DJ Kool Herc leaves no stone unpaid

This is so not cool.

The Father of Hip-Hop, DJ Kool Herc, does not have health insurance. And, now, because of a recent bout with kidney stones, he is in financial straits.

That's why some friends of Herc, whose real name is Clive Campbell, set up the DJ Kool Herc Fund (see djkoolherc.com for details). All donations, including those sent to the Huntington Station-based Kool Herc Productions, will go toward helping the Jamaican-born, Bronx-raised legend with additional surgery and procedures.

Herc also is using this as a way to increase awareness of health-care reform. "I see this situation as another quest for me to shine a light on a sensitive issue for the community," he said in a statement on the website.

Herc's turntable skills in the early '70s invented hip-hop. He experimented with breakbeats at parties and word spread from 1520 Sedgwick Ave.'s rec room to the rest of the world.

Now, if someone would just listen again.