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

Amid the blaring of classic break beats like "Apache," the noticeably youngand multi-cultural scenesters were rocked to their fat laces in honor of theseminal Cold crew -- Jerry D. Lewis (a k a JDL), Almighty Kay-Gee, CharlieChase, EZ AD, Grandmaster Caz, and DJ Tony Tone. The festivities -- whichincluded 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 andthe Funky Four Plus One More -- spanned almost twelve hours.

Although the group formed in 1978, for many, the history of the Cold CrushBrothers begins in October 1979, when the Sugarhill Gang were erroneouslycredited 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 Bandbeat them to the punch with "King Tim III.") This inaccuracy is an obviousslight to the Fatback Band but, moreover, it is an offense to hip hop pioneerssuch as the Cold Crush Brothers. Indeed, it can be argued that there wouldhave been no Sugarhill Gang without Cold Crush, who not only played aninstrumental role in bringing hip hop to the foreground of American music, butwho also allegedly supplied the lyrics for "Rapper's Delight." (According toKay-Gee, Grandmaster Caz loaned the Gang rhymes that would become the lyricsto the seminal song and never received credit for the contribution.)

Word of mouth, however, in true hip hop form, has kept the Cold Crush legacyalive on the streets throughout the years, spawning their yearly anniversaryparties. "The reason why we have these parties," explains Kay-Gee, "is becausewe 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 'causewe all played a part in the history of what everybody's doing today. I feellike what we did in our era -- through what they did in their's -- was thelast time to really make an impact in hip hop, and that's why they'rerespected and why we're respected as living legends."

What the party made most evident is that the sound of hip hop -- as well asits audience -- has changed dramatically over the years. "If these young catswould do their history, they would know, Kay-Gee says. "I think that if allrappers 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 theseparties are all about, Kay-Gee affirms, "What we get here is real hip hopheads. 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 sleephip hop. Our crowd has always been the same. They wanna be a part of somethinggreat."

MARGEAUX WATSON
(July 21, 1998)