Swizz Beatz Wants to Honor Hip Hop Pioneers with $1M Each Artist

Swizz Beatz wants to give back big time to the pioneers that shaped the genre of hip hop music. In a discussion with his peers for the upcoming battle in Verzuz featured in Instagram Live, the idea sprung out.

Kasseem Dean, the real name of Swizz Beatz, had a recent conversation for Beatz's Zone Radio with Joe Budden. The rapper-producer was pitching the possibility of a "verses only" duel between Rakim and Big Daddy Kane. It was at this time that the topic of paying tribute to the hip-hop pioneers emerged.

Swizz Beatz blurted out that he wants to raise a million dollars "for each icon that started hip hop." He went on to mention the names of veterans Kool Herc, Melle Mel, Grandmaster Flash, and Sugar Hill Gang. The rapper said that "we need to be paying taxes to the creatives of hip hop," and he went on to reiterate that because of their works, freedom of speech was achieved to move forward.

He promised that he is "going to go so hard with" giving a "minimum a million a piece," and expressed that he would need help.

The show's host, Budden, could not agree more with his plan and further said that for "every new deal that gets signed," he suggested that half, or one percent, should be given to rapper reparations.

Swizz Beatz slammed the government and said his piece to the artists who are not paying taxes to the icons that started and paved the way for the genre. He went on to say, "we don't f***g really love Hip Hop." For the veteran producer, it is about time to pay back the great pioneers that shaped hip hop for what it is now.

Pioneers of Hip Hop

DJ Kool Herc is called the Father of Hip Hop, as he is considered as the founder of this music genre. Clive Campbell, his real name, has Jamaican roots and is best known internationally for his mastery at the turntables. The legendary DJ is credited for creating Hip Hop in the Bronx community in New York City during the early '70s. He mixed original sounds with heavy influence from his native Jamaica and American music, particularly to the sounds of James Brown and Motown Music.

He was the DJ at the "Back to School Jam" for his sister Cindy on August 11, 1973, where he introduced the musical revolution of mash-up of Jamaican reggae sound with rapping and the funk and soul of Black America. He is famous for playing extended sets of assorted rhythms on two turntables. Many DJs and MCs copied his unique style of prolonged beats and rhythmical call outs now known as rapping.

DJ Kool Herc, 65, is based in the Bronx and is still active in the DJ circuit. He was recognized widely and had been throned in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in 1995.

Melle Mell, now 58 years old, was the lead vocalist and songwriter of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The crew has its roots also in the Bronx when it was formed in 1976, and it is one of the first multimember rapping groups. They are considered instrumental in the development of hip hop music.

Sugarhill Gang is an American trio formed in 1973 in New Jersey. Their hit song "Rapper's Delight" is the forerunner in hip hop music as the first rap single to land in Top 40 of Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1979.