Growing up in New York City in the 70s was a tough yet simpler time where imagination and creativity fostered activity and success.
Cable television was barely in its infancy, payphones were the form of communication and school playgrounds and empty lots were home to the daily games we all played, for staying inside wasn’t an option.
The city was nowhere near as developed as it is today, and environmental segregation divided the city into neighborhoods with varying demographics and reputations. That forced areas lacking resources to find creative ways to survive and exist every day without the amenities, concerns and opportunities that other areas possessed.
But from those hardships arose a sound and culture that became a dominant cultural typhoon that engulfed not only the city but the entire globe.
At that time, the days of disco and bellbottoms were fleeting and something new was craved by all. A new style, a new sound and a new attitude.
That arrived in the Bronx on August 11th, 1973.
I was only two at the time, so I was too young to attend DJ Kool Herc’s party in the community room at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, but his party gave rise to one of the most powerful influences in my life.
In 1979, the Sugar Hill Gang released “Rapper’s Delight,” widely credited as the first hip-hop record. Sampling Chic’s “Good Times,” the song signaled the arrival of something different, where wordplay, not singing, would be leading the music. My father bought me the group’s first album, “Sugar Hill Gang,” an album I still have today.
While that introduced me to the new sound, I was a little young to truly appreciate it.
But that changed a few years later when I heard, “It’s like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder, how I keep from going under.”
“The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five grabbed me like a magnet and I was hooked. It was a sound and style that I couldn’t get enough of.
Then came “Planet Rock” by Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force, another record my father, who knew nothing about the music except that I liked it, bought for me.
Next came a pair of navy blue suede Pumas with fat maroon laces, a Le Tigre windbreaker that folded up into a pouch and Adidas sweatpants. My friends brought the cardboard and kneepads and we were outside breaking with other kids in the neighborhood to the new sounds blaring out of JVC boom boxes in the streets and parks across the city.
I was fortunate that I grew up near Rock Steady Park on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, so I was able to watch big-time breakers like Crazy Legs spin himself silly during park battles.
While the fashion grew to include brands such as Fila, Le Coq Sportif, FUBU, Echo, Karl Kani, Cross Colors and many others, it was the music that kept me hooked.
When “Wild Style” and “Beat Street” were released, my friends and I saw them at the original Lowes 84th 6 theater. I immediately begged my father to buy me the movie soundtracks on vinyl and cassette and played them incessantly while trying to perfect moves like Mr. Wave from “Beat Street.”
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