DJ Kool Herc

Herc said he just wanted to see people having a good time. A hulking 6'5" in a cowboy hat, Kool Herc was named after Greek mythology's biggest meathead and a 100-mm cigarette known as a Filter King. in 1967 he emigrated to the Bronx from Kingston, Jamaica, as Clive Campbell, and became the first and loudest Hip Hop DJ. One advantage to living in a borough deprived of basic services: noise ordinances could be heartily flouted. Though there were quite a few "godfathers of Hip Hop" running around the Bronx in the '70s-from B-boys to aerosol bombers-history leans hard on three DJs: Kool Herc, a retired gang warlord named Afrika Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Flash, a tech freak known for his behind-the-back mixing. This trinity would acknowledge many others: Hollywood, Eddie, Cheba, Breakout (Funky 4 + 1 More), AJ (Kurtis Blow's DJ), Disco King Mario (representing Latinos), Flowers (representing Brooklyn), and Grand Wizard Theodore, the inventor of the scratch (representing nerds).