Hip-Hop Evolution (2016–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - The Foundation - full transcript

[hip hop music]

♪

[Shad] This is Hip Hop today.

A global phenomenon that
permeates just

about every facet of society.

From business and sports,

to pop culture and politics.

-I've got 99 problems and now Jay Z's one.
-[audience laughter]

[Shad] At this point, Hip Hop doesn't
just influence the mainstream.

It is the mainstream.

But despite its success,



the rich history of Hip Hop's origins

is often glossed over.

[hip hop rock music]

♪

[Shad] Why does all this matter to me?

Well, because Hip Hop is
a big part of my life.

My name is Shadrach Kabango

and firstly, I'm an MC.

♪ Check it out, I'm just spitting that
for the love of spitting rap ♪

♪ Hits like Nickelback
singing with The Diplomats ♪

[Shad] I fell in love with Hip Hop
back in the '90s,

and at that time, it was all about
Biggie, Common and Eminem.

And since then, I've followed
Hip Hop's growth and journey.

I even studied Hip Hop in university.



♪ Tell me who's the sickest
Kid, I'm putting on a clinic, listen ♪

[Shad] But I know there's a whole history
that came before Big and Em.

A history that's been forgotten.

♪ I'm ahead of my time, wait
Now I'm ahead of the times ♪

♪ Sped up ahead of the beat ♪

[Shad] So, I'm going to the source,
to meet with Hip Hop's stars,

its innovators,

its moguls

and its pioneers.

I'm going to unravel
the true story of Hip Hop.

["Hip-Hop" by Dead Prez playing]

♪ Uh, uh, uh, 1, 2, 1, 2 ♪

♪ Uh, uh, 1, 2, 1, 2, uh, uh ♪

♪ One thing 'bout music
When it hit you feel no pain ♪

♪ White folks say
it controls your brain ♪

♪ I know better than that
That's game and we ready for that ♪

♪ Two soldiers, head of the pack ♪

♪ Matter of fact, who got the gat?
And where my army at? ♪

♪ Rather attack and not react ♪

♪ It's bigger than hip-hop
Hip-hop, hip-hop, hip ♪

♪ It's bigger than
hip-hop, hip-hop, hip-hop ♪

[sirens and street noise]

[Shad] There's only one place
to start a story about Hip Hop,

and that's here.

New York City.

I'm an MC today, but of course,
I was a fan first.

And for any Hip Hop head,
a trip to New York

is full of reminders
of Hip Hop's deep history.

Even decades after it's birth,

the echoes of Hip Hop's
early days are everywhere.

But to really understand Hip Hop's story,

I got to take you a step back,

to the early 1970s,
just before it all began,

when a different sound ruled New York.

[disco music]

♪

[Kurtis Blow] You have
to understand, disco was hot.

Late '60s and the early
'70s disco came and hit.

It was an explosion.

[disco music]

♪

[Kurtis Blow] Everyone had on suits

and silk dresses

and you dress your best to go to the club.

Everyone was disco crazy.

[disco music]

You had CEO's,

athletes, entertainers,

whoever was so-called celebrity.

So, everybody's perception
in New York City

was like, "Yo,

look at the fur coats,

look at the Rolls Royce's,

look at the champagne,

look at the diamonds,

look at the sex.

Look at all the money
and the famous people."

People in the world,

especially in America,
thought New York City was heaven.

But back then the Bronx was burning.

[fire truck horn]

[reporter] The South Bronx
believed, by the city,

to be the worst fire area in the country.

There were 12,300 fires here last year.

It is as if there is a war going on.

Many parts of the South Bronx
look like a city under siege,

with entire blocks wiped out,

buildings decimated, debris everywhere.

[Grandmaster Caz] I grew up
in the Bronx during the '60s.

It was like Beirut.

You know, in certain parts
of the Bronx, man.

I mean, when they say
the Bronx was burning,

the Bronx was burning.

♪ Cold, cold eyes, upon me they stare ♪

♪ People all around me
and they're all in fear ♪

[Joe Conzo] You go up
into the middle of the Bronx

and it's just
these pockets of devastation.

You know, it was a
massive urban decay.

♪ From my party house ♪

♪ I'm afraid to come outside ♪

♪ Although I'm filled with love ♪

♪ I'm afraid they'll hurt my pride ♪

[Grand Wizzard Theodore]
South Bronx where we lived at

people were struggling, man.

You had single parents,

they were on welfare,

you know, people wasn't really working.

There wasn't really no jobs
and stuff like that.

You couldn't go in certain areas, man.

You couldn't go in that area,
you can't go in this area,

you couldn't go in that area.

You had killings, you had muggings,

you had people
getting killed by the police,

people going to jail for
the rest of their lives.

[Joe Conzo] It was that boiling point

to just give birth
to something from nothing.

And out of all that turbulence
and upheaval

was the birth of Hip Hop.

[Shad] While the grown-ups
of New York City

lost themselves in the glitter of disco,

the kids in the Bronx
searched for something different.

And they'd find it in the rec room parties
of a local DJ,

Kool Herc.

The man who threw Hip Hop's first party.

♪

[Kool Herc] This is the birthplace.

The big bang.

1520, right here.

Where it all began.

[Shad] 1520 Sedgwick Ave?

Yes. The kitchen and the two windows

were the recreation room.

At the time, the gangs was, you know,

terrorizing the house parties and stuff.

So, we asked could we
give a party, you know.

They liked what I
was playing and...

the rest is history.

[Shad] Could you describe the atmosphere

at that party, August 11?

[Kool Herc] The place could only
hold a good probably forty,

fifty people in there at the most.

I'd get some milk crates,

no chairs or nothing,
just some crates.

You know, my friends,
they're having a good time.

[funk music]

♪ Watch me now ♪

♪ Feel the groove ♪

♪ Into something ♪

♪ Going to make you move ♪

[DJ Red Alert] My first time going
to a Kool Herc party

was up on the west side of the Bronx.

It looked liked it was kind of
a rundown condemned building.

But females just hanging around in there.
I'm like, "Oh, okay."

So, as we get closer and closer
to start hearing some sounds

and that's when I got to
realize that was Kool Herc.

♪

[Melle Mel] Herc's parties
was, like, really surreal.

Their voices went through a echo chamber

and back then they're like, you know,

we were smoking some weed
and some angel dust.

It's just loud, booming music.

It's kind of dark, smokey

and their voices coming in echo.

Ra-ra-ra-ra!

Tee-tee-tee-tee!

Ta-ta-ta-ta!

Pop-pop-pop!

And you're just coming through all that

and guys is looking, and people dancing.

And just a vibe that, you know, Herc had.

Like, it looked excitement and
a little bit of danger.

♪

[Kurtis Blow] I remember just going
to the bass speaker

and sticking my head in the bass speaker

and closing my eyes and the bass would

just rumble all through my body.

All the way down to my toes.

♪

[Shad] A lot of people claim
to have been at that party

but how many people
were really at that party.

-They wasn't there, they heard about it.
-[both laughing]

Their big brother told them,
their big sister told them.

They hear the-- the war stories and stuff.
They wasn't there.

I asked them how old they was,
once they tell me, he wasn't there.

That's it.
How old you are? Yeah, right.

[Kurtis Blow]
Herc, he was a revolutionary.

He revolted.

He did not want to play the disco music
that we heard on the radio.

He wanted to give us the music that
we grew up on, the soul music

and it was incredible

because in the world of disco,

here's this DJ coming out

playing this special kind of music.

And that was so important
to the birth of Hip Hop

that we're gonna play funk music.

[funk music]

[GrandMixer DXT] You're listening to,

like, the greatest records you ever heard
and never heard any of them before

and never heard them on the radio.

You don't hear them on the radio,
you don't hear them anywhere.

These are part
of the sacred crates of Hip Hop.

[Shad] And-- and the music selection,

I mean, we hear about
Scorpio and The Mexican.

I mean, what else
is kind of side by side with that?

[chuckling] That's one thing I don't do...

-give out names to records.
-Oh, that's true actually.

What am I doing?

[Kool Herc] You gotta hear it.

Everybody can't have
your records to hide it.

'Cause if everybody have my record,
why come to my party?

[Dan Charnas] Herc throws
what most people believe

is the first Hip Hop party.

Why is it the first Hip Hop party?

It's because of the records
that Herc plays

but also because of the
way he plays those records.

He plays just the breakdown
sections of these records,

where all the instruments drop out

and it's just the drums
or drums and bass.

[hip hop music]

♪

[Kurtis Blow] And that was so important
to the birth of Hip Hop.

Music that has a special part in it,
which is a break.

Every song he played

had a breakdown

where the drummer
would do this thing.

[mimics drum beats]

[drum beats playing]

Herc came up with the idea of, like,
"Let me extend this break beat,

so, I'm gonna go from this record
on this turntable,

to this record on this
turntable." And it extends.

And it'd create almost a new song.

[GrandMixer DXT] I've never seen
anyone have two copies of a record

and keep going back to
the part where we normally

would pick the needle up and put it back.

So, there's this silence for minute.

Now, that was continuous

and he called it the Merry-Go-Round.

[funk music]

♪

[Kevin Powell] And people don't realize it
gave name to those kids who were dancing

because they became known as breakdancers

because they were dancing
to those break beats.

♪

[Kurtis Blow] Guys in that circle, they
were dancing against each other,

trying to be James Brown.

-Doing that fancy footwork.
-Yeah, yeah.

Everybody wanted
to be James Brown and dance.

That's how b-boying started.

♪

[GrandMixer DXT] And then
there was this whole thing

depending on what neighbourhood
you were from.

We had a terminology called A Number 1.

Which meant you was
the best b-boy from your crew.

So, when you go to these parties you go,

"Yo A1, I'm A1 b-boy, so

if you can burn me, you
can burn my whole crew.

'Cause I'm better than all of them."
You know what I'm saying?

And so, by the way, I was the A1 b-boy
from my neighbourhood.

♪

[Shad] Kool Herc inspired
the Bronx's b-boys

with his Merry-Go-Round technique.

But if you look hard at the party flyers,
he wasn't rocking the crowd on his own.

Herc had a partner with a mic in his hand.

Hip Hop's first party rocker,

Coke La Rock.

[echoing]

-[Shad] You good?
-All good, fantastic.

[Shad] Why don't we start back with
when you first hooked up with Herc.

You're in the rec room.
It's just neighbourhood people.

-Just neighbourhood people.
-Yeah.

Herc's in the room playing the music.

-Yeah.
-And everybody's out there dancing.

But first time I got on the mic, I used to
just holler out my friend's names,

like shout outs.

You had Easy Al, Skip from the joint,
Paradise, Reggie Red.

See, I used to do like this, like,
my man Reggie be out, I'd be like,

"Yo, Reggie, go-go-go move your car.
You're double parked in ra-ra," you know.

And we, like, sixteen.

The girls be like,
"Oh, he got a car."

So, when you come back in
the girls are like,

"You ain't got no car,"
you know?

After that, it didn't stop.
It got better every time.

We went from maybe fifty people,
to a hundred,

a hundred to five hundred.

We had everybody in our party,

I mean, we had the killers,
we had the robbers,

we had the dancers,
we had the regular party people.

You weren't there
to get on the mic at first,

you had another job at the party.

Yes. I used to sell cannabis, you know.
Little nickel bags of cannabis, you know.

And I went from, like I said,
nickel bag, half an ounce

quarter pound, pound.

I'd bag up a quarter pound,
and sell 160 nickels in two hours,

while I'm playing the music and talking.

So.

[Shad] So, you're on the mic shouting out.

Yes, as long as the music's not stopping,
the rocks are dropping,

the champagne is flowing,
the freaks will be going.

Hotel, motel. You don't tell,
we don't tell.

One time route nine.

You see what I'm saying?
This was back then.

Nobody was talking on the mic, man.

There's not a man that can't be thrown,

a horse that can't be rode,
a bull that can't be stopped,

and there's not a disco that Kool Herc
and Coke La Rock can't rock.

How'd the crowds respond
when you do La Rock?

Ah! Crazy!

I couldn't stop it, man!

[funk music]

[echoing] Not a disco that Kool Herc

and Coke La Rock can't rock.

[Melle Mel] A lot of people
don't know what they did,

simply 'cause they weren't there
to see them do it,

but that was the foundation of everything.

The b-boy and that whole sound system era

and all the foundation
that became MC'ing.

Actually, they did everything.

They just did it so early in the game

you know, that people, you know,

they just didn't see it.

[GrandMixer DXT] And we all watched them

and wanted to be like them

and wanted to play
those records like them.

The seed is planted.

♪

♪ No matter how hard you try ♪

♪ You can't stop us now ♪

[Shad] For the lucky few who witnessed it,
seeing Herc spin breaks

tapped into something elemental

that changed them.

♪

[Shad] The kids at Herc's parties
became more than b-boys.

They became Hip Hop's first converts.

And one of those early
converts was a young DJ

from the east side of the Bronx,

Afrika Bambaataa.

It's been a long time
since Bam first planted

Hip Hop's flag in the Bronx River houses.

But even today, he's a local hero.

-Long time no see.
-Oh, how you doing?

How you feeling, boo?
Alright, that be good.

Peace and honor brother.
One love.

What's up? Yes sir, yes sir.

How you doing man?

-Good.
-Everything good?

It's one of the originals, too,
from the early days.

That's right.
One of the originals.

-Yes, sir.
-1595.

-That's right.
-Bambaataa.

♪ Renegades of this atomic age ♪

♪ This atomic age for renegades ♪

[Shad] Could I ask you
about the first time

that you heard Herc play?

[Afrika Bambaataa] I heard Herc
on the west side of the Bronx,

um, playing that set, uh, in Cedar Park.

And, um, hearing Herc on that side

playing the beats
and everything like that.

I said, "Well, I got a lot of
those records and then some."

And I started spinning a lot of that
with my groups on this side of town.

You know I'm gonna say something,
I love him.

I'm old school, been here forever,

Zulu Nation. We here.

This is Bronx River. It started here.

This where it's at.
You hear the records back in the days,

Bronx River rolling thick.

Bronx River, this is
what did his thing here, man.

We're going to-- me and you gonna get it.

This is real, this is right?

This is one of my original
family brothers right here.

One of the original family brothers there.

[Shad] A lot of accounts
of that time, people said

that they were very scared of
coming to this neighborhood.

[Afrika Bambaataa] There was
many people who was scared

to come to this neighborhood
because we was no joke.

But we had all the street gang,
um, organizations

who would pack this place up.

Our whole kingdom, huh.

Black Spade areas,

Savage Spades.

Nobody come messing
with the Spades areas.

Especially in the Bronx,
never in the home of God.

I got into street gangs, the Black Spades,

a lot of other groups I was
in before I became a Spade,

Power Bronx, Savage Nomads.

But Spades was one of the groups
that I really loved a lot.

It was a lot of unity in the group.

[GrandMixer DXT] The Black Spades,
the biggest gang in the Bronx

dominated the street culture there.

They were like the conquerors, you know.

They would go from

area to area conquering.

You either convert
or you get wiped out.

[Disco Wiz] For me, being a Spanish
cat trying to be a DJ, it was rough.

Blacks and Puerto Ricans
were killing each other,

you know, because
of the street gang culture.

[Shad] What was happening, in your
understanding, as a Black Spade,

that made you want to
bring more peace and unity?

[Afrika Bambaataa] A lot of us
was killing each other for nothing

or fighting against each
other for foolishness,

that we need to turn this
around and get the community

to start organizing themselves.

But we also had many other consciousness,

um, organizations that was out here

all coming to wake up
many of the communities.

Like the Nation of Islam,
Black Panther Party,

The Young Lords Party.

We had to change the paradigm

and try to teach
and wake up the communities

to be warriors for your community
instead of being destructors.

[leader] Brother Benson
here is our brother here, man.

He's like my brother, too!
You can dig that, too!

[leader] I tell you right now.
If any of my members came to your turf,

you try to match me,
I guarantee they'd pay for it.

They came up there in trucks on our turf.

[leader] You want to know
when we came to your turf, man?

When Black Benji died, man.

That's when we came
to your turf for static, man.

[Afrika Bambaataa]
Well, the process was definitely hard

to deal with a lot
of street organizations,

to get involved with
what we trying to do

but I had a strong
reputation for organizing.

And had much respect

with many of the different leaders

that they had
in the different street organizations.

-President Young Sinners.
-Vice President of the Young Sinners.

-Vice President Young Saints.
-President of the Young Cobras.

[Afrika Bambaataa] You had to work on
the leaders that would lead the followers

to come aboard
and be part of what we was doing now.

Organizing and letting them know,
you know, this is where we going.

I developed a vision for
The Universal Zulu Nation

in peace, unity, love and having fun.

[man] Yo, Bam, I love you!

One love to you too, Ackie!

-[man] All day!
-Yes, sir.

Peace!

[Kurtis Blow]
Bambaataa was instrumental

in stopping a whole lot
of that gang violence

and he convinced the Black Spades

to start the Zulu Nation.

[hip hop music]

♪

[Grand Wizzard Theodore]
When he formed The Zulu Nation,

it was a melting pot
of different gang members

and people wanting to
straighten their lives out

and the music was another way
for them to get into that, so...

People were getting into MC'ing.

People were getting into DJ'ing.
People were getting into graffiti.

It was a way for you to release
whatever pressure you had.

[hip hop music]

♪

[Afrika Bambaataa]
The Universal Zulu Nation

was about organizing the people.

Bringing the DJ's, the MC's,
the aerosol writers,

the b-boys, the b-girls
and that fifth element, knowledge.

'Cause we put it together
as a culture movement,

you know, and that's when
we put the label Hip Hop on it.

♪ Well if you're looking
for the perfect beat, people ♪

♪ Well here's a perfect beat for ya ♪

♪ Soulsonic stay aim ♪

♪ With a chorus you can sing, round up ♪

[Grandmaster Caz] Bam started
inviting people to Bronx River.

He like, "Yo, everybody,
come to Bronx River.

It's gonna be one big great set.
Everybody can get on."

He brought us all together,
like, "Yo, come here."

Is the Bronx in the house?

Is everybody in the house?

-[cheering]
-Hit it!

♪ Everybody just listen up ♪

♪ Everybody just ♪

♪ Just hold your hands in the air ♪

♪ And wave 'em like you just don't care ♪

♪ Say Z-U-L-U ♪

♪ That's the way you say it ♪

♪ ZULU ♪

♪ What's the name of this nation? ♪

[chanting] ZULU! ZULU!

[Grand Wizzard Theodore]
Bam decided to make sure

that no matter what colour you are,

you know who your ancestors were

and basically brought
knowledge to Hip Hop.

[GrandMixer DXT] Here comes this guy
saying his name is Afrika Bambaataa

and for me I go to this party

and I'm hearing these beats
and I'm seeing Zulu

and Afrika and it automatically
made sense.

♪ Everybody say Zulu ♪

-♪ Everybody ♪
-♪ Zulu ♪

[GrandMixer DXT] I grew up
where I was taught and conditioned

when I see Africa or hear African

or anything like that, I'm running.

I've been trained to disconnect
from my heritage.

Bambaataa and The Zulu Nation,
that whole ideal rescued

that consciousness for me.

♪

[Shad] Herc forged
the foundations of Hip Hop

and Bam built a community around it.

But as an art form,
Hip Hop was still very raw.

But there was someone
working on changing that.

On the south side of the borough,
there was a mad scientist tinkering away,

perfecting what Herc and Bam had started.

[record scratching]

♪ Good times ♪

♪ Good times, good times
Good times, good times ♪

[record scratching]

[Grandmaster Flash]
Coming up

I had this fascination
with electrical items.

Anything that plugged into the wall

um, you know, the hair dryer,
the washing machine,

curling iron, whatever.
If it was unscrewable

and you was able to get the back
off of it, I would take them apart.

And I also had a fascination
with things that spun around,

like the dryer, spin stage,

uh, bicycle wheels and I would

spin the wheels and just
watch the wheels go around.

And I remember my father,

he would come home from a hard day
of work and go in his closet

and pull out these black discs
that were inside this cardboard sleeve.

And he would bring
these black discs over

to this wooden box
that was in the living room,

and he would put this black
disc inside of this machine

and sound would come out.

I found this to be very intriguing.

So, once I figured out how sound worked

I would go down to backyards looking for

amplifiers and looking for turntables.

Looking for receivers.

And taking resistors, capacitors, diodes,

transformers from one
and kind of putting it into

another to try to build that.

And then my speakers, I found
in the back of abandoned cars.

It didn't sound like much but
we were pretty cool with it.

[chuckles]

[static buzzing]

♪ The Grand Master Flash ♪

[heavy beats and scratching]

[Fab 5 Freddy] Flash looked so great
doing what he did back then,

very stylistic.

The way he moved, hit the,
hit the switches, the buttons.

Watching him was just
dazzling and mesmerizing

and so exciting.

It was so different,
like, yo, like, from another planet.

And I was just bitten
by the fever of it all.

You know, and Flash
was very intelligent, almost scientific.

He had these ideas
about a way that he could

mix these records seamlessly

and that would send him on like this

research and development process

that was key in him
perfecting his technique.

♪

[Grandmaster Flash] Watching most DJ's
I grew up hearing two things.

Back then there were people
doing mixes on the air on radio,

and they would do disco mixes where
they would mix in and out of a record

really slow, blends.

And then, Herc's style was the opposite,

I called it, uh, disarray in unison.

I like that, I like that.

[Grandmaster Flash] He would
play a song and take a drum solo

and expound and extend it back.

But the chances of always
getting the needle

in the right place was slim to none.

So, both styles were frustrating to me.

[Melle Mel] The other guys, you know,
they just blend it out in between records

and it'd be this big, you know,
fucking jumble, like...

[scatting]

And then you'd hear the other record.

They didn't even, it wasn't even
clean like that.

You know, it was just crazy.

[Grandmaster Flash] Most DJ's,
they concentrated their efforts on

the tone arm.

It would be totally sloppy off beat
and I seen a lot of that.

I knew there has to be a better way

and after trying many different things

I placed my fingers on the vinyl.

I let it go.

Stopped it. Let it go.

Stop it.

I said to myself,

"I have absolute control of the record."

But the taboo thing was you're not
supposed to touch the middle of the vinyl.

DJ's are gonna hate you.

People are gonna hate you.
You're gonna ruin these records.

I decided that this
was the only way to do this.

And then, what I did was
so that I could find the break quicker,

I took a crayon

and I would make a circular mark

where the break lived.

[scratching]

[Grandmaster Flash] So, the circular mark
is where the break lived.

And the other mark
is the intro to the break.

[record scratching]

So, what I would do
is count how many times

it passed-- it passed the tone arm.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

One.

Two. Three...

I figured out a way to do this with never

touching the tone arm.

♪ Good times, good times
Good Times, good times ♪

Now we know where we are.

We're not guessing anymore.

We're not guessing anymore.

Faze.

Faze.

Faze.

♪ Good-- Good-- Good-- Good times ♪

The idea that
this technology is not simply

something to play the record.

That I can play the technology.

To me, it's in a tradition of--
of great black music.

You know, the saxophone's
a classical instrument

that's not really essential
to the classical cannon,

but it was taken by black musicians,

who make it
into the central instrument of jazz.

The electric guitar. Wah!

You know Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry.

They made it into some new thing.

And I feel the same way
about Grandmaster Flash

because the turntables were
made into an instrument.

♪

[GrandMixer DXT] Flash is the one
who said take a closer look

at your mixer and your turntables.

Take a closer look at that.
You know what I'm saying?

He's the first one to cut the beats

where it's more like he's editing.

So, he connected technique and technology.

That's Grandmaster Flash.

[funk music]

[Jazzy Jay] He would spark
a whole generation

of second string cats like myself,

Grand Wizzard Theodore, you know,
GrandMixer DXT,

Charlie Chase, you know,

even down to the Jam Master J's,

the DJ Premiers, you know.

Flash was turntable god to us.

♪

Same basics.

[Grandmaster Flash]
So, I'm quite proud

that my science
has been tooken to so many levels

and I see so many DJ's
do super incredible things.

You know, but the real
fact of the matter is

when there's cutting, crabbing, flaring,

scratching, sucka zucka.

Give me no credit for
none of those things.

But what I will say it'd
be in totally impossible

to do any of those things

without what I invented.

[funky beats]

♪

[Shad] Grandmaster Flash,
Afrika Bambaataa, and Kool Herc

created Hip Hop's foundation

by spinning break beats
for people to dance to.

Their work is so fundamental
to creating Hip Hop,

that in Hip Hop circles they're
known by a loftier name:

The Holy Trinity.

But when people think about Hip Hop,
they don't picture DJ's.

They picture rappers.

So, how did rapping begin?

When did the beats meet the rhymes?

I've read you say that rap
was always there.

What do you mean by that?
"Rap was always there."

Well, rap was always there as, um...

You could go to the '30s
and you had Cab Calloway,

um, doing the "Hi-De Hi-De, Ho"

and the call and response back with that.

♪ Hi-de hi-de hi-de, hi ♪

♪ Hi-de hi-de hi-de, hi ♪

♪ Ho-de ho-de ho-de, ho ♪

♪ Ho-de ho-de ho-de, ho ♪

[GrandMixer DXT] And then
there's the gospel quartet guys.

♪ Oh, oh, Noah ♪

The gospel choir style
is more like sing rhyming.

♪ Stop still and listen' to me ♪

♪ God walked down to the brandy sea ♪

♪ He declared the eve of decent for man ♪

♪ And then he decide to destroy the land ♪

♪ He spoke to Noah and Noah stopped ♪

♪ He said, "Noah, I want you
to build me an ark" ♪

[Afrika Bambaataa] You could have the--
the poetry, um, rap of Gil Scott-Heron,

The Last Poets, The Watts Prophets,
Sonia Sanchez, Wanda Robinson.

Uh, you could have
the political rap of Malcolm X.

You talk about somebody's mama
that was coming with Muhammad Ali.

This may shock and amaze ya,
but I will destroy Joe Frazier.

Some people say you better watch
Joe Frazier. He's awful strong.

I said tell him to try Ban roll on.

[Nelson George] I just think
it's always been a, a black thing

to talk smooth, you know,

and-- and on a mic and be entertaining.

You talk about Barry White,

you talk about Issac Hayes.

I mean, there's a huge legacy
of rhythmic talking

over beats that Hip Hop
is an extension of.

And then also,
there is a style of talking over a mic

that comes out
of the radio DJ's of New York.

Gary Byrd,

Ken Spider Web,

Frankie Crocker,

these guys were super entertaining.

I mean, you can find Frankie Crocker tapes

where he's damn near rapping over beat.

[Frankie Crocker] Like I always say baby,
bound to put more dips in your hips,

more cut in your strut,

and more glide in your stride.

You see, they call me wax paper
'cause I'll rap on anything.

Call me aluminum foil
'cause my rap is so strong.

And when it gets good to 'em
they call me candy paper

'cause the rap is definitely sweet.

[Grandmaster Caz]
Frank Crocker's the first black cat

on the radio that you heard like that.

And, you know,
he'd say his little phrases,

Yes, indeed, baby doll.

You're now listening to the sounds
of the Grandmaster Caz.

All inside your mind one time
as we do it to you like this.

So, basically, that's where
the street DJ's picked that up,

did the same thing
and it evolved into what we do.

Frankie Crocker
is not a founder of Hip Hop

because he hated rap
but he hated it because

they kind of bit a lot of his shit.

[Shad] So then, who's the first person
that you saw rap

in the style
that we associate with hip hop today?

Controversial.

That's controversy right there.

There are a few, uh,
answers to that question.

A few different opinions.

But I tell ya,

out of New York disco came this cat,
DJ Hollywood.

Hollywood is the king of rap,
the first king of rap,

definitely, the golden voice,
you can't get around it.

He's the first guy I ever saw
do rhythmic rap.

♪ Everybody, clap your hands ♪

♪ Now, I don't mean to brag or boast ♪

♪ I'm like the hot butter
on your morning toast ♪

♪ I'm not a Duracell, I'm an alkaline ♪

♪ So, let's have a good time ♪

♪ That's right ya'll
And you don't stop, keep on ♪

♪ Yes, it's Hollywood ♪

♪ I turned out
because that is all I be about ♪

[Shad] I've heard from
some early pioneers

that you're the first rhythmic
rapper they ever saw.

So, who are your influences?

As a kid growing up, uh,
the things that I encountered,

uh, being with older people.

I heard Frankie Crocker,
and I heard The Last Poets,

and I heard Pigmeat Markham.

But I didn't know, at the time,
that that's what I was doing.

Okay, tell me about
Pigmeat Markham.

That's a name I've never heard.

[Pigmeat Markham] Hear ye, hear ye.
This court is now in session.

His Honor, Judge Pigmeat
Markham presiding.

[DJ Hollywood] Pigmeat Markham had
a record called, "Here Comes The Judge".

♪ Hear ye, Hear ye
The court is swinging ♪

♪ Just about ready to do that thing ♪

♪ I don't want no tears
Don't want no lies ♪

♪ And above all I don't want no alibis ♪

♪ This judge is hip and that ain't all ♪

♪ He'll give you time
if you're big or small ♪

♪ Fall in line, this court is deep ♪

♪ Peace, brother ♪

♪ Uh, oh! Here come the judge
Here come the judge ♪

♪ Everybody knows that
he is the judge ♪

♪

And the music would go...

[imitating music beat]

[imitating music beat]

"Here Come the Judge" is one
of the break beats we would rhyme over.

♪ Gather here, gather here
The court of swing ♪

♪ You're just about ready to ♪

That's absolutely what we're doing
in terms of Hip Hop.

♪ Hey, everybody, near and far ♪

♪ I'm going to Paris to stop this war ♪

♪ All those kids gotta listen to me ♪

♪ Because I am the judge
And you can plainly see ♪

♪ I wanna big round table when I get there
I won't sit down to one that's square ♪

♪ I wanna lay down the law
to them that brought it ♪

♪ I'll bust some head
because I am the judge ♪

[DJ Hollywood] Pigmeat Markham
introduced me to the flow of it

and the humor.

[singsong] Throw your hands in the air
and wave 'em like you just don't care.

If you got on clean underwear
somebody say, "Oh yeah."

♪ Just throw your hands in the air ♪

♪ Wave 'em like you just don't care ♪

♪ And if you came out
to work your body this morning ♪

♪ Somebody say, "Oh, yeah" ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

[DJ Hollywood]
I was able to tell a joke,

I was able to sing to some records,

I was able to just rap on other records.

And my love for making people smile

by saying things that's--
what be going on?

Hey is, how many-- how many ladies
in here are a brick house?

Yay!

Oh, that ain't no brick house.
That's a project.

♪ You just wiggle your hips
and you rub your knees ♪

♪ And you better do any way you please ♪

♪ Now, the best ways
to get into the swing ♪

♪ Is to act like you're
doing the shig-a-ling ♪

[Kurtis Blow] He was the master
of the crowd response.

I mean, he had people
eating out of his hand

because the crowd felt like
they were a part of the show.

That's what he brought into the table

and he did it with rhythm.

♪ Well I'm bonafide and I'm
qualified and I'm solidified ♪

♪ To do anything your heart can stand ♪

♪ So, it all depends on you ♪

♪ Now, I'm listed in the yellow pages
all around the world ♪

♪ I got 21 years' experience ♪

♪ In loving sweet, young girls ♪

That was his rhyme.

That rhyme right there
was his master rhyme

that everybody in New York
knew that rhyme.

Every MC mimicked that rhyme
in their repertoire.

[Russell Simmons]
DJ Hollywood and Eddie Cheba

and I guess you could say Lovebug Starski

were the ones who were the,
uh, more high-brow rappers.

But, you know, a lot of the rappers would
say these high-brow rappers,

they really weren't from the hip hop--
Of course they were, they were rappers.

They were great.

There were a lot of rappers in the street
and they were popular,

and they would draw a lot
of people for a dollar.

But Hollywood would draw people
for six dollars and fifty cents.

Hollywood was the one who got paid
and he's the one who had a big car.

So, Hollywood was the star.

[Melle Mel] The whole thing
boils down to this:

Hollywood was disco.

Hip hop was based
on the break beat, that beat.

The difference between a Hip Hop party

and a disco party, was like,
Hollywood and them

was rapping R&B and disco.

His shit was Love Is the Message.
Our shit was Apache.

They didn't really rock that,

you know, we was rockin'
that and break dancing.

You know, the b-boy shit.

In order to go to a Hollywood party,
you had to have a suit and tie on.

If you don't got no suit and tie on,
you're not getting inside.

And we were able to get
inside there sometimes,

and then we started breaking and he
would cut the music off and be like,

"Yo, we don't do that here. No, there's no
breaking here. We can't do that here."

[Grandmaster Caz] "Take that
Hip Hop shit out to the street.

Take that shit out to a Kool Herc party.

We grown and sexy up in here."
And that was their attitude.

Not just Hollywood,
but all of them club DJ's.

What can you say about the contention

that-- that comes from
a lot of the Bronx pioneers that say--

that say that disco
and Hollywood was a different thing?

Hip Hop lives because of this.

Because of the ability to communicate
with the spoken word and rhythm.

The rapper

is the one that brought
this thing over the top

and this is what Hollywood did.

I don't know people, you know,
have given him the proper respect.

And was he not Hip Hop?

He's Hip Hop, too.

Don't take my word for it.
Take the crowd's.

When you're talking about rap,
Hollywood was the best.

He's the best pure rapper.

He was the one who opened the door.

He was the one. He's the reason
they made a rap fucking record.

How 'bout that?

Hollywood's the reason that
rap records had to get made.

♪ Sha na na ♪

♪

♪ Take the train, take the train ♪

♪ Take the train ♪

♪ Hoo ha, hoo ha ♪

[Shad] To some, Harlem's DJ Hollywood
was hip hop's first rhythmic rapper.

But to others, as a disco DJ,

Hollywood isn't a part of Hip Hop at all.

And that's because the debate
about Hollywood is really

an argument about what makes
Hip Hop, Hip Hop.

And to the heads in the Bronx,

Hip Hop was all about the breaks.

So, I'm going back to the Bronx

to learn how Grandmaster Flash
helped form Hip Hop's first super group.

♪ We're the Furious Five
plus Grandmaster Flash ♪

♪ Giving you a blast to show the flash ♪

♪ So to prove to you all
we're second to none ♪

♪ We're going to make
5 MC's sound like one ♪

♪ We gotta dip with the dive ♪

[Grandmaster Flash] I decided to debut
at the park. I said to myself,

"I'm gonna play the most exciting pop
part, back to back back to back to back."

One, two to the beats.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

It had everybody in a frenzy.

Instead of everybody into a frenzy,

they were pushing past the
ropes trying to figure out

what it was that I was doing.

I didn't want fascination.
I wanted them to be dancing.

I-- I cried for, I don't know-- for days,

because I'm like, "After all this time
why won't this work?"

I decided I had to start talking,
but I couldn't talk very well and play.

So, I would put the microphone
on the other side of the table.

And anybody that can vocalize

could be on my team.

What happened with Flash

is he came into our neighbourhood,

it was like one of the jams
that he used to do in the park.

You know, so he used to just have a mic

and people used to give shout outs

or tell somebody your
mother's lookin' for 'em.

Or, you know, just something weird.

And, you know, Flash don't really got
a real good speaking voice.

He's not real quick and witty.

He's had all the technical skills.

And the whole time, me and
my brother, Kid Creole,

we used to practice it in the house.

You know, so we, you know,
was pretty polished,

you know, even before
we ever did anything.

And then he just laid
the mic down, you know,

and I pick up the mic,

and I started, you know,

started saying
my little rhymes or whatever.

And from-- from then on we was in.

♪

Hi, Mom.

♪

[Melle Mel] At first, it was
Grandmaster Flash with the three MC's.

That was Cowboy and my brother
Creole and me.

The fourth member was
a good friend of ours.

And he was a b-boy, too,
and that was the Scorpio.

And then we got
the fifth member from another

group and that was Rahiem.
So, that was the Furious Five.

♪ Introducing the crew
ya got to see to believe ♪

♪ We're one, two, three, four, five MCs ♪

♪ I'm Melle Mel and I rock it so well ♪

♪ And I'm Mr. Ness
because I rocks the best ♪

♪ I'm Rahiem in all
the ladies' dreams ♪

♪ And I'm Cowboy
to make ya jump for joy ♪

♪ I'm Creole, solid gold ♪

[Shad] What was the first time

you're presenting that kind of show

where the MC's are at the forefront?

Our party became different
because Flash might spin

a little bit but then we would come on,
and we would do a set.

It was more based on a show
than just a guy that talked on the mic.

We elevated it.

It's show time now.

[announcer] Ladies and gentlemen,

it's now the time

for the Grandmaster Flash
and the Furious Five MC's!

♪ We're coming, we're coming
We're coming ♪

♪ We're coming, we're coming
We're coming ♪

♪ We're coming, we're coming
We're coming ♪

♪ We're here ♪

[Melle Mel] Our thing became
more like a concert than a party.

We wanted to be elevated.

'Til then, MC'ing was
basically behind ropes.

Nobody really cared
if they was even seen or not.

But we wanted to be
up here and look down,

and we wanted the crowd
to be down there and looking up.

We gonna be heard and noticed.

That changed the dynamics
of Hip Hop from being

a DJ-orientated culture
to where the rap

is the dominant part of Hip Hop.

-♪ We're the kings of swing ♪
-♪ And we're chosen to rule ♪

♪ The deans of clean
inside the cool school ♪

♪ We're the chiefs of relief
contained by wild beasts ♪

♪ The finesse of the West
The masterpiece of the East ♪

Their routines,
where you're in and out with the five guys

and just the fun they were
having on a song.

They were just so incredible

that I just separated
them from anything else

going on in Hip Hop.

♪ When you come inside
there in the place tonight ♪

♪ We're gonna make you feel
fine and feel just right ♪

♪ Well, we're Grandmaster
Flash and the Five MC's ♪

♪ And we're guaranteed
to rock you to your knees ♪

♪ Huh huh ♪

So, at that point in time there

I knew that this thing was exploding.

Poof!

All of a sudden, you know,
the itinerary gets bigger.

We're doing two shows,
same day, different states.

So, we're on Lear jets.

From there... Germany, Paris.

We're co-headlining with
people like the Jacksons

and Rick James.

So, Hip Hop was going someplace.

♪ Like dynamite before it blows ♪

♪ Who needs a band
when the beat just goes boom ♪

♪ Just let us rock you ♪

[mellow acoustic guitar playing]

♪

♪

[Shad] Sometimes in Hip Hop,

we like to say that this music
and culture started from nothing.

But what I've actually discovered is that
Hip Hop comes from everything.

Hip Hop is funk
and rock and soul and jazz.

It's gospel and toasts and nursery rhymes.

It's even disco.

Hip Hop is also politics and technology

because these are the forces
that pushed it to become a culture.

But, more importantly, it's all
these things put together.

But as important as these pioneers are,

they're still only part of the full story.

In those early years,

Hip Hop was a largely underground culture

and a long way away
from taking over America.

No one had even made a rap record yet.

So, it's pretty clear my journey
has only just begun.

[break beats playing]