Beginnings of DJ-ing

Many people have heard of DJs, and DJing, but where does the name come from? How did it originate? DJs, known as disc jockeys, originated in the early 1970s. DJing and the DJ culture really propelled Hip Hop to the forefront of the music industry. It is important to note that Hip Hop is not Rap and Rap in not Hip Hop. Rap is simply an element of Hip Hop and Hip Hop culture is not solely predicated on rap.

At the time, funk and disco music was most popular. DJs emerged from the South Bronx neighborhood of New York City. The type of environment that DJs grew up in were with drugs, violence, gangs and extremely poor living conditions. The DJ was the part organizer, thus the whole idea of DJing and a DJ party was escapism; people would go to escape the violence and drugs and gangs.

The first prominent DJ was DJ Kool Herc, whose name was really Clive. He absorbed the culture of New York City. DJ Kool Herc was actually in one of the first gangs from the South Bronx, The Savage Seven, who had members between the ages of 12 and 15.

With this new DJ culture, there was a transition away from gangs and now more to social groups. People would go to these preplanned DJ parties that had strict rules. This let the parties become more proactive socially and to promote non-violence. What made DJs popular is that they were not selling a product, they were selling a party, and everyone always wants a good party.

DJing is just the start of the evolution of Hip Hop and Hip Hop culture. Eventually MCs come about, which is something totally different from DJing. Also breaking was a huge part of Hip Hop culture, which was discussed in an earlier post, and graffiti was the signal element of the entire Hip Hop evolution.

Check out the video of DJ Kool Herc explaining the technique of Merry Go Round.

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