People Are Psyched About The Google Doodle, Because It's Cool AF

Have you done a Google search today? If you haven't, you should head over and take a look at the "Google Doodle" on display on the infamous search engine. People are really psyched about the current Google Doodle, because not only is it a lot of fun, but it's also pretty important too.

According to The Washington Post, Friday is the "symbolic" 44th birthday of hip-hop. The publication reported that the genre can be traced to a Bronx back-to-school party back in August 1973. To celebrate that auspicious occasion, Google teamed up with graphic artist and designer Cey Adams and the artist/host Fab 5 Freddy to create the company's "most dazzling work of interactive art yet."

Engadget reported that, at first glance, the Google Doodle looks like street graffiti that you might find on the streets of New York. But, if you click on the play button at the center of the graphic, the logo turns into an interactive turntable. "Now, you can play DJ," the outlet wrote. And it's true. If you head over to Google, you too can create your own epic tunes with the interactive music tools Google provides once you click the "play" button.

And while the Google Doodle may provide hours of fun, on the other hand, it's also an extremely significant move on the company's part. According to Billboard, the interactive project starts with an animated explanation of the history of "the break," during which Fab 5 Freddy explains how a DJ named Kool Herc used a cross fader and two turntables to lengthen instrumental breaks during that infamous party, which led to the rise of breakdancing and MCing.

So not only is the Doodle a fun Friday afternoon diversion, it also pays tribute to a music genre that is not always given the respect it deserves. Plus, it has the potential to educate a lot of people who may know very little about hip-hop music.

According to The Washington Post, Google pulled out all the stops when it came to this particular project. The publication reported that when the team at the tech giant wanted to create a Google Doodle that explored hip-hop’s musical roots, they traveled all the way to 1520 Sedgwick Avenue the Bronx, New York — where that famous party was held — to do it.

Over on Google's blog, the team behind the project wrote that they wanted to "dig deeper into the significance of this moment and culture from a personal perspective." Google invited the project’s executive consultant and partner, YouTube’s Global Head of Music Lyor Cohen — who is also the former head of Def Jam Records — to share his thoughts on the important anniversary. Cohen wrote of the impact of the genre today, according the blog:

Hip Hop has done exactly what its founders set out to do, whether wittingly or unwittingly. It placed an accessible culture, relatable to any marginalized group in the world, at the forefront of music. In that spirit, here’s to BILLIONS of people getting a brief reminder that “Yes, yes y’all! And it WON’T stop!”

And for the most part, people are loving the current Google Doodle. Twitter, especially, was abuzz with news of the interactive Doodle, and people tweeted about how awesome and important the project is, as well as how much time they were committing to coming up with their own epic tracks on it.

The Google Doodle about hip-hop is definitely a little distracting, to say the least.

Even Fab 5 Freddy himself tweeted about the project.

And other artists, musicians, and entertainment personalities made mention of the Google Doodle honoring the birth of hip-hop, too.

And writer Torraine Walker may have let slip the reason he was probably going to be late to work today.

Plus, writer and director Baz Luhrmann is definitely a fan.

So if you haven't checked out the Google Doodle yet, go try it out. And maybe read up some more on hip-hop history while you're at it — it is its birthday after all, and it deserves a little extra attention to reflect that.