The Roots’ drummer, Amir “?uestlove” Thompson recently revealed that he has embarked on a goal to create a foundation that honors the pioneers of Hip-Hop.”I’m on a one man mission to start a foundation that will honor the the forefathers of Hip-Hop, especially Kool Herc,” Thompson told the Dallas News.Thompson said the fact that most Hip-Hop fans are ignorant to the role Kool Herc played in creating Hip-Hop didn’t sit well with him.”There’s no reason why the man who invented Hip-Hop should be working for Fed-Ex right now,” Thompson added.Herc is recognized as a founding father of the music, but never had a hit record as did some of his constituents.”I would like to present Herc with a $1 million dollar award and I’m gonna spend the next year hitting up anyone who makes over $10 million net in a fiscal year, the Jay-Z’s, the Eminem’s, the Russell Simmons’. I think they can afford to put up $100,000 each and if we got five or 10 of them, we could have a sort of Macarthur Award for Hip-Hop. I know you can’t compensate for intellectual property, but it would be nice if Kool Herc could pay his electric bill.”Kool Herc is recognized as the first Hip-Hop DJ. Herc was born in Jamaica and migrated to the Bronx.Herc was a pioneer of breakbeats. Around 1970, Herc mixed two short sets of percussion breaks with two turntables, extended the length and thus allowing B-Boys and B-Girls and rappers to perform.
