THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2017 lifestyle MUSIC & MOVIES Work by TATS CRU is on display at the, The Point in the Bronx in New York. Bronx-based graffiti artist, turned professional muralist, BG183, alias Sotero Ortiz, works on a project in an old Bronx warehouse. — AFP photos The Bronx looks to capitalize as hip-hop's birthplace n the 1970s, DJs, dancers, graffiti artists and the first rap- pers came together in the burned-out buildings of The IBronx, giving birth to hip-hop. Today, hip-hop is a multibil- lion-dollar industry and The Bronx is on the mend, but New York's northernmost borough is struggling to capitalize on its heritage. Hip-hop began at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue on the two-tone linoleum floor of a ground-floor room in an anony- mous brick house, under an impromptu neon light. There on August 11, 1973, Clive Campbell-nicknamed Kool Herc- mashed together snippets of recordings on two turntables and, without knowing it, became the first hip-hop DJ. Coke La Rock became the first MC as he delivered spoken-word lyrics over the music. Hip-hop culture-with its mix of DJing, rapping, graffiti and dance-has gone on to become a global phenomenon. The Bronx has restored several emblematic sites including Cedar Playground, the scene of the first open-air hip-hop parties, and the Bronx River Community Center where pioneering DJ Afrika Bambaataa had his start. The early days of hip-hop have also been dramatized in a television series, "The Get Down," which premiered in August. But little of the giant hip-hop industry now comes out of or benefits The Bronx, which Spray paints used by Bronx-based graffiti artist, turned professional muralist, BG183, as Signs honoring Hip-Hop pioneers Rock Steady Crew and US sex therapist Dr Ruth despite recent growth remains less prosperous than glam- he works on a project in an old Bronx warehouse. Westheimer hang from a lamp post as part of the Bronx Walk of Fame in the Bronx. orous Manhattan or fast-growing Brooklyn. A plan to create a hip-hop museum in The Bronx has Diaz Jr. said that the museum could also show visitors the not happen until pioneers of hip-hop, financiers and moguls And with prices in Manhattan and Brooklyn increasingly repeatedly been proposed and resurrected but has not come fresh construction and lowering crime of The Bronx and not of hip-hop, the new artists of hip-hop, until all of hip-hop out of reach for many New Yorkers, developers have invested to fruition. Rocky Bucano, a businessman and producer the "rundown buildings" they are expecting. "Hip-hop with a comes together." heavily in the southeastern tip of The Bronx in the past few behind the Universal Hip Hop Museum, has since teamed up museum like this would be an excellent way where folks years. Developers, for their part, have clearly seen the benefit to create a foundation to support the project, enlisting several could come in and say: It's not like it was. But we haven't lost New embrace of hip-hop of bringing a touch of hip-hop to a street of building. BG 183, figures from the first generation of hip-hop including Kurtis our flavor. We totally embrace that this is the birthplace of Debra Harris has found a growing market by bringing the alias of Sotero Ortiz of the graffiti collective Tats Cru, said Blow. The current plan calls for a complex over several acres hip-hop," he said. tourists to The Bronx to see hip-hop history. Relatively few that developers are constantly reaching out in hopes that a on the Harlem River, which separates The Bronx and Harlem. He likened a hip-hop museum to the Rock and Roll Hall of are American as she sees more interest from visitors from splash of spray paint can bring a badge of authenticity-as with Alongside the museum will be businesses, green space and Fame-the shrine to rock culture in Cleveland that has increas- Britain, France and Germany as well as Australia and Japan. a former factory in the Hunts Point neighborhood that will affordable housing. ingly been inducting rappers, with the late Tupac Shakur to But the reputation of The Bronx remains such that, 15 years reopen as an office building months after its graffiti mural. The be honored next month when the gala comes to Brooklyn. after she launched the tours, Harris starts her visits in Harlem irony is not lost on the Tats Cru, who for years had been dodg- Showcasing a new Bronx "This is no disrespecting rock and roll or the Smithsonians, so as not to scare people off. "It's all about Manhattan and ing the police as they took their art to streets and trains and Bucano said he has received support from several city and but one of the most embarrassing things is when you get now it's about Brooklyn. Eventually The Bronx will catch up now are invited to art galleries. "They were telling us: you can't state elected leaders and, if the city government gives the hip-hop artists that are being inducted into the Rock and Roll and people will start getting interest, but as long as there's a do this here, you're going to get caught," BG 183 said. "Now green light, he will seek support from "the companies that Hall of Fame. It would have been nicer if they had been level of fear, you may not feel comfortable going there," she they're giving us awards." — AFP have benefited from the exploitation of rap music." The muse- inducted into a hall of fame right here, where it all started," he said. The number of murders in The Bronx has tumbled six- um will be "a beacon of economic activity for the borough said. Diaz was hopeful for the museum but said it was critical fold since 1990, even if the borough still has the highest that gave birth to hip-hop," he said. Borough president Ruben to bring commitments from the hip-hop world. "I think it will crime rate in New York. Ben Affleck says he's Paul Simon to promote undergone treatment biodiversity with new tour for alcoholism olk rock legend Paul Simon has announced a US tour the country, mostly in open-air venues. The 17th show to promote biodiversity efforts as fears mount for the will come when he headlines Eaux Claires, the festival in ollywood star Ben Affleck announced on Facebook Flong-term survival of life on Earth. The 75-year-old Wisconsin launched three years ago by Bon Iver frontman that he has undergone treatment to combat alco- songwriter, who a year ago had been mulling retirement, Justin Vernon. holism, as he acknowledged his ongoing struggle Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron answers questions H said all proceeds from his 17-date tour would fund the E.O. Simon, formerly in a duo with Art Garfunkel, released a with the condition. The Oscar-winning actor and director during a press conference following the end of filming Wilson Biodiversity Foundation. Started by the Harvard sci- string of classic hits including "Bridge over Troubled Water" cited his children as a major motivation to pursue treat- of his new movie ‘Roma,’ in Mexico City. — AP entist of the same name, the foundation supports educa- and "Mrs. Robinson" and helped shape the genre of world ment, in order to "live life to the fullest and be the best tion and research into biodiversity-the interconnected lives music fusion with his 1986 album "Graceland." Simon father I can be." "I have completed treatment for alcohol of the planet's vast array of species. spoke of retirement before two shows last year at the addiction," Affleck wrote in a Facebook post late Tuesday. Wilson, one of the foremost experts on ants, has warned Forest Hills stadium in his home of Queens, New York. But Alfonso Cuaron "This was the first of many steps being taken towards a that the planet is in the midst of a sixth great extinction as he returned soon afterwards, singing at the Democratic positive recovery." The actor then turned to his family. the destruction of rain forests, climate change and other National Convention and touring Europe. — AFP "I want my kids to know there is no shame in getting human actions cause species to die out at a fast-accelerat- wraps filming on 'Roma' help when you need it, and to be a source of strength for ing rate. Simon, announcing the tour through an interview Paul Simon anyone out there who needs help but is afraid to take the with the environmental site Mongabay on Monday, said he first step," he wrote. "I'm lucky to have the love of my family met Wilson in 2007 and was struck by his phrase that in his native Mexico and friends, including my co-parent, Jen, who has support- "Earth's a jewel, but it's endangered." "It's going to take a lit- or Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuaron, returning to film ed me and cared for our kids as I've done the work I set out tle while, maybe 100 years, maybe 200 years, to fix it. But to do." Once one-half of Hollywood's famed "Bennifer" mar- we can, and then it would be like living in paradise. in his native Mexico was an itch that took 16 years to finally scratch. Ever since Cuaron found international success with ried couple, Affleck and his now-estranged wife Jennifer "But he said it's only going to take 75 to 100 years to F Garner announced plans to divorce in June 2015, one day make it into a desolate place," Simon said.