Anyone who wants to learn the art of turntablism can watch a YouTube video or post for tips and instructions on social media. But in the early days of hip-hop, all of the observation and experimentation hinged on the willingness of others to teach what they knew.
For DJ Sean Swift, growing up in Athens was essential to his passion and education.
Swift, born Sean Lindsey in 1971 and raised in the Stonehenge subdivision of Athens, described himself as “the low-key guy” who grew up in the same neighborhood as local scene pioneers like Cedric “Amun-Ra” Huff and Willie Wester. At the time, hip-hop in the Classic City was pure b-boying,” a style of performance art commonly known as breakdancing, and Lindsey took extensive notes on the moves and dress codes” of the era.
Shannon Smith, the first woman MC of Athens hip-hop, tells her story
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Behind the Banner-Herald history of Athens hip-hop series
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In order to gain a better understanding of the origins of hip-hop culture in Athens, you have to know someone who was there. Or know someone who knows someone who was there. The lives these individuals lived, and the stories they have to tell, aren t going to be easy to find on Google or even at the local library.
Willie Wester is one of those who was there, and his personal account of how hip-hop made its way into his life, and ultimately saved it, is the stuff of great autobiographies and feature films.
Born in Hempstead, N.C., in 1969, Wester s family moved to Gainesville, Ga., when he was 6 years old before settling in Athens when he was in the seventh grade. It was then, as a student at Clarke Middle School, that Wester s lifelong love of hip hop began.