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On this day, January 1, 1958, Grandmaster Flash was born.
Grandmaster Flash
Grandmaster Flash performing in 2014
Background information
Birth name: Joseph Saddler
Born: January 1, 1958 (age 66); The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Labels: Sugar Hill, Enjoy, Elektra
Website: grandmasterflash.com
Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958), popularly known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is an American DJ and rapper. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Hip Hop DJing, cutting, scratching and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, becoming the first Hip Hop act to be honored. In 2019 he won the Polar Music Prize. On May 21, 2022, he acquired an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts from Buffalo State College.
{snip}
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Main article: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
{snip}
1980s
In 1980 they signed to Sugar Hill Records and began touring and releasing numerous singles. The seminal "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", released in 1981, is a 7-minute solo showcase of Grandmaster Flash's virtuosic turntable skills, combining elements of Blondie's "Rapture," Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache," Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust," Chic's "Good Times," and the group's own "Freedom." It is also the first documented appearance of record scratching on a record. That year, the group opened for The Clash and were poorly received by an audience unaccustomed to the new style. The group's most significant hit was the electro rap song "The Message" (1982), which was produced by in-house Sugar Hill producer Clifton "Jiggs" Chase and featured session musician Duke Bootee. Unlike earlier rap tunes, "The Message" featured a grim narrative about inner city violence, drugs, and poverty. In 2002, its first year of archival, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry, the first hip hop recording ever to receive this honor. Critics praised the song's social awareness, calling the chorus "a slow chant seething with desperation and fury."
{snip}
Grandmaster Flash performing in 2014
Background information
Birth name: Joseph Saddler
Born: January 1, 1958 (age 66); The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Labels: Sugar Hill, Enjoy, Elektra
Website: grandmasterflash.com
Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958), popularly known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is an American DJ and rapper. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Hip Hop DJing, cutting, scratching and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, becoming the first Hip Hop act to be honored. In 2019 he won the Polar Music Prize. On May 21, 2022, he acquired an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts from Buffalo State College.
{snip}
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Main article: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
{snip}
1980s
In 1980 they signed to Sugar Hill Records and began touring and releasing numerous singles. The seminal "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", released in 1981, is a 7-minute solo showcase of Grandmaster Flash's virtuosic turntable skills, combining elements of Blondie's "Rapture," Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache," Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust," Chic's "Good Times," and the group's own "Freedom." It is also the first documented appearance of record scratching on a record. That year, the group opened for The Clash and were poorly received by an audience unaccustomed to the new style. The group's most significant hit was the electro rap song "The Message" (1982), which was produced by in-house Sugar Hill producer Clifton "Jiggs" Chase and featured session musician Duke Bootee. Unlike earlier rap tunes, "The Message" featured a grim narrative about inner city violence, drugs, and poverty. In 2002, its first year of archival, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry, the first hip hop recording ever to receive this honor. Critics praised the song's social awareness, calling the chorus "a slow chant seething with desperation and fury."
{snip}
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message (Official Video)
UPROXX Video
2.06M subscribers
8,032,750 views Nov 24, 2011
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message from the album 'The Message' (1982)
🔔 Subscribe to UPROXX Video and ring the bell to turn on notifications: https://uproxx.it/5rzazsh
🎙️ New Episodes of People’s Party with Talib Kweli every Monday 9AMet/6AMpt. Watch all the episodes here: https://uproxx.it/avxtjgf
More Hip-Hop Heads Playlists:
90's Hip Hop ▶️ http://bit.ly/90sHipHopPlaylist
2000's Hip Hop ▶️ http://bit.ly/2000sHipHopPlaylist
90's R&B Hits ▶️ http://bit.ly/90sRBPlaylist
The UPROXX Family
🎧 UPROXX Music https://youtube.com/uproxxmusic
🎥 UPROXX Studio https://youtube.com/uproxx
FOLLOW
➕UPROXX.com: https://uproxx.com
➕Instagram: https://instagram.com/uproxx
➕Twitter: https://twitter.com/uproxx
➕Facebook: https://facebook.com/uproxx
ABOUT UPROXX VIDEO:
UPROXX Video celebrates Hip-Hop, Style, and Creativity through a mix of original shows and music videos from the biggest artists, entertainers, and innovators from our culture.
PEOPLE'S PARTY WITH TALIB KWELI
People's Party is a weekly interview show hosted by Talib Kweli and Jasmin Leigh. Guests range from the biggest names in hip-hop, to global entertainers, to the most progressive minds moving our culture forward. The audio podcast is available on Apple and Spotify.
UPROXX Video
2.06M subscribers
8,032,750 views Nov 24, 2011
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message from the album 'The Message' (1982)
🔔 Subscribe to UPROXX Video and ring the bell to turn on notifications: https://uproxx.it/5rzazsh
🎙️ New Episodes of People’s Party with Talib Kweli every Monday 9AMet/6AMpt. Watch all the episodes here: https://uproxx.it/avxtjgf
More Hip-Hop Heads Playlists:
90's Hip Hop ▶️ http://bit.ly/90sHipHopPlaylist
2000's Hip Hop ▶️ http://bit.ly/2000sHipHopPlaylist
90's R&B Hits ▶️ http://bit.ly/90sRBPlaylist
The UPROXX Family
🎧 UPROXX Music https://youtube.com/uproxxmusic
🎥 UPROXX Studio https://youtube.com/uproxx
FOLLOW
➕UPROXX.com: https://uproxx.com
➕Instagram: https://instagram.com/uproxx
➕Twitter: https://twitter.com/uproxx
➕Facebook: https://facebook.com/uproxx
ABOUT UPROXX VIDEO:
UPROXX Video celebrates Hip-Hop, Style, and Creativity through a mix of original shows and music videos from the biggest artists, entertainers, and innovators from our culture.
PEOPLE'S PARTY WITH TALIB KWELI
People's Party is a weekly interview show hosted by Talib Kweli and Jasmin Leigh. Guests range from the biggest names in hip-hop, to global entertainers, to the most progressive minds moving our culture forward. The audio podcast is available on Apple and Spotify.
Later on, there was a split. One result was this album:
Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five
Not to be confused with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five was released in 1984 by Sugarhill Records after the split between Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel. For this album, Melle Mel kept the group name 'the Furious Five' (although the line-up changed) and used the title 'Grandmaster'. Rappers Cowboy and Scorpio left with Melle Mel although Mel's brother The Kidd Creole (N. Glover) and Rahiem remained with Flash. New rappers King Lou, Kami Kaze, and Tommy Gunn joined, as did Flash's best friend E. Z. Mike as DJ.
{snip}
Not to be confused with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five was released in 1984 by Sugarhill Records after the split between Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel. For this album, Melle Mel kept the group name 'the Furious Five' (although the line-up changed) and used the title 'Grandmaster'. Rappers Cowboy and Scorpio left with Melle Mel although Mel's brother The Kidd Creole (N. Glover) and Rahiem remained with Flash. New rappers King Lou, Kami Kaze, and Tommy Gunn joined, as did Flash's best friend E. Z. Mike as DJ.
{snip}
That's where this came from:
Grandmaster Melle Mel - White Lines (Don't Don't Do It) (Official Video)
UPROXX Video
2.06M subscribers
1,077,577 views Apr 16, 2021
Grandmaster Melle Mel - White Lines (Don't Don't Do It) (Official Video) from the 1983 single.
🔔 Subscribe to UPROXX Video and ring the bell to turn on notifications http://bit.ly/UproxxVideoSub
🎙️ New Episodes of People’s Party with Talib Kweli every Monday 9AMet/6AMpt.
Watch all the episodes here ▶️ http://bit.ly/PeoplesPartyFullEpisodes
More Hip-Hop Heads Playlists:
90's Hip Hop ▶️ http://bit.ly/90sHipHopPlaylist
2000's Hip Hop ▶️ http://bit.ly/2000sHipHopPlaylist
90's R&B Hits ▶️ http://bit.ly/90sRBPlaylist
The UPROXX Family:
🎧 UPROXX Music youtube.com/uproxxmusic
🎥 UPROXX Studio youtube.com/uproxx
Lyrics:
[Chorus]
(White Lines) Visions, dreams of passion
(Blowing through my mind) And all the while I think of you
(High price) A very strange reaction
(For us to unwind) The more I see, the more I do
(Something like a phenomenon) Baby!
(Telling your body to come along, but white lines blow away)
(Blow! Rock it! Blow!)
[Verse 1]
Ticket to ride, white line highway
Tell all your friends, they can go my way
Pay your toll, sell your soul
Pound-for-pound costs more than gold
The longer you stay, the more you pay
My white lines, go a long way
Either up your nose or through your vein
With nothing to gain except killing your brain
[Chorus]
(Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Blow!)
Higher, baby
Get higher, baby!
Get higher, baby!
And don't ever come down! (Freebase!)
Rang dang diggedy dang di-dang
Diggedy dang di-dang diggedy dang di-dang
(Pipeline) pure as the driven snow
(Connected to my mind) and now I'm having fun, baby!
(High price) it's getting kinda low
(Cause it makes you feel so nice) I need some one-on-one, baby!
(Don't let it blow your mind away) Baby!
(And go into your little hideaway ‘cause white lines blow away)
(Blow! Rock it! Blow!)
[Verse 2]
A million magic crystals, painted pure and white
A multi-million dollars almost overnight
Twice as sweet as sugar
Twice as bitter as salt
And if you get hooked, baby
It's nobody else's fault, so don't do it!
[Chorus]
(Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock!)
(Ahhh) Higher, baby
(Ahhh) Get higher, baby!
(Ahhh) Get higher, baby!
And don't ever come down! (Freebase!)
(Don’t you get too high) don’t you get too high baby!
(Turns you on) you really turn me on and on
(Cause you gotta come down) my temperature is risin’
(When the thrill is gone) no, I don’t want you to go
[Verse 3]
A street kid gets arrested, gonna do some time
He got out three years from now just to commit more crime
A businessman is caught with 24 kilos
He’s out on bail and out of jail
And that’s the way it goes, raah!
(Cane! Sugar! Cane! Sugar! Cane!)
Athletes rejected, governors corrected
Gangsters, thugs and smugglers are thoroughly respected
The money gets divided
The women get excited
Now I’m broke and it’s no joke
It’s hard as hell to fight it, don’t buy it!
[Chorus]
Little Jack Horner sitting on the corner
With no shoes and clothes
This ain't funny, but he took his money
And sniffed it up his nose
(Hey man, you wanna cop some blow?)
(Sure, what you got, dust, flakes or rocks?)
(I got China White, Mother of Pearl, Ivory Flake, What you need?)
(Well yeah, well let me check it out man, just let me get a freeze)
(Go ahead man, stuff I got should kill ya!)
(Yeah man th-that’s that’s raw, woah..)
About Uproxx Video:
UPROXX Video celebrates Hip-Hop, Style, and Creativity through a mix of original shows and music videos from the biggest artists, entertainers, and innovators from our culture.
PEOPLE'S PARTY WITH TALIB KWELI
People's Party is a weekly interview show hosted by Talib Kweli and Jasmin Leigh. Guests range from the biggest names in hip-hop, to global entertainers, to the most progressive minds moving our culture forward. The audio podcast is available on Apple and Spotify.
UPROXX Video
2.06M subscribers
1,077,577 views Apr 16, 2021
Grandmaster Melle Mel - White Lines (Don't Don't Do It) (Official Video) from the 1983 single.
🔔 Subscribe to UPROXX Video and ring the bell to turn on notifications http://bit.ly/UproxxVideoSub
🎙️ New Episodes of People’s Party with Talib Kweli every Monday 9AMet/6AMpt.
Watch all the episodes here ▶️ http://bit.ly/PeoplesPartyFullEpisodes
More Hip-Hop Heads Playlists:
90's Hip Hop ▶️ http://bit.ly/90sHipHopPlaylist
2000's Hip Hop ▶️ http://bit.ly/2000sHipHopPlaylist
90's R&B Hits ▶️ http://bit.ly/90sRBPlaylist
The UPROXX Family:
🎧 UPROXX Music youtube.com/uproxxmusic
🎥 UPROXX Studio youtube.com/uproxx
Lyrics:
[Chorus]
(White Lines) Visions, dreams of passion
(Blowing through my mind) And all the while I think of you
(High price) A very strange reaction
(For us to unwind) The more I see, the more I do
(Something like a phenomenon) Baby!
(Telling your body to come along, but white lines blow away)
(Blow! Rock it! Blow!)
[Verse 1]
Ticket to ride, white line highway
Tell all your friends, they can go my way
Pay your toll, sell your soul
Pound-for-pound costs more than gold
The longer you stay, the more you pay
My white lines, go a long way
Either up your nose or through your vein
With nothing to gain except killing your brain
[Chorus]
(Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Blow!)
Higher, baby
Get higher, baby!
Get higher, baby!
And don't ever come down! (Freebase!)
Rang dang diggedy dang di-dang
Diggedy dang di-dang diggedy dang di-dang
(Pipeline) pure as the driven snow
(Connected to my mind) and now I'm having fun, baby!
(High price) it's getting kinda low
(Cause it makes you feel so nice) I need some one-on-one, baby!
(Don't let it blow your mind away) Baby!
(And go into your little hideaway ‘cause white lines blow away)
(Blow! Rock it! Blow!)
[Verse 2]
A million magic crystals, painted pure and white
A multi-million dollars almost overnight
Twice as sweet as sugar
Twice as bitter as salt
And if you get hooked, baby
It's nobody else's fault, so don't do it!
[Chorus]
(Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock!)
(Ahhh) Higher, baby
(Ahhh) Get higher, baby!
(Ahhh) Get higher, baby!
And don't ever come down! (Freebase!)
(Don’t you get too high) don’t you get too high baby!
(Turns you on) you really turn me on and on
(Cause you gotta come down) my temperature is risin’
(When the thrill is gone) no, I don’t want you to go
[Verse 3]
A street kid gets arrested, gonna do some time
He got out three years from now just to commit more crime
A businessman is caught with 24 kilos
He’s out on bail and out of jail
And that’s the way it goes, raah!
(Cane! Sugar! Cane! Sugar! Cane!)
Athletes rejected, governors corrected
Gangsters, thugs and smugglers are thoroughly respected
The money gets divided
The women get excited
Now I’m broke and it’s no joke
It’s hard as hell to fight it, don’t buy it!
[Chorus]
Little Jack Horner sitting on the corner
With no shoes and clothes
This ain't funny, but he took his money
And sniffed it up his nose
(Hey man, you wanna cop some blow?)
(Sure, what you got, dust, flakes or rocks?)
(I got China White, Mother of Pearl, Ivory Flake, What you need?)
(Well yeah, well let me check it out man, just let me get a freeze)
(Go ahead man, stuff I got should kill ya!)
(Yeah man th-that’s that’s raw, woah..)
About Uproxx Video:
UPROXX Video celebrates Hip-Hop, Style, and Creativity through a mix of original shows and music videos from the biggest artists, entertainers, and innovators from our culture.
PEOPLE'S PARTY WITH TALIB KWELI
People's Party is a weekly interview show hosted by Talib Kweli and Jasmin Leigh. Guests range from the biggest names in hip-hop, to global entertainers, to the most progressive minds moving our culture forward. The audio podcast is available on Apple and Spotify.
Mon Jan 1, 2024: On this day, January 1, 1958, Grandmaster Flash was born.
Sun Jan 1, 2023: On this day, January 1, 1958, Grandmaster Flash was born.