When people think about the Bronx hip hop scene today, they might first consider Big Pun and Cardi B. But the musical style of rapping over breakbeats originated back in 1973. The birthplace is in the West Bronx neighborhood of Morris Heights at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. This apartment building, where DJ Kool Herc lived, was host to a party on August 11, 1973. Now, August 11 is Hip Hop Celebration Day. (FYI, the United States Senate passed it!)

Bronx Rentals Under $2500 on StreetEasy Article continues below

Melrose

295 East 149th Street

$2,399 base rent

3 |

1

Mott Haven

224 East 135th Street

$2,169 base rent

Studio |

1

Mott Haven

224 East 135th Street

$2,344 base rent

Studio |

1

Mott Haven

224 East 135th Street

$2,500 base rent

1 |

1

Mott Haven

224 East 135th Street

$2,437 base rent

1 |

1

Riverdale

4499 Henry Hudson Parkway West

$2,500 base rent

1 |

1

Concourse

1520 Sheridan Avenue

$1,906 base rent

1 |

1

Wakefield

4303 Baychester Avenue

$1,311 base rent

Studio |

1

North New York

499 Concord Avenue

$2,231 base rent

1 |

1

Bronx

660 East 242nd Street

$1,800 base rent

1 |

1

Fieldston

6245 Broadway

$1,900 base rent

1 |

1

Soundview

102 Harding Park

$1,800 base rent

Studio |

1

DJ Kool Herc & 1520 Sedgwick Avenue

On Aug. 11, 1973, Herc — born Clive Campbell in Kingston, Jamaica — threw a back-to-school party with his sister Cindy Campbell in the building’s ground-floor recreation room, drawing friends and neighbors. While spinning records, Herc showed off a method he had developed for extending the drum break in funk records. He used two turntables, with a copy of the same record on each. Doing so created a longer breakbeat for the “break boys” and “break girls,” as he labeled them, to show off their dancing skills. Herc referred to those drum breaks — common sections of songs by James Brown and Incredible Bongo Band — as “the get-down part.”

As Herc spun breakbeats, Herc’s pal Coke La Rock started talking over the beat, shouting out friends. He did not realize that this would make him present at hip hop’s creation and its first MC.

Manhattan Rentals Under $3000 on StreetEasy Article continues below

Kips Bay

225 East 26th Street

$2,815 base rent

Studio |

1

Murray Hill

304 East 41st Street

$2,650 base rent

Studio |

1

Lenox Hill

230 East 75th Street

$2,850 base rent

1 |

1

Upper West Side

41 West 86th Street

$2,977 base rent

Studio |

1

Upper West Side

41 West 86th Street

$2,967 base rent

Studio |

1

Hamilton Heights

357 Edgecombe Avenue

$2,800 base rent

1 |

1

Central Harlem

44 East 132nd Street

$2,600 base rent

Studio |

1

Central Harlem

2866 Frederick Douglass Boulevard

$2,500 base rent

2 |

1

Upper West Side

309 West 109th Street

$2,875 base rent

Studio |

1

Inwood

5055 Broadway

$2,573 base rent

1 |

1

Inwood

5055 Broadway

$2,810 base rent

1 |

1

Central Harlem

127 West 137th Street

$2,800 base rent

2 |

1

The Party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue Influenced Hip Hop Pioneers

The style developed by DJ Kool Herc and Coke La Rock spread quickly within the South Bronx, then throughout NYC. Later, many rappers would claim to have attended Herc and Cindy’s famous party in 1973.

South Bronx native Joseph “Grandmaster Flash” Saddler was one of the most important turntablists early in the scene. Saddler refined Herc’s technique of mixing records and was the first to use a drum machine live.

Meanwhile, Harlem rapper Kurtis Blow inked a deal with Mercury Records in 1979. He was the first rap artist signed by a major label. But it wasn’t until the Sugar Hill Gang released “Rapper’s Delight” in 1980 that the genre began to go mainstream.

Bronx Homes Under $600K on StreetEasy Article continues below

Spuyten Duyvil

2400 Johnson Avenue

$374,999

1 |

1

Spuyten Duyvil

2711 Henry Hudson Pkwy W

$375,000

2 |

2

Riverdale

4525 Henry Hudson Parkway West

$549,000

2 |

1.5

Riverdale

5500 Fieldston Road

$395,000

3 |

2

Country Club

1436 Outlook Avenue

$549,000

3 |

2

Riverdale

5500 Fieldston Road

$425,000

3 |

2

Riverdale

3935 Blackstone Avenue

$509,000

2 |

2

Soundview

825 Morrison Avenue

$379,000

2 |

1

Riverdale

460 West 236th Street

$599,000

2 |

2

Locust Point

10 Pennyfield Avenue

$599,000

3 |

2

Riverdale

5800 Arlington Avenue

$369,999

1 |

1

Spuyten Duyvil

3135 Johnson Avenue

$359,000

1 |

1

1520 Sedgwick Avenue Nearly Became Market-Rate Rentals

In 2008, an investor bought 1520 Sedgwick Avenue intending to turn it into market-rate rentals. After the housing market crashed, the new owner could no longer afford the mortgage payments, and the building quickly fell into disrepair.

Although they hadn’t lived in the building for decades, DJ Kool Herc and Cindy Campbell kept in touch with some tenants, who filled them in on the building’s dilapidated status. Residents went months without heat or gas, upkeep of the grounds wavered, the roof leaked, and the elevators often didn’t work — a major inconvenience in an 18-story, 101-unit building.

Morris Heights Rentals Under $2500 on StreetEasy Article continues below

Morris Heights

2028 Davidson Avenue

$2,500 base rent

2 |

1

1520 Sedgwick Avenue Is Now Home to Fair Housing Rentals

DJ Kool Herc and Cindy partnered with the tenants and the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board to help tenants stay in their homes. The hip hop pioneer’s involvement caught the media’s attention and eventually the city, which helped sell the building to the Workforce Housing Group in 2011.

The building underwent some much-needed renovations, including the famous recreation room where Herc made history. Under its new ownership, the units are affordable, rent-subsidized apartments for residents who meet certain income requirements.

While there aren’t any available rentals listed at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, hip hop enthusiasts can take a “birth of hip hop” tour from Hush Tours, which regularly stops by the building for photos.

Hip Hop Boulevard

Although DJ Kool Herc hasn’t reaped the same financial success as his hip hop brethren for creating what has ballooned into a billion-dollar industry, the city renamed a section of Sedgwick Avenue Hip Hop Boulevard in 2017 to honor him.

The Universal Hip Hop Museum also named Herc an honorary advisory board member. The museum, coming in 2024, will be the first brick-and-mortar hip hop museum in the nation. However, the organization already hosts free concerts and other events for the public.