The Birth of Hip-Hop
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.
For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.
Free during early access · No credit card · iPhone & Android

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 turns The Birth of Hip-Hop into a game you actually finish. Levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that make it stick. Five minutes a day.
Where The Birth of Hip-Hop takes you
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.
- 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.
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.
You pick the voice
The Birth of Hip-Hop is taught in the 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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