Grandmaster Flash: Resolve Around Science*

Flash, Bam & Herc

The good Jake Paine asked me to connect with Grandmaster Flash for a feature on HipHopDX and I readily obliged. It’s not often you can speak to a rap godfather, something Flash no doubt is. Even if there were DJ’s before him.

I remember picking up this November 1993 issue of The Source (pic above) around my way and greedily reading it cover to cover. I wasn’t too pressed about particular bylines back then but looking back, this issue was just sick. You got Herc, Flash and Bambaataa on the cover of The Source being interviewed by the legendary Nelson George no less. The first few reviews alone broadcast The Source’s weight: Black Moon’s Enta Da Stage (written by Cheo H. Coker), Casual’s Fear Itself (written by the homie Brett Johnson) and Leaders of the New School’s T.I.M.E. (written by dream hampton) all received 4 mic ratings (as did KRS-1’s Return of the Boom Bap).

Not sure how this issue sold when it was released, but any editor pitching the idea of placing these legends on a mainstream magazine cover would be considered a lunatic. The reality is that a greater respect for Hip-Hop’s elders and the culture’s history are sorely lacking in many of today’s fans and artists. Sad, really.

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*Yes, that’s the correct title. Read The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash and you’ll know he’s been through some ish.