By 1977, he and the Herculoids began to lose popularity to other acts like The Cold Crush and The Furious Five. He became a father and when Herc got stabbed, he decided to step away from the music and culture he helped start.
DJ Kool Herc and Coke La Rock, the pioneers of Hip-Hop attended the same high school, Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School in the Bronx. Kool Herc and Coke La Rock first met at their High School in the Bronx of New York.
The two would become good friends and DJ Kool Herc would eventually throw the first Hip-Hop Jam party as a Back to School Party for his sister Cindy Campbell. Herc would then throw more jams and Coke La Rock would perform at these jams, making him the first MC/rapper ever.
Coke La Rock confirmed this in our upcoming documentary!
After Coke LA Rock hyped the crowd performing alongside DJ Kool Herc at his sister’s back-to-school jam party the night of August 11th, 1973. Coke LA Rock became Hip-Hop’s first MC.
Coke La Rock didn’t have a stage name and performed out of sight from the crowd, so nobody knew who was rapping. La Rock had different MC names, beginning as “A-1 Coke” and then “Nasty Coke” before it was finalized as “Coke La Rock” at the fifth or sixth party. Coke La Rock’s raps (which were similar to the Jamaican tradition of “toasting”) were shoutouts to his friends, before he wrote actual poetry in his lyrics. La Rock originated phrases such as “You rock and you don’t stop” and “Hotel, motel, you don’t tell, we won’t tell” (later used in The Sugarhill Gang’s single “Rapper’s Delight”, but La Rock didn’t receive any credit).
Coke La Rock also rapped,
“There is not a man that can’t be thrown A horse that can’t be rode A bull that can’t be stopped There is not a disco that I Coke La Rock can’t rock”
Coke La Rock retired from Hip-hop after Kool Herc was stabbed at a party, He didn’t want to be a part of the hip-hop scene if there was going to be that kind of violence.
When was Hip-Hop created? and Who started Hip-Hop?
On August 11th, 1973, Hip-Hop was born at a “back to school jam” birthday party in the Bronx. 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, the Bronx, New York, USA. The Party was hosted by Clive Campbell AKA Dj Kool Herc. DJ Kool Herc, an 18-year-old Jamaican-American DJ, spun the turntables at the birthday party for his sister Cindy Campbell.
DJ Kool Herc, performed the ground breaking art form of the Merry-Go-Round, playing the same two records, isolating the funkiest percussion sections, extending those five second break beats into five minutes of dance fury. Then came the MC, or the Master of Ceremony, who added the rhymes over the beat to get the party going and flowing.
In the Bronx, DJ Kool Herc’s friend Coke La Rock hyped up the crowd with a microphone. And from then on, Hip-Hop was born. DJ Kool Herc’s parties featured a new style of dance, Herc called these dancers b-boys. Eventually DJ Kool Herc had to move the party outside from 1520 Sedgwick Ave. to Cedar Park.
Hip-Hop doesn’t just refer to music, it’s a subculture and art movement that was developed by African Americans and Puerto Ricans during the 1970s. DJ Kool Herc is known today as the founding father of “Hip-Hop”.
