AT A GLANCE

Grandmaster Flash

Sex:  Male

Born:  Barbados
01 January 1958

Activity/Profession:  Hip Hop / Rap Artist

4 articles on Grandmaster Flash

• Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, and the Furious Five

  Source: Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, Second Edition

  Word Count: 349     

  African American musical group that was important in the creation of rap music. Now regarded as one of the founding groups—along with Afrika Bambaataa and Kool Herc—of what Hip-Hop and Rap fans call old school rap, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was formed in 1977. Flash, born Joseph Saddler, began working as a disc jockey (DJ) at local parties in the early 1970s while still attending high school in the Bronx. Like some other DJs of the time, Flash began making a kind of musical collage by playing two or more records at once and experimenting with scratching—manually moving the needle across the disc to create a new, rhythmic sound. Flash teamed up with fellow DJs Cowboy (Keith Wiggins), Melle Mel (Melvin Glover), Kid Creole (Nathaniel Glover ...
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• Grandmaster Flash

  Source: African American National Biography

  Word Count: 1316      Includes:  Further Reading

  (1 Jan. 1958– ), disc jockey, producer, and pioneer of hip hop known for his use of turntables as a rhythmic instrument, was born Joseph Saddlerin Barbados, an island in the West Indies. The Saddler family left Barbados in the 1960s and migrated to the Bronx, a borough in New York City. Saddler's father was an avid music fan and record collector. Risking punishment, Saddler would go behind his father's back to use his prized stereo equipment to listen to the albums, which led to his appreciation and interest in records and electronics. While attending Samuel Gompers Vocational Technical High School in the Bronx, Saddler was formally trained in electronics. This understanding later helped him manipulate the turntable and contribute to the creation of a new form of music. ...
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• Grandmaster Flash

  Source: Grove Music Online

  Word Count: 332     

  (b. Barbados, ?1957). American DJ. He grew up in the Bronx, New York, listening to his father’s jazz records and with a keen interest in electronics. He was inspired by disco DJs such as Pete ‘DJ’ Jones, along with the original hip hop DJ, Kool Herc. After building his own mixing unit in order to switch between records on two turntables, he developed the technique of Scratching. Concerned that his innovations were distracting to dancers, he began working with rappers Cowboy (Keith Wiggins) and Melle Mel (Melvin Glover). In 1976 the group expanded to become Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Initially recording for Brass Records and Enjoy, they signed a contract with Sugarhill Records. After releasing party records such as Freedom and Birthday Party, the group recorded two tracks that ...
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• Grandmaster Flash

  Source: Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: From the Age of Segregation to the Twenty-first Century

  Word Count: 642      Includes:  Bibliography

  (b. 1 January 1958), pioneering hip-hop disc jockey. Grandmaster Flash was born Joseph Saddler; of Barbadian descent, he was raised in the Bronx, New York. Flash is one of the trinity of pioneering disc jockeys (DJs) in hip hop, alongside Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa.

  When young Flash played albums from his father's record collection—deemed to be off-limits—his appreciation for music often would put him at risk of punishment. By his early teens Flash was spinning records and attending Samuel Gompers Vocational and Technical High School in New York City, where he studied electronics and engineering. Combining his understanding of electronics and his love of music, Flash developed his own style. Studying top DJs of the day—in particular Kool Herc, the first hip-hop DJ—Flash pioneered the use of the turntable as an instrument. He developed a series of innovations that are still ...
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