

When the Beat Was Born.jpg

Have you ever wondered why we say "break dancing?"  Where was that label born?  Well, take a walk in the shoes of Little Clive Campbell who started life in Jamaica listening to the cool sounds of DJ George with his piles and piles of records.

Little Clive dreamed of being a DJ.  He moved to New York City to live with his mama and grew to be six foot five inches tall.  The Little Clive was gone and Kool Herc was born.

Music had captured Kool Herc.  He watched how dancers enjoyed the music that played when the lyrics were in a "break" during a song and he figured out how to make those breaks twice as long.

In the world where he lived gangs ran the streets but when they heard DJ Kool Herc spin his records, they all stopped fighting and started break dancing.

One man made all the difference.  One man created the musical style we know as hip hop with its Toprock, Downrock, Windmill, the Turtle, and the One-Handed Handstand Freeze.

The use of brown and black backgrounds and fonts deliver the message that this is about the kids of color in the South Bronx and the music that sprang up from the brilliance of Kool Herc.

The author features a timeline from 1973-1986 showing how hip hop grew during the life of Kool Herc!

A bibliography is also shared.

978-1596435407    32pages  Ages  6-10

Recommended by:  Barb

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