Hip-Hop Celebration Day commemorates the birth of hip-hop music

Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Hip-Hop Celebration Day, an annual Aug. 11 celebration also known as National Hip-Hop Day, was started in Texas in 2018 and was officially recognized by Congress in 2021.

National Hip-Hop Day was founded by DJ Rick of the Fishbowl Radio Network in Arlington, Texas, and hip-hop promoter Callie Dee in 2018. The first celebration was held at the Whiskey Gardens in Fort Worth.

Hip-Hop Celebration Day was made an official holiday in 2021, when Resolution 331 was adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The resolution declared Aug. 11 to be Hip-Hop Celebration Day, as well as designating August as Hip-Hop Recognition Month and November as Hip-Hop History Month.

The date Aug. 11 was chosen to coincide with the anniversary of what is considered to be the first hip-hop performance New York in 1973. DJ Kool Herc hosted the "Back to School Jam" in the Bronx, and the event, which featured innovative disc jockeying techniques and rapping over beats, was later cited as the birth of hip-hop.

Other holidays and observances for Aug. 11, 2022, include Annual Medical Checkup Day, Ingersoll Day, National Raspberry Bombe Day, National Raspberry Tart Day, Play in the Sand Day, Presidential Joke Day, Raksha Bandhan and Son and Daughter Day.