DJ Kool Herc, hip-hop pioneer
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Kevin Jackson, Observer writer
Friday, October 08, 2004
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| DJ Kool Herc... I live my life as a simple person |
It has been 30 years since hip-hop hit the music scene in the United States. DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican who migrated to the US in the late 1960s, is credited with founding the genre which later evolved into rap music. Tribute will be paid to DJ Kool Herc and other figures in hip-hop and rap music beginning Tuesday, October 12 when popular US music channel VH1 premieres And You Don't Stop: 30 Years of Hip-Hop, a five-part documentary series.
DJ Kool Herc is credited as the originator of break-beat deejaying, which is basically the essence of hip-hop. By isolating and repeating the "breaks", or most danceable parts, of funk records by Mandrill, James Brown, and the Jimmy Castor Bunch, Herc created the prototype for modern-day hip-hop.
Although he started his deejaying career in the early 1970s at a time when disco was king, Herc immediately distinguished himself. He was notorious for throwing all-night parties, and invariably present at these parties were young dancers who were early precursors of the break-dancers of the 1980s. Another Kool Herc attraction was his mammoth sound system.
Herc's career was sidelined, however, when he was stabbed at one of his parties, causing the DJ to curb his activities for several years.
Though he was occasionally acknowledged during the 1990s, appearing at the Source Awards to talk about hip-hop's early days as well as on the 1994 release Super Bad by Public Enemy DJ Terminator, X.
Splash caught up with DJ Kool Herc at his New York apartment last week. The interview with Herc is printed below.
Kevin Jackson (KJ): How did you come by the name DJ Kool Herc?
KH: It came from a commercial that was on television in Jamaica at the time. I was also a very aggressive basketball player and when I was jumping real high, a guy started to call me Hercules. And the shortened version of Hercules is Herc. That's how the name came about.
KJ: What's your real name?
KH: Clive Campbell. My father was called Skeemer and he ran a garage in downtown and it later moved to Newport West.
KJ: Where did you live when you were in Jamaica?
KH: I lived at Second Street in Trench Town and then I later moved to Upper York Street in Franklyn Town.
KJ: What school you attended in Jamaica?
KH: I went to Alpha Primary School. I haven't been to Jamaica in a while but I am not a stranger.
KJ: How does it feel to be a pioneer?
KH: I keep it grounded. I live my life as a simple person. I do have a status. I keep my head grounded. I live a simple life. I walk the streets and most times I am unrecognised. People from the beginning know who I am and they tell their kids. People still recognise me and give me my props.
KJ: When you were growing up, who were your musical influences?
KH: Prince Buster, Don Drummond, the Skatalites, Big Youth, Daddy U Roy, Sir Coxsone Dodd (whom I met a few years ago when he came to New York), and another influence was my father.
KJ: How has hip-hop evolved and has it shaped or improved the image of black people in general?
KH: As far as the fashion statement is concerned, the youths have made a statement. It has its pluses and its negatives. The opportunities that came out of it nobody expected it. It bridges the races, the black and the white. Hip-hop is now into politics and it has given us movie stars, sitcoms and it really has elevated us.
KJ: Talk about the early days.
KH: When I got here (United States), a lot of the records from Jamaica were covers of American songs. I tried to make the yard music blend in with the American music. First of all I was a dancer. I was the person at the turntable and I later moved into the audience and did my thing in the crowd. I was also heavy into my graffiti work spraying buses and trees with my graffiti. I began to have house parties and people were coming out to enjoy themselves. The block parties were the rage back then. That's how hip-hop really started.
KJ: Do you think you have gotten your props as far as being the originator of hip-hop music is concerned?
KH: No, not at all. I am still here, I am not destitute, I am not locked up anywhere, and I am still doing my music and working. People have dropped my name in interviews, but it's not the same.
KJ: How old are you?
KH: That's a trivia question. (laughs).
KJ: What do you do on a day to day basis?
KH: I still play music and I am a promoter.
KJ: What are your thoughts on dancehall and Reggae?
KH: It's a long time coming. Hip-hop and reggae are cousins. It was just a matter of time before the merging took place. Just like the down south rappers. They rap about their people. Now dancehall is carrying the swing for hip-hop. I like how Beenie Man is doing his thing, Sean Paul and the others. Ever since U Roy began his thing, it was just a matter of time before it got the international respect it deserved.
KJ: How do you feel about VH-1 honouring hip-hop?
KH: It's a good move but they never did their homework.
KJ: In terms of new hip-hop acts, who do you listen to?
KH: LL Cool J and Kanye West. West does his thing differently. There are a few others I like, Fat Joe, Noriega, Common and Talib Kwali, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott. They talking about Neo Soul, there is no Neo Soul business, its soul music.
KJ: I heard that there is a major hip-hop event being planned for Negril in Jamaica sometime next year, tell us about that.
KH: Yes, it's going to happen. Barry Long (DIA) is working on it. It's going to be for Memorial Day. He is working with the Jamaica Tourist Board and other entities to make it happen. It's going to be a festival of hip-hop and Reggae music. I hope I live to see it materialise.
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