who started hip-hop?

just wanna know.

"Keith "Cowboy" Wiggins, a rapper with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five has been credited with coining the term hip hop in 1978 while teasing a friend who had just joined the US Army, by scat singing the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of marching soldiers.[9] Cowboy later worked the "hip hop" cadence into a part of his stage performance.[10] The group frequently performed with disco artists who would refer to this new type of MC/DJ-produced music by calling them "those hip-hoppers". The name was originally meant as a sign of disrespect, but soon came to identify this new music and culture.

The opening of the song "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang, in addition to the verse on Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's own "Superrappin'", were both released in 1979. Lovebug Starski, a Bronx DJ who put out a single called "The Positive Life" in 1981, and DJ Hollywood then began using the term when referring to this new disco rap music. Hip hop pioneer and South Bronx community leader Afrika Bambaataa also credits Lovebug Starski as the first to use the term "Hip Hop," as it relates to the culture. Bambaataa, former leader of the Black Spades gang also did much to further popularize the term."

Wikipedia can be pretty useful every now and then.