Rock The Bells is celebrating Hip-Hop History Month this November with a series that delves into the genre's four foundational elements: DJing, MCing (rapping), graffiti writing, and breakdancing (b-boying). This week, we honor the DJ.

The Hip-Hop producer has morphed from its earliest iteration as either a musician/arranger or a label head. The label head was the executive producer who often chose the music bed that the artist would rap over. This form of the producer had some say so concerning subject matter, arrangement and even vocal coaching in many instances.

Musicians and multi instrumentalists such as Pumpkin and Larry Smith were credited as producers in the early days of the rap record. As it often does, technology tends to bury those who don't embrace it, and only the musicians who embraced and mastered the technology of the early '80's were able to advance, remain relevant and enjoy the fruits of Hip-Hop's upcoming quantum leap.

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