JOURNALIST JONATHAN ABRAMS spent the last four years compiling an enlightening, entertaining, and deeply researched history of hip-hop. Abrams traces the music’s humble beginning in the Bronx and DIY block parties to some of the most popular music in the world today. In this exclusive excerpt from “The Come Up: An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-Hop,” Abrams tells how the infamous 1977 New York City blackout helped electrify a sound and cultural force.
Bronx, New York, 1973–1979
Clive Campbell migrated as a child with his family from Jamaica to the United States in the late 1960s, leaving one country roiled by political instability for another. In Kingston, Campbell had become infatuated with the reggae and dub music that blared from giant portable sound systems, and DJs who toasted or talked over instrumental tracks. Campbell arrived in the Bronx during the reign of feel-good disco music, which intersected with the civil rights era and the dire financial straits of a New York City that was facing a declining population and labor unrest. Campbell involved himself in the city’s emerging graffiti scene — which had arrived after originating in Philadelphia — and assumed the tag name Kool Herc.
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