Grandmaster Flash
| Grandmaster Flash | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Joseph Saddler |
| Born |
January 1, 1958 Bridgetown, Barbados, West Indies |
| Origin | South Bronx, New York, United States |
| Genres | Hip hop, old-school hip hop, breakbeat, funk, electro |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Labels | Sugar Hill Records, Enjoy Records, Elektra Records |
| Associated acts |
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five The Sugarhill Gang |
| Website | www |
Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958), better known as Grandmaster Flash, is a Bajan-American hip hop recording artist and DJ. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of hip-hop DJing, cutting, and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, becoming the first hip hop act to be honored.
Joseph Saddler's family migrated to the United States from Barbados, in the Caribbean, and he grew up in The Bronx in New York City. He attended Samuel Gompers High School, a public vocational school, where he learned how to repair electronic equipment. 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." 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. 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 Sandy Saddler, a former featherweight boxing champion.
Grandmaster Flash carefully studied the styles and techniques of earlier DJs, particularly Pete Jones, Kool Herc, and Grandmaster Flowers. 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.
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Wikipedia