New York

The Cheetah Club is widely credited as the birthplace of Salsa music and it was the epicenter for this art form’s rise to popularity and the use of the term “Salsa”.

Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing. Other elements include beatboxing. Since its emergence from the South Bronx, hip hop culture has spread around the world. Hip hop music first emerged with disc jockeys creating rhythmic beats by looping breaks (small portions of songs emphasizing a percussive pattern) on two turntables, more commonly referred to as sampling. This was later accompanied by “rap”, a rhythmic style of chanting or poetry presented in 16 bar measures or time frames, and beatboxing, a vocal technique mainly used to imitate percussive elements of the music and various technical effects of hip-hop DJ’s. An original form of dancing and particular styles of dress arose among fans of this new music. These elements experienced considerable refinement and development over the course of the history of the culture. Hip hop originated, by most accounts, in the late 60s with Clive Campbell, also known as DJ Kool Herc. In fact, Herc is the person that brought the first hip-hop music to the Bronx […]

On Saturday, November 19th, 2016, the corner of 192nd St and Linden Blvd in St. Albans, Queens, NY was dedicated as Malik ‘Phife Dawg’ Taylor Way in memory of the member of rap group A Tribe Called Quest who died in March of 2016 as a result of complications from diabetes. Shortly after his passing a small group of men took it upon themselves to dedicate a mural and a street they loved and immortalized in song, in his honor.

Learn more about Greene St. Recording Studios and it role in recording the golden years of NY hip hop in the 90’s

The influential “Brill Building Sound” and the style of popular songwriting and recording created by its writers and producers defined 60’s popular music.

Tin Pan Alley* is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Malik ‘Phife Dawg’ Taylor, a member of rap group A Tribe Called Quest, grew up on this street that was dedicated in his memory in Queens.

Native Tongues crew’s (Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest among others) early work in Calliope Studios started a hip-hop movement.

Punk rock emerged in the mid-1970s from an underground Manhattan club called CBGB.

Learn about the legendry New York club the Paradise Garage and the legacy of Larry Levan that became the genre of garage house music.

Learn about how Pharoahe Monch and The band Th1rt3en shot a music video in the Andrew Freedman Home, a catalyst for the arts in the Bronx.

Afrofuturism’s artistic freedom, social impact and limitless sonic ideas are celebrated through jazz, funk, R&B, Afrobeat, hip-hop, electronic music in this Festival.