In the Bronx, street parties started sprouting up on a regular basis. In addition to Dj Kool Herc, the other main Djs in this burgeoning Bronx party scene were Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash. During these years, Herc, Bambaataa and Flash performed at house parties, street parties, and public parks, flooding the neighborhoods of the Bronx (particularly South) with dance music.



Grandmaster Flash - Read more about him here

As a child, Grandmaster Flash was fascinated with music and often played with his father's record collection, despite being told to stay away from it. He also loved all things electrical, and would often take apart whatever household appliance he could get his hands on. While studying to be an electrical technician, he saw Dj Kool Herc spin at a party. Inspired, Flash gave up his studies and devoted himself full-time to the wheels of steel, effectively combining hi two passions. A true innovator, his turntable skills are legendary.

DJ Cool Herc and Coke La Rock

Dated December 1976, this flyer advertises an early hip-hop show by DJ Kool Herc and Coke La Rock. Drawn on light pink paper, it features handwritten text and a freehand sketch of two dancing figures. Presented by the Teen Council, this Disco Smoker (as the event was described) was held at the Webster P.A.L. (Police Athletic League) in the Bronx. This rare handbill is one of the earliest hip-hop posters in Hip-Hop's: Now and Then collection.

Zulu Nation Graffiti Artwork

After seeing Dj Kool Herc perform around the neighborhood, gang leader and social activist Afrika Bambaataa got his won equipment and started throwing parties, eventually forming the Zulu Nation, a collective of Djs, breakers and graffiti artists. Bambaataa brought a political and social consciousness to hip-hop, and under his influence, ghetto youth begin to turn away from violence and toward music. The Cold Crush Brothers created the original artwork, and Dj Tony Tone, who at the time used the tag "Chain 2".



Grand Wizard Theodore

Grand Wizard Theodore - the younger brother of Grandmaster Flash's early partner, Dj Mean Gene - is credited with inventing scratching. Though Mean Gene forbade his younger brother to touch his equipment, Theodore would sneak into his room and fool around with the turntables while his other brother was at work. It was during one such episode that he invented scratching.