Hip-hop’s inventor, DJ Kool Herc, goes through ’86 Continentals like white Air Force Ones.

Story Sean A. Malcolm /// Photography Justin Borucki

Clive Campbell was under pressure. The son of a mechanic, the Jamaican-born South Bronx resident had to choose between the wax and the wrench. “I just didn’t pick up [my father’s profession] all the way like he wanted me to,” says Campbell, aka DJ Kool Herc. “The way he loved mechanic work, I loved the music, and I loved seeing people having fun when I was DJing. I’m good at the music like my father is good at being a mechanic.”

His choice led to a new musical genre that today celebrates Enzos and Maybachs—but the father of hip-hop still has a soft spot for buckets. Even though he proudly calls himself “the Rodney Dangerfield of hip-hop,” Herc gets respect when it comes to throwbacks. Not only is his 1986 royal blue Lincoln Continental his pride and joy (even though it’s the third ’86 Continental that he’s owned), but the “Blue Butterfly” has now been restored. Thanks to Staten Island’s Wheel Concepts crew, the legendary DJ keeps on spinning.

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