Happy Birthday Hip Hop [Aug. 11, 1973 – Present]

Obviously, no single reference point in history can pinpoint the start of a cultural movement as large as hip hop. When attempting to date hip hop, and by extension, hip hop music, the timeframe has always been hotly debated among those who care about such a thing. Even the place of birth has been a source of controversial debate, some even pointing outside of the New York area as the place where the true seeds of the musical and cultural revolution were planted.

But for those who are convinced that the Bronx begot hip hop, and that in a certain building, on a certain block, existed the womb in which its embryo was nurtured, many point to a single event, on a single day as being a flashpoint for the artistic explosion to follow.

Today is the anniversary of that day, August 11, 1973, when a “Back To School Jam“ was thrown in the recreation room at the infamous 1520 Sedgwick Ave., by one Kool Herc. AllHipHop summed it up, and explained what followed, on the anniversary date last year.

So to those who truly love the music and culture, from those who partied with Herc, grew up in the “Golden Era”, or are basking in its current worldwide acceptance, we at BirthplaceMag.com, who do what we do for the love of it, and for the love of the streets in which it was born, salute you hip hop.

Happy Birthday.