When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop - Laban Carrick Hill, Theodore Taylor, III

When the Beat was Born (Roaring Brook, $17.99), DJ Kool Herc was there. Award-winning author Laban Carrick Hill sketches the life of the music innovator and inventor of hip hop, Clive Campbell, who came to be known as DJ Kool Herc. Clive’s musical talent and his access to his father’s giant six-foot speakers led to new ways of spinning music to please the dancers and the crowd at his neighborhood block parties. His Jamaican roots influenced his style, which included shout-outs and rhyming. Local artist and photographer Theodore Taylor III deftly demonstrates the vibe of the period and the fluidity of the dancers with bold colors and shapes in this engaging new picture-book biography. Ages 7-10. KLP