How Did Grandmaster Flash Changed Hip Hop

Joseph Saddler, also known as Grandmaster Flash, was born in Bridgetown Barbados and grew up in Bronx New York. In his earlier days, Joseph Saddler was a very talented electrician who used his skills to evolve DJ’ing. He improved the turntable to create specific sounds that were uncommon at his time and changed hip hop forever by becoming the industry standard. Grandmaster Flash changed hip hop by using turntables to create new DJ techniques and inventions that produced new and distinct sounds that influenced many current and past DJ’s. Grandmaster Flash created the modern version of DJ’ing that one would see today by developing several DJ techniques. He created The Clock Theory, The Backspin Technique and perfected the art of scratching.

As a result, he came up with The Peek-a-boo system which allows the DJ to hear the music of one turntable while the audience hears the music of another turntable. The system also had a volume control called a fader to prevent awkward transitions between songs. As a result, The Peek-a-boo system allowed Dj’s to blend music together to create new songs and lengthen the time of the breaks. In fact, according to _____, Flash became one of the first DJ’s to use two turntables with a mixer or headphone to extend breaks of songs from fifteen seconds to five minutes. This is important because in the past, DJ’s didn’t have the type of equipment available to broaden the type of music and sounds that can be played today. This is one of the reasons why the Peak-A-Boo system is what most artists use today.

Grandmaster Flashes influences can be seen through many Dj’s like Davy DMX, and Scotty Brooks. Davy DMX helped produced music with many artists like Run DMC in “My Adidas”, The Fat Boys, and Kurtis Blow’s “If I Ruled the World”. in In almost all the songs he helped produce, he used turntables and synthesizers that which would not have been possible without the techniques and inventions by Grandmaster

“The Message”, changed rap and the audience listening to it because it changed the way everyone looked at the world around them. It made the world more aware of the things going on around them. “The Message”, influenced many artists like N.W.A, Public Enemy, Jay-Z, J. Cole, and even the Notorious B.I.G to stray away from the everyday “party” rap music. All these rappers are notoriously famous for bringing light to subjects that happen in modern America and where they grew up. For example, NWA, know publicizing controversial subjects, made “Fuck Tha Police” which was a song protesting against police brutality among the community. This song is just as popular today as it was when it first came out because it broadcasts the issues going on among the black community then, and now. There were also many samples that originated from “The Message” like "Check Yo Self" by Ice Cube and "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" by Puff