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Grandmaster Flash Pays Homage To The DJ & Producer For Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary
Jul 7, 2023
In an exclusive interview on "Sway In The Morning," legendary DJ Grandmaster Flash delved deep into the roots of Hip-hop, his pioneering Quick Mix Theory and the indispensable role of DJs and producers in the evolution of the genre.
GMF Breaks Down The Quick Mix Theory | 2:35
GMF, DST, Kool Herc & Afrika Bambaataa Reunion | 23:50
Grand Wizzard Theodore Becoming His Understudy | 29:00
Members Only: GMF Demonstrates the Quick Mix Theory Live https://youtu.be/eaDF0BSKguI
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0:00
[Applause]
0:03
yeah the first rap group to be inducted
0:07
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame goes
0:10
by Grandmaster Flash in the Furious Five
0:14
the man that created the DJ technique
0:16
called the quick mix Theory goes by the
0:20
name of Grand Master Flash
0:23
the man who received the Lifetime
0:25
Achievement Award for the global spin
0:27
Awards goes by the name of Grandmaster
0:29
Flash
0:31
the Grammy Hall of Fame
0:34
for the song the message for Grandmaster
0:37
Flash and the furious five Urban Music
0:40
Awards lifetime achieving award
0:42
Grandmaster Flash
0:43
b-e-t-i-m hip-hop icon award Grandmaster
0:46
Flash honorary doctors degree of Buffalo
0:49
State College Grandmaster Flash awarded
0:52
Sweden's polar prize which is like the
0:56
Nobel Peace Prize Grand Master Flash and
1:00
the Grammy's Lifetime Achievement Award
1:02
and nominee special for message
1:04
Grandmaster Flash
1:07
the man the architect if it wasn't for
1:10
him and a few others not a whole lot
1:13
there will not be this culture as we
1:16
know it and understand it to be this
1:19
company and its platforms have been
1:21
built on DJs they all come from his
1:24
lineage
1:25
this man has embraced technology
1:27
throughout his entire career which has
1:30
helped to expand and push our culture
1:32
forward
1:33
I want to welcome him to the show we've
1:35
been trying to do this for a couple of
1:37
years I am tremendously honored and
1:40
humbled to have him in this studio today
1:43
citizens I'm going to open up the phone
1:44
lines to speak to a legend or architect
1:47
and the man has just reached halftime
1:50
he's nowhere near done he got his own
1:53
podcast that he's about to create he's
1:55
about to he's on Twitch on Tuesdays and
1:58
Thursdays he's doing a whole lot he
2:01
won't stop can't stop won't stop give it
2:03
up for the one and only the legendary
2:05
iconic Grand Master flashes in the
2:09
building come on
2:11
[Applause]
2:19
oh man thank you Brothers
2:22
[Music]
2:23
we was at a wedding we I bumped him to
2:26
flash man have a seat man that's your
2:28
throne man only one before I bump into
2:30
the seat man there's something I want to
2:32
explain okay okay cool you know you know
2:34
it's something I want to I want to do
2:36
here because
2:38
there's so many people
2:40
on the planet
2:42
are wondering well how did this thing
2:45
actually happen
2:47
so I'm going to give you guys a math and
2:51
science computation on how I came up
2:54
with the BackBeat for the human being to
2:58
speak on because you know a lot of times
2:59
when you ask a particular person about a
3:03
rap song they talk about the subject
3:05
matter okay who's dope who's not where
3:07
he's from this and that
3:09
but in the recording process
3:13
is the music first
3:15
I come from a time where there's no
3:17
internet
3:19
no social media
3:21
no apps no studios no computers just
3:27
double copies of each song
3:31
in my teenage years
3:34
I didn't do what normal teenagers do
3:36
going to the park playing basketball
3:39
uh sneaking to smoke cigarette stick
3:41
you're grown or having a drink of an
3:44
alcoholic beverage
3:47
I was
3:49
angry about
3:51
something I was kind of unhappy with the
3:55
way
3:56
songs were produced my biggest problem
4:00
was this
4:01
songs are designed is the intro
4:04
that is the verse then it's a singing
4:07
and then the drummer gets
4:10
5 or 10 seconds
4:14
that's
4:17
pissed me off and I was saying to myself
4:20
when a song gets played I notice as a
4:23
youngster that when the drum solo came
4:27
the heinies would move gyrate more so
4:31
why isn't that the biggest part of the
4:32
record I just could not understand that
4:35
I said honey
4:37
I know I can say the other things I like
4:40
it go ahead so I came up with this
4:44
science and math
4:47
called the quick mix
4:49
Theory okay I've done this
4:52
for only lectures for the biggest
4:56
companies on the planet for sway
5:01
I'm gonna do this for you thank you I'm
5:03
gonna write it out and this is the
5:06
reason why the rapper had a bed of music
5:11
to speak on okay this Grandmaster Flash
5:14
here I'm opening up the phone lines he's
5:15
actually got an easel right here and
5:18
he's about to paint out like a college
5:20
professor he's writing out a theory on
5:23
how he came back with the quick mix
5:24
Theory which led to many people learning
5:27
how to cut and scratch records all right
5:29
and this is no longer a studio citizens
5:32
this is a lecture this is a lecture hall
5:34
now this is where it all began for
5:37
hip-hop for the culture the DJ was the
5:40
Cornerstone of the culture always the
5:42
business start to expand and then you
5:44
start seeing the MC come out front
5:46
because they're easier to Market
5:48
um but really the DJ was at the
5:50
Cornerstone of all this culture I'm
5:52
gonna open up the phone lines
5:55
288-742-3345 and Flash is writing out an
5:58
equation right now rich nice is here
6:00
with us rich nice first rapper ever
6:03
signed the Motown records great day to
6:05
be alive and from the Bronx you know
6:07
that yeah
6:10
to be able to have seen Grandmaster
6:12
Flash DJ before record so you went to a
6:16
flash party before at the T connection
6:18
that's the T connection yes which was a
6:20
hip-hop club on Gun Hill Road in the
6:23
Bronx back in the days and if you got to
6:25
see flash at the T connection you was
6:27
blessed because most people just got the
6:29
tape wow so rich was there show off Rich
6:33
was there okay so flash is literally
6:36
riding on a um an easel right now and it
6:40
looked like a calculus equation we
6:43
didn't know hip-hop was this smart
6:47
below and below yes indeed well you know
6:50
he's bit in his high school days at
6:52
Gompers he was able to learn
6:55
um electronics and so I ran into him in
6:57
the Grammys in LA and I asked him how
6:59
come he doesn't talk more about the the
7:02
the Creations that he's made with these
7:04
electronics and taking things apart and
7:06
he promised me that he would so man we
7:08
will talk about that today right now
7:10
he's literally drawing out these
7:12
equations
7:13
um which I can't wait to hear him
7:16
explain we need that broken down and
7:19
figures facts and figures okay all right
7:21
okay flash just turn it around to the
7:24
mic ladies and gentlemen
7:27
get a close-up on that too Drew
7:31
it's the pillars
7:34
of what hip-hop stands on
7:37
when I first came up with this
7:40
this was in service of the stars of the
7:43
day which was the breakdancers
7:46
during these early part of the 70s the
7:48
rapper wasn't born yet
7:50
right
7:52
okay
7:53
take that in during the early part of
7:56
the 70s the rapper wasn't born all right
7:58
this was for the break dancers okay
8:00
the stars of the days was like I said
8:02
the break dancers and the graffiti
8:04
artists
8:07
so
8:09
in my early years I attempted to be a
8:12
great break dancer not good at it and I
8:14
attempted it to be a graffiti artist not
8:17
good at that
8:18
um actually I wasn't a decent graffiti
8:20
artist until I got 18 and that's when
8:23
you could go to jail for a long time for
8:25
writing on things you're not supposed to
8:27
be writing what's your name it was Flash
8:29
one flash one that's what that's what it
8:31
was so now
8:34
the brain comprehends
8:37
a song statistically in four bars
8:42
Let's Take Good Times
8:45
one do do or two
8:48
three
8:50
four
8:52
so now this is what I base
8:56
my Theory on
8:58
four bars with the vinyl moving
9:00
clockwise
9:02
six counterclockwise revolutions is to
9:05
re-return to the top of the Blake break
9:08
which made the tone
9:10
um useless
9:14
break that down so
9:18
I tried to figure out how could I unify
9:22
pop rock jazz blues Funk disco r b
9:26
alternative Latin
9:29
so what I would do is during my early
9:31
shopping years of vinyl is I would look
9:34
for that little teeny tiny drum break
9:38
and I based this I said no colors no
9:42
genre no age no location
9:45
I grew up listening to all different
9:48
types of music so when I went record
9:50
shopping I went in all these areas of
9:52
the record shop trying to find those
9:55
records that had that teeny tiny
9:59
drum break
10:01
once I figured out that I went to my
10:05
turntables
10:07
and I
10:09
ran into
10:12
lots of problems okay
10:17
comes in two classifications magnetic
10:20
and ceramic the needles comes in two
10:23
classifications conical and elliptical
10:27
I had to figure out which one of the of
10:29
the needles
10:30
would stay in the groove while I went
10:34
counterclockwise to rearrive to the top
10:37
of the break
10:39
this was Paramount the elliptical needle
10:43
although it did sound much better
10:46
did not stay inside of the groove it was
10:49
more like a a backwards J so when I
10:52
would try to pull it back it kept
10:54
slipping out of the groove the conical
10:56
needle although shaped like a nail
10:58
stayed inside of the groove I was able
11:01
to go counterclockwise
11:03
problem number one was this okay when
11:06
you get turntables you get this nasty
11:10
rubber rubber mat rubber mat and the
11:14
problem was
11:17
when I tried to go counterclockwise
11:21
this was causing a lot
11:24
of resistance
11:26
out with that just threw it away like
11:29
that he threw the rubber mat out for
11:31
those who's tuned in okay
11:34
mom went to seamstress she's been going
11:36
a long time miss you mom so I was lucky
11:40
to touch polyester silk rayon cotton
11:46
leather suede
11:50
so when I threw away
11:53
the rubber mat
11:56
I said to myself I need to buffer
11:59
between the vinyl
12:02
and the platter and the key thing to the
12:04
platter was it had to be able to go
12:05
clockwise comfortably while I went
12:08
counterclockwise and I could remember
12:11
grabbing a record and running to the
12:14
nearest material store and I was going
12:16
through all the aisles
12:18
rayon silk polyester cotton suede
12:24
leather
12:28
felt
12:33
felt
12:35
the problem what felt was but it felt
12:38
right the problem with felt is its limp
12:45
and I can remember in grade school we
12:47
used to use it cut out letters and and
12:49
if you and if you if you made it all
12:51
clear you get five stars and you bring
12:53
home the mom mommy being really proud of
12:55
you I said to myself
12:56
this is this feels like the right
12:58
material
13:00
but then somehow or another I had to
13:03
make this stiff
13:04
so when Mom wasn't looking I went into
13:08
the kitchen cabinet and I got
13:11
spray starch spray starch and I sprayed
13:15
it on both sides of hold it hold the
13:19
felt from demonstration like you knew to
13:22
spray both sides I sprayed both sides
13:25
and
13:26
um
13:29
that felt that was limp
13:34
became this this is crazy
13:37
problem number one solved but the
13:40
problem of it was
13:41
when I put the wafer and that's what I
13:46
called it at the time I called it a
13:47
wafer is because it was stiff and mom
13:51
used to dress us up for Easter and we
13:53
used to go to church and we would get on
13:55
that line and and the pastor would pass
13:57
out these white things called away first
14:00
so I called it
14:02
a wafer that was part that was part of
14:05
problem solved the second part was when
14:07
I put the the wafer on the steel platter
14:11
and then put the album on the wafer and
14:13
I tried to spin it back I still felt
14:16
resistance
14:18
so I can remember whenever I bought home
14:20
great grades
14:22
mom would bake chocolate chip cookies on
14:26
this
14:28
wax paper wax paper wow the Ingenuity is
14:33
who what's going on so
14:36
I decided
14:38
to put
14:40
the wax paper on the platter
14:43
put the wafer on the wax paper and put
14:46
the vinyl on top of both
14:49
turned the platter on and I got
14:53
no resistance first the needles was the
14:58
first problem second problem
15:00
yeah wow now
15:04
third problem was when I was playing in
15:06
Dark Places I had to be able to see this
15:08
little minuscule break
15:10
and dark Smoky places and this is a
15:15
little emotional about this because when
15:16
I did this next thing I'm going to show
15:18
you every kind of song of vinyl and
15:21
everybody that was DJing was extremely
15:24
extremely angry at me because I would
15:27
take
15:31
crayon and I would Mark the area where
15:36
the drum break was the circular mock
15:39
block was the neighborhood the
15:41
Interceptor part was where the break
15:44
started and where it ended so when I was
15:47
putting crayon marks on the vinyl
15:50
the whole DJ world the whole final
15:53
connoisseur bro was really [ __ ] mad
15:56
at me why but it was it was the only way
15:59
I was able to control time and create
16:02
this thing where DJs now became
16:06
musicians sway so
16:10
you know a lot of people
16:12
talk about
16:14
the
16:16
the lyric in
16:17
the the who's doping who's not who's
16:20
this who's that but nobody ever said
16:22
wait a minute if there were no internet
16:25
no social media no app no studios no
16:30
nothing where
16:32
did the beat come from how was it
16:35
manufactured
16:38
here
16:40
my final problem was this
16:43
as I stated earlier
16:46
four bars forward the brain captures
16:48
what the groove is doing
16:52
the one major part that made me almost
16:54
walk away from this was this
16:57
way
16:59
why is it
17:02
if it's four bars while the vinyl was
17:04
moving in a clockwise position
17:07
and why is it that when I go backwards
17:11
four times why am I not at the the
17:15
arrival of the drum break
17:18
and I remember walking away for about a
17:20
month and a half and the reason why
17:25
the reason why I could not rearrive to
17:29
the top of the break is because
17:32
the speed of a vinyl is 33 and a third
17:39
once I compensated for the third wow so
17:43
now when four bars goes forward I know
17:46
for a fact I have to come back and the
17:49
reason why I mocked the the vinyl with
17:53
the intersecting markers I would watch
17:55
how many times it passed the tone arm
17:58
would tell me when I'm back at the top
18:02
of the break so while the rapper is in
18:06
the front just telling his story vocally
18:08
I could keep a steady beat going prior
18:12
to this
18:13
rappers do not exist
18:16
it was a thing where I just put a
18:18
microphone on the side of the table and
18:21
I said to anybody in the park can you
18:24
verbalize to this many people failed and
18:29
it was just one
18:31
one gentleman
18:33
who had this nursery rhyme type of style
18:38
and
18:39
we met briefly
18:43
and then when I went to go visit my
18:45
girlfriend
18:46
he was there he was dating the older
18:49
sister I was dating a younger one so we
18:52
met again wow
18:54
next time I played in the park I asked
18:56
him to try
18:58
and this
19:00
is where the rapper was born his day was
19:02
Keith Wiggins known as cowboy cowboy wow
19:09
so now I would ask Keith like you know I
19:12
go to different blocks you know I do
19:14
these block parties do you want to get
19:16
down with me and he's like
19:19
sure the rest of the five is history but
19:22
I just want to just say like
19:25
thank you for this way it's like I know
19:27
we got a lot to talk about yeah but
19:29
hip-hop is 50 years old and doing all
19:31
out of all the interviews I've been
19:33
listening to and all the people doing
19:34
television interviews nobody's talking
19:37
about where this started yeah nobody's
19:39
talking about the DJs nobody's talking
19:41
about the incredible producers who put
19:45
these songs together because I'm telling
19:47
you
19:48
I'll put my life on this that any one of
19:52
you rappers
19:53
could have not wrote them Dope ass
19:55
rhymes on them sample based tracks early
19:58
on if you wasn't inspired by the track
20:00
that the producer made
20:03
shout out to Premiere Pete Rock in the
20:05
bomb squad come on just blaze Molly Mar
20:07
Rizza kg easy Moby DJ Jazzy Jeff Kanye
20:12
West Jay Dilla Swiss Beast Dr Dre DJ
20:15
mugs DJ battle cat DJ Aladdin DJ tup
20:19
Jermaine Dupri Polo the Don I'm just the
20:23
name of Q I could go here for years yeah
20:25
shout out to the producers The Producers
20:27
yes they made it all possible the ones
20:29
who put this together so this thing here
20:32
that I was doing manually sway uh-huh
20:35
there's just a machine called the
20:37
sampler
20:38
when that was born so now you could take
20:41
a piece of information
20:43
record it onto a disc plug it into the
20:46
computer and tell the computer to lock
20:48
the lock this four bars over and over
20:51
and over again and this became
20:55
from little business in the park yes to
20:59
Big Business
21:00
today yeah so I want to just shout out
21:04
all the people who made the beat the
21:07
producers because you rappers and I'm
21:10
gonna say this a lot of the dope ass
21:12
rappers would probably could not figure
21:14
out how the song was put together
21:16
because they're an expert in their area
21:19
yes but if I were to ask any one of the
21:22
incredible rappers how would that be
21:23
made because they coming after when it's
21:25
done they come in the studio they say
21:27
what they got to say and they leave
21:33
so I I find it critically important to
21:36
people to understand
21:38
the fourth element the last element
21:41
which is the rapper
21:43
would not exist if it wasn't for the
21:46
producer if it wasn't for the beat maker
21:48
if it wasn't for this quick mix
21:52
Theory Grand Master Flash is here man I
21:55
love it thank you man get that man a
21:56
round of applause
21:57
[Applause]
22:02
a song
22:04
cowboy was your first rapper yeah it was
22:07
wow man he was my first that was my baby
22:11
and when he passed it's kind of like the
22:13
whole thing just
22:15
kind of pass and I'm gonna I'm gonna
22:17
show you guys
22:18
the quick mixed theory on the turntables
22:21
after we talk so that you can understand
22:22
that
22:25
understand why the sample based tracks
22:27
coming out in the 80s was so incredible
22:30
it's because of this
22:32
some of the things that were sampled or
22:34
that I played were the best musicians on
22:37
the planet so the quick mixed theory has
22:40
two numbers the four
22:43
and six
22:46
six plus four is what ten ten so the
22:49
rappers attended a track that was on ten
22:51
all they had to do was just spit
22:52
properly there it is Hell Grandmaster
22:54
Flash is here man what's the first song
22:57
y'all ever made
22:58
oh super rapping let's hear it
23:02
888-742-3345 it's a 79
23:05
1979 Grand Master Flash the Furious Five
23:10
this is the recipient of the Grammy
23:12
Lifetime Achievement Award this man is
23:15
the architect of this culture wow Tracy
23:18
G when I say architect I mean there
23:20
weren't any blueprints no this is a
23:22
Pioneer there wasn't a guideline there
23:24
wasn't anyone experience who had done
23:26
what he created and put it in an
23:28
equation
23:30
of how it all started the DJ was the
23:32
Cornerstone of all of this there would
23:35
be no rapper we wouldn't be celebrating
23:37
the ll's if it wasn't for the DJs yeah
23:39
by the way LL is the goat I just want to
23:42
throw that in there
23:44
you can't go wrong saying that and now
23:46
we're celebrating 50 years of hip-hop we
23:48
got the one and only Grandmaster Flash
23:50
when I think of Hip Hop and his
23:52
beginnings and my early stages learning
23:54
about it I think of
23:56
four names
23:59
Grandmaster Flash
24:02
I think of Africa bambaata
24:05
I think a DST
24:08
and I think a cool herc those are the
24:11
media names that come to mind respect
24:13
right
24:15
um is there a possibility that we're
24:17
going to see
24:18
those four names come together before
24:20
this year is out
24:24
let me answer that question
24:25
um
24:27
I said in a uh a video
24:33
that if
24:35
the four of us
24:37
can get together on a summer day
24:41
on a bench
24:43
throwing nuts to the pigeons with a
24:45
camera on us
24:47
would be the greatest
24:50
story
24:51
ever
24:53
told they had to forwards just sitting
24:56
there talking about our moms our dads
24:58
our sisters how we work truly influenced
25:00
from the very very beginning I hope
25:03
before I leave this planet that this
25:05
could possibly happen
25:07
damn man [ __ ] I just threw that out
25:09
there I didn't think he was gonna
25:10
respond like that man we can make that
25:12
happen flash I feel rich nice and I talk
25:15
to herc all the time so I would love to
25:18
sit
25:19
and chop up stories
25:21
he's got a sister that was in this
25:23
corner just like mine yeah yeah so I
25:27
would love it I love it when you look at
25:29
now where hip-hop is 50 years later
25:32
um
25:33
you know what are your thoughts how do
25:36
you did it happen the way is it moving
25:38
in the direction you would have hoped
25:40
that it moved in absolutely okay because
25:42
see what you got to understand sway
25:44
anything
25:46
that is as magical as this thing was
25:50
in the Bronx
25:52
when it leaves the Bronx and it goes to
25:54
Philly
25:55
it's gonna
25:57
tweak when it goes to Atlanta it's going
25:59
to tweak when it goes to California it's
26:01
going to tweak when it goes to Germany
26:02
it's going to tweak when it goes to
26:04
Australia it's going to tweak
26:06
that's the only way this thing could
26:07
have growth
26:09
that's what everybody else can put their
26:11
spin
26:12
on it lyrically and musically it has
26:15
that's the only way these things would
26:16
have grown or we wouldn't be sitting
26:19
here celebrating something that has
26:21
touched so many people on this Blue
26:24
Marble called Earth you know so for me
26:26
never in my wildest dreams
26:29
that me doing this uh-huh
26:32
would have touched so many people when I
26:34
go and I tour and I see people doing
26:37
this and I see a person in front
26:40
speaking I'm like whoa
26:42
and believe it or not
26:43
my pops my pops
26:45
God bless the dead he's been going a
26:47
long time as a little boy I used to like
26:50
against all house rules
26:53
touch your [ __ ] yeah
26:56
to fry the hiney fry and when he would
27:00
go to work I go back in and he'd come
27:02
back
27:03
sun stay out of my stuff and when he
27:05
went to work I go back in it and he used
27:07
to fry behind me so it's like this thing
27:11
[ __ ] me up let's just call it that all
27:13
right okay all right you know so I mean
27:14
but I mean for me it's just never in my
27:18
wildest dreams that I would think that
27:20
this because this thing could have
27:22
missed yeah this thing could have missed
27:24
yo people weren't really into it in the
27:26
beginning right let me tell you what it
27:28
was like
27:30
there's two ways an inventor does
27:31
something and he gives it to the public
27:33
right
27:35
it could be
27:38
I
27:39
I hate that or
27:43
what is that uh-huh what is that and the
27:46
only way I could put a
27:50
a spin on this is like what Stephen
27:52
Curry does he just needs a little bit of
27:54
Grace yeah a little bit so for me when I
27:58
was doing this and this people would say
28:01
my mom's got this record back home and
28:03
the drum break don't go this long how
28:04
you doing this anyway looking under the
28:07
the uh the mat and trying and going all
28:10
like how are you doing this yeah so when
28:13
I first introduced us to the parks
28:14
people were busy trying to figure out
28:17
what I was doing and I went home and I
28:19
cried for a week
28:22
I cried for a week's wake up I'm saying
28:24
to myself I got the hottest drum break
28:27
from pop rock jazz blues [ __ ] and I'm
28:29
stringing them all behind each other why
28:33
aren't this few hundreds of people in
28:34
the park dancing why are you guys
28:37
looking at what it is that I'm doing
28:38
here
28:40
and I gotta tell you my Savory Grace
28:42
yeah was cowboy cowboy because he was
28:46
able to get people to throw hands this
28:48
is that I'm like right now they're not
28:49
paying attention to me now I can really
28:51
go into me but then the biggest problem
28:53
after that was
28:55
DJs was like all right you putting your
28:57
fingertips all over the record and and
28:59
putting your put the crown on it and
29:02
everybody was like we're not learning
29:03
that [ __ ] so my DJ partner had a little
29:06
brother who was your DJ partner mean G
29:09
Mean Gene and me Gene had a uh and I
29:13
tried to teach me Gene this technique
29:16
but his hands was two times the size of
29:18
mine so I'm like you got to be very
29:19
gentle with this but it was this little
29:21
kid in the living room that what I was
29:24
doing circularly he was able to pick the
29:27
arm up and drop it down I'm like yo can
29:29
I teach a little brother
29:32
he says if I catch my little brother in
29:34
a room I'm whipping your ass and
29:36
whenever there was a fight in like if
29:38
there was a fight 100 people around you
29:40
go in the middle it was being Gene
29:42
fighting
29:44
with him so when he went to work I'll go
29:46
visit his girlfriend I used to grab a
29:48
milk crate and have him stand on it and
29:51
ask him to emulate me and I begged him
29:53
please do not tell your big brother
29:55
uh-huh his name was Grand wizard
29:57
Theodore Graham was the Theodore come on
29:59
man
30:00
[Applause]
30:03
was my first successful student and I
30:06
used to tell Theodore like you can't
30:09
you can't tell your brother man
30:10
otherwise him and I will be going we're
30:12
going to be scrapping in the street and
30:14
then after a while I just said effort
30:17
did a block party up the street in 63
30:19
park I got on took the milk crate I said
30:22
Theodore get on get on and that forced
30:26
people to change the way they would
30:28
DJing because if he wasn't going to
30:30
learn from this teenager you're gonna
30:32
learn from this little kid yeah or be
30:34
embarrassed so
30:37
cowboy
30:39
a grand wizard world like my crown top
30:42
my my town criers yeah of this new
30:45
system of DJing and I can remember
30:48
trying to get a job at clubs and the
30:51
word went around and I put my fingertips
30:53
on the records and and the way they
30:55
treat records back then was very
30:57
carefully they had this pelvic brush and
31:00
they put it into the white paper and
31:01
carefully into the album I said [ __ ] I'm
31:03
taking two copies to just smashing it
31:05
into one into one jacket and I'm putting
31:09
the crayon along it's all over it he was
31:10
killing that record
31:19
now when I grew up we used to hear that
31:23
Theodore Graham went to Theodore
31:24
invented scratching so cutting and
31:27
scratching so Theodore was the first one
31:32
to see the technique okay and
31:38
here's how I answer that question when
31:40
people ask me who did what what did who
31:45
when you are doing this particular style
31:47
of DJing you must know how to move the
31:51
record back and forth to get a
31:54
particular sound you have to open and
31:57
close the fader
31:59
when Jeff does it Jazzy Jeffy yes he's
32:02
absolute to him but big round of
32:04
applause
32:09
a scene
32:11
when Theodore does it he opens the fader
32:13
up and rubs the record uh-huh right
32:16
but the fact of the matter is we're all
32:18
doing the same thing so the question is
32:20
what did a person invent the sound of
32:23
the technique the technique is mine okay
32:25
what kind of sound you do to it is yours
32:28
progress at the end of the day you have
32:30
to do this in concert with the vinyl and
32:34
the fader okay and it's got people like
32:36
Qbert
32:37
oh man just do this
32:41
you're out of here can you tell them
32:43
where Cuba is from do you know that
32:45
oh I don't know where he's from he's
32:46
from the West Coast from the Bay Area
32:59
it's computer generated but it's a human
33:02
standing there so you know so for me
33:04
it's like everybody has put their own
33:08
sound and added their own flavor to this
33:10
technique and I see people
33:13
and do things to it but at the end of
33:16
the day the technique is mine the sound
33:18
is not Grandmaster Flash is here we
33:20
walking up the park right now we just
33:22
played Super rapping that came out in
33:24
79. you talked about how cowboy was your
33:28
first MC and then the MC kind of served
33:31
as an asset in the party to help keep
33:33
the party going sure eventually because
33:35
of this technique you created and then
33:37
the sampler came out the music business
33:39
got a hold of it something they thought
33:41
wasn't going to be profitable or last a
33:43
long period of time they wanted to
33:45
invest low to get a heart a high Roi I
33:48
remember when wild style came out that
33:50
was in 83 3. while style came out in 83
33:57
um
33:58
uh Rapper's Delight came out in
34:02
79 79 79 yeah you signed your deal in
34:06
80. the Sugar Hill records right right
34:08
okay and so now the music business for
34:10
hip-hop begins right
34:15
the music business changed impact the
34:18
culture in your opinion from where you
34:20
sit
34:21
I think
34:24
we were very young so put it this way
34:27
before signing the contracts
34:30
Big Fish Small Ponds streets yeah small
34:34
business
34:36
signed a contract
34:39
small fish big big big big pond
34:47
uh I used to play this club called disco
34:50
fever disco fever he just said he just
34:53
dropped the iconic club like it was
34:55
nothing every Tuesday and it was this
34:57
woman
34:58
got used to come to my nights on
35:02
terrible Tuesdays is what it was called
35:04
and she was sitting near the bar and
35:07
have all these jewels on looking like
35:10
money and everybody
35:13
someone says uh Sugar Hill Gang is
35:15
signed to and I'm wondering why is it
35:18
she's coming to my club
35:19
every Tuesday eventually just she asks
35:23
Sal
35:24
to escort her son to the DJ booth to
35:28
holler at me
35:30
and Joey Robinson Jr says uh
35:34
my mom's would like to have a meeting
35:36
with you guys
35:39
I'm like
35:41
okay
35:42
meeting one I says well we're assigned
35:45
to enjoy records super rapid
35:49
and she looks at me and she says
35:53
we'll take care of that
35:55
um
35:59
I'm like okay I'm new to the music
36:01
business I don't know how to take care
36:03
of that how does that work
36:05
you know me and Raheem was the ones that
36:07
once you know went out to Jersey we got
36:09
on the bus and went to Jersey you know
36:12
and we could just piece of paper Raheem
36:14
looks at it I look at it it's like
36:17
we need to give this to somebody
36:20
I'm gonna take mines to my sister right
36:22
he said you're gonna take it to his
36:23
mother and for some reason they kept
36:25
pushing us like listen we can make you
36:28
got Stars Like Sugar Hill Gang and you
36:31
know they're familiar to push it and
36:33
push it and push it and I got to tell
36:34
you I don't want to go too much deeper
36:35
into this but I got to tell you
36:37
when I signed Joseph Sadler I got this
36:44
painful
36:46
feeling in my body like
36:51
something's wrong here something's
36:55
wrong I looked at Raheem
36:58
met with the boys
37:00
someone like let's move forward look at
37:03
what Sugar Hill Gang is doing and some
37:05
of us is like wait a minute we need to
37:07
take this to somebody that can
37:08
analyze this for us because we didn't
37:10
know what this was after a while it was
37:12
like listen we got to move forward with
37:14
this we move forward with that then we
37:16
made Freedom it's nasty all those white
37:19
lines and white lines you know and then
37:22
you know after a while it was uh
37:25
he was wondering why
37:28
paperwork why why we didn't receive this
37:30
and why we didn't receive that and I
37:32
think probably what do you mean like
37:34
residuals okay so let me explain I'll
37:36
just say this
37:38
when I would
37:40
when I was on tour there was a gentleman
37:41
that said to me
37:43
Dag
37:45
your publishing must be incredible
37:48
um I'm looking at him like
37:50
I learned being a geek that I am
37:52
publishing is a book right so
37:56
when you said that when we came off tour
37:58
and we went to go have our annual
37:59
meeting with Sylvia
38:02
I said Sylvia
38:05
what's publishing
38:07
and I never seen a fair escape room and
38:09
turn so red rarely then after that I
38:12
started getting kicked out of the
38:13
meetings they were doing meetings
38:14
without me wow okay but the woman at the
38:16
front desk who was hitting on me trying
38:18
to get with me was telling me why you
38:20
calling me like why you ain't out here
38:21
like what do you mean there's a meeting
38:23
out here
38:24
and after that it just got messy on
38:26
messy on messiah messiah messiah and
38:29
so this is history that's where the
38:31
breakup happened because of that yeah
38:32
that that happened because three stayed
38:34
and three left okay
38:36
three state and three left and then
38:38
eventually what it was when I left and
38:41
Rahim and creole came with me I met a
38:44
person by the name of Bob crash now from
38:46
Elektra
38:49
paperwork straight publishing advance
38:54
who nine yards
38:56
and Bob crash now says if you could get
38:58
the other three to come
39:01
we'll work with Olio
39:05
so we started speaking again that's as a
39:08
matter of fact I can get you guys this
39:11
that that this and that
39:13
we attempted to try to do it again two
39:15
albums on a lecture but the magic was
39:18
already gone you know so it's pretty
39:20
much she had already put the poison in
39:22
them already but now today
39:25
we're good friends
39:34
[Applause]
39:37
let me tell you how it was like we was
39:40
at the Grammys and we was you know I was
39:42
in a waiting area
39:45
waiting for the the main door to open
39:47
for all of us to sit down and start the
39:48
processions and I see now
39:52
so I walked up to him walked up to him
39:54
and I
39:55
says listen listen man
39:57
what happened back then
39:59
I cried over it died over it
40:03
and I'm good now
40:05
and I love you
40:07
a little I can almost see like you know
40:10
the the tears in his eyes almost yeah
40:12
like he'd been wanting wanting this
40:14
forever and ever so while we were at the
40:16
Grammys we was kicking it laughing and
40:18
joking
40:20
be good y'all went over old times too
40:22
yeah one more time and you know and he
40:25
talked about that side I talked about
40:27
this side and we we understand you know
40:29
that things happen you know we were uh
40:32
kids from the ghetto with nothing you
40:34
know so
40:36
I don't have no issue with Mel anymore
40:38
everything's good everything's good with
40:40
Melly Mel Grandmaster Flash we're about
40:42
to see some concerts and everything
40:44
okay well that's what good means yeah
40:50
I love the boys man it's all good man
40:52
it's all good we'll see what happens
40:53
we'll see what happens right now I just
40:55
got to clear up the fact that the DJ and
40:58
the producer matter in this art form if
41:04
we were not here we would not have the
41:07
human being known as the speaker as the
41:10
emcee or the rapper they would not be
41:13
here you gonna demonstrate some stuff
41:15
for us yeah I want to do that man we're
41:17
gonna do that next Saturday 742-334
#Arts & Entertainment