(airhorn blowing)
- I didn't know it was gonna be a big deal.
I was just trying to make something sound cool.
You know, it’s like when artists talk about
oh, they made like a song in 20 minutes
and they didn't know and then it becomes
like the biggest hit of their career.
I hope the air horn's not the biggest
hit of my career but so far,
it's like top three.
(air horn blowing)
My name is Cipha Sounds,
hip-hop deejay from New York City,
and I popularized the air horn sound effect
into a global phenomenon.
(air horn blowing) (hip-hop music)
In Jamaica,
in the late ’70's, early ’80's,
they used to have these parties in these clubs,
which they called dance halls.
And in that moment, everyone gets excited.
They scream, they make noises,
and they would hit air horns.
And then it got to a point
where deejays started having little samplers
and have it playing it themselves.
Dance hall and hip-hop are
basically, like, half-brothers.
Deejays, especially Kool Herc, who was Jamaican,
moved to the Bronx and would throw these parties
like he used to throw in Jamaica.
That whole scene moved here
and that's what created hip-hop.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is three o'clock
in New York City, yours truly Cipha Sounds,
deejaying others back.
So early 2000's, around 2001, 2002,
I got my own show on Hot 97, Cipha Saturdays,
and I wanted to sound different
than all the other deejays.
So I would use the air horn
and a couple other Jamaican sound effects.
But see it was hard, it was hard to play
sound effects like that back in the day
‘cause when you did it live in the club,
you would hit the air horn
Berr-berr-berr-berrrr
and making different, I guess, like,
rhythmic variations of how it would play.
So we couldn't do that in the computer
so I had to, like,
make my own version.
So I would just hit the button once,
(rhythmic air horn blowing)
but it would play like it was live,
which is the one that kind of, like, exploded.
I didn't invent the air horn sound.
I didn't invent the usage of it in a party.
Me being on the radio,
I just became the guy known for it.
(air horn blowing)