Hip-Hop Birth Roots to be Sold

A Bronx apartment building, recognized as the birthplace of Hip-Hop culture, is expected to be sold next week, announces New York City officials.

Located at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, the building’s landolord group plans to withdraw the property from the city’s moderate housing program, allowing the owners to pay off the building’s $5 million dollar balance, according to AllHipHop.com.

The property will then be sold to high-profile real estate developer Mark Karasick, putting the future of the 100 families living there in doubt.

The tenants and partnered housing advocates attempted to block the sale by filing a lawsuit in the State Supreme Court. Despite the current tenants, advocates and the building’s hip-hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc coming together to prepare a $10 million offer for the building and securing a temporary restraining order against the sale, the State Supreme Court ruled in favor of the landlord on last Friday (September 26).

"While the owners of 1520 Sedgwick have a legal right to buyout of the Mitchell-Lama program, the building’s residents have made an offer that we believe is more than fair," Shauna Donovan, commissioner for the housing preservation department, told the New York Times. "In this light, it is difficult to understand why the owners would choose to put the affordability of over 100 families’ homes at risk."

In the early 1970s, Kingston, Jamaica native and Hip-Hop founder Clive Campbell moved into the building. There he quickly constructed a graffiti crew dubbed the Ex-Vandals, and took on his famous DJ moniker Kool Herc.

Exasperated by the gang violence that plagued the neighborhood, Herc and his sister Cindy began hosting parties in the building’s recreation room.

Utilizing two turntables and a guitar amp, Herc revolutionized music by isolating "the breaks" of popular records like James Brown’s "Give It Up or Turn It Loose," Booker T and the MG’s "Melting Pot," Babe Ruth’s "The Mexican," and The Incredible Bongo Band’s "Apache."

This style of musical arrangement grew exponentially, attracting dancers (B-Boys and B-Girls) and fellow DJs and future Hip-Hop luminaries Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash.

Last year, New York officially christened the building "the birthplace of Hip-Hop" and declared it eligible for national and state registrars.

According to reports, 1520 Sedgwick Avenue is estimated to be sold for $7.5 million.