Grandmaster Flash

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Grandmaster Flash (b. Joseph Saddler,1958) born in Barbados , but raised in the Bronx, had regularly attended Kool Herc's performances. He believed that he could improve on Herc's turntable technique of re-cuing, which was mostly done by feel. From his Bronx bedroom he developed a more precise way of cuing, monitoring the process with the use of headphones. This enabled him to seamlessly join the breakbeats together, the process became known as "segue" commonly pronounced as "segway". Receiving the nickname Flash when audiences first saw his rapid hand speed while employing this new turntable technique. He played his turntables as if he were Jimi Hendrix, cuing records with his elbow, his feet, behind his back. Flash would perfect Grand Wizard Theodore's turntable technique of scratching (spinning a record back and forth to create a scratchy rhythmical sound), which was employed to emphasize the beat of the music.

The music played at Block parties (which were becoming increasingly popular) would draw predominately from the older funk groups such as James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone. This re-introduced and popularized the funk groove, which had been recently abandoned by black radio. The break beat during a section of the music started to become more and more extended allowing "emcee" to rap longer, expressing himself while executing keen lyrical agility. Soon the vocal part of the backing music would disappear, leaving just the break beat sections, allowing the emcee to rap uninterrupted. People (apart from a few break dancers) would stand and listen to the emcee. DJ's would rely on the exclusivity of their break beats to create their own sound and style, going to some length to protect the identity of their music by removing record labels and distinguishing marks (similar to Jamaica a decade earlier). The music played at Block parties (which were becoming increasingly popular) would draw

In 1976 Grandmaster Flash and the (now) Furious Five released their first single Super Rappin. While enormously popular in the hip hop community, it would be The Sugarhill Gangy's 1979 song Rappers Delight that would become the first hip hop single to enter the American top 40. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five in 1982 signed to the Sugarhill record label and released "The Message", their first major chart success, the single going platinum in just under a week. Flash and two of the members of the furious five after a disagreement over money left the Sugarhill label, and signed to Elektra. The remaining members of the group (which included Melle Mel) almost instantly had another success, with White Lines (Don't do it). The songs title was Ironic, considering that Flash was now a free base cocaine addict, and would not have any further chart success until rejoining the Furious Five in 1994.

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