Hush Tours, which stands for the “us” in hip-hop, now offers tours of the birthplace of hip-hop. With hip-hop pioneers like Kool DJ Red Alert, Raheim from Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, Reggie Reg from The Crash Crew, L.A. Sunshine from The Treacherous Three (Kool Moe Dee was also a member), Kool Herc and Grandmaster Caz narrating, a motorized coach transports sightseers up Madison Avenue, past the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home, where Biggie and Aaliyah’s funerals were held, to Harlem.
With old school music playing and a historical video on the TV screen, the bus rolls past various hot clubs from back in the day like Harlem World. Other famous spots include Graham Court, where they filmed “New Jack City,” “Sugar Hill,” etc., the Apollo Theater, the notorious basketball site, Holcombe Rucker Park and the homes of Doug E. Fresh, Flavor Flav, Biz Markie and more. Once across the Macomb Damn Bridge, the old school crew gets busy reminiscing about the Boogie Down: clubs like Disco Fever and Ecstasy Garage, when Burger Kings turned into discos after dark, the infamous Jerome Avenue and the Bronx Walk of Fame where KRS-One is the first and only hip-hop artist inducted. Last up is a soul food extravaganza at Bronx BBQs with a live b-boy performance.
Hearing the hip-hop luminaries trade stories about hip-hop’s heyday is more than worth the price of the bus ticket ($75 for adults, $50 for students, group discounts available). The men freestyle, answer questions and share the time of their lives when they were creating–unknowingly–what has grown into one of the biggest phenomenons of our time.
