The Birth of Hip-Hop
Travel back to the 1970s Bronx to see how a neighborhood party changed music forever. Learn about the DJs, dancers, and poets who built a global culture from scratch.
Like Duolingo, but for The Birth of Hip-Hop. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
54 levels across 4 sections, about 108 minutes end to end, roughly 22 days at five minutes a day. It moves through The Bronx Block Party, The Four Main Ingredients, New Sounds and New Tricks, and From the Street to the Radio. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in The Birth of Hip-Hop
- Economic barriers to disco
- Economic decline in the Bronx
- Urban decay as artistic space
- Infrastructure for sound systems
- Kool Herc isolated the 'break' where the vocals dropped out
- The party was a 'back-to-school' fundraiser for Cindy Campbell
- Why the Bronx youth created their own entertainment
- The Merry-Go-Round technique extended short drum solos
- It was a grassroots community event, not a corporate promotion
- The technical innovation that distinguished DJ Kool Herc's style
- How the physical environment of the Bronx shaped the culture
- The community-driven nature of the first hip-hop party
- The Cross-Bronx Expressway displaced thousands and divided neighborhoods
- Why the Bronx youth created their own entertainment instead of using existing venues
- Systemic neglect led to a lack of traditional recreational facilities
- How the physical environment of the Bronx shaped specific elements of the culture
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives The Birth of Hip-Hop the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
What was the primary result of the high costs and fashion requirements of 1970s Manhattan disco clubs?
Get it right to open this lesson and 53 more in the app.
Where The Birth of Hip-Hop takes you
- 1
The Bronx Block Party
- The Famous Party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue
- DJ Kool Herc and the Big Speakers
- Finding the Best Part of the Record
- Keeping the Beat Going Forever
- 2
The Four Main Ingredients
- The DJ: Master of the Turntables
- The MC: From Party Host to Rapper
- Breaking: Dancing on the Concrete
- Graffiti: Painting the City Walls
- The Fifth Element: Knowledge and Style
- How the Four Parts Work Together
- 3
New Sounds and New Tricks
- Grandmaster Flash and Quick Mixing
- The Invention of the Scratch
- Using Drum Machines for Heavy Beats
- 4
From the Street to the Radio
- Recording the First Rap Hits
- Music Videos and the Move to TV
- Songs with a Message about Real Life
- How Hip-Hop Spread Across the World
- The Legacy of the Early Days
4 sections · 18 units · 54 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
The Birth of Hip-Hop is taught in the Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start The Birth of Hip-Hop today.
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