Interactive Bronx Hip Hop Map

The organization Bronx Ryhmes has set up an interactive map that lets you see the location of key buildings in Bronx that played a role in the evolution of Hip Hop (like 1520 Sedgwick Avenue and others).

You can also see rhymes other readers have sent in and/or send in your own.

Click HERE and have fun.

~ErLu

If It Wasn't for the Bronx...

"...This rap s**t probably wouldn't be goin' on." -Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz.

Just a reminder to Chuck D of Public Enemy. Apparently, there is a Long Island Music Hall of Fame, and Roosevelt's own Public Enemy has been inducted. This is all great.

If you want to read the whole Newsday Article click here.

The reason we're covering this is two-fold:

1) the weekends are really light in the blogosphere, AND
2) Chuck D seemed to disparage the Bronx (or at least Bronx rappers) in some of his comments.

In the lead paragraph Chuck states:

"People used to come from the Bronx and from Brooklyn with a chip on their shoulders, thinking that just because rap started there that they'd be better," the Public Enemy leader says, with a laugh. "I destroyed them, man. I would tell people when they were coming into Adelphi, from the Bronx or from Brooklyn or other parts of New York City, 'The vibe is in the Bronx and Manhattan, but you ain't got the vibe. You ain't fly with all the jive. Don't come here thinking you're all this.' They definitely called me 'country bumpkin,' but I was gonna bust their --. They're not gonna sound louder or stronger. That's just not gonna happen." [Newsday]

Listen Chuck, we're not saying the Public Enemy isn't the best rap group to come out of Roosevelt, we're just saying that the Bronx has produced many more (and better) hip-hop artists than the entirety of Nassau and Suffolk Counties. A little respect for the origins of your craft would be nice too.

We have a deep respect for hip-hop. In fact, if you didn't know our name is derived from KRS-one's famous BoogieDown productions. BoogieDowner wants to drive home the fact that the BoogieDown is the Bethlehem of Hip-hop. A global movement all started in a humble abode, namely 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. That's kinda like a manger, no? Maybe the Bronx could have its own hip-hop hall of fame? Maybe house it at 1520 Sedgwick? We'd be able to fill that thing just with rappers from TerrorSquad.

By the way, does anybody really think Flavor Flav would have been able to hang on St. Anne's Avenue in the 80s without getting clowned? Just wondering...

And if you ever forget the status of the Bronx in the rap world remember Fat Joe's lyric:

"The Bronx mothered this rap shit."

*pic of Chuck D courtesy of www.s9.com, pic of Fat Joe courtesy of www.hiphoprx.com*

~ErLu

Birthplace of Hip Hop Sold

Well, we all knew this was coming, so here it is: 1520 Sedgwick Avenue (the birthplace of hip hop where DJ Kool Herc spun some of the first rap records ever) has been sold.

Read more about it in the Daily News and The Real Deal.

It seems as if the current tenants' rents are relatively stable for the time being because any increases must adhere to the city's rent stabilization rules. But what about a memorial? The developer, Mark Karasick, should certainly start thinking about how he might preserve the site that gave birth to hip hop as we know it.

~ErLu

Birthplace of Hip-Hop to be Sold

In the words of the immortal Fat Joe, "the Bronx mothered this rap s**t." It seems like "this rap s**t" might become a geographical orphan soon.

Jennifer Lee of the NY Times is reporting that 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, where DJ Kool Herc spun some of the first rap records ever, is going to be sold after all. There had been major resistance and lawsuits to stop an investment group led by Mark Karasick from selling the historic building. The building is currently part of the Mitchell-Lama moderate housing program. By selling the building, the owners are in effect 'buying out' of the program. Translation: these apartments are going market rate sooner rather than later.

While, the BoogieDowner certainly acknowledges the owners' right to buy and sell what it owns, we do have to ask about what is going to happen to the people currently renting there. Are their leases not renewed when they end? How much will rent jump? Will the new owner try to convert the building to condos or co-ops? These are all questions that need to be asked.

And one last question: will there be some sort of memorial or landmark to indicate the fact that one of the few original American art forms started at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue?

If any BoogieDowner readers live in 1520 Sedgwick, please chime in and let us know what is going to happen to your rent and the future of your lease, etc.

BoogieDowner thinks this is a little sad. We love the rap s**t.

Court Rules Sale of Bronx ‘Hip-Hop’ Building Can Proceed [ NY Times -City Room, Jennifer Lee]

~ErLu