Top 25 Grandmaster Flash Quotes

I named myself Flash many years ago, as I loved the cartoon. Then my own fans said that I should call myself ‘Grandmaster,’ because of the way I operate turntables. I put the two together and that was it.

The type of mixing that was out then was blending from one record to the next or waiting for the record to go off and wait for the jock to put the needle back on.

For anybody to say well this is not Hip Hop and that’s not Hip Hop, that is not the way the formula was laid down. It was for the people who were going to continue take anything musically and string it along.

I don’t want to be classified as an old-skool DJ or new-skool DJ. I want to be classified as an all-skool DJ who plays it all. I also want to learn to DJ house music in my own fashion.

If there is a record I don’t have, I haven’t heard it yet. My collection is always growing, but I can’t really play it anywhere – no promoter is willing to pay for my crates of vinyl to fly with me, so I have a team of people to digitise it all.

I want to go to – what’s that hot country with a lot of money? – Dubai.

For instance, if you’re playing a record with drums – horns would sound nice to enhance it so you get a record with horns and slip it in at certain times.

For us to keep claiming this isn’t Hip Hop and that isn’t Hip Hop doesn’t make sense to me.

Disco was brand new then and there were a few jocks that had monstrous sound systems but they wouldn’t dare play this kind of music. They would never play a record where only two minutes of the song was all it was worth. They wouldn’t buy those types of records.

I developed the Clock Theory to help me time records; you know, spin the record back two revolutions or whatever and then play the break, spin the other one back two, play, like that.

Hip Hop has become real constrained. The creative juices and creative flows have been diminished.

So what I’m trying to say is from a musical aspect for anybody to say that whatever they’re doing in Florida is not Hip Hop or whatever they’re doing in LA is not Hip Hop, who are these people to say that?

I’m not big on snacks, but I if do, I like a few M&M’s.

But I had two very special people who helped to take my style to the next level. Thank God for my first MC Cowboy and my first student Grand Wizard Theodore, and to go out after creating this art form and finding everyone jamming to it – that too was pretty scary.

Do not let any record company disturb your creative flow. You are not writing for the record company. You’re writing for the public.

Disco B still rolls with me now. He’s still doing his thing. He does clubs in different places. He was very instrumental in helping me perfect my craft.

As an individual I was known as the DJ or the mixer.

We gotta stop fighting amongst each other. I think the only rift should be when take it the stage and try to out perform each other.

Conquer your neighbourhood, conquer your city, conquer your country, and then go after the rest of the world. That’s my mantra.

We can even sing off key, but if it’s produced properly it can be a hit.

When I am performing live, I walk into a room, and I just try to get a feel for the vibe, and I am coming from different angles musically. I might come with a new song, I might come with some hip-hop, with some R&B. Once I find my way, then I am hitting you, and hitting you all night.

I was a quiet, nerdy kid living in the Bronx. I spent most of my teens in my room, taking apart electrical items to figure out how they worked before putting them back together, and listening to the music my four older sisters and parents played.

Hmmmm… It’s fun being in front of people, playing shows and all. But hotels? Being away from home? That’s different.

All you have to know is mathematically how many times to scratch it and when to let it go – when certain things will enhance the record you’re listening to.

We can come from our own particular point of view and lay it down. We should not be throwing verbal rocks at each other. We’re all responsible to continue the growth of Hip Hop.