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Tracing Hip Hop’s Beginnings in the Bay With Davey D

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Davey D is pictured here hosting his radio show on KALX in 1990. In the very early years of Bay Area hip-hop, Davey D says, the culture was still finding its place in society, and had yet to be defined.  (KQED)

Originally from The Bronx, New York, Dave “Davey D” Cook was there when this thing we call hip-hop was in its nascent form, before it even had a name. When he arrived in the Bay Area in the early ’80s, one of his missions as a UC Berkeley student was to lend some insight to this burgeoning culture. So he put on a few events, one of which was The Day in Hip-Hop on Oct. 24, 1984. Rightnowish host Pendarvis Harshaw looks back on that day with Davey D, and traces how far hip hop has come since — in the Bay Area and beyond. 


This episode of Rightnowish first published on Feb. 1, 2023. It’s part of That’s My Word, KQED’s year-long exploration of Bay Area hip-hop history, with new content dropping all throughout 2023.

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