Culture & History
Where DJing comes from — and why it still matters.
Chicago, the Bronx, free parties, the French Touch: DJing is a culture before it is a technique. This pillar tells you where the music you play actually comes from — because a DJ who doesn't know the history of their music is just pushing buttons.
★ Test yourself — the pillar quiz →Courses — live
What is the cultural role of the DJ?
Hip-hop, house and techno were born behind turntables, and the nightclub is a Parisian invention. Why the DJ is still misunderstood, and what they bring.
10 min read · Updated 2026-07-02
Who invented hip-hop?
On August 11, 1973, DJ Kool Herc invented the breakbeat at a Bronx block party. Scratching, Grandmaster Flash, the rise of rap: hip-hop's history, dated.
11 min read · Updated 2026-07-02
Who invented house music?
Chicago, early 1980s, Frankie Knuckles at the Warehouse: how house music was born, its first records, Detroit techno and the French Touch, date by date.
10 min read · Updated 2026-07-02
The DJ and the radio: how the airwaves built French DJing
Wayaffe, Rosko, the 1982 free radios, Radio 7, FG, Nova's Deenastyle, Skyrock, Mouv': the history of the radio DJ in France, and why radio still matters.
8 min read · Updated 2026-07-03
Raves, free parties and French Touch: club culture in France
First rave around 1990, the Grande Arche in 1992, a 90,000-strong teknival, the 1998 Techno Parade: how France's raves gave birth to the French Touch.
9 min read · Updated 2026-07-03
Women DJs: numbers, pioneers and barriers
Underrepresented but foundational: the real numbers on women DJs (~25% of festival line-ups), the pioneers from Régine to Charlotte de Witte, the barriers.
8 min read · Updated 2026-07-03