Hip-Hop pioneer MC fights to get recognition, royalties for his iconic lyrics
Some hip-hop icons claim they have not reaped the financial rewards of their success.
abcnews.go.com
While history remembers many of hip-hop's artists who laid the bricks for the foundation of the genre, there are some, like Coke La Rock, who say they've been kept from reaping the rewards.
The 68-year-old Bronx native claims he was at the party at the rec room on Sedgwick Avenue on Aug. 11, 1973, where Clive Campbell, aka DJ Kool Herc, made history by mixing records to a beat that got everyone dancing and coming back for more. It was here at this party that many hip-hop experts say the genre was born
La Rock claimed he got on the mic at the party, making him the first MC of hip-hop
La Rock would continue to perform at subsequent parties and underground shows and claimed during that time he coined lines and phrases that many now associate with other artists.
For example, La Rock said he came up with the lyrics, "You rock and you don't stop," from being on the mic at a party and watching people bounce to the music.
It's a phrase often associated with the Afrika Bambaataa
and Soul Sonic Force's 1982 song, "Planet Rock."He also told a story of how he says he came up with the track, "Hotel, motel, you don't tell, we won't tell," part of which was immortalized on the first Sugarhill Gang single "Rapper's Delight," often considered one of the first mainstream hip-hop tracks.
