Flash, Grandmaster (Joseph Saddler)
1958- · Contribution: 1970s
DJ & Hip-Hop Pioneer
DJ turntablism techniques (scratching, breakbeat manipulation)
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Born
- 1958
- Active since
- 1975
- Category
- Arts, Music & Entertainment Tech
- Best known for
- Turntablism techniquesScratching & breakbeat controlSmithsonian-collected turntables
Impact on the world
Grandmaster Flash turned the turntable into a musical instrument, inventing techniques that underlie hip-hop production to this day. He helped move rap toward social storytelling.
Sources
- VOA News
1 more sources and references are available to members.
Related visionaries
Kool Herc, DJ (Clive Campbell)
1955-
Jamaican American DJ widely credited as the father of hip-hop; at a 1973 Bronx party he pioneered the 'breakbeat'—using two turntables to isolate and loop the danceable instrumental 'break' of a record—creating the musical and cultural foundation from which rap and hip-hop grew.
La Rock, Coke
1955-
Widely regarded as hip-hop's first MC; the vocalist who rhymed and shouted over DJ Kool Herc's breakbeats at the 1973 Bronx party now considered hip-hop's birthplace, establishing the role of the rapping master of ceremonies.
Robinson, Sylvia
1935-2011
Produced "Rapper's Delight" (1979), the first commercially successful rap single -- the first to reach the Billboard Hot 100 and to sell a million copies -- and "The Message" (1982); founded Sugar Hill Records and is known as the "Mother of Hip-Hop"
Jay-Z (Shawn Corey Carter)
1969-present
Became one of the most commercially successful and influential rappers in history, with 14 number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and 25 Grammy Awards, the first rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017 and the first living solo hip-hop artist inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021, while building a business empire that made him hip-hop's first billionaire