The Source: Hip-Hop History, featuring Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool DJ Herc

The Source 50th issue, from November 1993, featured on the cover the early Hip-Hop icons Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa and DJ Kool Herc.

Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Saddler, b. 1958) is one of the founding fathers of hip-hop and known as the originator of scratching and mixing. Born in Bridgetown, Barbados and growing up in the Bronx, Grandmaster Flash has been experimenting with vinyl since he was a toddler and grew a serious passion for music and engineering. His knowledge of audio equipment and experimentation led him to revolutionize the way DJs played records where he started using his turntable as an instrument. Grandmaster Flash perfected manipulating vinyl records where he would put his hands on the vinyl and manipulate it in a backward, forward or counterclockwise motion. Through this process, Grandmaster Flash perfected beat looping, and discovered many of the most iconic beats still commonly sampled today. Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (2007) and the Grammy Hall of Fame (2012), Grandmaster Flash is acknowledged for pioneering a relationship between DJ and rappers and his innovative techniques of the turntable and mixing equipment.

Leader of the Zulu Nation and known as one of the “Godfathers of Hip-Hop,” Afrika Bambaataa (Lance Taylor, b. 1957) is a DJ, producer, rapper and songwriter from the Southeast Bronx. As a former gang member, Afrika Bambaataa began DJing at local parties in the early 1970s, playing Funk and Disco records but stood out as a unique and eclectic DJ because he would play records across different genres like Rock, Pop, Salsa, African and Latin. Afrika Bambaataa also established two Rap crews: the Jazzy 5 and the Soul Sonic Force. Afrika Bambaataa has crafted the foundation of Hip-Hop by establishing the five elements or five pillars: DJing, MCing, b-boying, graffiti and knowledge. Afrika Bambaataa’s impact on Hip-Hop culture has defined the genre as a staple of creativity and expression emerging out of the Bronx.

DJ Kool Herc is known as the founding father of Hip-Hop. Having Caribbean roots and growing up in the Bronx, Kool Herc (Clive Campbell, b. 1955) is known for cultivating the Hip-Hop genre with his DJing skills and parties that opened the space for youth parties, starting in the late 1970s at 1520 Sedgwick Ave. Before becoming a DJ, he was a graffiti writer who wrote “Kool Herc.”  He became popular as a DJ in the Bronx with his massive sound system that was affectionately dubbed “The Herculords.” The birth of Hip-Hop’s unique sound was based on Herc’s ability to enhance the sound of the speaker, connect two turntables and use channel knobs as his mixer, along with an echo chamber and eight microphones, so he could play music and talk to the crowd— something people never had experienced musically before. During his DJ sets, Herc also emphasized the extension of the breakdown, also known as the break. He began searching for Disco, Funk, Rock, Soul and Caribbean records because of the sound of their break. He then played two of the same records on the turntables, back-cueing a record at the beginning of the break that normally lasted five seconds, and extending them together. Kool Herc’s unique DJ style and ability to amplify speakers and having MCs on the mic revolutionized the way urban youth in the Bronx danced and listened to disco and funk music.