Google's latest Hip-Hop Doodle game lets you become a DJ at home; harkens back to origins

Google’s latest Doodle game features yet another engaging musical activity to help you play a few beats and groove at home during this extended lockdown. The game turns you into a DJ and allows you to play classic Hip-Hop tracks with a of a mouse.

The "Hip-Hop" doodle from 2017 celebrates the birth of Hip-Hop music and has made a comeback as a part of Google's gaming series to keep users entertained during this period of quarantine and social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Here's what you can look forward to

The latest Google Doodle features a custom logo graphic by popular graffiti artist Cey Adams, interactive turntables on which users can mix the tapes from classic tracks, and a taste of Hip-Hop history with a special focus on its founding pioneers. You will find Hip Hop icon Fab 5 Freddy, former host of "Yo! MTV Raps" narrating the whole gaming experience.

The records which you can mix and play include Apache by the Incredible Bongo Band, Billy Squire, and Kids by Prince Paul. There are 10 goals to unlock within the game, and each provides information about a Hip-Hop legend. To play the game, users should select their desired pair of records from the collection and place them on the turntable. Your cursor can be used to scratch the records.

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The birth of Hip-Hop

Hip-Hop is believed to have been born on August 11, 1973, when an 18-year-old, Jamaican-American DJ by the name Kool Herc threw a back-to-school jam in New York.

"During his set, he decided to do something different. Instead of playing the songs in full, he played only their instrumental sections, or 'breaks' - sections where he noticed the crowd went wild. During these 'breaks' his friend Coke La Rock hyped up the crowd with a microphone. And with that, Hip Hop was born," Google says.

The Google Doodle description quotes YouTube's Global Head of Music Lyor Cohen (and former head of Def Jam Records) as saying: "Hip-Hop has done exactly what its founders set out to do, whether wittingly or unwittingly. It placed an accessible culture, relatable to any marginalized group in the world, at the forefront of music."

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