DJ Kool Herc is considered the “The Founder of Hip-Hop Culture.” In the early stages of Hip-Hop music, he brought his sound system to block parties in the Bronx and began playing the brief rhythmic sections of records which would become known as “breaks.” Using the two-turntable set-up of the disco DJs, Kool Herc’s style led to the use of two copies of the same record to elongate the break. This breakbeat DJing, using hard Funk, Rock, and records with Latin percussion, formed the basis of Hip-Hop music. DJ Kool Herc’s music along with his announcements to his dancers, called B-Boys and B-Girls, helped pave the way to what everyone now knows as Hip-Hop.
Little Shalimar, aka Torbitt Schwartz is a half-Lebanese Kentucky Colonel who grew up writing graffiti in Brooklyn and going to art rock shows in Louisville, KY. He co-produced both of the critically acclaimed Run The Jewels albums as well as El-P’s Cancer 4 Cure album. Little Shalimar currently leads the electro RnB unit, King Mono, and has worked as a multi-instrumentalist/producer/DJ with: Elvis Costello, TV On The Radio, Killer Mike, Steve Arrington, Antibalas, and Chin Chin (of which he’s a founding member). In addition to his album credits, Little Shalimar works regularly as a composer for film and television. He has scored the critically acclaimed film “Rubble Kings” for Netflix, the film “Far From Home” for CNN, award winning spots for Nike as well as many other projects.
From 1968 to 1975, gangs ruled New York City. Beyond the idealistic hopes of the civil rights movement lay a unfocused rage. Neither law enforcement nor social agency could end the escalating bloodshed. Peace came only through the most unlikely and courageous of events that would change the world for generations to come by giving birth to hip-hop culture. Rubble Kings chronicles life during this era of gang rule, tells the story of how a few extraordinary, forgotten people did the impossible, and how their actions impacted New York City and the world over.