Grandmaster Flash facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Grandmaster Flash
Grandmaster Flash performing in 2014
Background information
Birth name	Joseph Robert Saddler
Born	(1958-01-01) January 1, 1958 (age 67) Bridgetown, Barbados
Origin	The Bronx, New York City, U.S.
Genres	Old-school hip hop funk electro
Occupations	Musician DJ rapper record producer
Years active	1978–present
Labels	Sugar Hill Enjoy Elektra

Joseph Robert Saddler (born January 1, 1958), known as Grandmaster Flash, is an American musician and DJ. He is famous for creating DJ techniques that changed music. One of his big ideas was the Quick Mix Theory. This method helped DJs make drum beats last longer for break-dancers and rappers. It led to new ways of playing records, like cutting and scratching. He also helped create the slipmat, a special mat that helps records spin smoothly on a turntable.

Grandmaster Flash founded Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. This was the first rap group to join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2019, he was the first hip hop artist to win the Polar Music Prize. This is a major music award from Sweden. He has also received honorary degrees from universities. On August 4th, New York City even declared it "Grandmaster Flash Day."

Early Life and Music Journey

Joseph Saddler's family moved to the United States from Barbados. He grew up in the Bronx, New York City. He went to Samuel Gompers High School, where he learned to fix electronics. His parents helped him love music. His father had a huge collection of Caribbean and African American records.

As a child, Joseph was fascinated by his father's records. He once said, "My father was a very heavy record collector.... I used to open his closets and just watch all the records he had." Even when he got in trouble for touching them, he couldn't stop. This early interest, plus his mother wanting him to learn electronics, led him to become a DJ. After high school, he joined the early DJ scene in New York. He went to parties hosted by famous DJs like DJ Kool Herc.

How Grandmaster Flash Changed Music

A Technics SL-1200MK2 turntable that belonged to Grandmaster Flash. It's now in the National Museum of American History as a symbol of hip-hop culture.

Grandmaster Flash watched how disco DJs smoothly changed songs. He wanted to do the same, but even better. He developed a special technique called the Quick Mix Theory. This method used his fingertips on the vinyl and a mixer to quickly switch between records. He found a way to repeat and extend small parts of a song. He worked on this idea in his parents' house and later in another part of the Bronx.

The Quick Mix Theory led to many important DJ techniques:

• Backspin Technique (Quick-Mix Theory): Early DJs noticed that short drum breaks in songs made people dance. DJ Kool Herc started using two copies of the same record to make these breaks longer. Grandmaster Flash made this perfect. He could play a break on one record while finding the same part on another. When the first break ended, he quickly switched to the second record. This allowed him to loop a short piece of music forever. To do this, he used felt and wax paper under the records. This led to the invention of the slipmat, which helps records spin freely.
• Punch Phrasing (Clock Theory): This technique involved taking very short sounds, like horn blasts. Flash would rhythmically "punch" these sounds over the main beat using his mixer.
• Scratching: While Grand Wizzard Theodore is often credited with inventing scratching, Grandmaster Flash made it famous. Scratching is when a DJ moves a record back and forth under the needle to create new sounds. Along with punch phrasing, scratching showed that DJs weren't just playing records. They were creating new music live.

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

Forming the Group in the 1970s

Grandmaster Flash started by playing at parties and working with rappers like Kurtis Blow. In the late 1970s, he formed his own group. It started with Cowboy (Keef Cowboy), Melle Mel, and The Kidd Creole. They called themselves "Grandmaster Flash & the 3 MCs." Cowboy actually created the word hip hop. He made it up while joking with a friend who joined the army. He would sing "hip/hop/hip/hop" like soldiers marching.

Melle Mel was the first rapper to call himself an "MC" (Master of Ceremony). Later, Rahiem and Scorpio joined the group. This completed the famous lineup: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. They quickly became known for their amazing rapping skills. They were pioneers in MCing and freestyle battles. Many common rap phrases today came from their early shows. In 1978, they got a regular weekly show at Disco Fever in the Bronx. This was a big step for a hip-hop group.

In 1979, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five signed with Enjoy Records. They released their first song, "Superrappin'."

Success in the 1980s

In 1980, the group signed with Sugar Hill Records. They started touring and releasing many songs. In 1981, they released "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel." This 7-minute song showed off Grandmaster Flash's incredible DJ skills. It mixed parts of songs by Blondie, Queen, Chic, and their own music. It was also one of the first times scratching was heard on a record.

Their biggest hit was the electro rap song "The Message" (1982). This song was different because it told a serious story about violence and poverty in the city. In 2002, "The Message" was chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. It was the first hip hop song to get this honor. Critics praised the song for bringing attention to social issues.

After "The Message" became popular, some problems arose within the group. Grandmaster Flash, The Kidd Creole, and Rahiem left Sugar Hill Records. They signed with Elektra Records and continued as "Grandmaster Flash." Melle Mel and the others continued as "Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five." Even though Grandmaster Flash was often credited on their records, he didn't always appear on songs like "The Message." This was because early rap songs often used live musicians, leaving less room for his DJ skills. The group did reunite for charity concerts and released a new album in 1988.

Later Years and Legacy

Grandmaster Flash performing in 1999

In 1999, Grandmaster Flash worked with DJ Tomekk and Flavor Flav on the song 1, 2, 3, ... Rhymes Galore. This song was very popular in Germany.

In 2008, he wrote a book called The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: My Life, My Beats. In the book, he talks about how he first became interested in scratching records. He would sneak into his father's record room to watch the record player spin. He even found inspiration from his bicycle spokes, thinking about how spinning parts could make music. Flash loved to take machines apart to see how they worked. His early experiments led to the first big changes in hip hop culture.

He also hosted a radio show called "Friday Night Fire with Grandmaster Flash." In 2006, he received the BET "I Am Hip Hop Icon" award.

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five made history on March 12, 2007. They were the first hip-hop/rap group to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Jay-Z introduced them. In 2008, Flash remixed a song for the Australian group Midnight Juggernauts.

Many people say that Grandmaster Flash's mixing skills turned the turntable into a real musical instrument. His ability to make a crowd dance has made his DJ sets legendary.

Grandmaster Flash in 2009

Grandmaster Flash also appears as a playable character in the video game DJ Hero. In 2016, the Netflix show The Get Down featured a character based on Grandmaster Flash. The show was about the start of hip-hop culture in New York City in 1977. After that, Netflix released Hip-Hop Evolution, a documentary where Grandmaster Flash talked about how his art developed.

In 2023, Grandmaster Flash appeared on The Masked Singer as "Polar Bear." He even got to DJ on the show.

Albums

• The Message (1982) - This album went Platinum, meaning it sold over a million copies!
• They Said It Couldn't Be Done (1985) - This album went Gold.
• The Source (1986) - This album also went Gold.
• Ba-Dop-Boom-Bang (1987) - Another Gold album.
• On the Strength (1988) - This album also achieved Gold status.
• Salsoul Jam 2000 (1997)
• Flash Is Back (1998)
• The Official Adventures of Grandmaster Flash (2002)
• Essential Mix: Classic Edition (2002)
• The Bridge (Concept of a Culture) (2009)

Singles

• "Superappin'" (1979)
• "Freedom" (1980)
• "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" (1981)
• "Scorpio" (1981)
• "Flash To The Beat" (1982)
• "Jesse" (1984)
• "We Don't Work For Free" (1984)
• "Gold" (1988)
• "If U Wanna Party" (feat. Carl Murray) (1996)

Awards and Honors

Grandmaster Flash has received many important awards:

• Grammys:
  • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 2012 Hall of Fame for "The Message" song.
• Global Spin Awards: Lifetime Achievement Award
• RIAA: Hip-hop honoree award - RIAA Lifetime Achievement Award
• 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
• Polar Music Prize: 2019, awarded Sweden's Polar Prize
• Honorary Doctorates Degree:
  • 2022, Buffalo State University
  • 2023, Lehman College

Film and TV Appearances

See also

In Spanish: Grandmaster Flash para niños