Harlem World: How Hip Hop's Super Showdown Changed Music Forever

by Jonathan Mael

A thrilling narrative history of how one rap battle in New York transformed American culture forever. July 3, 1981, was a pivotal night for the future of America's newest art hip hop. In New York's Harlem World Club, the Fantastic Romantic Five and the Cold Crush Brothers competed, with an unprecedented $1,000―and their reputations―on the line in a highly anticipated rap battle. The show drew hundreds of fans to settle a question that still dominates hip hop Who's the best? In Harlem World , journalist Jonathan Mael chronicles this fateful night of hip hop rivalry and shares a new look at how Harlem helped ignite a musical revolution. Since hip hop first emerged in New York in the early 1970s, artists like Theodore Livingston (DJ Grand Wizzard Theodore) and Curtis Brown (Grandmaster Caz) sought to elevate this uniquely American musical genre by pushing the limits of record-playing techniques and lyricism. The two crews they assembled put on the best shows in a world where hip hop was still a strictly live art form. Even as acts like the Sugarhill Gang and Kurtis Blow became commercially successful, New York's top two crews strove to claim the ultimate spot atop the city's hip hop scene. The battle blew the roof off Harlem World that night, and bootlegged cassette tapes of the match-up sent aftershocks around the city as more fans listened to the legendary performances. Set in the New York of the 1970s and '80s, this book shares dozens of new, exclusive interviews and a treasure trove of previously unpublished archival material to tell the story of Cold Crush and Fantastic's rivalry, documenting one of the most important stories in hip hop history. This is the first book of its kind to focus on 1979–1983 and the legendary battles at Harlem World while connecting the genre's formative years to its massive role in American society today.

288 pages, Hardcover

Published September 12, 2023

Reviews

[Sheehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes yes y'all, this book is certified fresh.

A concise well-researched history of the pre-industry origins of hip-hop in the clubs. The focus is ostensibly the establishment, Harlem World, as the locus for so many formative early rap battles and dances. However, it ultimately follows the birth and legacy of a few powerhouse Bronx-based crews/DJs, Fantastic Five and the Cold Crush Brothers as they evolved out of the myriad influences and circumstances of the late 70's/early 80's NYC.

This book is a classic subculture study, looking at the antecedents and outcomes of young people coming together and making the most of what they have available. Echoing common themes in the evolution of hip-hop in all its forms, the local/world influences, the actors/agents, the venues/spaces, the "scene", the mores and the creativity that blew life into what we now take for granted as the established tenets or canon of hip-hop. Like everything, it was a negotiation of influences, powers and timing that ultimately defined the way we appreciate the art forms today.

By way of example, there are so many great historical moments that could have entirely changed the way we experience the art present day. What if there had never been a blackout? Would so many DJs have had the means of production to create the scene? Let's just say Fab 5 Freddy didn't decide to intentionally intermingle nascent graffiti artists with a downtown scene, and enlist others from another burgeoning subculture, punk? Would we have a "downtown" scene, a college circuit, the breadth of interest enough for the whole thing to come off? Who can say, but this book highlights a series of wonderful little influences/turns at what seem like just the right time to explain how hip-hop and that era caught lightening in bottle to create an entirely new sound and space.

Suffice it to say, I will be re-watching my copy of Wild Style tonight, to see what I missed in past viewings and with a special look out for Cold Crush and Fantastic Five cameos.