La Rock, Coke
1955- · Contribution: 1973-1977
MC & Hip-Hop Pioneer
Widely regarded as hip-hop's first MC; the vocalist who rhymed and shouted over DJ Kool Herc's breakbeats at the 1973 Bronx party now considered hip-hop's birthplace, establishing the role of the rapping master of ceremonies.
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Quick facts
- Born
- 1955
- Active since
- 1973
- Category
- Arts, Music & Entertainment Tech
- Best known for
- Hip-hop's first MCRhymed over Kool Herc's breaksOriginal Herculord
Impact on the world
La Rock originated the role of the MC, the rhyming vocalist who would become hip-hop's most visible figure. He gave the new music its voice.
An alternative history
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Sources
- Source lookupFind
Rolling Stone
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Related visionaries
Kool Herc, DJ (Clive Campbell)
1955-
Jamaican American DJ widely credited as the father of hip-hop; at a 1973 Bronx party he pioneered the 'breakbeat', using two turntables to isolate and loop the danceable instrumental 'break' of a record, creating the musical and cultural foundation from which rap and hip-hop grew.
Flash, Grandmaster (Joseph Saddler)
1958-
DJ turntablism techniques (scratching, breakbeat manipulation)
Jay-Z (Shawn Corey Carter)
1969-present
Became one of the most commercially successful and influential rappers in history, with 14 number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and 25 Grammy Awards, the first rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017 and the first living solo hip-hop artist inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021, while building a business empire that made him hip-hop's first billionaire
Last Poets, The
1968-
Harlem spoken-word collective, formed in 1968, whose confrontational, socially conscious poetry set to conga rhythms is widely credited as a direct forerunner of rap; often called 'the godfathers of hip-hop.' (Group/collective entry.)