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Story by Justin Zabel & Sean Bessette Design & Illustrations by Sarah Stewart In the late 1970s, the first wave of hip-hop music emerged. Over 40 years later, the genre is still working to be more inclusive of queer artists with the emerging prominence of performers like Lil Nas X; Tyler, The Creator; Frank Ocean and more. Queer artists are changing the narrative around hip-hop music, but they wouldn’t have the opportunity to if it wasn’t for DJ Kool Herc.
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hip-hop’s origins DJ Kool Herc is from Jamaica and grew up in the Bronx. His music career began out of the back of his car. He used his boombox to get people’s attention and get them to the next apartment party by playing the sounds of Jamaica. He wanted everyone to come together and have a great time while listening to his words instead of those words from the boombox. At these parties, Kool Herc was the “DJ.” The DJ is one singular part of a team that creates the hip-hop sound. “You have a DJ, you have an MC, and you have the breakdancers B-boys and B-girls. It was really the DJs and the
