Last weekend, a legendary name in hip-hop DJ Kool Herc fell ill. The blogosphere has been slowly doling out the details: Herc has kidney stones and the father of a major musical movement lacks the funds to cover surgery.
Jeff Chang, a writer and friend who called in a favor from Herc in introducing his 2005 book Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, has set up a relief fund help the impoverished artist shore up the funds for the surgery, http://www.djkoolherc.com/.
Herc is a native of Jamaica, but grew up the Bronx playing basketball (his skill and height getting him the nickname of “Cool Hercules”) and coaxing his dad into getting him James Brown records. He began playing records in clubs and began to develop techniques to manipulate the music,such as extending the breaks in songs on vinyl thus giving birth to the “breakbeat.” Hip-hop historians also credit Herc with pioneering rap, break-dancing and a formidable list of contributions as chronicled by The New York Times and Time.
