Live out your dreams of commanding the wheels of steel with today’s Google doodle
On this day, 44 years ago, an 18-year-old DJ by the name of Kool Herc planted a musical seed for what would eventually blossom into the entire genre of hip-hop as we know it. While playing an after school party for his sister, Herc decided to isolate the musical breaks from his favorite funk and R&B songs so that everyone at the party could dance a little longer. Soon, playing “the breaks” became a staple of every party in the borough, and MCs began offering their rapping services to keep the energy up. These days, hip-hop has become so mainstream that any random schmo off the street can make his own hot beat simply by visiting their favorite internet search engine—at least, for today.