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Biography
Infobox musical artist|name = Grandmaster Flash|image = Grandmaster_IngenuityFest.jpg|background = solo_singer|birth_name = Joseph Saddler|birth_date = Birth date and age|1958|1|1|origin = South Bronx , New York |genre = Hip hop music|Hip hop , old school hip hop , funk |years_active = 1970–present|label = Sugar Hill Records (rap)|Sugar Hill Records , Enjoy Records , Elektra Records |associated_acts = Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five The Sugarhill Gang Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958 in Bridgetown , Barbados ), better known as King Grandmaster Flash , is an American hip hop music ian and disc jockey|DJ —one of the pioneers of Hip hop music|hip-hop DJing, cutting, and audio mixing (recorded music)|mixing .
He has been credited with the invention of the first crossfade by sourcing parts from a junkyard in the Bronx . It was initially an On/Off toggle switch from an old microphone that he transformed into a left/right switch which allowed him to switch from one turntable to another; switch from record one to record two.
Before this time DJs, like the first of them all, DJ Kool Herc , and then Afrika Bambaataa , would have to break up the party to pick up the needle and re-drop it on the record, or a new record; until Flash invented a new way to link one record to the other with the cross-fader. After this invention he went from being called Flash to Grandmaster Flash, having made a huge impact on the culture, he was repaid with this honorific name.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, becoming the first hip hop / Rap music|rap artists to be so honored.cite web| url= http://www.rockhall.com/pressroom/2007-inductees | title=Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 2007 Inductees| accessdate=2007-03-18
Biography
Joseph Saddler's family migrated to the United States from Barbados , in the Caribbean , and he grew up in The Bronx , New York . He attended Samuel Gompers High School , a public vocational school, where he learned how to repair electronic equipment.Tricia Rose, Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America. (He is currently in canada teaching young people how to dj) (Hanover: Wesleyan University Press, 1994), 35. Saddler's parents played an important role in his interest in music. His parents came from Barbados and his father was a big fan of Caribbean and black American records. As a child, Saddler was fascinated by his father's record collection. In an interview, he reflected: "My father was a very heavy record collector. He still thinks that he has the stronger collection. I used to open his closets and just watch all the records he had. I used to get into trouble for touching his records, but I'd go right back and bother them."Grandmaster Flash, quoted in Steven Harvey, "Spin Art," in New York Rocker (January 1982). Saddler's early interest in DJing came from this fascination with his father's record collection as well as his mother's desire for him to educate himself in electronics.Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal, ''That's the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader (New York: Routledge, 2004). After high school, he became involved in the earliest New York DJ scene, attending parties set up by early luminaries.
He is also a nephew to the late Former Feather Weight Champion of the World Sandy Saddler .cite web|url= http://www.blenderindia.com/interviews/279514/grandmaster_flash.html |title=Blender & #124; Home Appliance & #124; Cookware & #124; Mixer & #124; Juicer & #124; Food Processor at |publisher=Blenderindia.com |date= |accessdate=2012-05-15
Innovations
Grandmaster Flash carefully studied the DJing styles and techniques of earlier DJs, particularly Pete Jones, Kool Herc , and Grandmaster Flowers .Emmett Price, Hip Hop Culture (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2006), 25. As a teenager, he began experimenting with DJ gear in his bedroom, eventually developing and mastering three innovations that are still considered standard DJing techniques today.
Backspin Technique ("Quick-Mix Theory") a.k.a. Beat Juggling : Early New York party DJs came to understand that short drum breaks were popular with party audiences. Aiming to isolate these breaks and extend them for longer durations, Grandmaster Flash learned that by using duplicate copies of the same record, he could play the break on one record while searching for the same fragment of music on the other (using his headphones). When the break finished on one turntable, he used his mixer to switch quickly to the other turntable, where the same beat was queued up and ready to play. Using the backspin technique, the same short phrase of music could be loop (music)|loop ed indefinitely.
Punch Phrasing ("Clock Theory"): This technique involved isolating very short segments of music, typically horn hits, and rhythmically punching them over the sustained beat using the mixer.
Scratching : Although the invention of record scratching is generally credited to Grand Wizzard Theodore , Grandmaster Flash perfected the technique and brought it to new audiences. Scratching, along with punch phrasing, exhibited a unique performative aspect of party DJing: instead of passively spinning records, he manipulated them to create new music.Zachary Wallmark, "Grandmaster Flash," in Musicians and Composers of the 20th Century (Pasadena: Salem Press, 2008), 531-533.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
main|Grandmaster Flash and the Furious FiveGrandmaster Flash played parties and collaborated with rappers such as Kurtis Blow and Lovebug Starski . In the mid 1970s, he formed his own group. The original lineup consisted of Cowboy (Keith Wiggins), Melle Mel (Melvin Glover) and Kid(d) Creole (Nathaniel Glover), and the ensemble went by the name "Grandmaster Flash & the 3 MCs". Two other rappers briefly joined, but they were replaced more permanently by Rahiem (Guy Todd Williams, previously in the Funky Four) and Scorpio (Eddie Morris, a.k.a. Mr. Ness) to make Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Quickly gaining recognition for their skillful raps, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five pioneered MCing and freestyle battles. Some of the staple phrases in MCing have their origins in the early shows and recordings of the group. In 1977, the new group began performing regularly at Disco Fever in the Bronx, one of the first times a hip-hop group was given a weekly gig at a well-known venue.cite web|url= http://www.feverrecords.com/about.shtml |title=Fever Records |publisher=Fever Records |date= |accessdate=2012-05-15 In fact, it is claimed that Cowboy created the term " Hip hop " while teasing a friend who had just joined the U.S. Army by scat singing the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of marching soldiers. JET , (April, 2007), 36-37.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were signed to Bobby Robinson's Enjoy Records and in 1979 released their first single, "Superrappin'." The following year they signed to Sugar Hill Records and began touring and releasing numerous singles. The seminal " The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel ", released in 1981, is a 7-minute solo showcase of Grandmaster Flash's virtuosic turntable skills, combining elements of Blondie (band)|Blondie 's "Rapture," Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache," Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust," Chic's "Good Times," and the group's own "Freedom." It is also the first documented appearance of record scratching on a record. That year, the group opened for The Clash and were poorly received by an audience unaccustomed to the new style.Jeff Chang, ''Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation'' (New York: Picador, 2005), 155. The group's most significant hit was " The Message (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five song)|The Message " (1982), which was produced by in-house Sugar Hill producer Clifton "Jiggs" Chase and featured session musician Duke Bootee. Unlike earlier rap tunes, "The Message" featured a grim narrative about inner city violence, drugs, and poverty. In 2002, its first year of archival, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry, the first hip hop recording ever to receive this honor. Critics praised the song's social awareness, calling the chorus "a slow chant seething with desperation and fury."Vince Aletti, "Furious," Village Voice (July 20, 1982), 64. Other than Melle Mel, however, no members of the group actually appear in the song. Rahiem lip-synced Duke Bootee's vocal in the music video. The same year, Grandmaster Flash appeared in the movie " Wild Style " and sued Sugar Hill over the non-payment of royalties. Tensions mounted as "The Message" gained in popularity, eventually leading to a rupture between Melle Mel and Grandmaster Flash. Soon the group disintegrated entirely. Grandmaster Flash, Kid Creole, and Rahiem left Sugar Hill, signed with Elektra Records, and continued on as simply "Grandmaster Flash", while Melle Mel and the others continued on as "Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five".
Although frequently credited on the records, Grandmaster Flash doesn't actually appear on "The Message," "Freedom," or many of the other Furious Five songs. Although Grandmaster Flash provided the central element of the group's sound when performing live (in addition to giving the group its name), there was little room for his turntablism in early singles driven by the grooves of live session musicians. Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five reformed in 1987 for a charity concert, and in 1988 they released a new album. The group reunited again in 1994, although Cowboy died in 1989.
Today, Grandmaster Flash is the owner of a clothing line, "G.Phyre."cite web|url= http://spinner.aol.com/rockhall/grandmaster-flash-2007-inductee |title=Spinner - Music Blog Plus Free MP3 Downloads and Free CD Listening |publisher=Spinner.aol.com |date= |accessdate=2012-05-15 In 2008 he released a memoir, The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: My Life, My Beats .Grandmaster Flash and David Ritz, The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: My Life, My Beats (New York: Doubleday, 2008). He hosts a weekly show on Sirius Satellite Radio (Friday Night Fire with Grandmaster Flash)cite web|url= http://www.sirius.com/theheat |title=R& B Hits - Hip-Hop and R& B - Music - The Heat - SiriusXM Satellite Radio - SiriusXM Radio |publisher=Sirius.com |date= |accessdate=2012-05-15 and was presented with the BET "I Am Hip Hop Icon" award in 2006.cite web|url= http://news.softpedia.com/news/BET-Awards-Honor-Grandmaster-Flash-39963.shtml |title=BET Awards Honor Grandmaster Flash - Softpedia |publisher=News.softpedia.com |date=2006-11-13 |accessdate=2012-05-15
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were the first hip-hop/rap group inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on March 12, 2007 by Jay-Z .cite web|url= http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/grandmaster-flash-and-the-furious-five/ |title=Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five: inducted in 2007 & #124; The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum |publisher=Rockhall.com |date= |accessdate=2012-05-15 In 2008, he remixed the single "Into the Galaxy" by the Australian group, Midnight Juggernauts .cite web|author=Comment Added |url= http://www.inthemix.com.au/news/intl/38606/Grandmaster_Flashs_Midnight_Juggernauts_remix |title=Grandmaster Flash's Midnight Juggernauts remix on |publisher=Inthemix.com.au |date= |accessdate=2012-05-15
It has been said that "his pioneering mixing skills transformed the turntable into a true 'instrument', and his ability to get a crowd moving has made his DJ sets legendary." http://www.chaoscontrol.com/content_article.php? article=grandmasterflash dead link|date=May 2012
Grandmaster Flash appears in the video game DJ Hero as a playable character along with original mixes created for the game.cite web|author=By& nbsp;Christopher R. R. Weingarten |url= http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/07/01/inside-dj-hero-grandmaster-flash-on-games-big-names-ideas/ |title=Inside DJ Hero: Grandmaster Flash on Game's Big Names, Ideas & #124; Music News |publisher=Rolling Stone |date=2009-07-01 |accessdate=2012-05-15
On his last album, The Bridge, appears the Spanish hip hop group Violadores del Verso .
Grandmaster Flash is currently working on his 12th album, set for release this spring.cite web|author=Posted Dec 1st 2011 5:50PM by Latifah Muhammad Comments |url= http://www.theboombox.com/2011/12/01/grandmaster-flash-grammy-nominations-2012/ |title=Grammy Nominations 2012: Grandmaster Flash Felt 'Cool' |publisher=The Boombox |date=2011-12-01 |accessdate=2012-05-15
Awards
Grammys
2012 Hall of Fame for Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five single “The Message.”
Urban Music Awards
2009, Lifetime Achievement Award
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
2007, Inductee
BET Hip Hop Awards
2006, I Am Hip Hop Icon Award
Discography
Albums
Album information
The Message (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five album)
Released: 1982
Last RIAA certification : Platinum
Singles: " The Message (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five song)|The Message ", "It's Nasty"
Greatest Messages
Released: 1984
Last RIAA certification :
Singles:
' They Said It Couldn't Be Done
Released: April 26, 1985
Chart Positions: #35 Top R& B/Hip Hop
Last RIAA certification : Gold
Singles: "Girls Love The Way He Spins", "Sign Of The Times", "Alternate Groove", "Larry's Dance Theme"
The Source (Grandmaster Flash album)
Released: 1986
Chart positions: #145 US, #27 Top R& B/Hip-Hop Albums,
Chart positions: #197 US, #43 Top R& B/Hip-Hop Albums
Last RIAA certification : Gold
Singles: "U Know What Time It Is", "All Wrapped Up"
On the Strength
Released: 1988
Chart positions: #189 US
Last RIAA certification : Gold
Singles: "Gold", "Magic Carpet Ride"
Salsoul Jam 2000
Released: 1997
Chart positions: Did Not Chart
Last RIAA certification :
Singles: "Spring Rain"
Flash Is Back
Released: 1998
Chart Positions: Did Not Chart
Last RIAA certification :
Singles:
The Official Adventures of Grandmaster Flash
Released: January 29, 2002
Chart positions: Did Not Chart
Last RIAA certification :
Singles:
Essential Mix: Classic Edition
Released: May 7, 2002
Chart positions: Did Not Chart
Last RIAA certification :
Singles:
The Bridge - Concept of a Culture
Released: February 24, 2009
Chart positions:
U.S. Sales: 2,607
Last RIAA certification :
Singles: Swagger feat. Red Cafe, Snoop Dogg & Lynn Carter
Singles: Shine All Day feat. Q-Tip, Jumz & Kel Spencer
Singles
1979 - Superappin' ( Enjoy Records|Enjoy 6001) Side A - Superappin'; Side B - Superappin' Theme
1980 - Freedom ( Sugar Hill Records (rap)|Sugar Hill SH-549) Side A - vocal; Side B - instrumental
1981 - The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel (Sugar Hill SH-557)
1981 - Scorpio (Sugar Hill SH 118) Side A - vocal; Side B - instrumental
1982 - Flash To The Beat (Sugar Hill SH 574)
1984 - Jesse (Sugar Hill SH 133) Side A - vocal; Side B - instrumental
1984 - We Don't Work For Free (Sugar Hill SH 136) Side A - vocal; Side B - instrumental
1988 - Gold (edit) (Elektra EKR 70)
1996 - If U Wanna Party (feat. Carl Murray) (JAM 1002-8)
cite web|url= http://www.discogs.com/Grandmaster-Flash-If-U-Wanna-Party/master/78701 |title=Grandmaster Flash - If U Wanna Party at Discogs |publisher=Discogs.com |date= |accessdate=2012-05-15 Andrzej Buda Encyklopedia hip-hopu (Wydawnictwo Niezalezne, 2005): 77 ISBN 83-915272-4-4 Please check ISBN|reason=Check digit (4) does not correspond to calculated figure.
References
Reflist|2
External links
External links|date=May 2012
http://www.grandmasterflash.com/ Grandmaster Flash Official Page
http://www.grandmasterflash-thebridge.com/ Official website of 2009 album The Bridge
http://www.popmatters.com/music/interviews/grandmaster-flash-020616.shtml Pop Matters: interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=9-3-Nl1Vmaw Brian S Redd Interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=OjyUlVtUv2M DJ Tutor Interview
Grandmaster Flash Persondata | NAME = Flash, Grandmaster | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = January 1, 1958 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Flash, Grandmaster Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:American hip hop record producers Category:Hip hop DJs Category:American people of Barbadian descent Category:Barbadian musicians Category:People from Bridgetown Category:African American rappers Category:Musicians from New York City Category:People from the Bronx Category:Fury Records artists Category:Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five members
