There are lots of stories about the birth of jazz and the beginning
of rock n’ roll, but hip-hop has founding fathers: one of them is DJ
Grandmaster Flash. In the early 70’s Joseph Saddler was living in the
South Bronx and studying electrical engineering. However, Saddler, a
native of the Bronx, had a much deeper passion for music; he had been
experimenting with his father’s vinyl since he was an adolescent. His
knowledge of audio equipment led him to an idea that would
revolutionize music: the turntable would become his instrument.
The
career of DJ Grandmaster Flash began in the Bronx with neighborhood
block parties that essentially were the start of hip-hop—the dawn of a
musical genre. He was the first DJ to physically lay his hands on the
vinyl and manipulate it in a backward, forward or counterclockwise
motion, when most DJs simply handled the record by the edges, put down
the tone arm, and let it play. Those DJs let the tone arm guide their
music, but Flash marked up the body of the vinyl with crayon,
fluorescent pen, and grease pencil—and those markings became his
compass.

He invented the Quick Mix Theory, which included techniques such as
the double-back, back-door, back-spin, and phasing. This allowed a DJ
to make music by touching the record and gauging its revolutions to
make his own beat and his own music. Flash’s template grew to include
cuttin’, which, in turn, spawned scratching, transforming, the Clock
Theory and the like. He laid the groundwork for everything a hip hop DJ
can do with a record today, other than just letting it play. What we
call a DJ today is a role that Flash invented.
By the end of the
70s, Flash had started another trend that became a hallmark of hip-hop:
emcees asked to rap over his beats. Before long, he started his own
group, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Their reputation grew up
around the way the group traded off and blended their lyrics with
Flash’s unrivaled skills as a DJ and his acrobatic
performances—spinning and cutting vinyl with his fingers, toes, elbows,
and any object at hand.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five went
Platinum with their single, “The Message.” Meanwhile, the single “The
Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel” introduced hip
hop DJing to a larger listening audience than it had ever known before;
it became the first DJ composition to be recorded by a DJ. The group’s
fame only grew with “Superappin,” “Freedom,” “Larry’s Dance Theme,” and
“You Know What Time It Is.” Punk and new wave fans were introduced to
Flash through Blondie, who immortalized him in their hit, “Rapture.”

The rock n’ roll establishment also recognized Flash with an honor
no one else in hip hop has received: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious
Five became the first hip hop group ever inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Flash is also the only hip hop DJ to ever
receive that honor.
By the time the 90s rolled around, Flash was
hand picked by Chris Rock to spend five years as the music director for
his groundbreaking HBO series, The Chris Rock Show. More recently,
Flash has played for audiences as large as the Super Bowl and as elite
as Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.
Today, Flash has a weekly
show on Sirius Radio, The Flash Mash on Hot Jams 50. The show is a
kaleidoscopic mash-up of Flash’s tastes, spanning just about any genre
from just about any corner of the world; it airs on Saturdays from
5-8pm.
On top of his induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
Flash has been the recipient of many awards, including VH1 Hip Hop
Honors; The Icon Award from BET in honor of his contribution to hip hop
as a DJ; The Lifetime Achievement Award from the RIAA; and Bill Gates’
Vanguard Award.