Product Review

R&B, disco, and funk were king in urban America during the mid-'70s. From Barry White to Johnnie Taylor, from Rick James to Johnnie Guitar Watson, from Parliament Funkadelic to the Jacksons. The NYC black DJ scene embraced and fostered the danceable side of these sounds, but in the Bronx, where the Jamaican influence was strongest, a DJ named Kool Herc and his Jamaican style sound system, The Herculords, were pioneering a new sound. He, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore, and others were looking for new funky beats and using turntable dexterity to give birth to hip-hop. Tommy Boy and Tom Silverman, who were instrumental in bringing hip-hop culture to the forefront of popular consciousness, unveil these beats that were the building blocks of the music. Here are 13 classic and hard to find tracks, with extensive notes by Silverman himself.