last night a DJ saved my life
Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:25 am
SI AM SA INCEP CU ONE OF MY FAVOURITE
Grandmaster Flash
Hip Hop Pioneer - DJ
During hip-hop nearly 30-year history, few names have become as well known to music lovers across the globe as that of Grandmaster Flash. Not only is he responsible for inventing the musical genre called Hip Hop but his pioneering use of the turntables make him The First DJ to play the Turntables as a Musical Instrument thus helping to elevate the status of the DJ to a masterful, artistic position. He is also responsible for assembling one of the earliest and greatest rap groups of all time - The Furious Five - these are some of the hallmarks of a career which has extended from the Bronx in the early 1970s to all corners of the globe into the 21st century.
Of Bajan decent Joseph Saddler, professionally known as “Flash” was born and raised in the Boogie down Bronx, and it was the areas streets and nightlife that provided his inspirations. He developed his first crush on vinyl when he was just a boy playing with his Fathers records. By the time he was a teenager, studying electronics and engineering in school by day, he was already spinning records at block parties and in public parks.
Studying one particular DJ, known as Kool Herc, one of his greatest influences apart from his very own Father, and monitoring the crowds responses, led him to create and elevate this turntable art form as he developed such innovative turntable techniques as rearranging the arrangement of recorded songs and by extending the break in those recorded songs. He did this by using duplicate copies of a vinyl record and by manipulating his wrist and elbow moving it back and forth.. As early as 1971 he was scientifically inventing and demonstrating such methods and concepts he collectively called "The Quick Mix Theory " which encompassed the innovative technique of "Cutting" which laid the foundations for what became known as "Scratching" (along with its many off shoots; "crab scratching"; "transforming"; and "flaring" ) as well as the "Doubleback/Back Door"; "Phasing"; and "Backspinning". Then came the "Clock Theory" which allowed Flash to find the break of a recorded song quickly by eye, by marking the vinyl with tape or a crayon... This manual display of taking a song apart and rearranging its structure live on stage contributed to the early development and rise of the DJ as a Remixer, Artist, and Producer.
These innovations quickly became recognized worldwide, and put both Flash and the Bronx on the worldwide musical map. Bill Gates, founder and chairman of Microsoft Corporation, recently honored Flash with the DJ Vanguard Award for being the First to utilize the turntables as a musical instrument.
Hip-Hop Culture was created in 1971 by three DJs, Flash being one of them, and then, contrary to popular belief, came the graffiti writers and the breakdancers, and the MCs followed much later. Flash recorded the unique sounds he created, and in 1977 began experimenting and collaborating with local MC’s and put together his own group who became known as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Their reputation grew around Flash’s unrivaled DJ skills and the groups blending and trading of lyrics. Flash also gained notice for the visually dynamic and acrobatic way he could spin and scratch records using his feet, toes and elbows.
1981’s The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel was the first record to feature complex cuts and scratches, and introduced the name Grandmaster Flash as their originator. Following the group’s demise, Flash continued to make his mark by releasing solo albums, and was immortalized in Blondie’s hit song of 1980, ”Rapture” Flash is fast, Flash is cool!
Recent Activities and Accomplishments
Grandmaster Flash has remained one of the worlds most-respected musical innovators by never stopping his touring and performing for appreciative crowds around the world. He played the 1998 Super Bowl, and was invited by comedian Chris Rock to be the musical director for Rock’s groundbreaking HBO-TV series, where Flash could be seen onscreen spinning during the shows four-year run. He performed for the closing of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England in 2002 for more than 40,000 in attendance, which included Prime Minister Tony Blair and Queen Elizabeth, and billions of television viewers around the world.
In 2002, Flash designed and launched the Grandmaster Flash Signature Empath mixer for Rane Corporation, adding to previous endorsements by Louis Vuitton and Helmut Lang (for a signature-logo record carrying case), Sprite, Tommy Hilfiger, Gemini Sound and Kangol caps.
In recognition of his role in music history, Flash has been invited to contribute artifacts to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio and the Experience Music Project in Seattle, WA. Among his many awards are the Pioneer Award from Source magazine, the New Music Seminar Hall of Fame Award, the DMC Hall of Fame Award and B.E.T.’s Diamond Award. In June 2004, he was inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame with a plaque dedicated at 161st St. and the Grand Concourse, and a street named after him in New York City!.
Flash’s trailblazing sounds were recognized with the 2002 Strut Records release of The Official Adventures of Grandmaster Flash, a critically acclaimed collection of tracks which hark back to the block party tapes and sounds he created early in his career. Also during 2002, the label ffrr released Essential Mix: Classic Edition.
Since 2001, Grandmaster Flash has been a national radio DJ for Sirius Satellite Radio. He hosts his own mix show called "The Flash Mash"; blending pop, rock, jazz, blues, funk, hip hop, r'n'b, reggaeton, break beats, soul, reggae, and other genres of music into one continuous mix. Prior to Sirius, Flash spun on all three major urban stations in NY, which were HOT 97(97.1FM), WBLS (107.5FM), and Kiss FM (98.7FM).
As a keynote speaker at the international MIDEM 2004 music conference in France, Flash announced the formation of his new record label, "Adrenaline City Entertainment", by outlining the plans for the label, which includes discovering, recording, and releasing music by groundbreaking new talent.
During the summer of 2004, Flash was featured on the cover and in an interview in the new high-end, hardcover cultural magazine, "Swindle", whose motto is "timeless content".
In September 2004, Grandmaster Flash was honored at the 7th annual Mix Show Power Summit in Puerto Rico. The Mix Show Power Summit Salute was in recognition of his significant contribution to hip-hop culture, and his dedication to mix show radio and the art of the DJ.
On October 1, 2004, Flash was presented with a key to the city of Cincinnati, OH, by city official "Councilman Smitherman", and honored on October 2nd with "Tha Blast Community Award" for his pioneering contribution to urban arts and culture. The award was presented by musician and local hero Bootsy Collins, who received the award in 2003.
During 2004 and 2005, Flash took on the task to educate aspiring youth in the entertainment field. Many schools of different levels were selected to experience a full spectrum lecture and demonstration of DJ'ing and its main ingredients. From the technical standpoint of his "instruments" to the actual entertainment in performing, Flash discussed all that is known and needed to be successful in the music industry.
On May 9, 2005, Converse debuted its brand new television commercial during the NBA Playoffs, featuring Grandmaster Flash and Miami Heat basketball player Dwayne Wade, aka "The Flash". Music for the spot was created and produced by Flash.
On June 9, 2005, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame hosted Grandmaster Flash at the Museum, in Cleveland, where he was presented with a Life-Time Achievement Award, courtesy of the RIAA.
On August 28, 2005, DJ Grandmaster Flash was requested by Diddy to be the dj for the MTV Video Music Awards in Miami. The event was broadcasted live worldwide.
On September 22, 2005, VH1 honored Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five for their contributions of adding social consciousness to hip hop. Flash was also honored for his contribution to DJ culture in hip hop. This event too was broadcasted and televised around the world.
And to top it all, DJ Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five has been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, making them the first DJ and rap group to ever be nominated.
What's new?
What's happening?
What's coming?
Double Day book deal:
Want to know more about Grandmaster Flash and how he began and continues to flourish in his career? Well he just inked a book deal with "Double Day", and teamed up with David Ritz to print his life-long memoirs. Pretty soon you will get to know it all.
Rane Empath Mixer:
The signature Grandmaster Flash Empath mixer, by leading company Rane, now has a new and/or alternative model featuring rotary control in place of faders, for those djs that like to mix it with a twist. The crossfader version was introduced in 2002.
G.Phyre clothing line:
The master of the decks will be unveiling a new clothing line called "G.Phyre" under the parent company "5 Pointz" in the spring of 2006. The Grandmaster Flash signature line will consist of button ups, t-shirts, jeans, and accessories.
Ortofon:
Flash and the makers of Ortofon dj turntable needles are coming together to create a new series of needles, signatured by Grandmaster Flash. To know more about when they will release, and how you can be the first to have them, stay tuned to this 411 section.
Adrenaline City Entertainment:
DJ Grandmaster Flash's own record label, Adrenaline City Entertainment, is gearing up in production and soon to release tracks to the public. Be on the lookout for brand new artists or known artists with a Flash twist, kick ass beats and breaks, remixes, and other music and entertainment projects.
discography:
the greatest messages(1983)
they said it couldn't be done(1985)
the source(1986)
the dope boom bang(1987)
sal soul jam2000(2000)
essential mix classic edition(2002)
the new adventures of grandmaster flash(2002)
GrandWizzard Theodore
In Grandmaster Flash's early days, his partner was "Mean Gene" Livingston. Gene had a younger brother (who together were known as the L Brothers) that used to practice with Flash named Theodore.
Theodore eventually went on to become GrandWizzard Theodore and is credited with inventing two dominant deejay techniques- scratching and the needle drop. Not a bad thing for ones resume.
It was in the summer of 1975 as he tells the story, "I used to come home from school everyday and play
records. This one particular day, my mother banged on the door yelling at me because the music was too loud. When she walked in, I still had my hand on the record that was playing and I kind of moved it back and forth.
When she left, I was like 'Yo! That sounded kind of cool. I better experiment with that.'"
His initiative to take this accident and recognize it as a means of making original music was pure creative innovation. "I always wanted to be different from other DJs. I kept perfecting my idea so that when I did it in front of an audience it would sound dope."
In 1978, Whipper Whip and Dot-a-Rock were in a group called The Mighty Gestapo Crew (with DJ Kenny B (Kenny Baker) and Count D) and the Funky Phase Four MC's. The battled a crew named The Notorious Two (who's members included Grandmaster Caz and JDL of the Cold Crush Brothers) at the Intersession Church on 155th Street and Broadway.
Whipper Whip and Dot-A-Rock were also original members of the Cold Crush Brothers.
They are often referred to as the Fantastic Freaks or Fantastic Romantic 5.
They battle many crews of the time most notably the Cold Crush Brothers.
They put out the 12" "Can I Get A Soul Clap" in 1980 which is still currently available on Tuff City Records.
The group never recorded an album, however, they do appear in the film Wild Style, and on the recently released battle tape against Cold Crush at Harlem World in 1981.
Kevie Kev signed with Sugar Hill Records for a brief period and released the classic single, "All Night Long" in the midsummer of 1983.Mr. Magic co-produced it under the name, M2 (actually M squared).
Prince Whipper Whip appeared in the Ice-T video for High-Rollers.
The GrandWizzard continues to rock parties internationally and teaches DJ master classes. He was inducted into the Technics DJ Hall of Fame in 1998. Theodore has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from both the International Turntablists Federation and "Back to Mecca". GrandWizzard served as an esteemed panelist at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's Hip Hop Conference in 1999 and when the exhibit traveled to the Brooklyn Museum of Art, in 2000, he taught a phenomenal DJ Master Class, with up and coming DJ
Perseus. GrandWizzard Theodore is also featured in the DJ documentary "Scratch" which recently premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.
Grand Wizard Theodore accepting his ITF Award.
For me, someone who lives for scratch music, visiting legendary DJ Grand Wizard Theodore—the creator of the scratch—at his Bronx, NY home could only be compared to an Elvis Presley fan making a pilgrimage to Graceland to visit the King of rock'n'roll in his day. I had met Grand Wizard Theodore (GWT) once before a few years earlier when he had been flown out to San Francisco to receive an ITF award. Our meeting was brief so I really had no idea what kind of person he really was. And after years of interviewing hip hop and other music stars I had admired, I was used to discovering that some of the greatest artists were the biggest assholes in person. But such was far from the case with GWT. When my disoriented white face emerged from the "D" subway station deep in the Boogie Down Bronx among a sea of black and brown faces, GWT was there to pick me up in his sturdy but old American car. You can't have a fancy new car in the Bronx, he explained in his soft-spoken but firm voice as we drove the fifteen blocks back to his modest Bronx apartment. Like many of the great pioneers of hip hop that created the genre here on these Bronx streets three decades earlier, GWT was not rich from a culture that he helped shape and form. But unlike many of his contemporaries from hip hop's seminal years, who are embittered by the fact that they live in comparative poverty/obscurity while so-called "hip hoppers" like mogul Puff Daddy are making millions off something they created, GWT is not at all bitter. In fact he is a warm and humble man who is gracious to be a part of a cultural movement that he never thought would spread from these Bronx, NY streets to every other corner of the world.
BILLY JAM: How did you first create the scratch 26 years ago in 1975?
GWT: I used to come home from school and go in my room and practice a lot and this particular day I came home and played my music too loud and my mom was banging on the door and when she opened the door I turned the music down but the music was still playing in my headphones and she was screaming 'If you don't turn the music down you better turn it off' and I had turned down the speakers but I was still holding the record and moving it back and forth listening in my headphones and I thought 'This really sounded something....interjecting another record with another record.' And as time went by I experimented with it trying other records and soon it became scratching.
BJ: At that time Kool Herc was around here doing his thing but he wasn't doing anything like scratching, was he?
GWT: Well Herc is like an old school DJ. Basically he would put a record on and let the record play. He might have both on at once but the cross-fader was on one side only. I think many people were on the verge of discovering it back then but I happened to be the first.
BJ: After you discovered the scratch who did you show first?
GWT: Well actually I didn't show anyone. I just did it. I was always the type of DJ who wanted to be different from everyone else coz everyone else was playing the same records the same way. So after a time people started to notice that I played different records and was scratching the records and interjecting different records and needle dropping coz I also invented the 'needle drop' and basically I would just display my talents when it was time to do a party. At first I would only scratch maybe one or two records during a party but as time went by I would scratch more and more and soon I would scratch on every track I played.
BJ: So what kind of parties would these be and how did people initially react?
GWT: These would be house parties and big parties here in the Bronx and people loved it when they first heard it. It was raw and they appreciated it!
BJ: What was it like in the very early days of hip hop?
GWT: I had an older brother named Mean Jean and he was down with Grand Master Flash. They were partners and I was like the record boy for them and I would carry their records for them or go downtown to Downstairs Records and pick up 45's for them. But Flash and my brother had different ideas about music so they split up and Flash formed the Furious Emcees and my brother and me and my other brother Corleo we formed The L Brothers since our last name is Livingston and everybody was like 'The Livingston Brothers'and for a while they called us the 'The Love Brothers.' And we took on two emcees... and later on my brother quit DJ'ing and I went on and formed my own group... and back in those days it was not just Blacks but Latinos as well who helped form the culture of hip hop: like a lot of the graffiti artists and break dancers were Latino. We were all down together.
BJ: Does the fact that hip hop is so popular all over the world today amaze you?
GWT: It does and it doesn't but really I just did it for the love. The money was good but I did it all coz I love music. My mother and my uncles and my family growing up would always gather around and play good music and eat good food so I was always surrounded by music so I had the love for it and when I would DJ parties I would always try to make it a good time for people to forget about their problems.
BJ: How important is the DJ in hip hop?
GWT: The DJ sets the tone for the party. He has the records, the speakers, the amps—he has everything. The b-boy couldn't come out and break until the DJ was playing the music. And the rapper: all he has to do is show up and pick up the mic and just start rapping, but not until after the DJ had set everything up. Back in the day with someone like Kool Herc, he was the DJ and he had rappers with him but he was the one out front and they just backed him up. But as time went by the rappers started phasing out the DJ as they became more and more popular and moved to the front. So I think it is great that the DJ is now making a comeback coz the DJ played a major, major part in this hip hop culture.
BJ: What do you think of all the new techniques being developed by today's 'turntablists' and how companies are streamlining DJ equipment for scratch DJs.
GWT: With all of these new developments, like say the new needles made just for turntablists, it means that the art form of DJ'ing is going to keep evolving and I think it has a little further to go until it is fully evolved.
BJ: What are you working on nowadays?
GWT: I am working on a new CD called The Nights of the Round Table coz the turntable is round and when you think of a DJ he does his work at night... And I do a lot of traveling to other places like Europe. I just want people to know that I am still out there and I want to educate people on the culture coz a lot of people do not know about the culture.
BJ: Which brings us to Heineken beer's recent TV ad campaign in which they got their facts all wrong and misinformed people saying that scratching began in 1982, seven years after you created it.
GWT: I don't know if they knew what they was doing and just decided to make a spoof out of it or whatever but they have to realize that this is a culture and that this culture affects a lot of peoples' lives and we want people to understand the truth of a culture so it won't be misinterpreted. Like back in the days we never called women 'bitches' or 'hoes' but nowadays you've got guys calling women these things and rapping about 'my big car this and that' and 'selling drugs this and that.' But back in the day hip hop wasn't about that. It was only about 'clap your hands' and 'stomp your feet, you know?' People have to learn the culture.
BJ: Do you think that the new documentary Scratch that you are featured in is a fair portrayal of the scratch DJ?
GWT: Yes I do.
BJ: And where do you see the scratch DJ in the future?
GWT: I see scratch DJs getting more and more recognition and winning awards like Grammies just like rappers and any other type of musician. And nowadays you have a lot of bands with DJs in them so I see the DJ evolving and getting the type of recognition that they have always deserved.
Did you know that a man named Clive Campbell who was born in 1955 in Kingston, Jamaica is The Father of Hip Hop?
Why don't you?
Kool Herc emigrated to the Bronx in 1967 when he was 12 years old. While attending Alfred E. Smith High School he spent a lot of time in the weight room. That fact coupled with his height spurned the other kids to call him Hercules.
His first deejay gig was as his sister's birthday party. It was the start of an industry.
1520 Sedgwick Avenue. The address of Herc's family and the location of the recreation room where he would throw many of his first parties as the DJ.
Herc became aware that although he new which records would keep the crowd moving, he was more interested in the break section of the song.
At this point in a song, the vocals would stop and the beat would just ride for short period. His desire to capture this moment for a longer period of time would be a very important one for hip hop.
Herc would purchase two copies of the same record and play them on separate turntables next to each other. He would play the break beat on one record then throw it over to the other turntable and play the same part. Doing this over and over, he could rock any house in NY. (Not to mention it being an early form of looping that would be made easier through electronic sampling.)
He would dig in crates and look everywhere to find the perfect break beat for his parties. He didn't care what type of music, because he only needed a small section of a song for his purposes.
His first professional DJ job was at the Twilight Zone in 1973. He wanted to get into another place called the Hevalo, but wasn't allowed...yet.
His fame grew. In addition to his break beats, Herc also became known as the man with the loudest system around. When he decided to hold a party in one of the parks, it was a crazy event. And a loud one. At this time Afrika Bambaataa and other competing DJ's began trying to take Herc's crown. Jazzy Jay of the Zulu Nation recalls one momentous meeting between Herc and Bam.
Herc was late setting up and Bam continued to play longer than he should have. Once Herc was set up he got on the microphone and said "Bambaataa, could you please turn your system down?" Bam's crew was pumped and told Bam not to do it. So Herc said louder, "Yo, Bambaataa, turn your system down-down-down." Bam's crew started cursing Herc until Herc put the full weight of his system up and said, "Bambaataa-baataa -baataa, TURN YOUR SYSTEM DOWN!" And you couldn't even hear Bam's set at all. The Zulu crew tried to turn up the juice but it was no use. Everybody just looked at them like, "You should've listened to Kool Herc."
Finally his fame peaked and at last, in 1975, he began working at the Hevalo in the Bronx. He had his crew with him called the Herculoids. He helped coin the phrase b-boy (break boy) and was recently quoted as saying he was "the oldest living b-boy."
As competing DJ's looked to cut in on the action, Herc would soak the labels off his records so no one could steal his beats.
Grandmaster Flash had another story about Herc in his heyday
Flash would go into the Hevalo to check out Herc, but Herc would always embarrass him. He would call Flash out on the mike and then cut out all the highs and lows on the system and just play the midrange. Herc would say, "Flash in order to be a qualified disc jockey...you must have highs." Then he would crank up the highs and they would sizzle through the crowd. Then he would say, "And most of all, Flash, you must have...bass." And when Herc's bass came in the whole place would be shaking. Flash would get so embarrassed he would leave.
After a while spinning the records got to be an all intensive thing and Herc wouldn't have as much time to talk to the crowd and get them going. He needed someone else to help out and act as the Master of Ceremonies for him. And thus, for all practical purposes, Coke La Rock became the first hip hop MC ever.
Another club that Herc rocked was the Sparkle located at 174th and Jerome Avenue in the Bronx. This was the spot that came before the Hilltop, 371 (DJ Hollywood's spot) and Disco Fever.
In 1977, Herc's career began to fall. The rise of Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five, and Bambaataa's various crews with their polished emcee styles put Herc at a disadvantage. One night he was stabbed three times at his own party and his career never fully recovered.
He appeared as himself in the film Beat Street.
Kool Herc played his last Old School party in 1984.
Most recently he has appeared on Terminator X's release "The Godfathers of Threat" and with the Chemical Brothers on their album "Dig Your Own Hole."
Similar to Bambaataa he does appear in Europe and New York from time to time.
Although he is not part of the hip hop vocabulary of most of those who listen to it these days (unfortunately), Kool Herc is the father of this underground sound from New York that found its way to becoming a worldwide phenomenon.
Kool Herc lives on...
Kool D.J. Herc
Born in Kingston,Jamaica,West indies,moving to New York in 1967. Kool Herc owns the rights to the accolade "first Hip Hop D.J.Illustrating the connections between reggae and rap,Herc brought his sound system to block parties in the Bronx from 1969 onwards. By 1975 he was playing the brief rhythmic sections of records which would come to be termed "breaks",at venues like the Hevalo in the Bronx. His influence was pivotal,with Grandmaster Flash building on his innovations to customised the modern Hip Hop DJ approach.
Herc's methods also pre-dated,and partially introduced,sampling. By adapting pieces of Funk,Soul,Jazz and other musics into the melting pot,he would be able to keep a party buzzing. With his sound system the Herculords,he would tailor his sets to the participants,most of whom he knew by name. He would call these out over improvised sets; "As I scan the place,I see the very familiar face..of my mellow:Wallace Dee in the house! Wallace Dee! Freak for me! As one of Hip Hop's founding Fathers,Kool Herc's reputation and influence has outlasted the vaguaries of musical fashion. A status no doubt boosted by the fact that he has not attempted to launch a spurious recording career on the back of it. Kool Herc was the subject of celebration at the Rapmania Festival in 1990. Here are some words from the Father of Hip Hop: The first place I played was 1520 Sedgewick Avenue-that's a recreation room-matter of fact in my apartment,yunno. Like the pied piper,the rats came out of the bricks to dance. My parties back then was twenty-five cent, Then it went to the recreation room,then we gave a block party,one time,anual block party. When you come down the block that cleaned up,you know Herc gonna play some music,and um,I couldn't come back to the old ranch no more,I had to go to a place called the Twilight Zone.
And then I used to give flyers out over by the Hevalo,and my mans would tell me to step off. I said, "One day I"m be in here." So I gavemy first party at the Twilight Zone,it was raining,the gods was raining down on me. Everybody came down from the Hevalo,wondering what was happening. They said,"Hercis playing down the block." "Who's Herc?' "That's the guy you chased away with the flyers from outside." And from the Twilight Zone I went on up to the Hevalo...
(From there he moved to a spot called the Executive Playhouse,on 173 street in the Bronx,as well as playing numerous high schools,community centers,and parks.) Assuming his native Jamaican patois,he continues: My muddah roots come from St. Mary{a parish in Jamaica},yunno. A man named George inspirate I from Jamaica,yunno,and he lived pon Victoria Street,yunno and used to come with the big sound system. It was devastating,cause it was open air,when it rained that's the dance.... I did a lot of things from Jamaica,and I brought it here and turned it into my own little style...Herc came to prominence in the West Bronx between 1974 and 1975.
DJ Kool Herc's Definition Of Hip Hop?(interview)
Hip Hop.. the whole chemistry of that came from Jamaica... I was born in jamaica and I was listening to American music in Jamaica.. My favorite artist was James Brown. That's who inspired me.. A lot of the records I played was by James Brown. When I came over here I just put it in the American style and a perspective for them to dance to it. In Jamaica all you needed was a drum and bass. So what I did here was go right to the 'yoke'. I cut off all anticipation and played the beats. I'd find out where the break in the record was at and prolong it and people would love it. So I was giving them their own taste and beat percussion-wise.. cause my music is all about heavy bass...
How Did The early Hip Hop Scene
Of The '70s Kick Off?
It started coming together as far as the gangs terrorizing a lot of known discoteques back in the days. I had respect from some of the gang members because they used to go to school with me.. There were the Savage Skulls, Glory Stompers, Blue Diamaonds, Black Cats and Black Spades. Guys knew me because I carried myself with respect and I respected them. I respected everybody. I gave the women their respect. I never tried to use my charisma to be conceited or anything like that. I played what they liked and acknowledged their neighborhood when they came to my party....I would hail my friends that I knew. People liked that... I'd say things like..'There goes my mellow Coca La Roc in the house', 'There goes my mellow Clark Kent in the house', 'There goes my mellow Timmy Tim in the house'..'To my mellow Ricky D', 'To my mellow Bambaataa'.. People like that sort of acknowledgement when they heard it from a friend at a party.
What were the early rhymes like?
Well the rhyming came about..because I liked playing lyrics that were saying something. I figured people would pick it up by me playing those records, but at the same time I would say something myself with a meaninful message to it. I would say things like;
Ya rock and ya don't stop
and this is the sounds of DJ Kool Herc and the Sound System and
you're listening to the sounds of what we call the Herculoids.
He was born in an orphanage
he fought like a slave
fuckin' up faggots all the Herculoids played
when it come to push come to shove
the Herculoids won't budge
The bass is so low you can't get under it
the high is so high you can't get over it
So in other words be with it..
Who were the first modern day rappers?
My man Coke La Rock.. He was the first original members of the Herculoids. He was first known as A-1 Coke and then he was Nasty Coke and finally he just liked the name Coke La Rock. There was Timmy Tim and there was Clark Kent.. We called him the Rock Machine...He was not the same Clark Kent who djs for Dana Dane... An imposter.. I repeat he's an imposter. The real Clark Kent we called him Bo King and only he knows what that means. There was only one original Clark Kent in the music business. This guy carrying his name, I guess he respects Clark Kent...
Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three main originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and "Godfather" of Hip Hop Culture as well as The Father of The Electro Funk Sound. Through his co-opting of the street gang the Black Spades into the music and culture-oriented Zulu Nation, he is responsible for spreading rap and hip-hop culture throughout the world. He has consistently made records nationally and internationally, every one to two years, spanning the 1980's into the next Millennium 2000.
Due to his early use of drum machines and computer sounds, Bam (as he is affectionately known) was instrumental in changing the way R&B and other forms of Black music were recorded. His creation of Electro Funk, beginning with his piece "Planet Rock," helped fuel the development of other musical genres such as Freestyle or Latin Freestyle, Miami Bass,Electronica, House, Hip House, and early Techno.
Bam is responsible for initiating many careers in the music industry, and his early association with Tom Silverman of Tommy Boy Records helped propel the label to its success. Bam was instrumental in launching the R&B group New Edition, Maurice Starr and the Jonzun Crew, Tashan, and Bernard Fowler of the Peech Boys, to name a few. Bam is also recognized as a Humanitarian and a man of peace, who has applied elements of Afrocentric, spiritual, and health-conscious teachings to his philosophy. He is also a historian on Hip-Hop roots, who traces the culture back to the times of the African Griots.
At a time when DJs-Hip Hop or otherwise-were recognized for the distinctive records they played, Bam was called the "Master of Records," and was acclaimed for the wide variety of music and break records he presented to the Hip-Hop crowd, which included Go-Go, Soca, Salsa Reggae, Rock, Jazz,Funk and African music. He is responsible for premiering the following records and songs to Hip Hoppers, which are now staples in rap andHip-Hop culture: "Jam on the Groove" and "Calypso Breakdown" by Ralph McDonald; "Dance to the Drummer's Beat" by Herman Kelly; "Champ" by the Mohawks; themes from The Andy Griffith Show and The Pink Panther, and "Trans-Europe Express, by Kraftwerk and hundreds of others .
Bam joined the Bronx River Projects division of the Black Spades street gang in the southeast Bronx in Act, where he soon became warlord. Always a music enthusiast (taking up trumpet and piano for a short time at Adlai E. Stevenson High School), Bam was also a serious record collector, who collected everything from R&B to Rock. By 1970 he was already deejaying at house parties. Bam became even more interested in deejaying around 1973, when he heard Bronx DJs Kool DJ Dee and Kool DJ Herc. Kool DJ Dee had one of the first coffins (a rectangular case that contains two turntables and a mixer) in the Bronx area circa 1972. West Bronx DJ Kool DJ Herc was playing funk records by James Brown, and later just playing the instrumental breaks of those records. noticing that he had many of the same records Herc was playing, Bam began to play them, but expanded his repertoire to include other types of music as well.
As the Black Spades gang began to die out toward 1973, Bam began forming a Performing group at Stevenson High School, first calling it the Bronx River organization, then Later the Organization. Bam had deejayed with his own sound system at the Bronx River Community Center, with Mr. Biggs, Queen Kenya, and Cowboy, who accompanied him in performances in the community. Because of his prior status in the Black Spades, Bam already had an established party crowd drawn from former members of the gang.
About a year later he reformed a group, calling it the Zulu Nation (inspired by his wide studies on African history at the time). Five b-boys (break dancers) joined him who he called the Shaka ZULU Kings, a.k.a. ZULU Kings; there were also the Shaka Zulu Queens. As Bam continued deejaying, more DJs, rappers, break dancers, graffiti writers, and artists followed his parties, and he took them under his wing and made them members of his Zulu Nation.
By 1976, because of the proliferation of DJs, many sound system battles would occur to determine which DJ had the best music and sound. Although the amount of people gathered around a DJ was supposed to be the deciding factor, the best DJ was mostly determined by whose system was the loudest. Held in parks and community centers, DJs would set up their gear on opposite sides, playing their records at the same time at maximum volume. However, Bam decided that all challenges to him would follow an hour-by-hour rule, where he would play for an hour, and the opposing DJ would play for an hour.
Bam's first official battle was against Disco King Mario at Junior High School 123 (a.k.a. the Funky 3). A few other important battles Bam had later on were against Grandmaster Caz (known as Casanova Fly at that time and who later was one of the Cold Crush Brothers) at the P.A.L. (Police Athletic League) circa 1978, and a team battle against Grandmaster Flash and an army of sound systems, with Bam teaming systems with Disco King Mario and Tex DJ Hollywood. Bam formed additional systems for battling as well, like the Earthquake Systems with DJ Superman and DJ Jazzy Jay. There were also many MC battles, where rappers from Bam's Zulu Nation would go against other outside rappers. Later, Bam also jointly promoted Shows with Kool Herc under the name Nubian Productions.
Many cassette tapes were made of Bam's parties and MC battles, which were sometimes sold for $20 to $40 apiece. During long music segments when Bam was deejaying, he would sometimes mix in recorded speeches from Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and, later, Louis Farrakhan.
Influenced by Jame Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, George Clinton, and the many separate-but-same Groups that he created, Bam formed the SoulSonic Force, which in its original makeup consisted of approximately twenty Zulu Nation members. The personnel for the Soul Sonic Force were groups within groups that Bam would perform and make records with, including: SoulSonic Force (1)-Mr. Biggs, Queen Kenya, DJ Cowboy SoulSonic Force (#2)-Mr. Biggs, Pow Wow, G.L.0.B.E. (creator of the "MC popping" rap style), DJ Jazzy Jay Cosmic Force-Queen Lisa Lee, Prince Ikey C, Ice Ice (#1), Chubby Chub; Jazzy Five-DJ Jazzy Jay, Mr. Freeze, Master D.E.E., Kool DJ Red Alert, Sundance, Ice Ice (#2), CharlieChew, Master Bee; Busy Bee Starski, Akbar (Lil, Starski), Raheim.
Around ~1980, Bam and his groups made their first recordings with Paul Winley Records, who recorded Bam's "Death Mix" piece. Winley also released Cosmic Forcers "ZULU Nation Throwdown," after which Bam (disappointed with the results) left the company.
Bam's parties had now spread to places like the Audubon Ballroom and the T-Connection. In the early 1980s, news about Bam and other DJs', parties-and the type of music Bam played-started traveling to the downtown sections of Manhattan. Tom Silverman visited Bam at one of his parties and did an article on him and the Zulu Nation for his own Dance Music Report magazine. The two became friends, and Silverman later recorded Bam and his SoulSonic Force with a group of female singers called Cotton Candy. The first song Silverman recorded around 1981 with both groups (without Bam's name listed) was a work titled "Let's Vote," after which a second song was recorded and released, titled "Having Fun."
Thereafter, Silverman met producer Arthur Baker, and together with then-KISS-FM radio mastermix DJ Shep Pettibone, Silverman recorded Bam and the Jazzy Fives "Jazzy Sensation" on Silverman's own Tommy Boy Records label. The record had three mixes, one with Bam and the Jazzy Five, and the other with a group called the Kryptic Krew. The third mix was an instrumental. The record was a hit with Hip Hoppers.
Around 1982 Hip-Hop artist Fab 5 Freddy was putting together music packages in the largely white downtown Manhattan New-Wave clubs, and invited Bam to perform at one of them, called the Mudd Club. It was the first time Bam had performed before a predominantly white crowd, making it the first time Hip Hop fused with White culture. Attendance for Bam's parties downtown became so large that he had to move to larger venues, first to the Ritz, with Malcolm McLaren's group, Bow Wow Wow (and where the Rock Steady Crew b-boys became part of the Zulu Nation), then to the Peppermint Lounge, The Jefferson, Negril, Danceteria, and the Roxy.
In 1982 Bam had an idea for a record revolving around Kraftwerk's piece "Trans-Europe Express." Bam brought the idea to Silverman and both tried working on it in Silverman's apartment. Bam soon met John Robie, who brought Bam a techno-pop oriented record titled "Vena Carva" that he was trying to release. Bam then introduced Robie to Arthur Baker, and the three of them, along with Silverman and the Soul Sonic Force (#2), worked on the "Trans-Europe Express" idea, resulting in the piece "Planet Rock"-one of the most influential records in music. Bam called the sound of the record "Electro Funk,, or the "Electro-Sound," and he cited James Brown, Parliament, and Sly and the Family Stone as the building blocks of its composition. By September of that year "Planet Rock" went gold, and it continued to sell internationally throughout the 1980s into the next millennium 2000 and still sells today with the many remixes. Planet Rock is the most sample record ever in Hip Hop.
In the autumn of 1982 Bam and other members of the Zulu Nation (which included Grand mixer D.ST, Fab 5 Freddy, Phase 2, Mr. Freeze, Dondi, Futura 2000, and Crazy Legs, to name a few) made one of their first of many trips to Europe. Visiting Le Batclan theater in Paris, Bam and the other Hip Hoppers made a considerable impression on the young people there, something that would continue throughout his travels as he began to spread Hip-Hop culture told around the world.
Bam's second release around 1983 was "Looking for the Perfect Beat," then later, "Renegades of Funk," both with the same SoulSonic Force. Bam began working with producer Bill Laswell at Jean Karakos's Celluloid Records, where he developed and placed two groups on the label Time Zone and Shango. He did "Wildstyle" with Time Zone, and in 1984 he did a duet with punk-rocker John Lydon and Time Zone, titled "World Destruction" which was the first time ever that Hip Hop was mix with Rock predating RunDmc's duet with Areosmith "Walk This Way". Shango's album Shango Funk Theology was also released by the label in 1984. That same year Bam and other Hip Hop celebrities appeared in the movie Beat Street. Bam also made a landmark recording with James Brown, titled "Unity." It was admirably billed in music industry circles as "the Godfather of Soul meets the Godfather of Hip Hop."
Around October 1985 Bam and other music stars worked on the antiapartheid album Sun City with Little Steven Van Zandt, Run-D.M.C., and Lou Reed and numerous others. During 1988 Bam recorded another landmark piece as Afrika Bambaatea and Family. The work featured Nona Hendryx, UB40, Boy George, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, and yellowman, and it was titled The Light. Bam had recorded a few other works with Family three years earlier, one titled "Funk you" in 85, and the other titled Beware (The Funk Is Everywhere) in 1986.
In 1990 Bam made Life magazine's "Most Important Americans of the 20th Century" issue. He was also involved in the antiapartheid work "Hip Hop Artists Against Apartheid" for Warlock Records. He teamed with the Jungle Brothers to record the album Return to Planet Rock (The Second Coming).
Around this same period, Greenstreet Records, John Baker, and Bam organized a concert at Wembley Stadium in London for the A.N.C. (African National Congress), in honor of Nelson Mandela's release from prison. The concert brought together performances by British and American rappers, and also introduced both Nelson and Winnie Mandela and the A.N.C. to Hip-Hop audiences. In relation to the event, the recording Ndodemnyama (Free South Africa) helped raise approximately $30,000 for the A.N.C. Bam also helped to raise funds for the organization in Italy.
In 1991 Bam received some notice for his remix work on the group EMF's goldsingle "Unbelievable." He also did an album for the Italian label DFC (Dance Floor Corporation), titled 1990-2000:The Decade of Darkness.
By 1992 Bam had his own Planet Rock Records label, releasing Time Zone's Thy Will "By" Funk LP. In 1993 Bam's Time Zone recorded the single "What's The Name of this Nation? . . . Zulu!" for Profile Records. Toward 1994 Bam regrouped his SoulSonic Force for the album "Lost Generations". In that same year he began deejaying on radio station Hot 97 FM in new York City on Fridays, hosting the show Old School at noon which Bam changed the shows name to True School at noon. Bam has release other records throughout the world from many different countries as well as always stayed on top of his deejaying throughout the world from the 90's, straight through the next millennium 2000. He is truly one of the hardest working man in Hip Hop.
(Afrika Bambaataa hindu
)let's get electrified
X-ECUTIONERS
For over a decade the superhuman virtuosity and dazzling synchronicity of the three-man turntablist ensemble The X-ecutioners was one of the best-kept secrets in the world of hip-hop. First and foremost live performers, X-men DJs Roc Raida, Rob Swift, and Total Eclipse captivated the hip-hop movement's die-hard fans and most well-respected artists guerrilla-style -- club by club, one city at a time. Fans who have witnessed The X-ecutioners DJs' furious scratches, hypnotic beats, and acrobatic performance tricks speak of the experience with the reverence of a religious convert: "[Roc Raida] proceeded to rock the most mind-blowing and cleanest routines I had ever witnessed live. He had the crowd hyped like your mama at my house. Then he busted 'Good Times.' Revolution.". "I remember the first time I saw Rob Swift and his DJ crew The X-ecutioners. It was on a tape my cousin had, and I was in complete awe as they did one body trick after another..." (youthradio.org).
Founded in 1989, the DJ collective then known as The X-Men was originally formed by a cadre of teenage New York City turntablists out to vanquish rival DJ group The Supermen in turntable battle. Over the years, members came and went, but with each new championship title captured by the indomitable X-Men it became ever more clear: these heirs apparent to old-school DJ greats Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, and Grand Wizzard Theodore were destined to become legends of hip-hop in their own right, heralds of a new, unstoppable DJ movement, and the inspiration for a whole generation of fledgling turntablists. The early adopters of hip-hop saw and believed the visceral genius of The X-ecutioners, fueling a flurry of underground mixtape sales and an ever-increasing demand for more shows. Each year, word of mouth drew new initiates out by the thousands to clubs in every major U.S. city, England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Senegal, Iceland, and Lebanon, to see these champions of scratch transform hip-hop classics into masterpieces of the moment.
Underground success led inevitably to mainstream notice and critical acclaim, and in 1997, The X-Men, now known as The X-ecutioners, signed with renowned indie hip-hop label Asphodel. The fruit of that deal, their premiere album X-pressions (Asphodel, 1997), was the first solo album ever released by a DJ group. In 1998, Steve Rifkind, CEO of Sony Music's Loud Records, saw the X-DJs perform live in an L.A. club. Instantly hooked, he orchestrated a four-record deal for The X-ecutioners, of which their 2002 hit album Built From Scratch was the first.
Though firmly rooted in hip-hop tradition, The X-ecutioners have transcended their genre of choice, and been recognized for seminal contributions to electronica, jazz, and experimental music. By invitation, the X-men performed in The 20th Century Electronic Music Series at Lincoln Center and in The Smithsonian Institution's Multicultural/Multimedia Festival at The Great Lawn in Washington, D.C. Major artists from diverse genres have recognized The X-ecutioners' one-of-a-kind skills and artistic ingenuity and brought their talents to the table as well: The DJs have collaborated with big hip-hop names like Common, The Beatnuts, Everlast, Rahzel, Organized Konfusion, Pharoahe Monche, Xzibit, Wu-Tang's Inspectah Deck, M.O.P., Large Professor, Skills, beat-boxer Kenny Muhammed, DJs Dan The Automator and Fatboy Slim, as well as with pop icon Tom Tom Club, rock phenomenon Linkin Park, and jazz legends Bob James and Herbie Hancock.
It is poetic that The X-ecutioners' vehicle to international stardom was the smash album Built From Scratch. Innovators from the beginning, the men of The X-ecutioners had invented team beat-juggling, defined the DJ ensemble, and with nothing but six turntables and three mixers, helped bring turntablism out of the cramped underground hip-hop club and into the consciousness of mainstream American culture. Their hard-rock-influenced single "It's Goin' Down," a collaborative effort with guest artists Linkin Park, was a staple on MTV and remained in Billboard's Top 20 Modern Rock Singles for eight weeks. Built From Scratch, which debuted at #15 on Billboard's Top 40 Album Chart, received stellar reviews from, among many others, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Entertainment Weekly. In between appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, Total Request Live, NBC's The Carson Daly Show, ESPN's Action Sports and Music Awards, MTV's Fashionably Loud and MTV Icons' Tribute to Aerosmith, the group performed in over 30 U.S. cities last summer as Eminem's opening act on the 2002 Anger Management Tour.
With turntables having outsold electric guitars for the past three years and counting, it is clear to all that the DJ virtuoso is here to stay. Turntable fever has spread so far and wide that even corporate bastion Fortune recognizes that "today's real music idols are DJs" (10.14.02). But for all their commercial success, critical acclaim, and latest DJ buzz, the men of The X-ecutioners remain gratifyingly down-to-earth and focused on just one thing: the music. Having recently mixed the highly acclaimed compilation CD, Scratchology (Sequence Records, 2003), and recorded both the title track to snowboard racer SSX 3 and the complete soundtrack to NFL Street Football for videogame powerhouse Electronic Arts, the X-men are now hard at work on their third album. For Rob Swift, Roc Raida, and Total Eclipse, it's still just about keeping it real and serving up the pure essence of hip-hop, which renowned journalist and hip-hop historian Kevin Powell defines so eloquently in his Notes Of A Hip-Hop Head:
"Hip-hop is a mirror for the world to look at itself... the ghetto blues, urban folk art, a cry out for help... an unabashed embrace of the past, sampling any and everything at its disposal, the world clearly its altar of worship... ghetto youth casting their buckets into dirty sewer water and coming up with hope, new identities, fly names, def jams, acrobatic dance moves, cutting-edge art..."
The X-ecutioners -- each once an unknown kid from Harlem, Queens, and Brooklyn, respectively, with little more to his name than a collection of vinyl and two turntables, each now an internationally known DJ legend, a battle champion idolized by the DJ-heads around the world who study videotapes to copy his moves, emulate his scratches—these teenage prodigies turned consummate artists have unabashedly embraced their past, reclaiming the rich, hopeful heritage of hip-hop's founding DJs to raise virtuosic turntablism to its former glory and beyond. In sampling any and everything at their disposal -- the ebullience of old hip-hop song, resplendent jazz, furious rock riffs -- the X-men have broken through all possible limits and consistently invented from scratch an array of new, distinct musical identities all their own. The X-ecutioners' def jams, performed with trademark acrobatic moves worthy of The Matrix, by any definition has been, and will continue to be cutting-edge art. And if that's not hip-hop, pure and simple, what is?
Grandmaster Flash
Hip Hop Pioneer - DJ
During hip-hop nearly 30-year history, few names have become as well known to music lovers across the globe as that of Grandmaster Flash. Not only is he responsible for inventing the musical genre called Hip Hop but his pioneering use of the turntables make him The First DJ to play the Turntables as a Musical Instrument thus helping to elevate the status of the DJ to a masterful, artistic position. He is also responsible for assembling one of the earliest and greatest rap groups of all time - The Furious Five - these are some of the hallmarks of a career which has extended from the Bronx in the early 1970s to all corners of the globe into the 21st century.
Of Bajan decent Joseph Saddler, professionally known as “Flash” was born and raised in the Boogie down Bronx, and it was the areas streets and nightlife that provided his inspirations. He developed his first crush on vinyl when he was just a boy playing with his Fathers records. By the time he was a teenager, studying electronics and engineering in school by day, he was already spinning records at block parties and in public parks.
Studying one particular DJ, known as Kool Herc, one of his greatest influences apart from his very own Father, and monitoring the crowds responses, led him to create and elevate this turntable art form as he developed such innovative turntable techniques as rearranging the arrangement of recorded songs and by extending the break in those recorded songs. He did this by using duplicate copies of a vinyl record and by manipulating his wrist and elbow moving it back and forth.. As early as 1971 he was scientifically inventing and demonstrating such methods and concepts he collectively called "The Quick Mix Theory " which encompassed the innovative technique of "Cutting" which laid the foundations for what became known as "Scratching" (along with its many off shoots; "crab scratching"; "transforming"; and "flaring" ) as well as the "Doubleback/Back Door"; "Phasing"; and "Backspinning". Then came the "Clock Theory" which allowed Flash to find the break of a recorded song quickly by eye, by marking the vinyl with tape or a crayon... This manual display of taking a song apart and rearranging its structure live on stage contributed to the early development and rise of the DJ as a Remixer, Artist, and Producer.
These innovations quickly became recognized worldwide, and put both Flash and the Bronx on the worldwide musical map. Bill Gates, founder and chairman of Microsoft Corporation, recently honored Flash with the DJ Vanguard Award for being the First to utilize the turntables as a musical instrument.
Hip-Hop Culture was created in 1971 by three DJs, Flash being one of them, and then, contrary to popular belief, came the graffiti writers and the breakdancers, and the MCs followed much later. Flash recorded the unique sounds he created, and in 1977 began experimenting and collaborating with local MC’s and put together his own group who became known as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Their reputation grew around Flash’s unrivaled DJ skills and the groups blending and trading of lyrics. Flash also gained notice for the visually dynamic and acrobatic way he could spin and scratch records using his feet, toes and elbows.
1981’s The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel was the first record to feature complex cuts and scratches, and introduced the name Grandmaster Flash as their originator. Following the group’s demise, Flash continued to make his mark by releasing solo albums, and was immortalized in Blondie’s hit song of 1980, ”Rapture” Flash is fast, Flash is cool!
Recent Activities and Accomplishments
Grandmaster Flash has remained one of the worlds most-respected musical innovators by never stopping his touring and performing for appreciative crowds around the world. He played the 1998 Super Bowl, and was invited by comedian Chris Rock to be the musical director for Rock’s groundbreaking HBO-TV series, where Flash could be seen onscreen spinning during the shows four-year run. He performed for the closing of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England in 2002 for more than 40,000 in attendance, which included Prime Minister Tony Blair and Queen Elizabeth, and billions of television viewers around the world.
In 2002, Flash designed and launched the Grandmaster Flash Signature Empath mixer for Rane Corporation, adding to previous endorsements by Louis Vuitton and Helmut Lang (for a signature-logo record carrying case), Sprite, Tommy Hilfiger, Gemini Sound and Kangol caps.
In recognition of his role in music history, Flash has been invited to contribute artifacts to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio and the Experience Music Project in Seattle, WA. Among his many awards are the Pioneer Award from Source magazine, the New Music Seminar Hall of Fame Award, the DMC Hall of Fame Award and B.E.T.’s Diamond Award. In June 2004, he was inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame with a plaque dedicated at 161st St. and the Grand Concourse, and a street named after him in New York City!.
Flash’s trailblazing sounds were recognized with the 2002 Strut Records release of The Official Adventures of Grandmaster Flash, a critically acclaimed collection of tracks which hark back to the block party tapes and sounds he created early in his career. Also during 2002, the label ffrr released Essential Mix: Classic Edition.
Since 2001, Grandmaster Flash has been a national radio DJ for Sirius Satellite Radio. He hosts his own mix show called "The Flash Mash"; blending pop, rock, jazz, blues, funk, hip hop, r'n'b, reggaeton, break beats, soul, reggae, and other genres of music into one continuous mix. Prior to Sirius, Flash spun on all three major urban stations in NY, which were HOT 97(97.1FM), WBLS (107.5FM), and Kiss FM (98.7FM).
As a keynote speaker at the international MIDEM 2004 music conference in France, Flash announced the formation of his new record label, "Adrenaline City Entertainment", by outlining the plans for the label, which includes discovering, recording, and releasing music by groundbreaking new talent.
During the summer of 2004, Flash was featured on the cover and in an interview in the new high-end, hardcover cultural magazine, "Swindle", whose motto is "timeless content".
In September 2004, Grandmaster Flash was honored at the 7th annual Mix Show Power Summit in Puerto Rico. The Mix Show Power Summit Salute was in recognition of his significant contribution to hip-hop culture, and his dedication to mix show radio and the art of the DJ.
On October 1, 2004, Flash was presented with a key to the city of Cincinnati, OH, by city official "Councilman Smitherman", and honored on October 2nd with "Tha Blast Community Award" for his pioneering contribution to urban arts and culture. The award was presented by musician and local hero Bootsy Collins, who received the award in 2003.
During 2004 and 2005, Flash took on the task to educate aspiring youth in the entertainment field. Many schools of different levels were selected to experience a full spectrum lecture and demonstration of DJ'ing and its main ingredients. From the technical standpoint of his "instruments" to the actual entertainment in performing, Flash discussed all that is known and needed to be successful in the music industry.
On May 9, 2005, Converse debuted its brand new television commercial during the NBA Playoffs, featuring Grandmaster Flash and Miami Heat basketball player Dwayne Wade, aka "The Flash". Music for the spot was created and produced by Flash.
On June 9, 2005, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame hosted Grandmaster Flash at the Museum, in Cleveland, where he was presented with a Life-Time Achievement Award, courtesy of the RIAA.
On August 28, 2005, DJ Grandmaster Flash was requested by Diddy to be the dj for the MTV Video Music Awards in Miami. The event was broadcasted live worldwide.
On September 22, 2005, VH1 honored Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five for their contributions of adding social consciousness to hip hop. Flash was also honored for his contribution to DJ culture in hip hop. This event too was broadcasted and televised around the world.
And to top it all, DJ Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five has been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, making them the first DJ and rap group to ever be nominated.
What's new?
What's happening?
What's coming?
Double Day book deal:
Want to know more about Grandmaster Flash and how he began and continues to flourish in his career? Well he just inked a book deal with "Double Day", and teamed up with David Ritz to print his life-long memoirs. Pretty soon you will get to know it all.
Rane Empath Mixer:
The signature Grandmaster Flash Empath mixer, by leading company Rane, now has a new and/or alternative model featuring rotary control in place of faders, for those djs that like to mix it with a twist. The crossfader version was introduced in 2002.
G.Phyre clothing line:
The master of the decks will be unveiling a new clothing line called "G.Phyre" under the parent company "5 Pointz" in the spring of 2006. The Grandmaster Flash signature line will consist of button ups, t-shirts, jeans, and accessories.
Ortofon:
Flash and the makers of Ortofon dj turntable needles are coming together to create a new series of needles, signatured by Grandmaster Flash. To know more about when they will release, and how you can be the first to have them, stay tuned to this 411 section.
Adrenaline City Entertainment:
DJ Grandmaster Flash's own record label, Adrenaline City Entertainment, is gearing up in production and soon to release tracks to the public. Be on the lookout for brand new artists or known artists with a Flash twist, kick ass beats and breaks, remixes, and other music and entertainment projects.
discography:
the greatest messages(1983)
they said it couldn't be done(1985)
the source(1986)
the dope boom bang(1987)
sal soul jam2000(2000)
essential mix classic edition(2002)
the new adventures of grandmaster flash(2002)
GrandWizzard Theodore
In Grandmaster Flash's early days, his partner was "Mean Gene" Livingston. Gene had a younger brother (who together were known as the L Brothers) that used to practice with Flash named Theodore.
Theodore eventually went on to become GrandWizzard Theodore and is credited with inventing two dominant deejay techniques- scratching and the needle drop. Not a bad thing for ones resume.
It was in the summer of 1975 as he tells the story, "I used to come home from school everyday and play
records. This one particular day, my mother banged on the door yelling at me because the music was too loud. When she walked in, I still had my hand on the record that was playing and I kind of moved it back and forth.
When she left, I was like 'Yo! That sounded kind of cool. I better experiment with that.'"
His initiative to take this accident and recognize it as a means of making original music was pure creative innovation. "I always wanted to be different from other DJs. I kept perfecting my idea so that when I did it in front of an audience it would sound dope."
In 1978, Whipper Whip and Dot-a-Rock were in a group called The Mighty Gestapo Crew (with DJ Kenny B (Kenny Baker) and Count D) and the Funky Phase Four MC's. The battled a crew named The Notorious Two (who's members included Grandmaster Caz and JDL of the Cold Crush Brothers) at the Intersession Church on 155th Street and Broadway.
Whipper Whip and Dot-A-Rock were also original members of the Cold Crush Brothers.
They are often referred to as the Fantastic Freaks or Fantastic Romantic 5.
They battle many crews of the time most notably the Cold Crush Brothers.
They put out the 12" "Can I Get A Soul Clap" in 1980 which is still currently available on Tuff City Records.
The group never recorded an album, however, they do appear in the film Wild Style, and on the recently released battle tape against Cold Crush at Harlem World in 1981.
Kevie Kev signed with Sugar Hill Records for a brief period and released the classic single, "All Night Long" in the midsummer of 1983.Mr. Magic co-produced it under the name, M2 (actually M squared).
Prince Whipper Whip appeared in the Ice-T video for High-Rollers.
The GrandWizzard continues to rock parties internationally and teaches DJ master classes. He was inducted into the Technics DJ Hall of Fame in 1998. Theodore has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from both the International Turntablists Federation and "Back to Mecca". GrandWizzard served as an esteemed panelist at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's Hip Hop Conference in 1999 and when the exhibit traveled to the Brooklyn Museum of Art, in 2000, he taught a phenomenal DJ Master Class, with up and coming DJ
Perseus. GrandWizzard Theodore is also featured in the DJ documentary "Scratch" which recently premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.
Grand Wizard Theodore accepting his ITF Award.
For me, someone who lives for scratch music, visiting legendary DJ Grand Wizard Theodore—the creator of the scratch—at his Bronx, NY home could only be compared to an Elvis Presley fan making a pilgrimage to Graceland to visit the King of rock'n'roll in his day. I had met Grand Wizard Theodore (GWT) once before a few years earlier when he had been flown out to San Francisco to receive an ITF award. Our meeting was brief so I really had no idea what kind of person he really was. And after years of interviewing hip hop and other music stars I had admired, I was used to discovering that some of the greatest artists were the biggest assholes in person. But such was far from the case with GWT. When my disoriented white face emerged from the "D" subway station deep in the Boogie Down Bronx among a sea of black and brown faces, GWT was there to pick me up in his sturdy but old American car. You can't have a fancy new car in the Bronx, he explained in his soft-spoken but firm voice as we drove the fifteen blocks back to his modest Bronx apartment. Like many of the great pioneers of hip hop that created the genre here on these Bronx streets three decades earlier, GWT was not rich from a culture that he helped shape and form. But unlike many of his contemporaries from hip hop's seminal years, who are embittered by the fact that they live in comparative poverty/obscurity while so-called "hip hoppers" like mogul Puff Daddy are making millions off something they created, GWT is not at all bitter. In fact he is a warm and humble man who is gracious to be a part of a cultural movement that he never thought would spread from these Bronx, NY streets to every other corner of the world.
BILLY JAM: How did you first create the scratch 26 years ago in 1975?
GWT: I used to come home from school and go in my room and practice a lot and this particular day I came home and played my music too loud and my mom was banging on the door and when she opened the door I turned the music down but the music was still playing in my headphones and she was screaming 'If you don't turn the music down you better turn it off' and I had turned down the speakers but I was still holding the record and moving it back and forth listening in my headphones and I thought 'This really sounded something....interjecting another record with another record.' And as time went by I experimented with it trying other records and soon it became scratching.
BJ: At that time Kool Herc was around here doing his thing but he wasn't doing anything like scratching, was he?
GWT: Well Herc is like an old school DJ. Basically he would put a record on and let the record play. He might have both on at once but the cross-fader was on one side only. I think many people were on the verge of discovering it back then but I happened to be the first.
BJ: After you discovered the scratch who did you show first?
GWT: Well actually I didn't show anyone. I just did it. I was always the type of DJ who wanted to be different from everyone else coz everyone else was playing the same records the same way. So after a time people started to notice that I played different records and was scratching the records and interjecting different records and needle dropping coz I also invented the 'needle drop' and basically I would just display my talents when it was time to do a party. At first I would only scratch maybe one or two records during a party but as time went by I would scratch more and more and soon I would scratch on every track I played.
BJ: So what kind of parties would these be and how did people initially react?
GWT: These would be house parties and big parties here in the Bronx and people loved it when they first heard it. It was raw and they appreciated it!
BJ: What was it like in the very early days of hip hop?
GWT: I had an older brother named Mean Jean and he was down with Grand Master Flash. They were partners and I was like the record boy for them and I would carry their records for them or go downtown to Downstairs Records and pick up 45's for them. But Flash and my brother had different ideas about music so they split up and Flash formed the Furious Emcees and my brother and me and my other brother Corleo we formed The L Brothers since our last name is Livingston and everybody was like 'The Livingston Brothers'and for a while they called us the 'The Love Brothers.' And we took on two emcees... and later on my brother quit DJ'ing and I went on and formed my own group... and back in those days it was not just Blacks but Latinos as well who helped form the culture of hip hop: like a lot of the graffiti artists and break dancers were Latino. We were all down together.
BJ: Does the fact that hip hop is so popular all over the world today amaze you?
GWT: It does and it doesn't but really I just did it for the love. The money was good but I did it all coz I love music. My mother and my uncles and my family growing up would always gather around and play good music and eat good food so I was always surrounded by music so I had the love for it and when I would DJ parties I would always try to make it a good time for people to forget about their problems.
BJ: How important is the DJ in hip hop?
GWT: The DJ sets the tone for the party. He has the records, the speakers, the amps—he has everything. The b-boy couldn't come out and break until the DJ was playing the music. And the rapper: all he has to do is show up and pick up the mic and just start rapping, but not until after the DJ had set everything up. Back in the day with someone like Kool Herc, he was the DJ and he had rappers with him but he was the one out front and they just backed him up. But as time went by the rappers started phasing out the DJ as they became more and more popular and moved to the front. So I think it is great that the DJ is now making a comeback coz the DJ played a major, major part in this hip hop culture.
BJ: What do you think of all the new techniques being developed by today's 'turntablists' and how companies are streamlining DJ equipment for scratch DJs.
GWT: With all of these new developments, like say the new needles made just for turntablists, it means that the art form of DJ'ing is going to keep evolving and I think it has a little further to go until it is fully evolved.
BJ: What are you working on nowadays?
GWT: I am working on a new CD called The Nights of the Round Table coz the turntable is round and when you think of a DJ he does his work at night... And I do a lot of traveling to other places like Europe. I just want people to know that I am still out there and I want to educate people on the culture coz a lot of people do not know about the culture.
BJ: Which brings us to Heineken beer's recent TV ad campaign in which they got their facts all wrong and misinformed people saying that scratching began in 1982, seven years after you created it.
GWT: I don't know if they knew what they was doing and just decided to make a spoof out of it or whatever but they have to realize that this is a culture and that this culture affects a lot of peoples' lives and we want people to understand the truth of a culture so it won't be misinterpreted. Like back in the days we never called women 'bitches' or 'hoes' but nowadays you've got guys calling women these things and rapping about 'my big car this and that' and 'selling drugs this and that.' But back in the day hip hop wasn't about that. It was only about 'clap your hands' and 'stomp your feet, you know?' People have to learn the culture.
BJ: Do you think that the new documentary Scratch that you are featured in is a fair portrayal of the scratch DJ?
GWT: Yes I do.
BJ: And where do you see the scratch DJ in the future?
GWT: I see scratch DJs getting more and more recognition and winning awards like Grammies just like rappers and any other type of musician. And nowadays you have a lot of bands with DJs in them so I see the DJ evolving and getting the type of recognition that they have always deserved.
Did you know that a man named Clive Campbell who was born in 1955 in Kingston, Jamaica is The Father of Hip Hop?
Why don't you?
Kool Herc emigrated to the Bronx in 1967 when he was 12 years old. While attending Alfred E. Smith High School he spent a lot of time in the weight room. That fact coupled with his height spurned the other kids to call him Hercules.
His first deejay gig was as his sister's birthday party. It was the start of an industry.
1520 Sedgwick Avenue. The address of Herc's family and the location of the recreation room where he would throw many of his first parties as the DJ.
Herc became aware that although he new which records would keep the crowd moving, he was more interested in the break section of the song.
At this point in a song, the vocals would stop and the beat would just ride for short period. His desire to capture this moment for a longer period of time would be a very important one for hip hop.
Herc would purchase two copies of the same record and play them on separate turntables next to each other. He would play the break beat on one record then throw it over to the other turntable and play the same part. Doing this over and over, he could rock any house in NY. (Not to mention it being an early form of looping that would be made easier through electronic sampling.)
He would dig in crates and look everywhere to find the perfect break beat for his parties. He didn't care what type of music, because he only needed a small section of a song for his purposes.
His first professional DJ job was at the Twilight Zone in 1973. He wanted to get into another place called the Hevalo, but wasn't allowed...yet.
His fame grew. In addition to his break beats, Herc also became known as the man with the loudest system around. When he decided to hold a party in one of the parks, it was a crazy event. And a loud one. At this time Afrika Bambaataa and other competing DJ's began trying to take Herc's crown. Jazzy Jay of the Zulu Nation recalls one momentous meeting between Herc and Bam.
Herc was late setting up and Bam continued to play longer than he should have. Once Herc was set up he got on the microphone and said "Bambaataa, could you please turn your system down?" Bam's crew was pumped and told Bam not to do it. So Herc said louder, "Yo, Bambaataa, turn your system down-down-down." Bam's crew started cursing Herc until Herc put the full weight of his system up and said, "Bambaataa-baataa -baataa, TURN YOUR SYSTEM DOWN!" And you couldn't even hear Bam's set at all. The Zulu crew tried to turn up the juice but it was no use. Everybody just looked at them like, "You should've listened to Kool Herc."
Finally his fame peaked and at last, in 1975, he began working at the Hevalo in the Bronx. He had his crew with him called the Herculoids. He helped coin the phrase b-boy (break boy) and was recently quoted as saying he was "the oldest living b-boy."
As competing DJ's looked to cut in on the action, Herc would soak the labels off his records so no one could steal his beats.
Grandmaster Flash had another story about Herc in his heyday
Flash would go into the Hevalo to check out Herc, but Herc would always embarrass him. He would call Flash out on the mike and then cut out all the highs and lows on the system and just play the midrange. Herc would say, "Flash in order to be a qualified disc jockey...you must have highs." Then he would crank up the highs and they would sizzle through the crowd. Then he would say, "And most of all, Flash, you must have...bass." And when Herc's bass came in the whole place would be shaking. Flash would get so embarrassed he would leave.
After a while spinning the records got to be an all intensive thing and Herc wouldn't have as much time to talk to the crowd and get them going. He needed someone else to help out and act as the Master of Ceremonies for him. And thus, for all practical purposes, Coke La Rock became the first hip hop MC ever.
Another club that Herc rocked was the Sparkle located at 174th and Jerome Avenue in the Bronx. This was the spot that came before the Hilltop, 371 (DJ Hollywood's spot) and Disco Fever.
In 1977, Herc's career began to fall. The rise of Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five, and Bambaataa's various crews with their polished emcee styles put Herc at a disadvantage. One night he was stabbed three times at his own party and his career never fully recovered.
He appeared as himself in the film Beat Street.
Kool Herc played his last Old School party in 1984.
Most recently he has appeared on Terminator X's release "The Godfathers of Threat" and with the Chemical Brothers on their album "Dig Your Own Hole."
Similar to Bambaataa he does appear in Europe and New York from time to time.
Although he is not part of the hip hop vocabulary of most of those who listen to it these days (unfortunately), Kool Herc is the father of this underground sound from New York that found its way to becoming a worldwide phenomenon.
Kool Herc lives on...
Kool D.J. Herc
Born in Kingston,Jamaica,West indies,moving to New York in 1967. Kool Herc owns the rights to the accolade "first Hip Hop D.J.Illustrating the connections between reggae and rap,Herc brought his sound system to block parties in the Bronx from 1969 onwards. By 1975 he was playing the brief rhythmic sections of records which would come to be termed "breaks",at venues like the Hevalo in the Bronx. His influence was pivotal,with Grandmaster Flash building on his innovations to customised the modern Hip Hop DJ approach.
Herc's methods also pre-dated,and partially introduced,sampling. By adapting pieces of Funk,Soul,Jazz and other musics into the melting pot,he would be able to keep a party buzzing. With his sound system the Herculords,he would tailor his sets to the participants,most of whom he knew by name. He would call these out over improvised sets; "As I scan the place,I see the very familiar face..of my mellow:Wallace Dee in the house! Wallace Dee! Freak for me! As one of Hip Hop's founding Fathers,Kool Herc's reputation and influence has outlasted the vaguaries of musical fashion. A status no doubt boosted by the fact that he has not attempted to launch a spurious recording career on the back of it. Kool Herc was the subject of celebration at the Rapmania Festival in 1990. Here are some words from the Father of Hip Hop: The first place I played was 1520 Sedgewick Avenue-that's a recreation room-matter of fact in my apartment,yunno. Like the pied piper,the rats came out of the bricks to dance. My parties back then was twenty-five cent, Then it went to the recreation room,then we gave a block party,one time,anual block party. When you come down the block that cleaned up,you know Herc gonna play some music,and um,I couldn't come back to the old ranch no more,I had to go to a place called the Twilight Zone.
And then I used to give flyers out over by the Hevalo,and my mans would tell me to step off. I said, "One day I"m be in here." So I gavemy first party at the Twilight Zone,it was raining,the gods was raining down on me. Everybody came down from the Hevalo,wondering what was happening. They said,"Hercis playing down the block." "Who's Herc?' "That's the guy you chased away with the flyers from outside." And from the Twilight Zone I went on up to the Hevalo...
(From there he moved to a spot called the Executive Playhouse,on 173 street in the Bronx,as well as playing numerous high schools,community centers,and parks.) Assuming his native Jamaican patois,he continues: My muddah roots come from St. Mary{a parish in Jamaica},yunno. A man named George inspirate I from Jamaica,yunno,and he lived pon Victoria Street,yunno and used to come with the big sound system. It was devastating,cause it was open air,when it rained that's the dance.... I did a lot of things from Jamaica,and I brought it here and turned it into my own little style...Herc came to prominence in the West Bronx between 1974 and 1975.
DJ Kool Herc's Definition Of Hip Hop?(interview)
Hip Hop.. the whole chemistry of that came from Jamaica... I was born in jamaica and I was listening to American music in Jamaica.. My favorite artist was James Brown. That's who inspired me.. A lot of the records I played was by James Brown. When I came over here I just put it in the American style and a perspective for them to dance to it. In Jamaica all you needed was a drum and bass. So what I did here was go right to the 'yoke'. I cut off all anticipation and played the beats. I'd find out where the break in the record was at and prolong it and people would love it. So I was giving them their own taste and beat percussion-wise.. cause my music is all about heavy bass...
How Did The early Hip Hop Scene
Of The '70s Kick Off?
It started coming together as far as the gangs terrorizing a lot of known discoteques back in the days. I had respect from some of the gang members because they used to go to school with me.. There were the Savage Skulls, Glory Stompers, Blue Diamaonds, Black Cats and Black Spades. Guys knew me because I carried myself with respect and I respected them. I respected everybody. I gave the women their respect. I never tried to use my charisma to be conceited or anything like that. I played what they liked and acknowledged their neighborhood when they came to my party....I would hail my friends that I knew. People liked that... I'd say things like..'There goes my mellow Coca La Roc in the house', 'There goes my mellow Clark Kent in the house', 'There goes my mellow Timmy Tim in the house'..'To my mellow Ricky D', 'To my mellow Bambaataa'.. People like that sort of acknowledgement when they heard it from a friend at a party.
What were the early rhymes like?
Well the rhyming came about..because I liked playing lyrics that were saying something. I figured people would pick it up by me playing those records, but at the same time I would say something myself with a meaninful message to it. I would say things like;
Ya rock and ya don't stop
and this is the sounds of DJ Kool Herc and the Sound System and
you're listening to the sounds of what we call the Herculoids.
He was born in an orphanage
he fought like a slave
fuckin' up faggots all the Herculoids played
when it come to push come to shove
the Herculoids won't budge
The bass is so low you can't get under it
the high is so high you can't get over it
So in other words be with it..
Who were the first modern day rappers?
My man Coke La Rock.. He was the first original members of the Herculoids. He was first known as A-1 Coke and then he was Nasty Coke and finally he just liked the name Coke La Rock. There was Timmy Tim and there was Clark Kent.. We called him the Rock Machine...He was not the same Clark Kent who djs for Dana Dane... An imposter.. I repeat he's an imposter. The real Clark Kent we called him Bo King and only he knows what that means. There was only one original Clark Kent in the music business. This guy carrying his name, I guess he respects Clark Kent...
Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three main originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and "Godfather" of Hip Hop Culture as well as The Father of The Electro Funk Sound. Through his co-opting of the street gang the Black Spades into the music and culture-oriented Zulu Nation, he is responsible for spreading rap and hip-hop culture throughout the world. He has consistently made records nationally and internationally, every one to two years, spanning the 1980's into the next Millennium 2000.
Due to his early use of drum machines and computer sounds, Bam (as he is affectionately known) was instrumental in changing the way R&B and other forms of Black music were recorded. His creation of Electro Funk, beginning with his piece "Planet Rock," helped fuel the development of other musical genres such as Freestyle or Latin Freestyle, Miami Bass,Electronica, House, Hip House, and early Techno.
Bam is responsible for initiating many careers in the music industry, and his early association with Tom Silverman of Tommy Boy Records helped propel the label to its success. Bam was instrumental in launching the R&B group New Edition, Maurice Starr and the Jonzun Crew, Tashan, and Bernard Fowler of the Peech Boys, to name a few. Bam is also recognized as a Humanitarian and a man of peace, who has applied elements of Afrocentric, spiritual, and health-conscious teachings to his philosophy. He is also a historian on Hip-Hop roots, who traces the culture back to the times of the African Griots.
At a time when DJs-Hip Hop or otherwise-were recognized for the distinctive records they played, Bam was called the "Master of Records," and was acclaimed for the wide variety of music and break records he presented to the Hip-Hop crowd, which included Go-Go, Soca, Salsa Reggae, Rock, Jazz,Funk and African music. He is responsible for premiering the following records and songs to Hip Hoppers, which are now staples in rap andHip-Hop culture: "Jam on the Groove" and "Calypso Breakdown" by Ralph McDonald; "Dance to the Drummer's Beat" by Herman Kelly; "Champ" by the Mohawks; themes from The Andy Griffith Show and The Pink Panther, and "Trans-Europe Express, by Kraftwerk and hundreds of others .
Bam joined the Bronx River Projects division of the Black Spades street gang in the southeast Bronx in Act, where he soon became warlord. Always a music enthusiast (taking up trumpet and piano for a short time at Adlai E. Stevenson High School), Bam was also a serious record collector, who collected everything from R&B to Rock. By 1970 he was already deejaying at house parties. Bam became even more interested in deejaying around 1973, when he heard Bronx DJs Kool DJ Dee and Kool DJ Herc. Kool DJ Dee had one of the first coffins (a rectangular case that contains two turntables and a mixer) in the Bronx area circa 1972. West Bronx DJ Kool DJ Herc was playing funk records by James Brown, and later just playing the instrumental breaks of those records. noticing that he had many of the same records Herc was playing, Bam began to play them, but expanded his repertoire to include other types of music as well.
As the Black Spades gang began to die out toward 1973, Bam began forming a Performing group at Stevenson High School, first calling it the Bronx River organization, then Later the Organization. Bam had deejayed with his own sound system at the Bronx River Community Center, with Mr. Biggs, Queen Kenya, and Cowboy, who accompanied him in performances in the community. Because of his prior status in the Black Spades, Bam already had an established party crowd drawn from former members of the gang.
About a year later he reformed a group, calling it the Zulu Nation (inspired by his wide studies on African history at the time). Five b-boys (break dancers) joined him who he called the Shaka ZULU Kings, a.k.a. ZULU Kings; there were also the Shaka Zulu Queens. As Bam continued deejaying, more DJs, rappers, break dancers, graffiti writers, and artists followed his parties, and he took them under his wing and made them members of his Zulu Nation.
By 1976, because of the proliferation of DJs, many sound system battles would occur to determine which DJ had the best music and sound. Although the amount of people gathered around a DJ was supposed to be the deciding factor, the best DJ was mostly determined by whose system was the loudest. Held in parks and community centers, DJs would set up their gear on opposite sides, playing their records at the same time at maximum volume. However, Bam decided that all challenges to him would follow an hour-by-hour rule, where he would play for an hour, and the opposing DJ would play for an hour.
Bam's first official battle was against Disco King Mario at Junior High School 123 (a.k.a. the Funky 3). A few other important battles Bam had later on were against Grandmaster Caz (known as Casanova Fly at that time and who later was one of the Cold Crush Brothers) at the P.A.L. (Police Athletic League) circa 1978, and a team battle against Grandmaster Flash and an army of sound systems, with Bam teaming systems with Disco King Mario and Tex DJ Hollywood. Bam formed additional systems for battling as well, like the Earthquake Systems with DJ Superman and DJ Jazzy Jay. There were also many MC battles, where rappers from Bam's Zulu Nation would go against other outside rappers. Later, Bam also jointly promoted Shows with Kool Herc under the name Nubian Productions.
Many cassette tapes were made of Bam's parties and MC battles, which were sometimes sold for $20 to $40 apiece. During long music segments when Bam was deejaying, he would sometimes mix in recorded speeches from Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and, later, Louis Farrakhan.
Influenced by Jame Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, George Clinton, and the many separate-but-same Groups that he created, Bam formed the SoulSonic Force, which in its original makeup consisted of approximately twenty Zulu Nation members. The personnel for the Soul Sonic Force were groups within groups that Bam would perform and make records with, including: SoulSonic Force (1)-Mr. Biggs, Queen Kenya, DJ Cowboy SoulSonic Force (#2)-Mr. Biggs, Pow Wow, G.L.0.B.E. (creator of the "MC popping" rap style), DJ Jazzy Jay Cosmic Force-Queen Lisa Lee, Prince Ikey C, Ice Ice (#1), Chubby Chub; Jazzy Five-DJ Jazzy Jay, Mr. Freeze, Master D.E.E., Kool DJ Red Alert, Sundance, Ice Ice (#2), CharlieChew, Master Bee; Busy Bee Starski, Akbar (Lil, Starski), Raheim.
Around ~1980, Bam and his groups made their first recordings with Paul Winley Records, who recorded Bam's "Death Mix" piece. Winley also released Cosmic Forcers "ZULU Nation Throwdown," after which Bam (disappointed with the results) left the company.
Bam's parties had now spread to places like the Audubon Ballroom and the T-Connection. In the early 1980s, news about Bam and other DJs', parties-and the type of music Bam played-started traveling to the downtown sections of Manhattan. Tom Silverman visited Bam at one of his parties and did an article on him and the Zulu Nation for his own Dance Music Report magazine. The two became friends, and Silverman later recorded Bam and his SoulSonic Force with a group of female singers called Cotton Candy. The first song Silverman recorded around 1981 with both groups (without Bam's name listed) was a work titled "Let's Vote," after which a second song was recorded and released, titled "Having Fun."
Thereafter, Silverman met producer Arthur Baker, and together with then-KISS-FM radio mastermix DJ Shep Pettibone, Silverman recorded Bam and the Jazzy Fives "Jazzy Sensation" on Silverman's own Tommy Boy Records label. The record had three mixes, one with Bam and the Jazzy Five, and the other with a group called the Kryptic Krew. The third mix was an instrumental. The record was a hit with Hip Hoppers.
Around 1982 Hip-Hop artist Fab 5 Freddy was putting together music packages in the largely white downtown Manhattan New-Wave clubs, and invited Bam to perform at one of them, called the Mudd Club. It was the first time Bam had performed before a predominantly white crowd, making it the first time Hip Hop fused with White culture. Attendance for Bam's parties downtown became so large that he had to move to larger venues, first to the Ritz, with Malcolm McLaren's group, Bow Wow Wow (and where the Rock Steady Crew b-boys became part of the Zulu Nation), then to the Peppermint Lounge, The Jefferson, Negril, Danceteria, and the Roxy.
In 1982 Bam had an idea for a record revolving around Kraftwerk's piece "Trans-Europe Express." Bam brought the idea to Silverman and both tried working on it in Silverman's apartment. Bam soon met John Robie, who brought Bam a techno-pop oriented record titled "Vena Carva" that he was trying to release. Bam then introduced Robie to Arthur Baker, and the three of them, along with Silverman and the Soul Sonic Force (#2), worked on the "Trans-Europe Express" idea, resulting in the piece "Planet Rock"-one of the most influential records in music. Bam called the sound of the record "Electro Funk,, or the "Electro-Sound," and he cited James Brown, Parliament, and Sly and the Family Stone as the building blocks of its composition. By September of that year "Planet Rock" went gold, and it continued to sell internationally throughout the 1980s into the next millennium 2000 and still sells today with the many remixes. Planet Rock is the most sample record ever in Hip Hop.
In the autumn of 1982 Bam and other members of the Zulu Nation (which included Grand mixer D.ST, Fab 5 Freddy, Phase 2, Mr. Freeze, Dondi, Futura 2000, and Crazy Legs, to name a few) made one of their first of many trips to Europe. Visiting Le Batclan theater in Paris, Bam and the other Hip Hoppers made a considerable impression on the young people there, something that would continue throughout his travels as he began to spread Hip-Hop culture told around the world.
Bam's second release around 1983 was "Looking for the Perfect Beat," then later, "Renegades of Funk," both with the same SoulSonic Force. Bam began working with producer Bill Laswell at Jean Karakos's Celluloid Records, where he developed and placed two groups on the label Time Zone and Shango. He did "Wildstyle" with Time Zone, and in 1984 he did a duet with punk-rocker John Lydon and Time Zone, titled "World Destruction" which was the first time ever that Hip Hop was mix with Rock predating RunDmc's duet with Areosmith "Walk This Way". Shango's album Shango Funk Theology was also released by the label in 1984. That same year Bam and other Hip Hop celebrities appeared in the movie Beat Street. Bam also made a landmark recording with James Brown, titled "Unity." It was admirably billed in music industry circles as "the Godfather of Soul meets the Godfather of Hip Hop."
Around October 1985 Bam and other music stars worked on the antiapartheid album Sun City with Little Steven Van Zandt, Run-D.M.C., and Lou Reed and numerous others. During 1988 Bam recorded another landmark piece as Afrika Bambaatea and Family. The work featured Nona Hendryx, UB40, Boy George, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, and yellowman, and it was titled The Light. Bam had recorded a few other works with Family three years earlier, one titled "Funk you" in 85, and the other titled Beware (The Funk Is Everywhere) in 1986.
In 1990 Bam made Life magazine's "Most Important Americans of the 20th Century" issue. He was also involved in the antiapartheid work "Hip Hop Artists Against Apartheid" for Warlock Records. He teamed with the Jungle Brothers to record the album Return to Planet Rock (The Second Coming).
Around this same period, Greenstreet Records, John Baker, and Bam organized a concert at Wembley Stadium in London for the A.N.C. (African National Congress), in honor of Nelson Mandela's release from prison. The concert brought together performances by British and American rappers, and also introduced both Nelson and Winnie Mandela and the A.N.C. to Hip-Hop audiences. In relation to the event, the recording Ndodemnyama (Free South Africa) helped raise approximately $30,000 for the A.N.C. Bam also helped to raise funds for the organization in Italy.
In 1991 Bam received some notice for his remix work on the group EMF's goldsingle "Unbelievable." He also did an album for the Italian label DFC (Dance Floor Corporation), titled 1990-2000:The Decade of Darkness.
By 1992 Bam had his own Planet Rock Records label, releasing Time Zone's Thy Will "By" Funk LP. In 1993 Bam's Time Zone recorded the single "What's The Name of this Nation? . . . Zulu!" for Profile Records. Toward 1994 Bam regrouped his SoulSonic Force for the album "Lost Generations". In that same year he began deejaying on radio station Hot 97 FM in new York City on Fridays, hosting the show Old School at noon which Bam changed the shows name to True School at noon. Bam has release other records throughout the world from many different countries as well as always stayed on top of his deejaying throughout the world from the 90's, straight through the next millennium 2000. He is truly one of the hardest working man in Hip Hop.
(Afrika Bambaataa hindu
)let's get electrifiedX-ECUTIONERS
For over a decade the superhuman virtuosity and dazzling synchronicity of the three-man turntablist ensemble The X-ecutioners was one of the best-kept secrets in the world of hip-hop. First and foremost live performers, X-men DJs Roc Raida, Rob Swift, and Total Eclipse captivated the hip-hop movement's die-hard fans and most well-respected artists guerrilla-style -- club by club, one city at a time. Fans who have witnessed The X-ecutioners DJs' furious scratches, hypnotic beats, and acrobatic performance tricks speak of the experience with the reverence of a religious convert: "[Roc Raida] proceeded to rock the most mind-blowing and cleanest routines I had ever witnessed live. He had the crowd hyped like your mama at my house. Then he busted 'Good Times.' Revolution.". "I remember the first time I saw Rob Swift and his DJ crew The X-ecutioners. It was on a tape my cousin had, and I was in complete awe as they did one body trick after another..." (youthradio.org).
Founded in 1989, the DJ collective then known as The X-Men was originally formed by a cadre of teenage New York City turntablists out to vanquish rival DJ group The Supermen in turntable battle. Over the years, members came and went, but with each new championship title captured by the indomitable X-Men it became ever more clear: these heirs apparent to old-school DJ greats Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, and Grand Wizzard Theodore were destined to become legends of hip-hop in their own right, heralds of a new, unstoppable DJ movement, and the inspiration for a whole generation of fledgling turntablists. The early adopters of hip-hop saw and believed the visceral genius of The X-ecutioners, fueling a flurry of underground mixtape sales and an ever-increasing demand for more shows. Each year, word of mouth drew new initiates out by the thousands to clubs in every major U.S. city, England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Senegal, Iceland, and Lebanon, to see these champions of scratch transform hip-hop classics into masterpieces of the moment.
Underground success led inevitably to mainstream notice and critical acclaim, and in 1997, The X-Men, now known as The X-ecutioners, signed with renowned indie hip-hop label Asphodel. The fruit of that deal, their premiere album X-pressions (Asphodel, 1997), was the first solo album ever released by a DJ group. In 1998, Steve Rifkind, CEO of Sony Music's Loud Records, saw the X-DJs perform live in an L.A. club. Instantly hooked, he orchestrated a four-record deal for The X-ecutioners, of which their 2002 hit album Built From Scratch was the first.
Though firmly rooted in hip-hop tradition, The X-ecutioners have transcended their genre of choice, and been recognized for seminal contributions to electronica, jazz, and experimental music. By invitation, the X-men performed in The 20th Century Electronic Music Series at Lincoln Center and in The Smithsonian Institution's Multicultural/Multimedia Festival at The Great Lawn in Washington, D.C. Major artists from diverse genres have recognized The X-ecutioners' one-of-a-kind skills and artistic ingenuity and brought their talents to the table as well: The DJs have collaborated with big hip-hop names like Common, The Beatnuts, Everlast, Rahzel, Organized Konfusion, Pharoahe Monche, Xzibit, Wu-Tang's Inspectah Deck, M.O.P., Large Professor, Skills, beat-boxer Kenny Muhammed, DJs Dan The Automator and Fatboy Slim, as well as with pop icon Tom Tom Club, rock phenomenon Linkin Park, and jazz legends Bob James and Herbie Hancock.
It is poetic that The X-ecutioners' vehicle to international stardom was the smash album Built From Scratch. Innovators from the beginning, the men of The X-ecutioners had invented team beat-juggling, defined the DJ ensemble, and with nothing but six turntables and three mixers, helped bring turntablism out of the cramped underground hip-hop club and into the consciousness of mainstream American culture. Their hard-rock-influenced single "It's Goin' Down," a collaborative effort with guest artists Linkin Park, was a staple on MTV and remained in Billboard's Top 20 Modern Rock Singles for eight weeks. Built From Scratch, which debuted at #15 on Billboard's Top 40 Album Chart, received stellar reviews from, among many others, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Entertainment Weekly. In between appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, Total Request Live, NBC's The Carson Daly Show, ESPN's Action Sports and Music Awards, MTV's Fashionably Loud and MTV Icons' Tribute to Aerosmith, the group performed in over 30 U.S. cities last summer as Eminem's opening act on the 2002 Anger Management Tour.
With turntables having outsold electric guitars for the past three years and counting, it is clear to all that the DJ virtuoso is here to stay. Turntable fever has spread so far and wide that even corporate bastion Fortune recognizes that "today's real music idols are DJs" (10.14.02). But for all their commercial success, critical acclaim, and latest DJ buzz, the men of The X-ecutioners remain gratifyingly down-to-earth and focused on just one thing: the music. Having recently mixed the highly acclaimed compilation CD, Scratchology (Sequence Records, 2003), and recorded both the title track to snowboard racer SSX 3 and the complete soundtrack to NFL Street Football for videogame powerhouse Electronic Arts, the X-men are now hard at work on their third album. For Rob Swift, Roc Raida, and Total Eclipse, it's still just about keeping it real and serving up the pure essence of hip-hop, which renowned journalist and hip-hop historian Kevin Powell defines so eloquently in his Notes Of A Hip-Hop Head:
"Hip-hop is a mirror for the world to look at itself... the ghetto blues, urban folk art, a cry out for help... an unabashed embrace of the past, sampling any and everything at its disposal, the world clearly its altar of worship... ghetto youth casting their buckets into dirty sewer water and coming up with hope, new identities, fly names, def jams, acrobatic dance moves, cutting-edge art..."
The X-ecutioners -- each once an unknown kid from Harlem, Queens, and Brooklyn, respectively, with little more to his name than a collection of vinyl and two turntables, each now an internationally known DJ legend, a battle champion idolized by the DJ-heads around the world who study videotapes to copy his moves, emulate his scratches—these teenage prodigies turned consummate artists have unabashedly embraced their past, reclaiming the rich, hopeful heritage of hip-hop's founding DJs to raise virtuosic turntablism to its former glory and beyond. In sampling any and everything at their disposal -- the ebullience of old hip-hop song, resplendent jazz, furious rock riffs -- the X-men have broken through all possible limits and consistently invented from scratch an array of new, distinct musical identities all their own. The X-ecutioners' def jams, performed with trademark acrobatic moves worthy of The Matrix, by any definition has been, and will continue to be cutting-edge art. And if that's not hip-hop, pure and simple, what is?
.. intr-o zi, cand o sa am io mult timp liber, am sa citesc asta.
suntem la targ - drept request vreau sa vad aici pentru inceput DJ - Revolution, CutChemist si Q-Bert in ordine aleatorie. Ideal ar fi sa le postezi la un interval de cateva zile. Nu de alta, dar lenea-i mare-n Romania!