Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958 in Bridgetown, Barbados) better known as
Grandmaster Flash, is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
hip hop musicHip hop music is a musical genre which developed alongside hip hop culture, and is commonly based on concepts of loop, rapping, freestyle, DJing, scratching, sampling and beatboxing. The music is used to express concerns of political, social, and personal issues...
ian and
DJA disc jockey is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, dis
k referred to phonograph records, while dis
c referred to the Compact Disc, and has become the more common spelling...
; one of the pioneers of
hip-hopHip hop music is a musical genre which developed alongside hip hop culture, and is commonly based on concepts of loop, rapping, freestyle, DJing, scratching, sampling and beatboxing. The music is used to express concerns of political, social, and personal issues...
DJingA disc jockey is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, dis
k referred to phonograph records, while dis
c referred to the Compact Disc, and has become the more common spelling...
, cutting, and
mixingAudio mixing is the process by which a multitude of recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics and panoramic position are commonly being manipulated and effects such as reverb might...
. He is also a nephew to the great Former Feather Weight Champion of the World, the late Sandy Saddler. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of FameThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, dedicated to recording the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, and other people who have in some major way influenced the music...
in 2007, becoming the first
hip hopHip hop as a cultural movement "manifest in B-boying , graffiti writing, DJing and eMCeeing/rapping – is an artistic commitment to seize freedom from oppressive social conditions...
/rap artists to be so honored.
Grandmaster Flash is set to appear in the video game DJ Hero as a playable character along with original mixes created for the game.
Saddler's family migrated to the United States from the West Indies, and he grew up in
the Bronx