On August 11, 1973 Cindy Campbell hosted a “back to school jam’ block party in a small community room at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx. Her brother, Clive, was put on music duty. He wanted to create something unique and innovative that know one had seen or heard before. Clive knew he had to bring the beats and the heat, especially since the door money was going to buy new school clothes for the upcoming year. He prided himself on his musical variety, especially the rare and unreleased records he acquired…and the way he played it. In fact, he had two copies of James Brown’s “Sex Machine” he knew he wanted to play.

“The best part of the records, I went to it,” mentioned Herc in an interview. “I go right to the yolk”.

Clive–better known as DJ Kool Herc, used two turntables (a technique he borrowed from the discoteches of NYC) to move from the end of a record to the beginning of another without interruption. He noticed the partygoers really went wild for the instrumental breaks, creating “The Merry-Go-Round” a technique in which the DJ switched from break to break at the height of the party. He knew it was the perfect time to cue the “Sex Machine” records. The rest is hip hop history.

It's only fitting that Saturday, August 12th Cincinnati is hosting the first of its kind DJ festival showcasing local, national, and international talent. And with it being the 50th year of hip hop it was essential to show love and respect to the clever, intelligent and talented turntablists who’ve kept the parties bumping and the bodies moving.

Stereo ‘23, A Celebration of DJs, is an all-day festival at The Andrew J. Brady Music ICON festival stage at Smale Park, located at 25 Race St. Cincinnati, OH 45202.

Doors open at 10:30am. STEREO is 12pm-11pm and is FREE, all ages event.