From the bronx to belfast:

bringing the roots of the ‘Block party’ to the streets.

On the 18th of September, Soultrane is about to bring its 2026 Block Party to the streets; it’ll be free entry, it’ll be for all the community to really come together and let go, and it’ll be authentic.

That said, I think you’ll find it fascinating to go on the journey I went on in finding out the roots of this street-party phenomenon.

So let me take you there.

It’s summer, 1973.

The Bronx is burning - literally.

Buildings have been abandoned, communities neglected, there is poverty everywhere.

But inside all that struggle, something powerful is also brewing.

A Jamaican kid named Clive Campbell, known to the neighbourhood as DJ Kool Herc, decides to throw a back‑to‑school Block Party for his little sister Cindy.

Nothing fancy, he thinks. Just a few speakers, some extension cables, and a crowd of kids who need somewhere safe to dance, and forget, if only for a while, the constant pressure of daily life that surrounds them.

But Herc has a secret.

He’s recently been studying the way dancers move.

He’s noticed that the crowd goes wild during the break; the part of the record where the drums and bass take over and so he is about to try something new:

It’s humble to begin with, as all true things are. He sets up two turntables, two copies of the same record, and starts looping the break over and over, keeping dancers in that sweet spot for minutes instead of seconds.

The result is incredible. The crowd loses its mind. People are screaming and kids are spinning on the floor.

There are groups dancing and battling each other with footwork nobody has ever seen. He doesn’t realise that his pure intention is about to be the birth of hip-hop culture, globally.

And if we could speak to him now, he could proudly say- “It all happened at a Bloc Party.”

Now, for anyone who doesn’t know, a Block Party (my ‘block’/street) became the original term because Black communities didn’t always have access to formal venues, so the street became the social space. And that night, Herc stood behind his decks playing out his vision for his community.

This wasn’t just a party.

It was a cultural awakening.

Kids who had nothing suddenly had a stage.

Young people who felt invisible suddenly felt powerful.

The Bronx that was broken, ignored, and abandoned suddenly felt alive again.

That night became the blueprint for every Block Party that followed.

In fact, from that single night:

• Breakdancing was born

• MCing evolved as dancers needed hype men

• Graffiti exploded as a visual language of the streets

• Hip hop became a global movement

All from a community party in a neglected building! And here’s the magic: it wasn’t commercially led and funded, it didn’t require much- it was a raw, joy-filled night built from his love for the people around him.

You see, music is the language of the soul. We know this because if you stick on any funky baseline (in any household), even most babies without being taught how to groove, will just start to dance. It’s innate. It is our unconscious communication with each other. It’s how our hearts speak to one another, and what triggers connection not just to others but to ourselves. It’s the one thing- no matter what genre- that has no walls to our being. How many times on a busy week have you forgotten to tear down your own walls and let go to just being the real you? Belonging to that fun, wide-open space inside yourself where you can move freely without anyone imposing their will and limitations for just a minute?

Because what Herc did wasn’t about fame or fulfilling a daily task - it was about giving people a place to belong. A place where we forget all the heaviness and remember that under our conditions, we are all human beings with one life, and we deserve joy and freedom within it.

This is exactly the energy Soultrane aims to bring to Belfast. And I encourage you, if you read this, to bring it. Bring yourself, bring your most open mind, and let’s do what all of nature does, when it’s not imposed upon.

It dances.

Looking forward to maybe seeing you there and having new experiences. Let’s not let Herc’s humble efforts be the last we see in small but mighty communities just like us.