The Birth of Hip-Hop
A Bronx rec room, the clubs that gave the music indoor homes, and its downtown crossover.
Hip-hop began outside the club, at block parties and in rec rooms, before it found regular indoor homes. This trail runs from the address widely cited as its birthplace through the Bronx and Harlem clubs that nurtured it and on to its downtown crossover.
- 1
1520 Sedgwick Avenue
1973–c.1975 (rec-room era) · Morris Heights, Bronx
Widely cited as the birthplace, August 11, 1973.
Transformed - 2
Disco Fever
1976–1986 · Highbridge, Bronx
An early indoor home for Bronx hip-hop.
Closed - 3
Harlem World
1978–1985 · Harlem, Manhattan
MC battles and crew showcases.
Closed - 4
The Devil's Nest
August 1985–April 1986 · East Tremont, Bronx
Freestyle and Latin hip-hop.
Closed - 5
Latin Quarter
1942–c.1980 (supper club); 1985–1989 (hip-hop era) · Midtown, Manhattan
A crucial late-1980s room.
Closed - 6
Funhouse
1979–1985 · Chelsea, Manhattan
Freestyle and electro, Jellybean's residency.
Closed - 7
Roxy
1978–2007 (closed briefly 1989–1990) · Chelsea, Manhattan
Hip-hop's downtown crossover.
Closed