In 1939 the word hepster was used by Cab Calloway in the title of his Hepsters Dictionary, which defines hep cat as, “a guy who knows all the answers, understands jive”.
In 1944, pianist Harry Gibson modified this to hipster[2] in his short glossary “For Characters Who Don’t Dig Jive Talk,” published in 1944 with the album Boogie Woogie In Blue, featuring the self-titled hit “Handsome Harry the Hipster”.[3] The entry for hipsters defined them as “characters who like hot jazz.”
By 1954 Hepcat had entered the world of Country Music as shown in the Eddy Arnold tune “Hep Cat Baby”which some say evolved into the music we know as Rockabilly today.
The term Hep had embeded itself in modern culture, and another example of its use came in 1954 with a Rockabilly tune not so originally called “Hep Cat Baby” by Gene Criss & The Hep Cats.
Are you Hep?
Are you in the know?
DJ Reverend Hep 