To mark the 40th anniversary of the famous 1520 Sedgwick Avenue house party back in 1973, BBC documentary “Beat This: A Hip-Hop History” is the focus of our Throwback Thursday feature this week.
First off, we have to wish hip-hop music a happy 40th birthday! Although hip-hop culture and its music had been growing before that party in 1973, it is known by most to be the pivotal start to the whole thing. “Beat This: A Hip-Hop History” was a BBC documentary shown in 1984 exploring the culture a decade after that monumental gig, DJed by Jamaican-born disc jockey Clive Campbell – better known as DJ Kool Herc. His implementation of the technique involving two turntables with the same record on both to extend the music, or in most cases, the drum breaks became a fundamental aspect of the culture. Whilst doing so, many b-boys would jump in and perform to the music which created another part of the culture as well as MC’s throwing down rhymes. The documentary shows these staple elements in all their glory as well as words from Malcolm McLaren, Kool Herc himself, Afrika Bambaataa and others as well as an old school rapping narrator.
Stream the whole thing below. Happy birthday, hip-hop!