The Bronx is the New York City borough considered the birthplace of hip hop. The culture developed in Bronx communities during the 1970s through block parties, DJing, breakdancing, graffiti, and rapping.
A pivotal event took place on 11 August 1973 at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the West Bronx. Jamaican-born DJ Kool Herc, whose real name is Clive Campbell, hosted a party there and experimented with extending the instrumental breaks in funk and soul records. Those breaks gave dancers more room to perform and helped shape the sound of early hip hop.
The Bronx is the canonical quiz answer, although historians note that hip hop did not emerge from one single moment or building. Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn also became important to the culture’s growth, but the Bronx is recognized as its foundational home. The South Bronx is often named more specifically as the area where the culture took root.