Beat This: A Hip Hop History (1984)

(police sirens)

♪ ("Renegades of Funk" by Afrika Bambaataa
& Soulsonic Force) ♪

♪ From a different solar system
many, many galaxies away ♪

♪ We are the force of another creation ♪

♪ A new musical revelation ♪

♪ And we're on this musical message ♪

♪ To help the others listen ♪

♪ Improve momentum and ♪

♪ seek the electronic chance ♪

♪ - Like
- Astrology ♪

♪ - Like
- Technology ♪

♪ - Like
- God's Creation ♪

♪ - Like
- The Zulu station ♪

♪ - Like
- To the nation ♪

♪ - Like
- Destroy all nations ♪

♪ - Like
- Militants ♪

♪ - (Like
- Down in sand ♪

♪ - (Like!)
- Through changes, ♪

♪ nothing stays the same ♪

♪ Oh renegades ♪

(music)

"The Renegades of Funk," Afrika Bambaataa
and the Soulsonic Force.

Well, good evening and welcome to another
GBE—a Gary Bird experience—

as the funky forces of the universe
come together

for us to bring another set of
Big Apple jams your way.

In a few minutes my engineer Jonathan E
at Master Control and I gonna go

looking for something perfect,
the perfect beat for you,

especially if you are up at Planet Rock,
The Bronx, or the Zulu Nation,

as in dance formation tonight.

Speaking of dance, have you heard about
he WLIB breakdance contest?

You have a chance
to win a trip to the mother country;

the place that sent Afrika Bambaataa
into a galaxy far, far away.

Who knows? You could be on your way

into the land of the pyramids,
checking it all out

♪ ("Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa
& Soulsonic Force instrumental) ♪

(voice fades in)
...planets, especially Venus and Jupiter,

can be seen in the sky
not long after sunset.

With the glow of twilight
still lingering,

and a dash of near-sightedness,
and some good old human imagination,

and some well intentioned people
will even claim it's "shooting off sparks—

it's as big as a basketball, it has
landing lights", and so on.

Hard to believe? Well, the most
frequently reported UFOs on record

are the planets Venus and Jupiter.
IFOs, once you know a little about the

autokinetic illusion and the night sky.

July 24th, 1948.
An Eastern Airlines flight is en route

from Houston to Atlanta, when suddenly...
(otherworldly electronic noise)

The flight crew, all intelligent, trained
observers, reported the—

(cut off by strange beeps
and sounds)

(banging on timpani)

(robotic voice)
I am the funk overlord.

I have come to take control
of your life.

Who controlled the present,
controls the past.

Who controlled the past,
controls the future. Funk.

♪ (upbeat electronic music) ♪

So this is how Bamb sends 'em
to the street, hip hoppin',

lookin' for the perfect beat.

Rappin', scratchin', breakin', shakin',
the success of hip hop is in the making.

On TV and on radio, you hear and
see it, wherever you go.

Graffiti began on the walls, and now
it's sold in stores and malls.

From uptown to Fifth Avenue,
the journey took a heck of a crew,

from a neighborhood and a street scene,
all around the world to the silver screen.

♪ ("The Hitler Rap") ♪
♪ Hi there people, you know me ♪

♪ I used to run a little joint
called Germany ♪

♪ I was number one
The people's choice ♪

♪ And everybody listened to
my mighty voice ♪

♪ My name is Adolf,
I'm on the mic ♪

♪ Gonna hip you to the story
of the New Third Reich ♪

♪ It all began down in Munich town
& pretty soon ♪

♪ Word started gettin' around ♪

♪ I said to Martin Boorman,
I said "Hey Marty," ♪

♪ "Why don't we throw a little
Nazi party?" ♪

♪ So we had an election,
well, kinda sorta ♪

♪ And before you knew it,
hello new order! ♪

♪ To all those mothers in the Fatherland ♪

♪ I said "Achtung baby!
I got me a plan." ♪

♪ "Whatcha got, Adolf?
Whatcha gonna do?" ♪

♪ I said "How about this one?
World War Two." ♪

♪ To be or not be ♪

♪ Oh baby ♪
♪ Can't you see ♪

(music fades, record scratching)

All that scratchin' is makin'
me itch!

♪ (mixed-up music) ♪

♪ Duck Duck Duck ♪
♪ Duck Duck Duck ♪

What once was in the underground
has now, by elements, been found

like anywhere you see fresh meat,
the culture vultures come to eat.

Now with hip hop on his lip,
Malcolm McLaren begins his trip,

how he went to the Planet Rock
and came back to Britain in future shock,

'cuz though he thought punk was the top,
he found the groove was in hip hop.

♪ (hip hop music) ♪

(Malcolm McLaren) I was, uh...

working with a group called
Bow Wow Wow.

I came over there because they were
selling some RCA records

and I was looking to put them on
in a hole in Manhattan somewhere,

but the terrible thing was I was really
stuck for a responsible

and interesting and exciting
kind of opening act.

And nothing was happening in New York.

Then a friend of mine introduced me to a guy who I met on
the street, somewhere down 5th Avenue,

who told me about an incredible scene
that was happening.

Not in Manhattan, but out in a suburb
known as the South Bronx.

And he said if I'd like,
I could come down on a Saturday night

where they were holding a big party
and I would see something

that couldn't possibly have
ever existed in England.

And I decided to actually pitch up
with him on Saturday night.

Upon arriving, the party—
unbeknownst to me,

I thought it was gonna be inside
a house—was actually

out in the open,
in a wasteland,

surrounded by these huge
fired out condominiums.

And there, in the midst of it, was about a
thousand kids, and I couldn't believe it,

I was very, very worried being the
only white guy there,

the cab driver giving me the signature
that I should put my dollars in my socks.

(stammers, laughs) Nevertheless,
I escorted myself across the road

with this guy, made my way through
the crowd, pushing and shoving

until I got to the decks where
the music was coming from.

Shook hands with this huge fat guy,
who later became known to me

as a guy called Afrika Bambaataa.

And what I witnessed was a various
group of different young kids,

who were popping in and out amongst
the decks, messing about with records.

Now, as far as I could see, it was
extraordinary, because the sound

coming out was totally inarticulate,
it was a load of rough noises,

noises that sounded a little like guitar,
but sort of like a concrete chisel

sound, right?
And the sound, I realized,

was actually coming from the way they
were messing around with their hands

on the decks, moving records backwards
and forwards.

But they weren't just doing it with one
record, they were doing it with two,

and they were mixing across one
to the other.

In fact, it was making music
out of other people's music.

♪ (mixed music plays, repeating) ♪

As time went on, and I stuck around
for an hour or so, the crowd was extremely

volatile, and at times would jump
into pitch battles.

But at one point or another, people
would move to the side,

and a group of kids would start
freaking out in the middle,

doing all this incredible
gymnastic dancing.

♪ (distorted, choppy music plays
over beat) ♪

What McLaren saw was called "hip hop",
energy and motion that you could not stop.

Demanding all of your imagination
if you were to share in the celebration.

It wasn't enough to just be good,
you had to be super bad,

'cuz when you hit that floor,
your reputation

was just about all you had.

(McLaren) I think hip hop is being
in control of your body,

that's the whole art of it,
actually understanding that

you're much bigger than you are.
It's a demonstration of your prowess,

if you haven't got a dime in your pocket,
the one thing you can do on

Madison Avenue is spin on your head
and show all the white honkies

moving out of the Chase Manhattan Bank
on their lunch time and say

"Beat that, and if you can't, here's
my cap. Give me a few dollars."

(train moving, faint commotion)

But the story of hip hop doesn't
belong in New York, LA, or London,

that's wrong. The true story begins in
devastation, bad housing, gang wars,

and desperation. In the Bronx ghetto,
or Planet Rock.

Let's take a minute and
turn back the clock.

♪ (hip hop music) ♪

To the first hero of the hip hop groove,
the man who made the people move.

From Jamaica he came with
a sense of rhythm,

and what he brought to the Bronx
was a sound system.

Music he played made life work,
and made him a legend:

Kool DJ Herc.

♪ (hip hop music) ♪

When Kool Herc have a party,
everybody be there.

Lot of people say I'm fun, big fun.
That was the talk for the whole weekend

or the whole summer,
"Where did you party?"

"I was partying with Kool Herc, man."
Ghetto block party, you know,

tennis court, disco... a lot of
other things, too.

♪ ("Space Cowboy" by Jonzun Crew) ♪

I like to buy my records...
right over here.

But now it's not there no more,
called "Sounds and Things."

There used to be a ballroom up there,
I used to play—matter of fact,

I play up there for the transit authority
dinner, one time, and...

Mario Cuomo was there before
becoming governor. Basically, right here.

A place called "Galaxy 2000."

They had a big shootout here one time.
Same time I played at Bronx River.

I came back, I'd seen the canopy knocked
down, the fire escape was let down,

and I knew something was wrong.

The Bronx is on the uplift.
A lot of places are being rehabilitated.

I think there's still more that could
be done. A whole lot.

All those unforgettable promises...
From the South Bronx when the Carters

came over.
Made out of iron, right?

Well, I never left the Bronx,
and I love the Bronx.

I don't wanna leave.

♪ (upbeat funky music) ♪

What Herc did was throw down the sound
of forgotten heroes, like James Brown,

and separate the good stuff from the junk,
with the emphasis on a lot of funk.

And in the middle of a funky sound,
Coke La Rock, his rapper,

would go to town.

The music was hot, very loud,
with participation to excite the crowd.

Then Herc would drop a mighty blast
with a golden oldie from music past.

(motor rumbling)

Sedgwick, 1520... over 10 years ago.

Ooh, look at that medallion,
what happened to that?

It got stolen. That was my badge,
like a sheriff.

Place was packed.

How was it?

It was pretty good. Everybody showed up,
had a good time.

Everybody put on their best that day.

All of the sudden—I don't know,
all of the sudden...

Something happened, made it so that we
didn't get into the parties no more.

I got injured. I got stabbed.
Fatally stabbed, though.

And that just put a hole
through the whole thing.

I walk right into it, and I just...
I didn't know where the knife came from.

I just literally walk into it.
I was hit four times.

The last of them pierced my hand,
and it went all the way through.

It shouldn't have happened.

And that does draw me a show,
you know?

I just stopped. I stopped playing for—
I didn't accept a gig, I wasn't...

I was not out in the public eyes
too much.

That was the rise of a lot of DJs.

Herc wasn't on the scene,
this is our chance.

And a lot of them dashed in and
capitalized on it.

DJs and the music that they used
to come to hear at my party was

all over now.

Kool Herc is not a stepping stone,
he's a horse that can't be rode,

and a bull that can't be stopped,
there ain't a disco I can't rock. Rock on.

It could've been on my obituary that
this was the guy who started this,

this was what he did.

Though he may be a fallen hero,
all will forever say

that in the history of hip hop,
he was its number one DJ.

You see, Herc had started something
that not even his enemies wanted to stop.

Kool DJ Herc had launched the birth of
a movement called hip hop.

In the middle of Savage Skulls and on
the top of the hill with the Seven Crowns,

the gangs were in the Bronx
and they were seriously getting down.

It was little Vietnam, where even the
police watched out for raids,

and were the baddest of them all was a
street gang known as the Black Spades.

And from them emerged a boy
who became the adopted father

of the hip hop generation,
a Zulu Afrika Bambaataa.

I got into street gangs, the Black Spades,
a lot of other groups I was in

before I became a Spade,

I was Savage No Mans

and um, but Spades was one of the groups

that I really loves a lot.

There was a lot of unity in the group

[clears throat]. It was one of the most

hated groups in the whole city cause all

it was about was um, trouble and stuff

and aesthetic. But it was one of the most

organized Black youth groups. As for, if

you mess with them, they would mess with

you. Plus in that year, 1975, um, one of

the brotha's that was close to me, that

lived with me for about two years, by the

name Solsky, got shot by the police on

Pelham Bay, along with some other members

of the Spades. And um, he died and this

other member died and one survived.

♪ (hip hop music plays in background) ♪

Narrator: The violent death of Bam's

best friend, marked for him the end of

the line. And he went back on a vision

that once had occurred in the back of

his youthful mind. A way to fight, yet

maintain peace. An impossible situation,

unless you could create something

powerful, like his memory of the Zulu

nation. [People chant over the sound of

hip hop music on TV]

♪ (hip hop music plays) ♪

H. Rap Brown: I say violence is

necessary. Violence is a part of America's

culture, it is as American as Cherry Pie

American calls for Black people to be

violent. We will use that violence to

get ourselves up.

[voice fades to hip hop music]

Martin Luther King Jr.: will they be

able to sit down together in the name of

brotherhood. I have a dream. One day...

KKK member: Well basically, uh, my goal

in the clan is to bring about a

unification of all of the Anglo-saxon,

Protestant, American citizens into a

bond of unity to counter-act the

philosophies of the minority and...

Nelson Mandela: There are many people

feel that it is useless and futile for us

to continue talking peace and nonviolence

against a government whose reply is only

savage attacks on an unarmored,

defenseless people.

[radio static]

♪ (hip hop music) ♪

Malcolm X: We are not human beings

unless we ourselves, band together and

do whatever, however, whenever,

is necessary to see that our lives

and our property is protected, and I

doubt that any person in here would refuse

to do the same thing, were he in the same

position. Or I should say, were he in the

same condition.

♪ (hip hop music plays) ♪

Narrator: It was with the vision of the

Zulu nation, a trip to Africa, and a

death situation, that produced a man who

put on Zulu dress and began to transform

a violent mix.

♪ (hip hop music plays) ♪

Bembala was always a music man,

a record collector who was a dj jammed.

Now he saw a new idea to use stand and

proud in his career, to put the Bronx

in a music trance and move from violence

to Zulu dance... And so it became hip to

hop in the land known as Planet Rock,

where gangs used to fight in the street

everyday. Now they began to compete

in a different way. As the dj's music

made the house shake, the dancers would

begin to break. Some electric boogie to

move like toys, others would spin and

became b-boys.

♪ (hip hop beat) ♪

There you go. Hey you guys ready? Yeah. Let's go.

The breakers know what they have got from electro boogie to street robot

They dance off the anger in a street or room

Who needs a gang when the beat goes boom

Yes, what are you doing around, you guys, get back

(music and break dance)

the last time, the last time,

People over here, people over there
dancing in the street, dancing to a beat

dfasdg do it

motivator... mo ti vator

break it down, down, break it down, down

come on... do it... do it...

(more dancing)

(music fades out)

The elements of hip hop go beyond the dance

to the streets where artists take a chance

and the Bronx where young men on the go
paint trains and walls like Picasso

Graffiti is what they call their art
and it's here where they get their start

Though you may think these policemen bars
They battle kids like brim and graffiti wars

Stickers were used as settlements
Those kids were locked up on the graffiti

Art versus transit, fame

the new king of all offenders

Uh...the rest is all assignments? Yeah all right.

Hickey and Ski I want you to stay half the roll call

I have a special assignment for you on a graffiti

All right, thank you both.

You're watching one day, right sarge

Now, we have some information that they cut the fence on the Jerome yards

That's the new fence and they cut it right open again

Let's take a look inside the machine and watch New York's finest on the graffiti scene

(sound of a train moving)

What does this look like to you?

Does this look like something
that'd be in a city, any city?

This looks like a jail, a prison
with all this barbed wire around you

what kind of feeling, I wonder what kind of feeling people that live around here with all this wire and stuff around them.

looks like something from Germany, the Nazis and all that

Kryolan, kinda astounding. I feel like I'm doing a commercial for these things.

He's about the best can of paints on the market and this is what they invariably go out and steal

they never pay for the paint, they'll steal it

The only way I can figure it, that Mayou Koch and the Head of the MTA

It's not that they don't like graffiti, it's that they don't like something that they can't control

This is vandalism, that's what it is. It's somebody else's property. They're defacing somebody else's property.

I wouldn't want them coming to my house and painting up my house.

I wouldn't want them painting my car

Mayou Koch tried to get us to make a deal with him

that he'll give us 10 cars to be painted and we'll stop with the graffiti

but it didn't work out like that because you know

it'll be fine for me but how about someone else that wants to paint on the train.

I can' stop them cos they got their own feelings to express

same way I got my feelings to express

I'm not gonna tell someone, "you can't express your feelings, only me"

You know that's not the way it works

Like I said ther are tens of thousands of these kids doing graffiti

Only a handful of them are really good

but whether they're good or bad, they have no business being down here

It's dangerous, they can get hurt and it's not their property

As long as there's something to be said in the ghetto

there'll be graffiti

If it's in a building or it's in a train, wherever something has to be said

you know, in New York city that's the way we express ourselves

It might seem silly to someone else but in New York city that's the way we express ourselves

(Hip hop music)

and all of this it just makes me madder and makes me wanna go painting more

when I see this you know it burns me up, I wanna go out and paint

and I wanna show them that they can't win because they can't

The war against graffiti been like 10 years and they haven't won nothing

(music)

It took them 10 years to put this fence on. It'll just take us another year to get into them

Let's give us some time. We'll return.

(music)

Now we are here today in order to induct into the rapper's Hall of Fame

are just a few of the greatest rappers who ever made rapping the life and fame

It didn't start with the Sugarhill Gang, it didn't start with Kurtis Blow

it didn't start with Flash or the Furious Five, you can take it from me, I know.

We're going back to the roots where it all began at radio stations all over the land

with Jocko, Hot Rod and Montague DJs who rap like DJs with names like Hatter and Dr.Jive in the 50s and 60s keeping rap alive

just a step for our tradition for rap to take on a social mission

Rap gives kids a whole new way to express themselves

and sometimes pay

You might have been told you were no good but with the rap you were king of the neighborhood

Man came/can't fake, he's a geechee... unintelligible

Hey he's Joe Frazier, Joe Frazier, Joe Frazier

People of the world, the man you see was the world's greatest rapper Muhammad Ali

and the days when he was Cassius Clay was the first national rapper in the USA

He's going around, he's going around saying that he's a championship fighter

but when he meets me he'll fall 20 pounds lighter

He thinks that he's the real heavyweight champ but after I'm finished he'll just be a tram

Now I'm not saying this just to be funny but I'm fighting Ernie because he needs the money. Ha Ha ha-ha ha ha

I decided to let him make a little bread but to catch his I must whip his head

I understand he wants to stand toe to toe and with me trade blow for blow

but if he's hip he'll take a dip because I plan to bust his lip

From the northeast to the northwest, from the southeast to the west coast

from the northwest to the mid-west every rapper thinks he can rap the most

but it all began in aqua-boo/Aka-Bo land many many moons ago

It was among the vibes and the powerful vines from which our roots do grow

The Yoruba and the Bantu, the Sotho and the Gotha, the Akan people of Ghana

the Rwanda and the Hausa, they engaged in a form of praise done by a griots or a chosen bard

Today we call it throwing down or maybe rapping hard

Who are you? Who am I? Who are you? Who am I? Who are you? Who am I?

Oh what what do that mean?

That I'm the baddest MC lover on the Hip Hop Scene

J.D.L big deal, what does that prove?

That I'm the MC that make the people move

I'm Eazy-E, Eazy who and what is your game?

I'm Eazy-E D, I bet your girls know my name

I'm Jay-Z, that's your business now what you got to say?

That I can rock you anywhere anytime anyday

What chasing to the DJs what do they wanna do

bring in the funky record when you give us the cue

Like 10, 9, 8-7-6, 5-4-3-2-1 have fun

(artists talking among themselves)

Would you actually her what Heartbreakers mean?

We'll promise you the world and won't deliver.

Broken heart is what we give you

Make you feel like a million by the things we say and make you feel like a fool the very next day

We're heartbreakers ha-ha

We're heart-heart-heartbreakers

(phone rings)
Hello, yeah girl it's me the captain with some rap for you

So listen up, don't talk until I'm through that you're sweet, you're fine and you got class but I feel things are going way too fast

It's not that I don't enjoy having you around but I'm the kind of man

that can't be tied down. Thanks for all the joy that you brought to me

and I hope you understand that I gotta be free. We're heart-breakers

and this is how they break your heart.

Ow, ask them a simple question, they're gonna come out the face and try to talk about it what it's all about

I know did you see the problem Kat? Guy were on the phone and he was talkin to the girl on the phone and he jested like that?

Martha he was a saint. Ha ha ha ha.

(some thing is said spoken in a foreign tongue)

Ah, Sophisticated queen MC

Yes of course, that's me, mistress of ceremony

The one that's gonna take it to the top of the key

Introducing myself, MC Lisa Lee

The blast from the past, superb in every word

Supest female rapper, yes, the best you heard

Lisa Lee is known to be the people's choice

I get parties rocking with my sensuous voice

And when you see the queen walking up the street

I'm not souped up, conceited, just incognit'

I make the fellas sweat 'coz I keep their bodies hot

It's a woman's world, you got to give it what you got

Well I'm Sha, party people, and I'm ready to rock

And if you wanna be down, you gotta gimme what you got

My fellas in the place, I won't steer you wrong

You gotta give it up or le-leave it alone

So get ready for this, get ready for this

Party people in the place, get ready for this

To you! So what you gonna do?

Do you wanna rock the house and turn this mutha out?

Fly girls, are you with us?

And if you're ready to rock, to help me turn it out

Let the world know what we're talkin about

To all the ladies, yeah

I want you to listen dana-da-dan

Hey, ladies! (yeah!) 1980! dana-da

Watch out for the fellas (yeah!) that'll drive you crazy dana-da

Look out

Hey you better (another rap song in reply to that)