As hip-hop turns 48 years old next month, the U.S. Senate has made history by passing a resolution recognizing Aug. 11 as national Hip-Hop Celebration Day in the U.S. The resolution also designates the month of August as Hip-Hop Recognition Month and November as Hip-Hop History Month.

According to a tweet issued by the Senate Periodicals’ Twitter account on Thursday, the vote was passed with unanimous consent. 

Some background: 
Aug. 11, 1973 marks the date that DJ Kool Herc (real name Clive Campbell) and his sister Cindy hosted a back-to-school party in the Morris Heights area in the Bronx. It was this party that many historians believe helped birth hip-hop music and culture.

Herc is also credited for inventing “the break,” where he utilized two turntables to extend the song’s instrumental to give partygoers more time to dance. Fellow hip-hop pioneer DJ Grandmaster Flash would later introduce the technique of looping two records together and cutting and scratching to the DJ culture.

Next month, New York City will hold a week-long series of outdoor events called “It’s Time for Hip Hop in NYC” in the Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens. According to nyc.gov, the free concerts will run between Aug. 14 to Aug. 22. Hundreds of rappers are slated to perform at various events, including KRS-One, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Big Daddy Kane, Havoc of Mobb Deep, Papoose, Maino, EPMD and more. For more information head over to homecoming2021.com.

Source: xxlmag.com