An All Star Review with New Edition, Kurtis Blow, Cold Crush Bros., Love Bug Starski at Skatin' Palace, Bronx, New York, Saturday, April 13

Party flyers were a staple in the early years of Hip-Hop and hard-copy invitations were the main medium for communicating information and promoting an event. The flyers symbolized many key appearances, acts, conventions, DJ performances, and contests in the Hip-Hop scene. Many flyers were created by local graffiti artists such as Buddy Esquire and Phase 2. The flyers were often presented by Hip-Hop promoters, DJs, and MCs who hosted the parties. Money was given to the artist to draw creative art and graphics for about $40-$60 for approximately 1,000 party flyers. The parks’ open public spaces have provided the perfect venues for park jams, impromptu dance-offs, DJ battles, and rap battles that established the sound, fashion, art, and message of Hip-Hop. Most of the Hip-Hop parties were a space for positivity where many of the Hip-Hop community could escape the realities of racism that included police brutality, drug abuse, and gang violence in their surrounding communities.

Many of the original Hip-Hop parties took place at local roller rinks, community centers, parks, and clubs. Roller rinks were an important cultural site for fun in the late 70s and 80s where adults and teens would attend roller discos and Hip-Hop parties.  The space would be used as a place for DJs to spin, rappers to show their talents, and for breakers to showcase their dancing skills on the large skate floor. Community centers were another important space in the early years of Hip-Hop for youth to gather and escape their everyday life. Additionally, community centers and recreation centers were the original spaces where DJ Kool Herc would spin in his early era of DJing. The community centers such as the Bronx River Center and the PAL were usually located in the middle of the projects. But local promoters would give parties and give money back to the center for books and trips for the local kids in the community.

Lovebug Starski (Kevin Smith, b.1960 – 2018), was an American MC, musician, and record producer. He began his career as a record boy in 1971 as Hip-Hop first appeared in the Bronx, and he eventually became a DJ at the Disco Fever club in 1978. He is one of two people who may have come up with the term "Hip-Hop". Starski claimed that he coined the phrase, while trading the two words back and forth and improvising lines with Keef Cowboy of the Furious Five, at a farewell party for a friend who was headed into the Army. Lovebug Starski, a versatile D.J. and rapper who was a key figure in the development and early evolution of Hip-Hop in the South Bronx throughout the 1970s. He was famously mentioned as part of the roll call of influential early Hip-Hop D.J.s on the Notorious B.I.G.’s seminal 1994 single “Juicy.”

In 1979, Kurtis Blow (Kurtis Walker, b. 1959) became the first rapper to be signed by a major record label, Mercury Records. His first single “Christmas Rappin’” sold more than 400,000 copies and became a holiday staple. With his second release “The Breaks” in 1980, Blow earned the first gold record ever for a Rap artist and launched the careers of The Fat Boys and Run-DMC. He went on to accomplish many other firsts including being the first Rap artist to star in a national television commercial (Sprite, 1986), make the first Rap video (“Basketball,” 1984), and act in a soap opera (One Life to Live, 1991). He is also the founder of the International Hip-Hop Museum.

Cold Crush Brother’s original lineup consisted of DJ Tony Tone (Angelo King), Easy AD (Adrian Harris), DJ Charlie Chase (Carlos Mandes, b. 1959), Grandmaster Caz (Curtis Brown, b. 1960), Almighty KG (Kenneth Pounder), JDL (Jerry Dee Lewis) and Money Ray (Eric Hoskins). Whipper Whip (James Whipper) and DotA-Rock (Darryl Mason) were original members, but eventually, Whipper Whip and Dot-A-Rock left and joined the Fantastic Five, which they considered to be a more established group at the time. Soon, the group brought in Grandmaster Caz (formerly DJ Casanova Fly) who is known to be one of the top 50 MCs of all Time, and an inductee into the Technics DJ Hall of Fame and the Bronx Walk of Fame. The Cold Crush Brothers were known for their remarkable routines which included harmonies, melodies, and stage-stomping performances. The Cold Crush Brothers set the standard for emceeing. They built the reputation as the Rolling Stones of Hip Hop. Because of the attention they began to attract, many groups would try to battle them to gain rap credibility and Hip-Hop superiority.