"South Bronx" is released

Why it matters

"South Bronx" came out September 1, 1986, as a 12-inch on B-Boy Records, credited to Boogie Down Productions. KRS-One wrote it. Scott La Rock produced it. The song exists because of one record: MC Shan's "The Bridge," which had come out four weeks earlier and which KRS heard as a claim that hip-hop had started in Queensbridge. KRS knew where hip-hop had started. He was from there. "South Bronx, South South Bronx," the chorus opens. The verses are an extended factual rebuttal: where Herc was DJing, where Bambaataa was, who was on what corner doing what, the exact addresses. The song works as both a great record and as a piece of journalism. The Bridge Wars escalated for two years after this, and KRS would land the eventual finishing move with "The Bridge Is Over" in 1987, but "South Bronx" is the answer-record that set the format. You write back. You name the place. You bring the receipts. You make sure your beat is harder.