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.
In honor of the anniversary of Herc’s inaugural break beat, Google has temporarily transformed its homepage into a pair of digital turntables and a dusty bin of classic ’70s records. After watching an introductory video from hip-hop legend Fab 5 Freddy, visitors are free to mix and match break beats from Prince Paul, The Isley Brothers, George Clinton, and more. The more you play around, the more “goals” you earn, which are basically little nuggets of hip-hop history, chronicling the genre’s earliest pioneers. Additionally, the Google logo itself was redesigned by graffiti artist and Def Jam graphic designer Cey Adams.
The doodle will remain live for 40 hours before being archived alongside Google’s previous temporary exhibits, so, even if you miss it today, you’ll be able to use this widget to keep your party bumping in perpetuity.