1974 – PRESENT

History of American Music

1974

Former gang member – turned – DJ Afrika Bambaataa meets grafitti artist Fab 5 Freddy.

DJ Afrika Bambaataa categorizes what he calls the four elements of hip hop: DJ’ing Breaking (break dancing) Grafitti artists MC’ing

1975

Grandmaster Flash begins working on a new revolutionary DJ’ing technique – extending the break of a song and mixing two songs together – using headphones he is able to get the songs to overlap.

Grand Wizard Theodore accidently creates a new type of DJ’ing called scratching – which involves moving the record back and forth on the turntable.

1977

The Crash Crew is one of the first MC crews formed in Harlem.

Russell “Rush” Simmons moves to Queens and convinces Kool DJ Kurt to begin rapping and changes his name to Kurtis Blow and enlists his little brother, Joey, to be Kurt’s DJ.

Joey changes his name to DJ Run.

1979

The Sugarhill Gang introduces “Rappers Delight”. This becomes hip-hops first hit and American first introduction to rap.

Under manager Russell Simmons, Kurtis Blow becomes the first rapper to sign record deal.

1980

Under the direction of Russell Simmons, Kurtis Blw releases his first single “Christmas Rappin’”.

Treacherous Three release “The New Rap Language” as a single. It incorporates a new type of “double speed” rapping.