DJ Grandmaster Flash is one of hip hop's founding fathers. And even though he is in the fourth decade of a career that is legendary by any industry standards, 2007 promises to be a banner year for Flash.
/24-7PressRelease/ - NEW YORK, NY, September 09, 2007 - DJ Grandmaster Flash is one of hip hop's founding fathers. And even though he is in the fourth decade of a career that is legendary by any industry standards, 2007 promises to be a banner year for Flash: he is finally setting his memoirs to the page—and releasing a new album on his own label, Adrenaline Entertainment.
The Grandmaster Flash Story will be penned by David Ritz, who wrote both Marvin Gaye's and Ray Charles' memoirs, as well. Although Flash has been asked to write his memoirs many times over the past few decades, he has finally felt he has found the right editor in Janet Hill at Doubleday.
However, Flash is doing anything but sitting back contentedly. He is still hard at work in the studio and he is set to release The Bridge on Adrenaline Entertainment in 2008. If Flash's memoirs promise a revealing look Flash's life, loves, struggles, and triumphs, as well as hip hop's past, The Bridge will give listeners a taste of hip hop's future. When Flash is not busy in the studio coming up with a hot beat, one can catch him at one of the hottest club's in NY like the China Club on any given Friday night. Flash has been and always will be an icon.
DJ Grandmaster Flash was the first to use the turntable as a musical instrument. He was first DJ to physically lay his hands on the vinyl, 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, and the Clock Theory. 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.
He gained even greater fame with his electrifying live performances throughout the 70s and with his group, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. In 1982, they went Platinum with "The Message." Meanwhile, "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. Flash was the first DJ ever to produce his own album.
Flash has played for audiences as large as the Super Bowl and as elite as Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. Earlier this year, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five became the first hip hop group ever inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Today, Flash has a weekly show on Sirius Radio, The FlashMash. 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. Previously, Chris Rock sought out Flash to serve as Musical Director for the groundbreaking HBO Series, The Chris Rock Show. He stayed in that role for five years.
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.
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