We hear about it (almost) every day: the term hip hop is now part of everyday language and is recognized all over the world. Nowadays, hip hop is a collaboration of male and female rap performances. But have you ever wondered who invented it?
Who invented the term Hip-Hop?
Lovebug Starski, the man who first coined the term hip hop, is missing.
Before being a musical genre, hip hop is a cultural movement born in the United States in the seventies. Young people, especially Afro and Latin Americans, met on the street listening to music and partying – it was the era of the so-called Block Parties – which not only made them entertain with music and hip hop dances, but also contributed to cementing their specific identity. New York’s multicultural society has recognized itself in hip hop. “We matter. We stand for something ”, was the message that these guys wanted to send. They have succeeded. And the rest is history.
Unfortunately, the world of rap and hip hop has lost one of its pioneers. We are talking about Lovebug Starski, one of the first MCs who animated Block Parties in the Bronx by making hundreds of young people dance. The man disappeared in Las Vegas due to a heart attack: he was only 57 years old.
Love Bug Starski – You’ve Gotta Believe
Lovebug Starski will be remembered not only for being one of the first to give birth to hip hop: it seems, in fact, that it was he who coined the term in the seventies. According to the FactMag magazine, the rapper used to say, during the Block Parties, “Hip Hop You Don’t Stop”. And from there the term would become common in the United States and, from the 1990s onwards, in the rest of the world.
In short, a legend, even if some attribute the invention of the term to another great of this cultural movement: Afrika Banbataa, a contemporary of Lovebug Starski and a real star of hip hop.
Born in 1960 as Kevin Smith, Lovebug Starski was the person who made hip hop popular in the Bronx. Despite this, he never made it into the mainstream environment like his other peers. Obviously it was very popular, but not to the level of Notorius BIG. (who also knew) or Tupac Shakur. Like them, however, it did not have a long life unfortunately. Although being the one who gave its name to an entire cultural movement must have been a great satisfaction.