When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop

In the early 1970s, a new sound was born in the Bronx: hip hop. DJ Kool Herc, a young Jamaican-American DJ, took the breakbeats from funk and soul records and extended them using multiple turntables and a mixer. This new sound, combined with rapping and breakdancing, became a cultural phenomenon that spread across the city and eventually the world. Laban Carrick Hill's When the Beat Was Born tells the story of DJ Kool Herc and the creation of hip hop, from its roots in Jamaican sound systems to its explosion into the mainstream. With vibrant illustrations by Theodore Taylor III, this book is a must-read for anyone who loves hip hop and wants to understand its origins and cultural significance.