DJ Kool Herc, one of Hip Hop culture’s pioneers was recently asked by The Combat Jack Show to name his five greatest emcees and his answer may come as a surprise to some. While two of his selections helped develop what modern Hip Hop emceeing has become, a couple of others raised eyebrows.
“Melle Mel, Krs-One,” the founding DJ said. “Lil Wayne, he’s very witty. Kanye West, he’s witty; more technical than Weezy. I listen, man. And Breezy, Chris Brown, I dance.” He explained that Weezy creates hits and that everything he does garners attention: “I knew Wayne was going to be he who he is before he did…Every record he touched that he was on, they were hits!”
Another interesting tidbit from Combat and Herc’s conversation came when Kool Herc likened Dr. Martin Luther King’s message to Hip Hop culture’s intended beginnings.
“[Hip Hop] aint no black thing. It’s a we thing!” he explained. “It was no Puerto Rican thing, no white thing, no black thing. You come to the party, behave yourself, do your thing and you catch a coup and I got you. And this is the frontrunner of Martin Luther King’s dream, [it] came in the form of Hip Hop.”
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In 2014, Herc, Queensbridge great Marley Marl and the Universal Zulu Nation joined forces for the month-long “31 Days of Non Stop Hip Hop.” The event was an opportunity for younger fans of Hip Hop to meet some of the culture’s forefathers and learn about Hip Hop’s early days.
Listen to the full interview below:
