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US Senate Designates November As Hip Hop History Month

blame it on Meka August 3, 2021

Hip hop now has its own month and day.

(I mean, We’re still looking for justice and accountability, and instead we got those… But I’m digressing.)

On July 29, the US Senate passed S.Res.331, which is a resolution designating August 11, 2021, as “Hip Hop Celebration Day,” designating August 2021 as “Hip Hop Recognition Month,” and designating November 2021 as “Hip Hop History Month.”

“Whereas, on August 11, 1973, at a ‘‘Back To School Jam’’ organized by his sister Cindy Campbell and held at the recreation room of 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, New York, Clive ‘‘DJ Kool Herc’’ Campbell introduced his innovative style of disk jockeying and, together with the master of ceremonies engaging the crowd with rap on the microphone while partygoers known as B-boys and B-girls danced, introduced a new style, later known as ‘‘Hip Hop’’, which combined the elements of a disk jockey (commonly known as a ‘‘DJ’’), a master of ceremonies (commonly known as an ‘‘MC’’), music, art, fashion, and dance” the bill officially reads.

Kool Herc, as it’s well-known, is credited with inventing “the break,” in which two turntables are used to create a looping instrumental section of a song, initially aimed to give partygoers more time to dance to the song. That would lead to musicians and dancers creating and performing over breakbeats, ultimately giving birth to the most popular musical genre in the world.