The Amazing DJ Kool Herc (Clive Campbell) – Hip Hop Icon

Published Categorized as Vinyl 101

DJ Kool Herc: The Man, The Legend

First things first, where did all of these Hip-Hop albums get their start?

As a young boy growing up in Kingston Jamaica, Clive Campbell, who we all know today as DJ Kool Herc was surrounded by dance halls and the sounds of beautiful music. Carefully observing the way they happiness flowed and the music they played for the people, it was all bound to become apart of him at some point.

At the age of 11 his family moved to the United States, picking the Bronx as their destination. His father, Keith Campbell, who made means by playing in his band would let Clive play his own set in between the bands different performances.


His music mirrored different Jamaican DJs and he eventually started to incorporate himself talking in the “breaks” of his songs, this is something that was very new to people in the Bronx and they loved it. In high school Herc and his sister, Cindy, started hosting dance parties in a recreation room they would rent out periodically, gaining more and more of an audience, though that was not his goal. He wanted everyone to simply dance and enjoy themselves. Check prices on beginner DJ turntables to start your career like he did.

On August 11th, 1973 Herc organized a birthday party for Cindy that would end up going down in music history, Hip-Hop history. He had the biggest crowd he had every performed in front of that evening. While performing, Coke La Rock made his way up to the set, grabbed the microphone, and started rapping over Herc’s breaks.  Put them on the best headphones for hip hop and you’ll be dancing all night.

This moment right here was it, this is what was going to influence the best Hip-Hop albums of all time, without DJ Kool Herc who knows if any of these artists would be making hits for us today.

As you go through these best Hip-Hop Albums of all time, I encourage you to give each one a listen at some point, so you can fee and understand why they have made it to where they are.

By Robert Halvari

My name is Robert Halvari - audio engineer and a total audiophile. I love vinyl because it has that natural character which brings music to life. I've been using and testing vinyl record players for around 15 years and I'm sharing my love and knowledge of vinyl by publishing all I know at Notes On Vinyl

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