Afrika Bambaataa, Kurtis Blow & Melle Mel Honoured By New York City Council

The pioneers of Hip Hop culture such as Afrika Bambaataa, Kurtis Blow and Melle Mel are among those who have been honoured by New York city council and received official proclamations on  March 12 at the New York City Hall.

Afrika Bambaataa, Kurtis Blow & Melle Mel Honoured By NYC

Cornell University Library’s Hip Hop Collection appointed Afrika Bambaataa as a visiting scholar for three years. In the role, he will visit the university a few times each  year to “meet with classes, talk to students and community groups, and perform.” This marks the first faculty appointment of a Hip Hop pioneer at a major university.

Melle Mel in a recent interview said that “grassroots films such as Breakbeat polarised the term Hip Hop,” but also said “the term Hip Hip was created before the movies by two great MCs in Lovebug Starski and Keith Cowboy.”

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Fives’ “The Message” was named by Rolling Stone magazine in 2012 as The Greatest Hip Hop Song Ever Made. Melle Mel played the lead role in this song.

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