Lovebug Starski

With a career that began in the early '70s, Lovebug Starski was an early hip-hop pioneer -- among the first to begin "rapping" over the records he played -- who performed in nearly every hip-hop club throughout the New York area. Born in the Bronx, Starski began his career as an assistant to Pete "DJ" Jones in the early '70s. After years on the scene, Starski became the house DJ at the famed club Disco Fever in 1978. Soon thereafter, he began DJ'ing at Club Harlem World and the Renaissance. Branching out to vinyl, Starski recorded his first single, "Positive Life," on Tayster Records. Soon after, he recorded the soundtrack to the 1986 film Rappin' on Atlantic Records before recording his first LP, House Rock, on Epic. A five-year jail sentence curtailed Starski's activities throughout the late '80s, but in the '90s he began DJ'ing again with old pal DJ Hollywood. Lovebug Starski died in Las Vegas in February 2018 at the age of 57. © Steve Kurutz /TiVo