Proto Hip-Hop

Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture

In the penultimate episode of our current series, Tim and Jeremy explore the earlier incarnations of what would become Hip-Hop. They begin by asking where the term comes from and interrogating the problematic historiography of the genre. The show then moves on to a detailed profile of the legendary DJ Cool Herc and his nascent rec room parties, alongside the contemporaneous mobile DJ culture, the Jazz poetry of Gil Scott-Heron and the Last Poets, the ‘merry-go-round’ mixing technique, and the historical and affective significance of the breakbeat for hip-hop and disco. Plus: the only evidence you’ll find of David Mancuso cutting breaks.

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Books and Films:

Wild Style (1982)

Stan Cohen - Folk Devils and Moral Panics

Tim Lawrence - Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor 1980-1983

Jeff Chang - Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation

David Toop - The Rap Attack: African Jive to New York Hip HopTracklist:

Rare Earth - Get Ready

Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

The Last Poets - When the Revolution Comes

Incredible Bongo Band - Apache

Benny Goodman Orchestra - Sing Sing Sing

Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar Band - Scorpio