Important People

People who have had a big influence on Hip Hop dance.

DJ Kool Herc

DJ Kool Herc is known for creating the music for break dancers because he was the first on to extend the break in a song. One way he would do this is by having two records of the same song and when the break on one record would end he would switch to the other one and then back again and so on. This gave break dancers a longer time to dance and show more creative moves. This also created the use for the term b-boy and b-girl because the break was more significant now and the people that could dance during these parts were known as break boys and break girls. Breakdancing was becoming popular and so was hip hop music and DJ Koll Herc took the music and capitalize on the “the break” the part the dancers liked and created a sense of harmony where they worked together.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson did not specifically break dance but his influence on the culture was big. Not only did he make MTV famous, it made him famous. And this was a big deal because he was black, he showed you didn’t have to be white to be a famous singer and dancer in America. Even though he may not have spun on his head, Michael Jackson still showed certain moves of breakdancing. He would show certain forms of popping and locking and he would freeze and hold a certain position which is from the breakdancing culture. Performing moves like this was a way of exposure for the breakdancing culture.