We celebrate a lot of pretty art focused photography, however, great vintage photographs inspire in a way that others can’t. Maybe it the whole nostalgia aspect, or maybe it reminds that we too will one day get old. Nonetheless, these photos could supply you with the next few weeks of fruitful #throwbackthursdays.
Afrika Bambaata is a deejay from the South Bronx. He is known as the Godfather of hip-hop and electro-funk. He also formed the hip-hop awareness group the Universal Zulu Nation.
Almighty Kay Gee began as a break-dancer before joining the Cold Crush Brothers in 1979. This is Kay Gee performing with the group at Harlem World.
DJ Charlie Chase was a founding member of the Cold Crush Brothers. He is credited with making Latinos a force in the Bronx hip-hop scene. Here he is performing at Norman Thomas High School in Manhattan.
EPMD is one of the longest-running groups in hip-hop, staying active for the majority of their 29 years of existence. Made up of Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith, the group hails from Brentwood, New York.
Eric B & Rakim have been called “the most influential DJ/MC combo in contemporary pop music, period,” by Tom Terrell of NPR. They hail from Queens and Long Island, New York, respectively.
JDL, right, and Grandmaster Caz, another member of the Cold Crush Brothers, perform at Club Negril. Grandmaster Caz now hosts Hush Hip-Hop Tours in New York City.
Jerry Dee Lewis, or JDL, was also a member of the Cold Crush Brothers.
Queen Latifah made her name as one of hip-hop’s premier female emcees, rapping about issues like domestic violence, harassment, and relationships.
LL Cool J started out in 1984 recording for Def Jam Records. His deejay at the time was Cut Creator, seen on LLCool J’s right. The other two are E-Love and B-Rock.
Before his years on VH1 reality shows, Flavor Flav became famous as a member of Public Enemy. He’s known for popularizing the role of the hype man, whose job is to excite the crowd with call-and-responses.
Chuck D. helped form the politically and socially conscious rap group Public Enemy. He’s one of the most influential MCs.
Rammellzee, left, was a visual artist, graffiti writer, and hip-hop musician. He was one of the original hip-hop artists in the early 1980s. Fab 5 Freddy was a graffiti artist and musician who became well known as the first host of Yo! MTV Raps. Rammellzee died in 2010.
Salt-N-Pepa is a hip-hop trio from Queens. They were one of the first all-female rap groups.
DJ Tony Tone, left, was a founding member of the Cold Crush Brothers, a Bronx hip-hop group that formed in 1979. DJ Kool Herc, right, is often credited as the starting point of hip-hop. Herc pioneered the use of hard funk and Latin percussion records in deejaying, which formed the basis of hip-hop.
Charlie Ahearn, second from left, is an American film director who rose to prominence documenting hip-hop culture in New York City in the ’70s. This is Ahearn shooting Wild Style, a 1983 film about hip-hop at the time.
via BI