Image via Wikipedia Afrika Bambaataa is one of the pioneers of breakdancing. He saw dancing as a way for young people to get together and accomplish something positive. To that end, he started one of the first breakdancing crews, The Zulu Kings. Soon after that, crews started to pop up everywhere. Breakdancing battles saw these…

What you need to do right now is to clear a spot on your kitchen floor, on your living room floor if you’ve got hardwood, or if you only have carpet, put some cardboard down and get ready because this is the breakdance edition of Know Your History. I’m just kidding. I can’t dance, and…

Image via Wikipedia I think the first time someone ever saw a permanent marker, they had a desire to write their name on the wall. It’s almost primal, that need to create on the surfaces available. We could get slabs of rock or canvases to write on and leave the walls of the city alone.…

Welcome to Episode 8 of Know Your History, your monthly dose of hip-hop knowledge. Today we will be focusing on graffiti art, which may prove to be a challenge because I can’t show you what we are talking about on this radio show (download this show for free, stream it with the player below, or…

Today we continue our coverage of Know Your History: Episode 7 – Rap Moves Out of New York. If you missed Part 1 you can go back and read it now or you can stream the entire show with the player below. Don`t forget that you can download it for free as well. Without further ado,…

Welcome to Episode 7 of Know Your History, your monthly dose of hip-hop knowledge.  You can stream this show with the player below, download it for free, or read this transcript.  It’s important to remember that everything is built upon what has come before. We take it for granted that we have samplers, laptops, and…

We just played a track called “Friends” by Whodini that gets classified as an old-school track. However, it is important to note that when that track was released, old-school as a genre or a term didn’t even exist. Now we define old-school hip-hop as containing a simple drum pattern, a bass-line, and a few sparse…

Welcome to the sixth installment of Know Your History. This is the show where we explore the rich culture that is hip-hop. You can download this show for free, stream it with the player at the bottom of the post, or read it here on the blog. Whatever you choose to do, thanks for tuning…

This is the conclusion of the transcript for Episode 5 of Know Your History. If you missed reading Part 1 you can go back and read it now. You can also download the radio show for free or stream it with the player below.  In 1978, the term “rap music” came into existence. Most people…

Welcome to Know Your History, your monthly dose of hip-hop knowledge. This is the transcript of the fifth installment of the show. If you haven’t been with us for the previous four, you can download each episode for free or stream them with the player at the bottom of the posts. You can also read…