More than two decades have passed since rap began its transformation from a street phenomenon to a multimillion-dollar industry, but judging from the crowd on hand Sunday to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of hip hop originatorsthe Cold Crush Brothers, there's still plenty of respect for the genre's roots. |

Amid the blaring of classic break beats like "Apache," the noticeably young and multicultural scenesters were rocked to their fat laces in honor of the seminal Cold crew -- Jerry D. Lewis (a k a JDL), Almighty Kay-Gee, CharlieChase, EZ AD, Grandmaster Caz and DJ Tony Tone. The festivities -- which included a breakdancing competition, screenings of Wild Style and Style Wars, and performances by luminaries such as KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane, DJ Red Alert, DJ Jazzy Jeff, the Fearless Four, Grand Wizard Theodore, the Furious Five and the Funky Four Plus One More -- spanned almost 12 hours.

Although the group formed in 1978, for many, the history of the Cold Crush Brothers begins in October 1979, when the Sugarhill Gang were erroneously credited with introducing the world to hip hop with their classic single, "Rapper's Delight." (In truth, just three weeks before the Gang put out "Rapper's Delight," an unknown Brooklyn collective called the Fatback Band beat them to the punch with "King Tim III.") This inaccuracy is an obvious slight to the Fatback Band but, moreover, it is an offense to hip hop pioneers such as the Cold Crush Brothers. Indeed, it can be argued that there would have been no Sugarhill Gang without Cold Crush, who not only played an instrumental role in bringing hip hop to the foreground of American music, but who also allegedly supplied the lyrics for "Rapper's Delight." (According to Kay-Gee, Grandmaster Caz loaned the Gang rhymes that would become the lyrics to the seminal song and never received credit for the contribution.)

Word of mouth, however, in true hip-hop form, has kept the Cold Crush legacy alive on the streets throughout the years, spawning their yearly anniversary parties. "The reason why we have these parties," explains Kay-Gee, "is because we created hip hop music. And the reason why I selected these artists [KRS-One, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie and Doug E. Fresh] to perform is 'cause we all played a part in the history of what everybody's doing today. I feel like what we did in our era -- through what they did in their's -- was the last time to really make an impact in hip hop, and that's why they're respected and why we're respected as living legends."

What the party made most evident is that the sound of hip hop -- as well as its audience -- has changed dramatically over the years. "If these young cats would do their history, they would know, Kay-Gee says. "I think that if all rappers had to battle for their crown, a lot of MCs wouldn't be out today, 'cause once you get rocked, no one really has respect for you."

While stressing that keeping the spirit of the old-school alive is what these parties are all about, Kay-Gee affirms, "What we get here is real hip hop heads. It's not like everybody's trying to be jiggy. This is real hip-hop. This is the essence, and the crowd that comes -- they breathe, eat and sleep hip-hop. Our crowd has always been the same. They wanna be a part of something great." (Margeaux Watson)