Coming up next. DJ cool Herk a Jamaican American DJ who is credited with
being one of the founders of hip hop music in the Bronx, New York
City. In nineteen seventy three, nicknamed the father of hip hop, DJ
cool Herk began playing hard funk records of the sort typified by James Brown,
hip hop legend. Cool Herk joins Bob Lee to share more about the mark
he has left on the hip hop industry. Coming up next, welcome back
everybody. We got. DJ Vince Bracy under one to two is cutting it
up in the back end. Can you hear? You got the Mini system
though. Going on, you'll have the big Macintosh blue face amplifier, the
voice of the theaters speak with a deal over there with Dynamite. Our next
Cuss has made his mark in the hip hop world and joins us today.
This ship all about his great work and upcoming celebration. We welcome cool Herk,
DJ Coolhirk and song Well you can introduce my brother here. This is
Songless, up and coming act homegrown from the Bronx. Song Less in the
house. Here we go here you looking out for him? He have the
crew in the back and hit her. Let me hear, let me hear,
let me hear. Hello, we're welcome to the show man. You've
been doing a lot of stuff in our community. You know you are down
as a person who started a lot of this stuff and in this game.
Yes, tell us beginning right, you know, originally I'm from Jamaica,
Kingston, Jamaica. Yeah, Trenston, Trenstone, rock Up, Kingston Boy
and all that stuff. Nineteen sixty seven, came to this country, you
know, better life, family, and we landed in the Bronx. Uh,
you know, six eleven East, one hundred and sevent days. Yet
don't forget had a dress to using off avenue that their dress is very important?
Is that the place we're gonna build the building? No, that's the
first they called it, the first boom coming from Jamaica, the A C
brit It's open line airline, I know that's right. Yeah, and one
A team my old Alma motto. So how did you get involved in music?
Because in Jamaica had got the biggest sound systems out there, and against
saw that as soon agether. My father's a mechanic. He worked Keith Campbell,
he work on Kingston warf garage to Harbor Street and it was in Foreman
and a lot of music is coming off the ship. You know. I
remember when Ben Crosby while Christmas came, you know, the whole thing,
jim Ma Rees, Dela Reese and Elephantzgerald. I mean, Needa Simone,
your armstrong it was. Let me know that. You know, that's a
good bounce, that's a good all of that stuff. Yes, you love
music. It's like a called a kingston By Ga used to take his ganga
got dog. Yeah, so he used to take his music. And did
you have what turntables? Did you have back then? I was in gir
automatic joints. Yeah, then after a while we got we got the non
belt one one, but we could manually move from there. I'm going downtown
to Harvey's Equipment store and other places. Got thorn turntable and I sold the
thorns. I remember the Thorn was driven turntables at the top of the line
too. But where they come eleven hundred a technique, that's a big one.
That's big for the twelve hundred. Yes, that's the main thing.
I don't care what they put in. They can't beat that eleven hundred eight.
Yeah, you can take a spool of thread, take all the thread
off and put it on the spindle and put a record on top of it
like a little you know, gonna put something like a piece of pen and
turn the needle upside down and play a record backwards on the eleven hundred,
I have them Dinosaur job. So so you used to play with the Voice
of the Theaters. Yes, I was going downtown to I saw this one
of the theater in the Pollo Theater when they had them and they went to
ast. That's because the big boys come. I was. I was building
my system up DJ from the Bahamas called the Amazing Birth. It was going
to Fortum and had the grant money to buy j L. I just got
the name of that speaker from birth out of Amazing Birth that was. That
was Big Berth. He had the GLI system though, that I love.
Yeah. Yeah, the four folded horns, two voices, the theaters in
the side, two macintalk twenty two hundred and some thorn turntables. Yeah,
five band equalized the JVC and a reverb. Wow. It surrounding with music.
Don't hurt your aid to feel it? Yeah, you can feel it?
Yes, so you had the the amplifiers, a blue face, big
Max. Yes you still have those, Yes, I still you have all
your original equipment from back then. Smoke it up. People put some money
in that. I couldn't do that. I didn't stay right there. And
the clergy came to my house and say, what's going on with the other
thing? Is still downstairs's campbell? Because she calls you a black hawk down
So so before we get into uh my man, here, listen, tell
us one thing. How did you get started the hip hop? Because you
are named as a person. I love that I was. I was athletic
clan Clark, come from Jamaica as a cyclist. I liked my bicycle,
My legs was developed, and I was spending very aggressive basketball. A lot
of names tried to stick on me. I didn't like it, so I
stuck with her was Hercules. I didn't like it, so I said,
what's just shot up for hercle said herk And back home, back in the
neighborhood, I had the name cool. I put the two names together because
I first kept in this country. They were trying to call me Clyde,
but my name is not Clyde. Is Clive. The biggest person there was
Clyde Wart Fraser. Yeah, but after my father started calling me hurt,
that was it, you know. So it came about you like my music,
I said, buy my records, a cousins. I was by my
records that rhythm Dan Ms T Richard t on Treeman Avenue, off Avenue and
downstairs record next from down forty second Street. It was downstairs. I just
like rare music music I should be on the radio. That's not on the
radio. That's where you found me at. So my record zone has a
cool work break and you found hip hop. Yes, well I never named
it, but people so go down there to the little Gutta rats go down
there. I was like, give me your sneeker wearing, your gene wearing,
come here. But it was respect. There was never no fights with
never don hang in for the building, in the building or anything an how
was you got it? Hurt? You got it? So I was like
a big brother over to me. And in the building we got burnt out.
So we got relocated to the to the Congress Plaza Hotel. We stayed
there till we mother finds something fifteen twenty Missus Campbell. We found a nice
building, brand new made to d and Harvey Pallor said, the avenue,
and we have two bathrooms. Ooh, two bathrooms and Dad will probably come
home, you know what I'm saying. So and then the recreation was there
for any meeting, any birthday, any birthday, wedding, twenty five hours
to rent it. So my sister's going back to schools working you core job,
and I mean, and I had one of those so neighbor. All
they was to ask me to protect them. To go take this. I
had to have a squad of people around me. But it started out,
you want to give a party back to school, and I was heaving to
my graffita and my music. A part of the called the puzzle on River
Avenue hundreds to seventh, then the then the tunnel on the Hunters to first
and look out of the Path hotel, which I had to come back to
the party after I moved out of there. And then they started to spread
spread because the gangs was turning up the parties and stuff. And this was
convening two bathrooms, recreation room, kitchen. I play my music from the
room, observed the floor. I was DJing at one part of co Op
City and the gangs came in in, tore up. They left me,
They left me alone. I had everything, everything around. They asked me
to be divisionally. I wasn't with it, you know what I'm saying.
I have my friend black Spades back then was as a friends. I was
chief in a divisional leader that asked me, I don't need it, you
know what I'm saying. I wasn't putting them down. But after you need
from a bunch of people by yourself, with a gang yourself. How has
hip hop changed? It turns a whole lot. First of all, I
provide a payroll, you know, giving kids another way to get out of
the neighborhood. It's not jumping, urnning fast at selling drugs music. I
called it black gold ghetto steam. And you're still DJing today. Enough games.
I still my wax waxes. I'm a John Henry of it. I
still pay my wax quality, high fidelity, and and I'm with you know
new stuff too. I don't stand in progress, you know, I always
have. I called it up and coming rookie to be involved. You share
it and you have a big event coming up. Yes, it's at the
Andrew Freeman Home. Uh five, The Grand Concourse between Hunts six, Huntrety
fifth across the street from the mansion. Basically at the mansion. Well,
I have prop have a have a birthplace. But now we have a home
and we're not at the bottom. Now we're in the Grand Concourse and anything
six blocks away from Yankee Stadium's business here. When is this party coming up?
It's going to be May tenth, the day before Mother's Day. Yes,
and this was from March first. It was just coming up on.
That's coming up. Yeah, and you on this weekend. Yeah, from
the car and guy you know, Ralph Medaniel. We got Melly mel we
got Treaded, some black Sheep. We got Dana Dane and also Chante Roxanne
you know she's she's hosting. And got Jerry Jerry Leader. That's going to
be the other room. We got three rooms, an easier La gonna have
one of the rooms. There's a young man sitting next to you coming.
Oh yeah, I'm looking at looking at the my label. Now no more
seeds added to me, So what's happening with your label? Introduce this young
man. This this is homegrown songless songlesseners. And now let him hear you
your songless Lo to the Hello Homegrown. Definitely, it's up there with Neo,
He's up there with Usher. Somebody gonna make his stamp on the music
business. Oh here you ready for this? Hello to the Hello, Hello
to the Hello, A quick little something something. I feel like I finally
leave fashion, my queen. I please, no one up, brother,
you treat you raw, You leave Dotyn, stop thinking about you even in
my sleep. Nah no, Dna. We were me to be. Let
him hear you, y'all, let him hear you. He's gonna be on
the tap. There you go. You want to have this platform, it's
gonna be. You're gonna be in one of the rooms. Huh oh yeah,
we're gonna put it. We're gonna put it down, all right.
Yeah. Some other people with him on the CD that they have to be
contacted. Please, they're one of the three records. I'm feeling right off
the back, ready to go. And there's some more stuff to it now,
but these are three. A producer, extraordinary, Helen Greenberg. She
has to get you to come in and do some stuff for us. Okay,
give give Helen Greenberg a big round applause, everybody. I can't I
can't thank you now. She really puts it together. She knows matter,
do her thing. She's silent, but she takes care of business. Also
read Alert the dj J, Let's Go Mad and I see him all the
time over there. And Brad Fox that man Reggae and also super Mic Beautiful
that's Brad's that's Brad's nephew. God restss sour from Grand Groove Man, met
the record, the label catch the Beat, that's his. Where can we
get more information on this? Is there a website or right now the website?
Not? There more? An US in the Bronx on the Grand Concourse.
Come check it out or go to the Andrew Freeman