Coke La Rock facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Coke La Rock
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Coke La Rock performing with DJ Kool Herc at a February 28, 2009 event in the Bronx.
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Coco La Rock, A-1 Coke, Nasty Coke |
| Born | April 24, 1955 |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Labels | Sugar Hill |
Coke La Rock (also known as Coco La Rock), born on April 24, 1955, is an American rapper from New York City. Many people consider him to be the very first MC in the history of hip-hop. In 2010, he was recognized for his important role in music history.
Contents
Coke La Rock and Kool Herc
Coke La Rock was born in The Bronx, New York City. His family originally came from North Carolina.
He was a close friend and music partner of DJ Kool Herc. Kool Herc is widely seen as the person who started hip-hop music in 1973. Coke La Rock was one of the first members of Herc's MC group, called the Herculoids. An MC, or Master of Ceremonies, is the person who raps and talks to the crowd during a performance.
According to Kool Herc, Coke La Rock's MC name changed a few times. It started as "A-1 Coke," then became "Nasty Coke," and finally settled on "Coke La Rock."
Coke La Rock joined Kool Herc for his very first party in 1973. This party was a birthday celebration for Herc's sister, Cindy. It took a few more parties before he officially started using the name Coke La Rock. He said the name came to him in a dream. Before that, he didn't have a stage name and would rap hidden from the audience.
His first raps were mostly "shout-outs" to his friends. These were special greetings or mentions. Over time, his raps became more like poetry. He created famous phrases like "You rock and you don't stop." Another one was "Hotel, motel, you don't tell, we won't tell." This phrase was later used in the famous song "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang. However, Coke La Rock was not given credit for it.
Coke La Rock's raps were always made up on the spot. He didn't write them down or practice them. This was different from later rap groups in the 1970s. Groups like the Furious Five and Cold Crush Brothers wrote their rhymes and planned their performances carefully. Coke La Rock said that when he first started rapping, he would just call out his friends' names. He also joked about double-parked cars to impress girls. He explained that he wasn't trying to be a serious rapper; he was just having fun.
Even though he was just playing around, Coke La Rock's raps became a basic example for other hip-hop artists. Many new artists in the Bronx music scene learned from his style in the mid-1970s.
Later Years and Return to Music
As more hip-hop groups started to form and improve on the early style, Kool Herc and the Herculoids became less popular. This happened around 1977.
After a difficult event involving Kool Herc, Coke La Rock decided to step away from the hip-hop scene. He wanted to let the younger generation take over. He had been a top artist in the Bronx hip-hop scene for several years. He also wanted to spend more time at home because his son, Donte La Rock, had just been born.
Gary Harris, who worked for the first hip-hop record label, Sugar Hill, said that people respected Herc and Coke. But by the early 1980s, they were not seen on the music scene anymore. Unlike other early Bronx hip-hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash, Coke La Rock never released his own recordings.
However, in late 2008, Coke La Rock's first recording was released. It was a song called "Hello – Merry Christmas Baby!" This song was part of a special holiday collection. It was made to honor the place where hip-hop began.
Coke La Rock's important place in hip-hop history was mentioned in the famous 1986 Boogie Down Productions song "South Bronx." In this song, KRS-One raps about him.
Coke La Rock was not connected to KRS-One's DJ at the time, Scott La Rock. Also, Coke La Rock and another important old-school MC, T La Rock, did not know each other in the early days of hip-hop. Their similar names were just a coincidence.
In 2021, after many years away from hip-hop, Coke La Rock returned to rapping. He performed a verse on the DJ Kay Slay song "Rolling 110 Deep." He returned again in 2023 to rap on "Rolling 200 Deep."
Live Recordings
- L Brothers vs The Herculoids – Bronx River Centre (1978)
- DJ Kool Herc and Whiz kid with the Herculoids: Live at T-Connection (1981)
Images for kids
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Coke La Rock performing with DJ Kool Herc at a February 28, 2009 event in the Bronx.
See also
In Spanish: Coke La Rock para niños
