen To Rappers Delight' it Sounds Just Like the jubilairs rapping in the 40s. They just changed the words' it is the same exact cadence' That cadence is the exact cadence and rapping flow of all hip hop in the 70s and 80s the foundation of hip hop' the black spades the true founders of hip hop culture said they were mimicking them and Pigmeat Markum during their snap battles which is basically battle rapping or cracking on each other over a beat and sometimes without a beat' So No! Kool Herc or Caribbeans did not create or inspire hip hop. Was he and other Caribbeans early contributor and pioneers, yes.
@@dareal05 @CONQUER WEALTH NETWORK made lots of great points in his summary explanation. One man does NOT get credit for creating ALL of Hip Hop/Rap Culture, especially when ALL the elements were in place decades prior to Cool Herc's "merry-go-round" technique. Herc literally played funk, R&B, disco, and other forms of Black American music at his parties. Other Black DJs were ALREADY doing what Cool Herc copied at the time, but he's famous for block parties and creating a new way to extend breakbeats. Herc CANNOT claim himself as original creator of ALL of Hip Hop. If Jamaicans created ANY part of Hip Hop, it would show up with their INFLUENCE. This is NOT the case. In the 1970s and earlier, Jamaicans played mento (Jamaican folk music), ska (Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues), rocksteady (a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966, which is a successor of ska and a precursor to reggae), and reggae. Jamaicans are well-known for reggae music!! Reggae originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the word "reggae", effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. Reggae is a JAMAICAN music style that was strongly influenced by traditional mento as well as American jazz and rhythm and blues; and evolved out of ska and rocksteady music. Jamaicans were NOT playing funk, R&B, disco, and other forms of Black American music!! Herc was influenced by Black American music, culture, and fashion - that's how he created his sound in the first place!!
@@BoricuaNyc Kool Herc does NOT get credit for creating ALL of Hip Hop/Rap Culture, especially when ALL the elements were in place decades prior to Kool Herc's "merry-go-round" technique. Herc literally played funk, R&B, disco, and other forms of Black American music at his parties. Other Black DJs were ALREADY doing what Kool Herc copied at the time, but he's famous for block parties and creating a new way to extend breakbeats. Herc CANNOT claim himself as original creator of ALL of Hip Hop. If Jamaicans created ANY part of Hip Hop, it would show up with their INFLUENCE. This is NOT the case. In the 1970s and earlier, Jamaicans played mento (Jamaican folk music), ska (Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues), rocksteady (a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966, which is a successor of ska and a precursor to reggae), and reggae. Jamaicans are well-known for reggae music!! Reggae originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the word "reggae", effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. Reggae is a JAMAICAN music style that was strongly influenced by traditional mento as well as American jazz and rhythm and blues; and evolved out of ska and rocksteady music. Jamaicans were NOT playing funk, R&B, disco, and other forms of Black American music!! Herc was influenced by Black American music, culture, and fashion - that's how he created his sound in the first place!!
Jamaicans got their music culture from black americans ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uZpnImZuqh4.html we didnt get anything from yall...matter of fact hip hop also influenced dance hall
@@NativeisElla first off what’s you people? Did you look at yourself in the mirror this morning when you woke up. And I’m still sticking to what I said. Can’t and will never take that from me. Lol 😂
@@sirdopaminesjournal3292 That's a little bit far.....the best turntablist use laptops.....I would more say that real DJ's should at least know how to mix, pitch and drop into the next song unlike these cue button kiddies
I remember I was in the studio [97, 98?] with Grandmaster Caz [Cassanova Fly], and Raheim from 'Furious Five', and they recorded this record called "When I touch Down". It was amazing to see them work, and the amount of experience to soak in---I was the "fly on the wall" that we always say we wish we were in those moments.
Songs Kool Herc Mentions @2:08 : 1) James Brown- Give It Up Or Turn It a Loose (Stomp Feet/Clap Hands) 2) Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock (1973) @2:22 3) Babe Ruth - The Mexican @2:45 (Herc says Baby Huey by accident, but Huey did an amazing song called Hard Times in 1971)
but the Pioneers of Hip Hop was. jamaican guy, A jamaican guy who was influenced by African Amerian... HIPHOP WAS BREAK DANCING TO BREAK DOWNS IN THE RECORD!!!!!!!.."...Jamaica gained independence from British colonial rule in 1962. Around that time, music was disseminated in Jamaica largely by way of "sound systems": massive sets of amplifiers and speakers that were moved from town to town to entertain dancers at outdoor parties. Records were played by the sound system's "selector[DJ]," who chose the songs and announced them over his microphone. Sometime around 1956, a few selectors began experimenting with talking over their records, rather than simply between them-incorporating the jive slang of Black Americans with patois, a distinctive West Indian dialect of English. This "chatting" or "toasting" was a hit with audiences and other selectors began to follow suit. The selector/DJ[toaster/MC]/sound system arrangement was an integral component in the development of Jamaican music through the twentieth century, as it evolved from its African roots and native Calypso folk sounds such as mento, to rocksteady and ska in the 1950s and 60s, and on to reggae, a genre that was exported to the world with great success beginning in the 1970s. IT IS ALSO THE PRIMARY ANCESTOR OF THE HUGELY SUCCESSFUL GENRE OF BLACK AMERICAN MUSIC ALTERNATELY KNOWN AS RAP OR HIP HOP. The sound system concept was brought to the United States by Clive Campbell, better known as Kool Herc, a Jamaican-born selector whose thunderous Herculoids sound system rocked South Bronx clubs and parties in the early- to mid-70s." 👉🏿DIGITAL SAMPLING: A CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE👈🏿 by Henry Self
Cool Herc didn’t bring any Jamaican influence, he assimilated into African American Culture. The Jamaican sounds system was copied from African Americans
Im.not trying to bus the bubble but Dj kojak and dj Ice was the kings of cedar Park thats how they mix also everyone from the Westside of the Bronx 1520 is the west we not the south bx but back what im.saying executive playhouse no one could do nothing unless you battle Mr Magic Dj kojak and Dj Ice and I remember how they rock record
Wow. I used to spin tunes at discos in the 70s, but have never in all my years known why break dancing was called break dancing. Now I get it. Thx for sharing this!
block parties go all the way back to slavery and wwi in 1918 to welcome hero's on that block back home. herc did not start nothing or create no element of hip hop' this video literally said herc borrowed the techniques' the merry go round technique is just herc copying the disco DJ's that used to juggle the breakdowns so that kids could dance' and giving it a pretty name also the soul train started by Don Cornelius in 1965 as a record hop that became a show in 1970 used to extend the breakbeat so the soul train line dancers could dance for up to 30 minutes while they went down the line. James brown used to breakdown and extend the beat so he could dance and get funky at his shows for up to 20 minutes' herc didn't create nothing' house parties been going on before he ever even came to america' so their saying a guy that gave his little sister a birthday party started hip hop' do you know how dumb that sounds' not one element of hip hop was at that party' just some kids having cake and ice cream' sound systems block parties been going on probably before herc was even born' he used to tell the truth until the fame started going to his head and a false report credited herc with starting rap and we as African Americans never corrected those lies'. its time we correct the record and lies'. its funny that James Brown record is literally the merry go round technique on the record' its the breakdown looping the drums while James Brown says clap your hand and stop your feet' so how did he invent it when the record was literally doing it' this is all lies'
And black-Ricans🇵🇷were segregated together in WW1 with the Harlemhellfighters now it all makes better sense why Blacks & Ricans🇵🇷we’re together during the birth of hip hop culture ✊🏿🇵🇷✊🏾🇵🇷 ✊🏿🇵🇷✊🏾🇵🇷✊🏽🇵🇷✊🏿🇵🇷✊🏾✊🏽
At this point I’m cutting all these fools off. I don’t know why they continuously pushing this lie. It’s like they wanna take Credit for hip-hop so bad, they lame as hell.
He is literally playing American music and they continuously lying talking about Puerto Ricans and Jamaicas influenced an American technique played with American music. Please make it make sense, these people slow af. .
@@NativeisElla nobody taking credit. It’s just the facts. Since you wanna say these people. Your own people said herc invented hip pop. Check Google and type in who invented hip pop. Lol 😂 In 1973, DJ Kool Herc set up his turntables and introduced a technique at a South Bronx house party that would change music as many people knew it. His ability to switch from record to record - as well as isolate and repeat music breaks - led to the discovery of the hip hop genre.
In 1973, DJ Kool Herc set up his turntables and introduced a technique at a South Bronx house party that would change music as many people knew it. His ability to switch from record to record - as well as isolate and repeat music breaks - led to the discovery of the hip hop genre.
@RealTalk listen, he is not a African American. He was born and grew up right here in Kingston Jamaica 🇯🇲 our capital, then migrated to the US. He is a Jamaican by blood and birth. We know our history and all the contributions JAMAICA has given to the world... Including CHOCOLATE MILK, HIP HOP, SKA, ROCK STEADY, MENTO, REGGAE, DANCEHALL, WORLD'S FIRST third world superstar, world's fastest man and woman, man who has the most sub 10 runs in 100m race. Contributions in medicine, education, health etc.
@RealTalk Hip hop isn’t an offshoot of African American music such as soul , disco and funk because it’s a a culture unlike disco funk and soul . Hip hop music is completely different from those musics . Disco isn’t even African American music lol . Hip hop wasn’t created by African Americans because the culture and even just the music was pioneered by people of many different Backgrounds. Funk music and James Brown isn’t the most influential part of Hip hop. Hip hop isn’t African American culture nor is James Brown. James brown never put any “good foot” forward with a new sound that became known as Hip Hop. James Brown isn’t the most sample Artist in Hip hop lol . His calls and response didn’t influence hip hop choruses . One reason being Because hip hop doesn’t have choruses . James Brown didn’t influence that many genres of music. Most bboys and bgirls aren’t influenced by James Brown . Most of hip hop dance has nothing to do with the Footwork of James Brown . James Brown songs were sampled in Hip Hop records along with many other artist , that doesn’t make him influential or even relevant . James brown nor his music was even the Biggest thing at the time in the Bronx as far as music , dance and style . Nor was funk music . Kool Herc never mixed any music . Simply played music and created Break Beats for that music for the people to dance . He didn’t use Funk, Rnb and soul . He used British Rock and Latin Funk records when playing music and breaking break beats . Funk , Jazz, Disco and Rnb aren’t all Contemporary African American music nor culture
FBAs created hip hop. Herc was simply a Participant in Black American Culture that already existed.Kool DJ Dee and The Mixologist who were there said that! Check for yourself.
I always have a great ear for beats and this Kool Herc "Merry-Go-Round" was ripped by Jay-Z and Nas for their "Dead Presidents" Beat off the "Reasonable Doubt" Album. Go check it out and tell me if I am wrong... :)
@@BoricuaNyc Kool Herc was copying and emulating Black American Culture. Hip Hop is Black American Culture 🇺🇸✊🏿🇺🇸✊🏿🇺🇸✊🏿🇺🇸✊🏿🇺🇸✊🏿🇺🇸 Hip Hop has absolutely nothing to do with Jamaican Culture.
Kinda wild how hip hop documentaries dating from 60 minutes interviews with Kurtis Blow in the ‘70s/80s etc are all dashed by a film created by a dude from Michigan in 2024😂😂😂
Brought to this video by a link in the Washington Post, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the party that started it all. So much more history to uncover, so much context to find for the way we experienced the music then, and today
As an old school B-Boy (Break Boy), I truly have DJ Kool Herc to thank, for evolving music for us dancers who wanted to evolve dance into something 'different' away from the mainstream. B-Boys, will always be boys!! Peace and love!
Herc was a dancer first as you....he learned from watching other DJ who were using Break beats and copied their styles. Of course kids would think he was first they didn't come from the Bronxdale area.
in 1973 KOOL HERC was still begging his father for father for $2 to buy records....he was a broke ass kid from the projects....john jelly benitez from burnside was spinning in clubs....that is why he went on to produce MADONNA records in the '80s while kool herc was throwing $2 dances at the projects.....in 1973 we were dancing in st mary's park where rubber band (THE BEST BREAK DANCER IN THE BRONX) got killed in 1974 or 1975....I hear KOOL HERC also says he is an EX VANDAL, too...the membership of the EX VANDALS is well documented; KOOL HERC doesn't appear anywhere.
@ +abstrakt84 If you watch the video again, 2:45 Herc says Baby Huey "The Mexican", which is exactly what I commented on. I am well aware of "The Mexican" being by the british rock band Babe Ruth. I still find it a bit funny that he is getting his breaks mixed up, thou' :)
Herc was not the first DJ he contributed to the creation of hip hop but he didn't create hip hop. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VDnDFDUfwkU.html this is a link to his words saying he was a party promoter he wasn't a dj he became a dj. So other kids was doing it before him.
@@BoricuaNyc like i said before he contributed to the creation he was a needed peice to continue hip hop but he was not the creator. He took it to that next level we needed but as he even said it was kids already doing it. He just noticed something those kids wasn't doing to make it better.
I remember back in the day word by mouth jams where someone would hear about a jam in the bronx word would go all over the city mt Vernon new Rochelle Yonkers the five boroughs heard the interviews people say it time again peace 2 kool herc the herculoids
Herc is underrated for sure. I can only imagine how over the top it must have felt to hear live sampling of all the break beats back to back like that for the first time. It would be like wizardry.
Who would ever think a Jamaican would come to The Bronx and start something called hip hop. Thanks Kool Herc for that gift when it was most needed.❤️🇵🇷💯 E. 176 TREMONT AND ARTHUR AVE.
Herc is the Godfather of Hip Hop music not Hip Hop culture. I don't think enough people understand that distinction. Hip Hop culture is broader than the music. Also not all of the elements that became a part of Hip Hop culture originated in NYC. Graffiti is said to have started with a guy in Philadelphia called Cornbread. Dance styles like Locking and Popping started in California. You also had Strutting styles in the Bay Area. I think it's more that all of these things came together in the Bronx to form Hip Hop culture.
It was actually said in past interviews Grandmaster flash was inspired by the djin style of Dj kool herc however he took Dj kool’s style a step further! That’s the beauty in hip hop. 🦋
You got your information wrong sir. Grandmaster came waay after Dj Kool. He was inspired by him. Give credit where credit is due... And Afrika bambataa came after Grandmaster and the Grand Wizard Theodore...
King Mario started the break beats with his older brother. Herc was carrying records for they crew. Here took from them back to his block. Queens and Brooklyn were already having block party's and system battles on who had the biggest and loudest systems custom made.
Radio jock Hank Spann only Talk in certain rhyme feel, but the recording "Here came the Judge" by Pigmeat Markham (1968) is a serious serious Rap example before Bronx movement (honorable mention to "The Preacher and The Bear" by The Jubilaires in the 40's).
This is from a 1999 3 part documentary about the history of hip hop shown on Channel 4 in the UK. Still probably my favourite documentary I've watched on hip hop. It covers the birth of the culture in the 70's, through the 80's, 90's, gangsta rap, the Tupac and Big murders, then ends at the turn of the millenium when hip hop had started to become big business.
