Lovebug Starski, one of the core people to whom we owe hip hop (including possibly the term itself), has died at 57.
Apparently he was the first to DJ and rap at the same time; Grandmaster Flash has said that in the mid-late 1970s, nobody did that. Either you rhymed or you deejayed. Starski often used the words "hip hop" in his raps, and he is cited as one of two possible sources for coining the term for the nascent genre.
And it was on hearing Starski at a party that Sylvia Robinson reportedly got the idea to release rap records on her Sugar Hill label.
So it's a bit sad that in Britain and Europe, Lovebug Starski is likely to be remembered not for his pioneering role in hip hop, but for a novelty hit. Or that his biggest hit was as a sample, for MARRS' "Pump Up The Volume".
Apparently he was the first to DJ and rap at the same time; Grandmaster Flash has said that in the mid-late 1970s, nobody did that. Either you rhymed or you deejayed. Starski often used the words "hip hop" in his raps, and he is cited as one of two possible sources for coining the term for the nascent genre.
And it was on hearing Starski at a party that Sylvia Robinson reportedly got the idea to release rap records on her Sugar Hill label.
So it's a bit sad that in Britain and Europe, Lovebug Starski is likely to be remembered not for his pioneering role in hip hop, but for a novelty hit. Or that his biggest hit was as a sample, for MARRS' "Pump Up The Volume".
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