I always thought hip-hop grew out of the South Bronx, but apparently it arose out of the West Bronx and now there is an effort to prevent the South Bronx and it's hip-hop roots from being taken over by gentrification.



Clive Campbell, AKA D.J. Kool Herc says hip-hop was born in a housing complex at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, New York.  —“This is where it came from,” said Clive Campbell, pointing to the building’s first-floor community room. “This is it. The culture started here and went around the world. But this is where it came from. Not anyplace else.”

The area of the Bronx is being gentrified and many, including D.J. Kool Herc, believe that 1520 Sedgwick Ave. should be given landmark status by the New York City government.  The landmark status would not only acknowledge the important cultural role of hip-hop, it would also protect the poor and working-class residents from being evicted from the building due to gentrification.  In essence, the poverty culture from which hip-hop arose would be preserved and the residents could keep their housing.

—"The Sedgwick building is part of the state’s Mitchell-Lama program, in which private landlords who receive tax breaks and subsidized mortgages agree to limit their return on equity and rent to people who meet modest income limits. The contracts allow owners to leave the program and prepay their mortgage loan after 20 years. Rent regulations can protect tenants from increases, but not always."

Is hip-hop an important enough cultural form to save these residents from gentrification?



—“All of it came from here,” he said. “From this building. It should be respected.”