{"id":3254,"date":"2013-11-10T00:01:24","date_gmt":"2013-11-10T06:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=3254"},"modified":"2013-11-10T08:17:09","modified_gmt":"2013-11-10T14:17:09","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-356-featuring-theodore-taylor-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=3254","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #356: Featuring Theodore Taylor III"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“DJ Kool Herc noticed that dancers danced crazy hard during the breaks in the song when the lyrics ended and the music bumped and thumped. Herc knew that’s what dancers wanted so he plugged in two turntables instead of one. He put the same record on both turntables. He set it up so that when once record ended its break, he could flip over to the other turntable and play it again. Doing this over and over, he made a ten-second break last for ten, fifteen, even twenty minutes or more.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/center><\/p>\n

Today I’ve got the artwork of illustrator Theodore Taylor III<\/a><\/strong>. Taylor is an artist, designer, and photographer, who lives in Washington, D.C., and this is his picture book debut. It’s Laban Carrick Hill’s<\/a><\/strong> biography of Clive Campbell, When the Beat Was Born<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (Roaring Brook, August 2013). Campbell was also known as DJ Kool Herc<\/a><\/strong> and is the DJ (born in Jamaica but raised in the Bronx) considered the creator of hip hop. <\/p>\n

Hill opens the biography with Clive as a young, music-loving child, dancing around the house to vinyl records. His childhood hero was a DJ, named King George, who threw large neighborhood house parties. Though Clive—who desperately wanted to be a DJ—was too young to attend, he’d watch King George set up for the parties. (“Clive had never seen so many records.”) <\/p>\n

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When he moved to the Bronx with his mother, it was a difficult adjustment but eventually he discovered strength in sports, where he earned his nickname, “Herc” (short for “Hercules”), adding “Kool” to make it “just right.” And now he was old enough to attend house parties, just like the ones of his childhood. He and his sister starting throwing their own parties, where Kool Herc became DJ Kool Herc. It’s here where he also began plugging in two turntables, instead of just one, and putting the same record on both, extending the breaks between songs. <\/p>\n

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“But Clive did find one thing besides music that made him feel like he belonged: sports. He ran track and lifted weights. He played basketball at the neighborhood playground. Soon little Clive was no longer little. …”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/center><\/p>\n

Hill emphasizes how, once Herc took his DJing to the streets of the Bronx, camaraderie ruled. “Even street gangs wanted to dance, not fight.” It’s here that break dancing was born (or “dancing the breaks”). Later, Herc invited friends to rap; his crew of MCs (Masters of Ceremonies) were called The Herculoids, and soon “kids from all over New York City came to see DJ Kool Herc who threw the biggest and baddest parties on Sedgwick Avenue.” <\/p>\n

In a closing Author’s Note, Hill talks about how he became interested in this topic (by way of selling laundry detergent, of all things) and his own captivation with the music and dancing of the East Village, Tribeca, and South Bronx in the late ’70s. <\/p>\n

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“Herc gathered a crew of friends to rap behind his DJing. He invited Coke La Rock,
a Jamaican friend, to rap. He called him his Master of Ceremonies or MC. …”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/center><\/p>\n

Booklist<\/em> praises Taylor’s “freewheeling artwork,” calling this biography a “treat from an underrepresented corner of music history.” As you can see here, Taylor puts to use lots of cool colors, and he captures the booming rhythms and energy of the hip hop scene of this time. Here’s one more spread. <\/p>\n

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“Herc didn’t just rock the block. He put the HIP HIP HOP, HIPPITY HOP
into the world’s heartbeat.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/center><\/p>\n

WHEN THE BEAT WAS BORN: DJ KOOL HERC AND THE CREATION OF HIP HOP. Copyright \u00a9 2013 by Laban Carrick Hill. Illustrations copyright \u00a9 2013 by Theodore Taylor III. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher, Roaring Brook Press, New York.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome. <\/p>\n

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
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1)<\/strong><\/font> How much do I love this piece<\/a><\/strong> from Sam Phillips<\/a><\/strong> in the New York Times<\/em> about the-visual-arts-as-inspiration? SO SO SO MUCH. <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> I volunteered in a friend’s school library the other day, and it was nice to be back in a school library, if only briefly. <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> This week my daughters and I read the classic Great Gilly Hopkins<\/a><\/strong><\/em> together, and it was wonderful. It was a re-read for me, but this excellent novel was all new to them. It was intriguing, their responses to this living, breathing character. <\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> Tomorrow night Laura Marling<\/a><\/strong> plays in Nashville, and I’m very excited about this show. <\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> I really love Shakey Grave’s<\/a><\/strong> latest CD, Roll the Bones<\/em>, and this performance<\/a><\/strong> from it. (I wish I knew how to embed that.)<\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> Really good sushi. Always sushi. <\/p>\n

7)<\/strong><\/font> I’m visiting Picture Book Month<\/a><\/strong> today to talk about why I like picture books. Check it out<\/a><\/strong>, if you’re so inclined. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What are YOUR<\/font><\/strong> kicks this week? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“DJ Kool Herc noticed that dancers danced crazy hard during the breaks in the song when the lyrics ended and the music bumped and thumped. Herc knew that’s what dancers wanted so he plugged in two turntables instead of one. He put the same record on both turntables. He set it up so that when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seven-good-things-before-monday","category-picture-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3254\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}