KNOWLEDGE IS THE FIFTH ELEMENT
Hip-hop has always taught itself. Those who knew shared with those learning — in cyphers and crews, on corners and in studios. The Vault continues that. History, technique, culture, and craft across all four elements.
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New to this? Four articles that give you the ground everything else stands on.
1520 Sedgwick Avenue
The address where it started, and what happened there on August 11, 1973.
DJ Kool Herc
The man who extended the break and created the space for everything else.
The Cypher: Rules of the Circle
The unwritten rules that govern how breakers enter, compete, and earn respect.