Fred Brathwaite, more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American visual artist, filmmaker, and hip hop pioneer. He is considered one of the architects of the street art movement. Freddy emerged in New York's downtown underground creative scene in the late 1970s as a graffiti artist. He was the bridge between the burgeoning uptown rap scene and the downtown No Wave art scene. He gained wider recognition in 1981 when Debbie Harry rapped on the Blondie song "Rapture" that "Fab 5 Freddy told me everybody's fly." In the late 1980s, Freddy became the first host of the groundbreaking hip-hop music video show Yo! MTV Raps.
The Universal Zulu Nation is an international hip hop awareness group formed by electro/hip hop artist Afrika Bambaataa.
Beat Street is a 1984 American dance drama film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to various elements of early hip hop culture, including breakdancing, DJing and graffiti.
Electro is a genre of electronic dance music directly influenced by the use of the Roland TR-808 drum machines, with an immediate origin in early hip hop and funk genres. Records in the genre typically feature heavy electronic sounds, usually without vocals; if vocals are present, they are delivered in a deadpan manner, often through electronic distortion such as vocoding and talkboxing. It palpably deviates from its predecessor boogie by being less vocal-oriented and more focused on electronic beats produced by drum machines.
In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece. A break is usually interpolated between sections of a song, to provide a sense of anticipation, signal the start of a new section, or create variety in the arrangement.
The Guvernment, formerly known as RPM, was a nightclub complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was also the name of one of the two main performance venues within the complex. The other venue was Kool Haus. Other smaller rooms within the complex included: The Drink, D'Luxe Lounge, The Orange Room, SkyBar, Charlies, Tanja and Acid Lounge. The Guvernment opened in 1996 and closed in early 2015. The Kool Haus venue became known for hosting the first ever concert performance by Canadian rapper and singer Drake.
Manuel Parrish is an American songwriter, vocalist and producer. He, along with artists such as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Kraftwerk, Art of Noise, Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, John Robie, Jellybean Benitez, Lotti Golden, Richard Scher and Aldo Marin, helped create and define electro in the early 1980s.
David Alistair Pearce is an English dance DJ, EDM producer and broadcaster, who has performed across the United Kingdom and the world. He previously presented Dance Anthems on BBC Radio 1 for ten years. He is renowned for playing a key role both as a performer and behind the scenes in the development of English dance and club culture.
ĒBN-ŌZN was an American 1980s New York-based experimental New Wave synth-pop duo, composed of Ned "Ebn" Liben and Robert "Ozn" Rosen,. The duo, which pioneered the sound recording technique of sampling, is best known for the 1983 hit single and award-winning music video "AEIOU Sometimes Y", the first commercially released and charted American single recorded on a computer, a Fairlight CMI.
The Roseland Ballroom was a multipurpose hall, in a converted ice skating rink, with a colorful ballroom dancing pedigree, in New York City's theater district, on West 52nd Street in Manhattan.
John Byas, also known as The Original Jazzy Jay or DJ Jazzy Jay, is an American hip hop DJ and producer.
Disco Fever was a New York City dance club located in the South Bronx on Jerome Avenue and 167th street that operated from 1976 to 1986. After initially failing to draw many customers, Sal Abbatiello convinced his father, the owner, to hand over the reins. Abbatiello quickly began featuring hip hop artists including a young Grandmaster Flash, and the club greatly increased in popularity and fame. Hip hop group Run-D.M.C. performed their first show at the club.
Frederick Crute, known professionally as Kool DJ Red Alert, is an Antiguan-American disc jockey who rose to fame on WRKS 98.7 Kiss FM in New York City and is recognized as one of the founding fathers of hip hop music and culture. His weekly radio show airs on WBLS 107.5 FM from Monday to Saturday at 6pm EST.
Michael Lawrence Marrow, known as PHASE 2 and Lonny Wood, was an American aerosol paint artist based in New York City. Mostly active in the 1970s, Phase 2 is generally credited with originating the "bubble letter" style of aerosol writing, also known as "softies".
Clive Campbell, better known by his stage name DJ Kool Herc, is a Jamaican American DJ who is credited with being one of the founders of hip hop music in the Bronx, New York City, in 1973. Nicknamed the Father of Hip-Hop, Campbell began playing hard funk records of the sort typified by James Brown. Campbell began to isolate the instrumental portion of the record which emphasized the drum beat—the "break"—and switch from one break to another. Using the same two-turntable set-up of disco DJs, he used two copies of the same record to elongate the break. This breakbeat DJing, using funky drum solos, formed the basis of hip hop music. Campbell's announcements and exhortations to dancers helped lead to the syncopated, rhythmically spoken accompaniment now known as rapping.
Lance Taylor, also known as Afrika Bambaataa, is an American DJ, rapper, and record producer from South Bronx, New York City. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenced the development of hip hop culture. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the originators of breakbeat DJing.
Rock Steady Crew is an American breaking and hip hop group which has become a franchise for multiple groups in other locations. The group's 1983 international hit song "(Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew" peaked at No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart, and reached the top 10 in many European countries. Members of Rock Steady Crew featured in the films Flashdance and Beat Street, which ignited international interest in the b-boy subculture.
DJing is the act of playing existing recorded music for a live audience.
Sharon Green, also known as MC Sha-Rock, is considered the "first female rapper" or emcee. Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, she grew up in the South Bronx, New York City during the earliest years of hip hop culture and rap music. Within the hip-hop community she has been referred to as the "Mother of the Mic". As a member of the Funky 4 + 1, one of the first hip-hop crews to appear on national television, her style influenced notable rappers like MC Lyte and DMC of Run-DMC.
"Uprock" is a song by American hip hop group the Rock Steady Crew from their debut studio album Ready For Battle. It was released in 1984 through Charisma/Virgin Records as the album's second single. Written by Budd "Blue Soldier" Dixon, Ruza Blue and Stephen Hague, and produced by Dixon and Hague, the song refers to uprock style of dance. The single made it to the top ten in Australia and found minor success on German and UK charts, reaching peak positions #27 and #64 respectively.
