Constructed in 1967, the apartment building at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, located in the Bronx borough of New York City, is widely accepted as the birthplace of the Hip Hop movement.

The 102-unit apartment complex was developed in response to the construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway. This project, completed between 1948 and 1972, led to the displacement of thousands of lower income residents and the migration of the most of the middle class citizens living in the Upper Bronx. Property values in the neighborhood plummeted and many blame the project for plunging the area into a state of perpetual poverty.

On August 11, 1973 a Jamaican born resident of the apartment building, DJ Kool Herc, was entertaining guests at party in the building at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue when he began experimenting with the records he was playing. Using the turntables to slow down and repeat portions of the percussive breaks and adding his own lyrics over top. It was this improvisation and experimentation that many believe to be the genesis of the Hip Hop style and movement.

DJ Kool Herc's style began to spread throughout the borough and beyond, influencing early adopters and innovators such as Grandmaster Flash and Africka Bambatta. The roots of Hip Hop reflect the blending of cultures and styles that have come to embody the movement as it has become a social, political, and cultural phenomenon world-wide.