DJ Kool Herc and the Birth of the Breakbeat

Fresh Air

Published August 29, 2005 at 12:00 AM EDT

DJ Kool Herc is known as the father of the DJ breakbeat — isolating and repeating breaks, the most danceable portions of songs that form part of the foundation of modern hip-hop. He also wrote the introduction to the recent book Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation by Jeff Chang.

Kool Herc kicks off Fresh Air's Hip-Hop Week, featuring interviews with the greatest names in rap. (This interview originally aired March 30, 2005.)

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