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As one of the founding fathers of hip-hop, the first DJ to use the turntable as a musical instrument and as founder of the legendary rap group, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Grandmaster Flash could easily do nothing more than eat, sleep, and breathe and he would remain a living icon.

However, one of music’s most relevant figures continues to keep his creative energy alive, by forging ahead into a new generation, time, and space; with nothing more than a love for hip-hop as his musical compass. Grandmaster Flash is currently hard at work on an upcoming memoir, and a new album entitled, The Bridge, to be released on his own record label, Adrenaline City Entertainment.


Yet, he managed to find time for a candid interview which touches on everything including his various upcoming projects, being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the pain Mele Mel continues to cause him, and a sneak peek into the topics of his memoir including his past drug abuse.

By continuing to move forward and inspire the world with his energy, legendary skills, and love for music, Grandmaster Flash is proving that for him, happiness is still a warm vinyl.



I read that you were given the name Flash at school. Why did they give you that nickname?

I did things fast. I used to box and run really fast. So my best friend, Gordon, named me Flash.

Before you and the Furious Five became the first hip-hop group ever inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame there were a series of false starts. How did it finally feel once you realized this time around that you were really going to be inducted?

Ove rall I was extremely happy about it because this thing is bigger than Grandmaster Flash. It was the final acceptance of hip-hop as a viable and credible musical culture just like jazz, rock, and the blues. Now we’re in, so mission accomplished.

I was reading an interview with group member, Raheim, and he basically said that despite the group being inducted he feels that the group has yet to be fully recognized within the hip-hop community. Is that a point of view that you share?

No, I don’t share that [opinion]. I’m a strong believer that if you don’t continue to keep yourself public then there’s a possibility that people won’t remember you. You can’t blame the newer artists or the newer fans for not knowing where you are if you’re not around. I’m a strong believer in going to events, doing concerts, talking to people and asking them what they think.

I’m on a constant search for new music, I like to learn what the new school thinks, and I’m constantly being a servant. My gift is that I serve people musically, and for me I don’t want to be a myth or folklore.

When I read Raheim’s statement it made me think of how many artists from the first generation of hip-hoppers were often financially exploited by record labels. Do you feel as if the industry still owes you something for that exploitation?

Life is lessons and blessings. Right now, financially, I’m doing pretty well. I don’t think it’s repayment that I’m looking for; I’m looking to just be a part of this culture that we call hip-hop since I’m one of the creators. I’m not going to go around screaming for repayment, or this person owes me this, [because] that happened and it was a lesson and a blessing. I’m still here today and right now you don’t need a huge conglomerate to have a record label that can make some noise. So that’s how I’m looking at it: the possibilities and the window of opportunity are huge right now.

You’re taking advantage of many of these opportunities beginning with working on a new memoir. After years of being intensely private why choose now to share your life story?

I had been asked by a few publishers to do a book, but at that time I didn’t feel comfortable. As human beings we’re not very willing to let our skeletons out of the closet. The person who helped me get the book deal was, Mark Green, and he said, “Flash, your story could possibly parallel somebody else’s, and you could help somebody because you went through it and you survived it.” When he said that it could help people I think that turned on a light bulb. Other than that I probably would not have wanted to write a memoir.

In the book will you go into detail on some of your group conflicts?

We didn’t really have a conflict until the department head, Sylvia Robinson [Sugar Hill Records], started speaking not to the whole group, but to one or two individuals. When I created the group we were just one focused body, but the company did a divide and conquer thing. I wasn’t able to reel them back in and [Mele] Mel started doing some weird things, and I talk about that as well.

What sort of weird things?

He wasn’t in the nucleus of the group [anymore]. And it got really serious to the point where we had to go to court.

And you went to court over his use of the name, Grandmaster?

Yeah and to this day he calls himself, Grandmaster. I’m like when did you become that? The real fact of the matter is that the judge ordered the record label--once they got me, [Kidd] Creole, and Raheim off the contract--not to use Grandmaster and Flash.

And that still pains you?

That is a little painful for me because this is how I make a living. For him to call himself Grandmaster causes a major confusion to the point where people are like, “Which grandmaster are you, the light-skinned guy with the long hair, or the dark skinned guy with the bald head?”

Mele Mel could have simply just called himself Mele Mel because he’s one of the greatest rappers of all time. I was the DJ. So I talk about that, and certain things that happened with my mother because she was mentally ill for a long time. These are things that I’ve been dancing around in the media most of my musical career—I would never go there, I would never tread there. But Janet [Hill] of Doubleday and Mark said, “Flash if you’re gonna do this book, you really have to go into that area where you feel uncomfortable going into.” So it gets very emotional.

What else do you plan to share in the book?

I’ve become an icon in music, but before all of this I was just a guy--more like a scientist--and I had been touching vinyl as a baby. I go into detail on how I was experimenting with amplifiers and vinyl, and also my love life. There was somebody that I loved, loved, loved, and I just kept screwing her over, because I couldn’t kick the drug habit. I went deep into the cocaine thing and it got really bad. Her and my sister, Penny, saved my life because I probably would have been dead.

How did you survive the professional issues, the personal issues, and the drug abuse? Where does your strength come from?

Since I was with the group for so long my fear was, could I go out alone and [still] do it? How will the world take me? Will they accept me? These things come into play in your mind, and it took me about a good 5 or 10 years [to get myself together]. My strength came from my sister, Penny, and a woman named, Paulette, who was my girlfriend at the time. They gave me a reason to turn on my own fight, plus I’m a strong believer in God. I also had a lawyer by the name of Roberta, and my agent, [Ruza] Blue, and the three of us put together a plan and now here I am.

What inspired you to start your own label, Adrenaline City Entertainment?

It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do because I’ve watched a lot of my peers go from start-up to moguls. I watched Russell Simmons, Diddy, and Andre Harrell pull all this off from zero, and it’s just one of the things that I want to do. Of course we all want to make a living, but for me it’s more of a purpose. I want to do this because there’s a purpose behind it.

And what’s your purpose?

The purpose is to serve because that’s what it comes down to. Whether I serve as a DJ for 10,000 people or whether I serve as a producer to a new or established act, or if I serve by doing lectures--all of this is about service.

There are different types of service. Is your goal to serve and just give the people what they want or is also to provide some enlightenment and relevant messages?

It’s a combination of both. I’d like to be able to talk about some of my heroes that are unsung because people should know about Afrika Bambaataa, Grand Wizard Theodore, Charlie Chase, and DXT. At the same time I also want to talk about today’s hip-hop and my views on yesterday’s hip-hop. I have a story to tell so lectures have become a very strong possibility in respect to that [service].

What’s your point of view on today’s hip-hop? Is hip-hop dead? Is it comatose?

It can’t be dead because there’s always gonna be MC’s, DJ’s, breakdancers, and graffiti artists. Hip-hop always changes. Something [new] comes in, it’s the thing for a moment in time, and then the public says, “We don’t want that anymore, give us something different.” And that’s the way hip-hop has been. I’ve watched it because I’m one of the creators of it. I’ve watched it march to a different beat during different time periods. So hip-hop is a point of view, and it’s still here in my opinion.

What can we expect from your upcoming album, The Bridge, which you’re working on now?

Just as the title says: The Bridge. I’d like to do something that is uncommon in hip-hop. Hip-hop has been a musical and vocal cross-platform for over 30 years, and I think that I would like to make this album a cross-platform album. That means getting some overseas artists together with some American artists, and then mixing some American music with some overseas produced music. I want to make this a kaleidoscope.


Speaking of the concept of the bridge: if you could build a bridge for the future generation of hip-hop that would connect the genre back to anytime in musical history—so that young people could learn from the past--which period would you choose and why?

That is interesting, [long pause]. I’d probably say between ’79 and ’95. At that particular time music was a kaleidoscope. You could hear Run DMC talk about some sneakers, you could hear Public Enemy talk about some social commentary, and you could also hear a wordsmith like Rakim, or you could hear Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. There was a medley of different types of music and points of view. Everybody’s point of view mattered.

Hip-hop has always appropriated technology and transformed its very essence. What excites you about hip-hop’s current technological aspects and advances?

I love the idea of technology still being a part of hip-hop because I’m the technologist. For example, now you can DJ without carrying your boxes. To be able to just sit back and watch [someone] DJ, and not bring any records has me like “Whoa!” Then the producer’s are using these things called samplers. You put a certain amount of music into this machine and it will create a loop, which is something I’ve been doing manually forever. There are also these things called plug-ins.

I’ve had the pleasure of being able to watch the greatest musicians of all time play on some of the greatest keyboard and drum machines of all time. Now they put this thing with a CD, you load it into a computer, and then a virtual picture of how it looks shows up. It sounds just like the piece that the musicians used to lug around and it’s amazing! I’m like a kid in a candy store right now.

You’re exploring the digital world. Do you think you will ever stop using vinyl live and only use digital?

I don’t know. When [digital] first creeped in maybe four years ago, I didn’t really understand what a mp3 was, and now I have a better understanding of what it is. Would I play it live? I won’t say yes and I won’t say no, but I will look at it because I am a scientist. If I accepted science then, I have to accept science now. So I am investigating it intensely.

In addition to the memoir and the upcoming album, are you still doing forays into house music and working on a film about your life?

I’m gonna chill with the film. I’m doing Sirius Radio--The FlashMash--which is a show that comes on every Sat. 5-8pm and it’s international. I’m also considering a clothing line and film, but I don’t want to put too much on my plate now.

After a long and continuing journey through hip-hop and your many struggles are you happy?

Overall, my family’s happy, I’m good, and I’m probably in a better position of happiness now than ever before.




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