NOW VIEWINGReception
Debate & reception

DebateContested

Did Jamaican toasting father hip-hop?

One side

Toasting as a direct root of rap

The other

Hip-hop as a distinct African-American innovation

What was argued

A long-running, documented debate stated neutrally: one view holds that Jamaican sound-system toasting, carried to the Bronx by Kingston-raised DJ Kool Herc, was a direct root of rap; another view stresses that hip-hop was a distinct African-American innovation with its own lineage in the block party, funk and the spoken-word tradition. Neutral framing; no verdict.

The records this concerns

Sources

Lloyd Bradley, Bass Culture; Jeff Chang, Can't Stop Won't Stop; David Katz, Solid Foundation