Grandmaster Flash

Categories: Entertainment | Music | Rap | Hip Hop
    • Born: January 1, 1958
    • Birthplace: Bridgetown, Barbados
    • Labels: Sugar Hill Records, Strut Records, Adrenaline City Entertainment
    • Learned to cut albums with his father's extensive record collection
    • Owns clothing line G.Phyre
    • Inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Jay-Z

  • A musical pioneer, DJ Grandmaster Flash (real name Joseph Saddler) and his group, the Furious Five, created much of the style and sound we currently think of as "hip-hop," even coining the phrase "hip-hop." The group members were the first hip-hop artists to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

    Flash returns in 2009 with a new album titled The Bridge: Concept of a Culture. Flash works with an impressive list of guest vocalists on the album, including Snoop Dogg, Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes, KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane and Grandmaster Caz. The new album will be released on March 3, 2009, in the U.S.Pitchfork: Grandmaster Flash Returns with New Album

  • Albums

    • 1982: The Message
    • 1985: They Said It Couldn't Be Done
    • 1986: The Source
    • 1987: Ba-Dop-Boom-Bang
    • 1988: On the Strength
    • 1997: Salsoul Jam 2000
    • 2002: The Official Adventures of Grandmaster Flash
    • 2005: Mixing Bullets and Firing Joints
    • 2009: The Bridge: Concept of a Culture

  • Influence

    Many of the DJ'ing techniques utilized by Grandmaster Flash have become standard in hip-hop and rap music, including cutting, back-spinning and phasing. In 1977, he began to collaborate with rappers, including Kurtis Blow and eventually including the Furious Five: Mellie Mel, Cowboy, Kid Creole, Mr. Ness and Rahiem.

    The group, already legendary in New York City, recorded their first album after the success of the Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight." "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" was released in 1981, and showcased Flash's groundbreaking mixing skills, combining elements of Blondie's "Rapture," Michael Viner's Incredible Bong Band's "Apache," Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" and Chic's "Good Times." It is considered the first time the sound of record-scratching had actually been professionally recorded as music.

    Shortly after recording The Message, Flash split from the Furious Five, and started to appear in films and produce his own projects. The group reunited in 1987 and again in 1994.

About this page

  • Page Views
    0
What is this?
No one is currently managing this page.
What is this?
This page currently has no vertical manager.

Featured Pages

Contact Mahalo | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Advertisers | RSS for this page | CC License 2.0
©2007-2009 Mahalo.com Incorporated.
Powered By EdgeCast