Grandmaster Flash

Before anyone was sampling, Joseph Saddler was teaching two turntables to behave like one instrument. Raised in the Bronx, the DJ known as Grandmaster Flash developed the Quick Mix Theory, a method of switching between duplicate records so that a short drum break could run on indefinitely. Rappers gained a bed of beats to talk over and breakdancers something to move to, while the technique fed directly into cutting and scratching. He also devised the slipmat, which let records slide freely under the hand. The groundwork came from a childhood spent among his father's records and a school education in repairing electronics.

By the late 1970s Flash had played parties and worked with rappers including Kurtis Blow and Lovebug Starski, then built his own group around Cowboy, Melle Mel and Kidd Creole, first billed as Grandmaster Flash & the 3 MCs. It became Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and in 2007 they were the first rap group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Flash became the first hip hop artist to win the Polar Music Prize in 2019. Honorary doctorates followed from Buffalo State University in 2022 and Lehman College in 2023, and on 4 August 2023 New York declared Grandmaster Flash Day.