When Kaari, Sanda and I walk into the Next Generation Center, the home of our current Bronx workshop, it's like walking into a house party. Hip hop and rap deejayed by kids from the center thumps just a little too loud. I keep thinking some adult is going to put the kabosh on this, but they don't seem phased.

In fact, Jonathan Kimble, the Youth Development Coordinator at the Center was raised by Grandmaster Caz, who claims to be the true author of 'Rapper's Delight' the hugely popular song from 1979 (You know it: 'I said a hip hop a hippie to the hippie to the hip hip hop, you don't stop...') His claim to the lyrics is evidenced by the line: 'I'm the C-A-S-A-N-O-V-A and the rest is F-L-Y'.

These days Grandmaster Caz is educating people about the true roots of hip hop as a celebrity guide on the Hip Hop Hush Tour. Hip hop was born in the Bronx. The creation story puts its birth at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in Morris Heights, at a house party hosted by D.J. Kool Herc in 1973. At the Next Generation Center, that party continues...everyday. In the back corner of the center the Rookies work behind closed doors on their stories. But the beats coming from the 'party' seep through the concrete walls and provide ambiance for our work--for better or worse.

One of the DJs at the Center added 'Rapper's Delight' to his playlist.
Listen to experience the party we walk into every afternoon: