Big Apple Contest Part 1 with Special Guests Tony Tone and Angie B and Sequence, at Danceteria, New York, NY, October 6, 1985

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. 

The Sequence is the first southern Hip-Hop group—from Columbia, South Carolina—and the first Hip-Hop trio signed to Sugarhill Records, in the late 1970s. The Sequence included high school friends, Cheryl The Pearl (Cheryl Cook, b. unknown), Blondie (Gwendolyn Chisolm, b. unknown), Angie B (Angie Brown Stone, b. 1961). Their most notable song “Funk You Up,” has been sampled by artists like Dr. Dre, Erykah Badu and En Vogue. The Sequence became one of the first acts signed to pioneering Hip-Hop label Sugarhill Records. Though never officially certified, “Funk You Up” was a nationwide hit, serving as the first Rap hit performed by women, and only the third Rap song to chart in the Top 50 of Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles. In a Seventies landscape where the few Rap records that existed were chorus-free rhyme marathons, the Sequence seamlessly mixed singing and rapping and set the standard for what women who could sing and rap do in the emerging era of early Hip-Hop. 

Cold Crush Brother’s original lineup consisted of DJ Tony Tone (Angelo King, b. unknown), Easy AD (Adrian Harris, b. unknown), DJ Charlie Chase (Carlos Mandes, b. 1959), Grandmaster Caz (Curtis Brown, b. 1960), Almighty KG (Kenneth Pounder, b. unknown), JDL (Jerry Dee Lewis, b. unknown) and Money Ray (Eric Hoskins, b. unknown). Whipper Whip (James Whipper, b. unknown) and Dot-A-Rock (Darryl Mason, b. unknown) were original members. 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. Cold Crush Brother member, DJ Tony Tone came up with the group’s name, saying that “Cold Crush” meant anybody could get crushed, cold crushed, with no remorse. 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 a 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.