Shortly after, Herc drew a massive following of children and teenagers from the streets that were attracted to his catchy beat and rhythm. His popularity grew as he continued to provide entertainment for numerous block parties, amazing crowds with the skills he displayed at the turntables.
Herc being the first prominent hip-hop DJ, many other "emcees" started to break into the scene. One of them was Afrika Bambaataa (Kahyan Aasim), referred to as the grandfather of hip-hop (Blow, 4). Creator of the Zulu Nation, "an organization dedicated to peace love and unity" (Blow, 4), Bambaataa had even more supporters, giving the newly budding hip-hop world a big boost. Moreover, he helped diversify the range of sounds the rap music covered, mixing sounds from "rock-music recordings and television shows into the standard funk and disco fare" (D"Cook, 3). By using an even more eclectic range, Bambaataa extended the breadth of the hip-hop genre beyond the archetypical black youth and gave an opportunity for everyone and anyone to be a fan of the original sound he was creating.
Along with Herc and Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Sadler) became a rising disc jockey in the streets of the Bronx. Moving from Barbados, he made a major contribution to the evolution of the rap sound by raising the skills of the DJ to a whole new level. Flash earned his street-name for his deftness at the mixer and turntables. With his remarkable skill, Sadler became the innovator of "cutting" and "scratching" - rearranging different melodies and tunes on two records to keep a continuous beat. This was a major landmark in the history of rap music because this enabled the emcee or rapper to showcase his or her skills over an extended frame of harmony.
The last notable disc jockey of the seventies was DJ Hollywood. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Hollywood did not isolate himself to performing in one area.
