The former leader of one of hip-hop’s most influential groups, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, and a pioneer of scratching, sometimes using his feet, elbows and toes, Grandmaster Flash is widely perceived to be one of the most important figures in the genre’s history. He returns to Luxy for the fourth time tomorrow.
Flash, real name Joseph Saddler, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 — the first hip-hop artist to garner the accolade.
With so many achievements under his belt, it’s not surprising that this living legend has a few good stories to recount.
His memoir, The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: My Life, My Beats, was published last year. “This book is for people who don’t have perfect families, for people who don’t have a perfect job, perfect career, or perfect life,” he told Chris Yandek in an interview. “What I want people to get out of this book is that although things might appear to be gloomy and it looks like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel, I kind of want people to believe in faith, believe in yourself, and believe that you can come through it.”
In the book, Flash talks about the bright and dark sides of his life, such as his brush with drug addiction. “I’ve been through quite a few things ... I went deep into cocaine. Eventually I started smoking it, walking away from my turntables. And by the time I realized what it was doing to me, I was hooked ... As years went by, I returned to me ... I want people to remember Grandmaster Flash as a DJ, so I had to take the long walk back into the business,” he said.
In February, Grandmaster Flash released The Bridge, his first studio album since 1988’s On the Strength, and he’s now touring Asia and Europe.
“The album title represents all the bridges I’ve crossed worldwide,” Flash said in an interview with Strut. “It’s also a mirror of international talent that I have been lucky enough to experience while traveling the world.”
“On the track We Speak Hip-Hop, there’s a mix of international MCs rapping in different languages. I wanted to create an album with a diversity of tracks to reflect the diversity of hip-hop, pairing famous MCs with unknown MCs and American MCs with international rappers.”
Grandmaster Flash, tomorrow at Luxy, 5F, 201, Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市忠孝東路四段201號5樓). Admission is NT$700 before 11pm and
NT$900 after.
On the Net: www.grandmasterflash-thebridge.com, www.luxy-taipei.com.
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