Breaking had become a pop culture phenomenon in Australia and the competition featured crews battling from all over the country. When the legendary New York City breaking group Rock Steady Crew toured Australia in 1984, he hosted the “Beat Street competition” on Countdown.

Molly Meldrum was an early promoter of the element of breaking. To be considered a legitimate hip-hop artist in the 1980s and ’90s, you had to practice multiple elements. One noticeable difference between the early era of hip-hop in Australia and now is the championing of all elements of the culture. The 1970s and ’80s were a pre-internet time, so it was music videos like Malcolm McLaren’s Buffalo Gals (1982), and American feature films that showcased all the elements of hip-hop that enabled Australians to see the culture for the first time. The first elements of the culture to be embraced here were breaking and graffiti, not music. It wasn’t until about a decade later that hip-hop found its way to Australia. The original invitation for DJ Kool Herc’s “back to school jam” on August, 11, 1973. This historic party is widely recognised to be the birthplace of hip-hop. It was popular on the dance floor and quickly became key to the rise of rapping and breaking. During the party, Kool Herc debuted the “Merry Go Round” technique using two turntables. One of its most influential pioneers was DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican immigrant regarded as a founding father of hip-hop.ĭJ Kool Herc hosted a “back to school jam” with his sister Cindy Campbell, at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the south Bronx on August 11, 1973. The culture emerged in the early 1970s in the Bronx in New York City during a time of economic decline and urban despair. Hip-hop at its core incorporates four foundational elements: DJing/turntablism, MCing/rapping, B-boying/breaking, and graffiti. In this exclusive music documentary we spoke to some of the most influential artists from Sydney and Melbourne and gained unique insight into how the hip-hop scene exploded Down Under. But if you go back four decades or so, you’ll uncover a vibrant and largely unknown history. It took a long time to be adopted and understood by Australia.

And this year marks a half-century since the movement started in New York City and rapidly spread across the globe. Hip-hop is more than just music: it’s a global cultural phenomenon. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size

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