Grandmaster Flash

 Grandmaster Flash, whose real name is Joseph Saddler, was born on January 1, 1958, in the Bronx, New York City, to immigrant parents from Barbados. Saddler's father was a record collector and introduced him to Caribbean and African American music, sparking his interest in music. Saddler attended Samuel Gompers High School and learned how to repair electronic equipment there. After high school, he became involved in the earliest New York DJ scene, attending parties set up by early luminaries like DJ Kool Herc and Disco King Mario.

Saddler experimented with DJ gear in his bedroom, eventually developing and mastering three innovations that are still considered standard DJing techniques today: the backspin technique, punch phrasing, and scratching. Grandmaster Flash perfected the technique of playing the break on one record while searching for the same fragment of music on the other using headphones. When the break finished on one turntable, he used his mixer to switch quickly to the other turntable, where the same beat was cued up and ready to play. He formed his own group in the late 1970s, which became known as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

The original lineup consisted of Cowboy (Keef Cowboy), Melle Mel (Melvin Glover), and The Kidd Creole (AKA Kidd Creole/Nathaniel Glover). Cowboy created the term "hip hop" while teasing a friend who had just joined the U.S. Army, by scat singing the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of soldiers marching. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five pioneered MCing and freestyle battles, gaining recognition for their skillful raps. Some of the staple phrases in MCing have their origins in the early shows and recordings of the group.

Grandmaster Flash is also the inventor of the Slipmat and the founder of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, the first group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2019, he became the first hip hop artist to be honored with the Polar Music Prize. On May 21, 2022, he acquired an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts from Buffalo State College.