Can You Dig It? A Hip-Hop Origin Story narrated by hip-hop legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Chuck D is out today.
Commemorating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, this Audible Original series documents an extraordinary journey and rarely told story that set the table for hip-hop to be born in the Bronx during the early 1970s.
Can You Dig It?—a 5-episode docu-drama—explores the events surrounding the 1971 murder of Cornell “Black Benjie” Benjamin, a respected peacekeeper and member of the influential Ghetto Brothers gang in the Bronx. The series details the impact of his death and how it led to the historic Hoe Avenue peace meeting, where hundreds of gang members gathered to choose peace over violence. This pivotal meeting laid the foundation for the birth of hip-hop, ultimately leading to Kool Herc’s legendary Back to School party in 1973.
Narrated by Chuck D of Public Enemy, Can You Dig It? features interviews with influential figures who were at the forefront of this cultural movement. Their firsthand accounts, including former Black Panther and peacekeeper Joseph Mpa, original hip-hop MC Coke La Rock, and renowned photographers/documentarians Joe Conzo and Henry Chalfant, provide an immersive journey into the political and social landscape of the time.
Also included is insight from the family of Black Benjie, who go on record, for the first time ever: “If Kool Herc is considered the father of hip-hop, then my uncle was the general; my uncle was the martyr,” says Angelique Lenox, niece of Black Benjie. “He didn’t die in vain, something good came from his death; his life mattered. This is truly my best version of a love letter to my father and my family and I will not stop until his name is a part of the hip-hop story.”
Listen to Can You Dig It? A Hip-Hop Origin Story.