Editing Lovebug Starski (section)

{{Short description|American hip hop musician (1960–2018)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name                = Lovebug Starski
| image               = Starski.jpg
| caption             = 
| image_size          =
| background          = solo_singer<!--includes rappers-->
| birth_name          = Kevin Smith
| alias               = 
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1960|5|16}}
| birth_place          = [[The Bronx]], [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2018|2|8|1960|5|16}}
| death_place         = [[Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]], U.S.
| genre               = [[Hip Hop music|Hip hop]]
| occupation          = {{hlist|Rapper|DJ|record producer
}}
| years_active        = 1971–2018
| associated_acts     = [[DJ Hollywood]]
| website             = 
}}

'''Kevin Smith''' (May 16, 1960 – February 8, 2018),<ref name="nytobit"/> best known by his stage name '''Lovebug Starski''', was an American [[rapping|MC]], musician, and record producer. He began his career as a record boy in 1971 as [[hip hop music|hip hop]] first appeared in the Bronx, and he eventually became a DJ at the [[Disco Fever]] club in 1978. He is one of two people who may have come up with the term "hip-hop".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/aug/07/the-get-down-baz-luhrmann-grandmaster-flash-hip-hop |title=Grandmaster Flash: 'Hip-hop's message was simple: we matter' |first=Dorian |last=Lynskey |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=August 7, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Sacramento Bee 12 Oct 2004, page 46 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/630411430/ |access-date=2023-09-22 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> Starski claimed that he coined the phrase, while trading the two words back and forth, while improvising lines with [[Keef Cowboy]] of [[Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five]], at a farewell party for a friend who was headed into the Army.<ref name="nytobit"/> In an interview with Dave Hill in the newspaper ''[[The Observer]]'', Starski explained, "I picked up the mic and just started saying 'a hip hop, hip hop, de hibbyhibbyhibbyhibby hop'. The people couldn't believe it but it stuck."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Observer 15 Jun 1986, page 27 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/257798905/ |access-date=May 8, 2023 |newspaper=[[The Observer]]|via=[[Newspapers.com]] |language=en}}</ref>