DMC Update: Grandmaster Flash

VOL 3 • ISSUE 392 • September 3 • 2010

Grandmaster Flash

Yo Joseph, an honour to speak to you. Your family is from the Caribbean, you were born in the States - what's the story there and what is the story behind your father's record collection?
"Well I was born in the Bronx. My family is from Barbados. My father was a record collector. It was my father's therapy after a hard day of work. The rule of the house was never go in the living room and never touch the stereo and never go in the closet where the records were. I broke all these rules and suffered for it. That was my first encounter in learning the value of vinyl which eventually led to making me the first DJ to make the turntable an instrument."

What sort of artists were you listening to when you were growing up? Who were the people that were always on your stereo? Who were your idols back then?
"The Motown sound. Latin, Jazz, Pop and Carribean. Those were my mother's, my father's and my four sister's collections."

Why did you decide to get into the world of Hip Hop?
"I decided to be a DJ because of my father and then watching Kool Herc."

Living in the Bronx, tell us about the 70's Block parties, what records back then were making everyone spin...
"The records were like Apache, 7 Minutes of Funk, Take me to the Mardi Gra..."

New York's Pete Jones and Kool Herc - big influences huh?
"Kool Herc was an influence on me. I met Pete Jones after I invented the turntable science that every DJ uses today."

You are the main man behind the world of cutting, duplicating copies of a single record and two turntables but adding a dexterous manual edit with a mixer to promote the break . You proud of that?
"I am quite proud of taking a piece of vinyl and rubbing it back and forth or spinning it in a counterclockwise direction to re-arrive at my desired part. Although it has acquired many different new titles, I am quite proud of this."

So your mom wanted you to get into Electronics...not for you then?
I loved electronics. My mother wanted me to go into electronics because prior to going to school for it, I would take apart all electronics in the house so she decided that I go to school for it."

Worst thing about living in the Bronx?
"There was nothing bad about it. It was home."

Your crew Cowboy, many say you created the term Hip Hop, teasing a friend who had just joined the US Army, by scat singing the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of marching soldiers...?
"I give the coin-phrasing title to three people. Cowboy, Love Bug Starsky and Kool Herc."

Who are the biggest Hip Hop gods of all time. DJs / Artists...?
"That is a matter of opinion, but I know the DJs are the creators of hip hop and that is a fact."

What was the defining moment when you thought, yeah, I'm here on the scene?
"When I physically put my fingers on the vinyl while the platter was spinning undeneath giving me control of the song composition is when I knew I was I had something."

Coolest friend you ever met in the Bronx?
"I had two. Calvin Jackson and Gordon Upshaw."

Was Kurtis Blow, Kid Kreole or Melle Mel the best rapper you ever worked with?
"They were three of the best ever."

Releases you have put out, amazing. 'The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel', 'The Message', 'White Lines'... I could could go on and on... what are your proudest releases?
"My current album, The Bridge: Concept Of A Culture"

What do you think of the current state of Turntablism?
"I think that it is wonderful. The DJs took my science to the levels that I have had the opportunity to witness makes me proud to know that I created something that the world loved."

How do you get on with Jay Z?
"I love him to death. He is a cool dude."

What's next for Grandmaster Flash in 2009?
"I currently have an album out and I am going to be doing video game music, soundtracks, lectures and electronic product consulting."

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