Can't Stop Won't Stop (Young Adult Edition): A Hip-Hop History

B-boying and b-girling is a form of dance that sprouted up in the early era of hip-hop. During the house and block parties that artists like DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa would hold, dozens of youths would show up to dance to their music. Because the music was of a new variety, including infinite breaks, mixing, and eventually sampling, a new style of dance evolved along with it. It is also referred to as breakdancing, as it was inspired by the dancing during the repeated breaks of hip-hop. B-boys and b-girls would compete with one another to see who could perform the wildest moves and build a reputation among the youth in their community. Both Black and Latinx communities of the Bronx contributed to the development of this high-energy, fast-footed dance style.

A DJ, or “Disc Jockey,” is a term for a musical artist who mixes and samples music on records, tapes, CDs, or digitally to create new songs or remixes of old songs. DJs were pivotal in pioneering the genre of hip-hop. Early masters, such as DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa led the way in gathering and uniting people and interweaving various genres to create their own unique musical