Key Figures and Concepts in Hip-Hop History FINAL FINAL

DJ Kool Herc

Jamaican-born Bronx DJ who pioneered the breakbeat loop at block parties—"father of hip-hop."

Grandmaster Flash

Innovator of cue-mixing (headphone preview) and punch-ins on two turntables.

Grandwizard Theodore

Accidentally invented scratching on his mom's turntable—core DJ technique.

Sylvia Robinson

Singer-turned-label-owner who founded Sugar Hill Records and produced "Rapper's Delight."

Russell Simmons

Co-founder of Def Jam; early manager of Run-DMC who helped rock-rap crossover.

Rick Rubin

Co-founder of Def Jam; producer who fused rock and rap into mainstream hip-hop.

Afrika Bambaataa

Founder of the Zulu Nation; brought electro-funk + positive social values to hip-hop.

Benjy Melendez / Ghetto Brothers

Brokered the 1971 Bronx gang truce, shifting youth toward block parties.

Amiri Baraka / Black Arts Movement

Poet/playwright who politicized Black art via community theater in the 1960s.

The Last Poets

Spoken-word collective whose percussion-backed political poetry prefigured hip-hop.

Gil Scott-Heron

Jazz poet of "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"—foreshadowed rap's social critique.

Chuck D & The Bomb Squad

delivering political lyrics; The Bomb Squad was their production team, known for chaotic, layered, sample-heavy beats that amplified the group’s protest messages.

KRS-One & Scott La Rock

Boogie Down Productions duo whose messages shifted from crime to social activism after Scott's death.

Poppa Stoppa

White New Orleans DJ taught Black urban slang by Dr. Daddy O—early radio cultural appropriation.

Dr. Daddy O

Black DJ/organizer behind Poppa Stoppa's persona; spread "talk-over" style into Jamaica's soundsystems.

Marcus Garvey & UNIA (Universal Improvement Association)

1920s Back-to-Africa movement emphasizing Black economic self-reliance and pride.

Cross-Bronx Expressway

Robert Moses's highway that bisected Bronx neighborhoods, triggering collapse and arson.

South Bronx Collapse (1970s)

White flight, deindustrialization, heroin epidemic, insurance arson—setting for hip-hop's rise.

Bronx Gang Truce (1971)

Ghetto Brothers-led peace accord dissolving turf lines and spawning block-party culture.

Wild Style & Style Wars

Early hip-hop docs: Wild Style (music + street culture) & Style Wars (graffiti vs. authority).

Mike Davis, City of Quartz

Chronicles L.A.'s 1980s "spatial apartheid": book that explores hyper policing, privatized public space/gentrification

It shows how L.A. was built as a "fortress city"—racialized policing, urban neglect, and spatial segregation created the conditions gangsta rap responded to.

Crack Epidemic & LAPD under Daryl Gates

Mid-'80s cheap cocaine boom + militarized policing fueling West Coast gangsta rap.

Three Stages of Early Hip-Hop

(1) Bronx party scene → (2) Studio crossover (hooks, 808s) → (3) Radicalization (political/gangsta).

The Dozens & Toasts

African-American oral traditions—competitive insult rhymes (the dozens) and (Toasts) folkloric tales that shaped emceeing.

Sampling as Cultural Memory

Creative reuse of recorded music layers: sonic reference, cultural context, intertextual callback.

Signifying

Coded "say one thing, mean another" language in rap—uses indirection, punning, irony, teachy metaphors.

Imani Perry's Rap Archetypes

Five song types: Narrative (tells a story), Exhortation/Proclamation (commands or calls to action; uplifting or militant), Description (vividly paints scenes or cultural observations), Battle (direct verbal competition), Allegory (Symbolic storytelling, deeper metaphor) , Realism (Reflects real-life experience and struggle, especially in gangsta rap)

Tricia Rose's Black Noise

Argues rap is "fundamentally literate and deeply technological," production = political.

Art vs. Commerce Tension

Early labels balanced raw community authenticity with polished commercial product.

The conflict between staying authentic to hip-hop’s community roots and adapting to commercial pressures like radio play, record sales, and mainstream image.

Drum Machines & the 808

Roland TR-808's booming bass and programmable rhythms defined studio-era beats.

Platform & Format Effects

the ways music formats (like 12″ singles (for longer tracks, extended breaks) influence how songs are structured, how long they are, and what audiences they target

Black Nationalism & Nation of Islam

Movements (Garvey, Malcolm X, Nation of Islam) stressing self-reliance, separatism, coded spiritual/political rhetoric.

Five Percenters (Nation of Gods & Earths)

Nation of Islam offshoot teaching numerology ("Gods/Earths") that shaped Brand Nubian, X Clan.

Native Tongues Collective

Afrocentric, jazz-inspired groups (De La Soul, ATCQ, Queen Latifah) offering playful, conscious rap.

Public Enemy's Method

They used dense, sample-heavy production (Bomb Squad), direct political lyrics, and strong imagery to create protest anthems like “Fight the Power.”

Gangsta Rap Realism vs. Provocation

Schoolly D, Ice-T, NWA portrayed urban violence and police brutality, both raw and shocking.

is a debate about whether the genre authentically portrays inner-city life or if it glorifies violence and negative behaviors

Pop Culture Side-Note: "White Avatar"

Term for Poppa Stoppa as white performer speaking Black talk—example of appropriation.

"IF YOU KNOW YOU KNOW"

Phrase highlighting hip-hop as intergenerational, coded cultural conversation.