Kimani Krienke

Hip-hop was supposed to be a fad. The influential genre that would eventually swallow the world and spit out the truth was supposed to die in the Bronx streets it grew up in. It was meant to bump in block parties, not sending anything more than a ripple outside of the United States. After all, hip-hop was started by a bunch of kids messing around in New York City. At least that’s what the media in the 1970s and ’80s thought about the new music and dance craze. RECOMMENDED: Spinning Back to the Beginning of Hip-Hop with Grandmaster Flash  Grandmaster Flash, one of the founding fathers of hip-hop and the creator of the Quick Mix Theory, remembers the annoyance he felt being told the genre he was helping to foster wouldn’t live beyond being a trend. “You know, it’s really, really annoying to hear that, especially being one of the inventors of it. To look at a magazine in that time frame between the late ‘70s and ‘80s saying, ‘Oh, it’s great right now, but it’s not going to be here so long.’ That was so annoying,” the DJ and producer admits to Time Out New York.  “And here we are.” Hip-hop is a music genre and cultural movement that originated through African Americans in the South Bronx, New York City, in the 1970s. The phenomenon has moved unapologetically to its own beat since. From genre manipulation to genre integration, the artists have followed suit for five decades. As hip-hop turns 50 on August 11—the official anniversary characterized by a house party that took place in

Joseph Saddler, aka Grandmaster Flash, was just “some guy” when he was thrust into the music industry in the 1970s. Dissatisfied with the length of drum solos on records, he invented the “Quick Mix Theory,” and played block parties with his turntables in Crotona Park and other borough parks. He found that his little slice of New York was intrigued and open-minded enough to hear his new spin on pre-existing music. It was the beginning of a musical revolution for everyone—”babies, grandmas, the police,” he remembers. It was the beginning of the intergenerational, barrier-breaking, beat-manipulating, globally-profound genre of hip-hop. And little did he know, he would become an icon. But 50 years later, he still says he is just “some guy.” RECOMMENDED: Celebrate 50 years of hip-hop with these NYC events and exhibits “I like the idea of turning off Grandmaster Flash whenever I can. And just being Joseph,” he tells Time Out New York. “And there’s times when I have to turn on Grandmaster when I’m getting ready to hit on the stage.” The DJ and producer will embody both sides of himself when he returns to Crotona Park at 5pm on Friday, August 4, for a special revival event—”Birth of a Culture: The Four Elements Block Party“—to highlight the humble beginnings of hip-hop in the Bronx and some of the people who elevated it. Joining the celebration will be several of Flash’s friends and other playmakers of the culture. The public has the chance to take it back to where Flash and so many