The Birth of Hip-Hop
From a Bronx rec room to downtown crossover — the rooms where the music found its footing.
Hip-hop began outside the club, at block parties and in rec rooms, before it found regular indoor homes. This trail runs from the address widely cited as its birthplace through the Bronx and Harlem clubs that nurtured it and on to its downtown crossover.
- 1
1520 Sedgwick Avenue
1973 (foundational party) · Morris Heights, Bronx
Widely cited as the birthplace, August 11, 1973.
Transformed - 2
Disco Fever
1976–1986 · Highbridge, Bronx
An early indoor home for Bronx hip-hop.
Closed - 3
Harlem World
late 1970s–1980s · Harlem, Manhattan
MC battles and crew showcases.
Closed - 4
The Devil's Nest
mid–late 1980s · Concourse, Bronx
Freestyle and Latin hip-hop.
Closed - 5
Latin Quarter
mid–late 1980s · Midtown, Manhattan
A crucial late-1980s room.
Closed - 6
Funhouse
1979–1985 · Chelsea, Manhattan
Freestyle and electro, Jellybean's residency.
Closed - 7
Roxy
1978–2007 · Chelsea, Manhattan
Hip-hop's downtown crossover.
Closed