Christie’s is honored to present DJ Kool Herc & The Birth of Hip Hop, an online auction in New York from the legendary DJ and universally recognized Father of Hip Hop. Preceded by a historic exhibition at Christie’s Rockefeller Center galleries, the auction is comprised of more than 150 lots of original vinyl records Herc spun in the 1970s, iconic turntables, speakers, and stereo equipment, clothing, one of the most extensive holdings of hip-hop fliers and posters in private hands, and dozens of Polaroids of parties, people and events at the very birth of a cultural movement that has transformed the world. 

Among the highlights in the auction are the tower speakers—named the Herculoids—which stand 6’ tall and were the core of the sound system used at the legendary August 11, 1973 party in the rec room at 1520 Sedgwick Ave, in the Bronx. It was at this party that Herc revealed a turntable technique that has been termed the Merry-Go-Round technique, spinning two records of the same album, seamlessly moving from break-beat to break-beat and extending the moment when everyone would hit the dance floor.