DJ Kool Herc’s Turntables and Speakers from Hip-Hop’s Birth come to Christie’s

Relics from the birthplace of hip hop music, 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, will soon hit the auction block with Christie’s. The large apartment building was home to Clive Campbell, better known as DJ Kool Herc, in the 1960s and 70s. At the age of 18, Kool Herc hosted dance parties in the recreation room of his building. He created hip hop during one such party: “He extended an instrumental beat (breaking or scratching) to let people dance longer (break dancing) and began MC’ing (rapping) during the extended breakdancing […] The music led to an entire cultural movement that’s altered generational thinking,” say researchers for PBS. This sale features an extensive collection of equipment, records, and assorted music memorabilia from this important period of American music history. 

Leading this Christie’s auction is Kool Herc’s main working sound system employed through the mid-1970s and early 80s. Kool Herc had already experienced his first big break; hip hop was spreading like wildfire. He soon upgraded his sound equipment to the system offered here. It includes two Technics turntables, a GLI 3800 mixer, a 300 Watt McIntosh amplifier, two speaker cabinets with speaker arrays, and two subwoffer cabinets. Also notable are “the legendary Herculoids,” Kool Herc’s Acoustic Research 804 speaker columns that were acquired shortly after the 1973 apartment party that changed American music forever. Bidders can also consider memorabilia from 1984’s Beat Street, fine art depicting DJ Kool Herc and his famous speakers, and glittering disco balls from the 1970s. For the complete catalog and to register to bid, visit Christie’s.