DJ Kool Herc and the Birth of the Breakbeat
DJ Kool Herc. Scott Gries/Getty Images hide caption
DJ Kool Herc.
Scott Gries/Getty ImagesDJ Kool Herc is known as the father of the DJ breakbeat — isolating and repeating breaks, the most danceable portions of songs that form part of the foundation of modern hip-hop. He also wrote the introduction to the recent book Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation by Jeff Chang.
Kool Herc kicks off Fresh Air's Hip-Hop Week, featuring interviews with the greatest names in rap. (This interview originally aired March 30, 2005.)
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