{{Infobox musical artist 2
|Name = <!-- Deleted image removed: 200px -->
|Img = Grandmaster_IngenuityFest.jpg
|Background = solo_singer
|Birth_name = Joseph Saddler
|Born = 
|Origin = Bridgetown, Barbados
|Genre = Hip hop<br>Electro
|Years_active = 1976-present
|Label = Sugar Hill Records, Enjoy Records, Elektra Records
|Associated_acts = Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five
}}
'''Joseph "Biggie Grand" Saddler''' (born American DJ; one of the pioneers of hip-hop DJing, cutting, and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, becoming the first hip hop/rap artists to be honored.<ref></ref>

== Life and work ==
Saddler's family immigrated to the United States, and he grew up in the Bronx. He currently lives in the Morrisania section of the South Bronx. He became involved in the earliest New York DJ scene, attending parties set up by early luminaries. Learning from cutting, which was developed by Grand Wizard Theodore into scratching (AMG).

Grandmaster Flash's parents played an important role in his interest in music. His parents came from Barbados and his father was a big fan of Caribbean and black American records. As a child, Flash was fascinated by his father's record collection, "My father was a very heavy record collector. He still thinks that he has the stronger collection. I used to open his closets and just watch all the records he had. I used to get into trouble for touching his records, but I'd go right back and bother them."<ref> Grandmaster Flash quoted in Steven Harvey, "Spin Art," in ''New York Rocker,'' January, 1982.</ref>  Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal's book ''That's the Joint'' describes how Flash's entry into "cutting" came from this fascination with his father's record collection as well as his mother's desire for him to educate himself in electronics.

== Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five ==

Flash played illegal parties and also worked with rappers such as Kurtis Blow and Lovebug Starski. He formed his own group in the late 1970s, after promptings from Ray Chandler. The initial members were Cowboy (Keith Wiggins), Melle Mel (Melvin Glover) and Kid(d) Creole (Nathaniel Glover) making Grandmaster Flash & the 3 MCs (with Melle Mel being the first rapper ever to call himself an "MC"). Two other rappers briefly joined, but they were replaced more permanently by Rahiem (Guy Todd Williams, previously in the Funky Four) and Scorpio (Eddie Morris, also used the name Mr. Ness) to create Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Soon gaining recognition for their skillful raps, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five pioneered MCing, freestyle battles, and invented some of the staple phrases in MCing. The group performed at Disco Fever in the Bronx beginning in 1978. Cowboy created the term "Hip Hop" while teasing a friend who had just joined the US Army, by scat singing the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of marching soldiers.

Blondie's "Rapture," Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache," Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" and Chic's "Good Times." It also marked the first time that record scratching had been actually recorded on a record. The group's most significant hit was "The Message" (1982), which was produced by in-house Sugar Hill producer Clifton "Jiggs" Chase and featured session musician Duke Bootee. Other than The Message" went platinum in less than a month. In 1982, Flash appeared in the movie "Wild Style" and sued Sugar Hill over the non-payment of royalties. The group split between Flash and Mel before disintegrating entirely. Flash, Kid Creole and Rahiem signed to Elektra Records and continued on as simply "Grandmaster Flash" while Mel and the others continued on as "Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five." In 1984, Mel released a 12" single, "White Lines (Don't Do It)" which went on to become one of his signature songs.  Although frequently credited on the records, Flash doesn't actually appear on "The Message", "White Lines (Don't Do It)", or many of the other Furious Five songs (if you don't hear scratching on a track, then Flash isn't on it).  Mel notably appeared on Chaka Khan's "I Feel for You" becoming the first rapper ever to win a Grammy award for "Record of the Year".   He also appeared in the film "Beat Street" performing "Beat Street Breakdown" in the grand finale. Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five reformed in 1987 for a charity concert, and in 1988 to release an album that did poorly. Melle Mel closed out the decade by winning two more Grammy awards for his work with Quincy Jones. There was another reunion, of a kind, in 1994, although Cowboy died in 1989.

Grandmaster Flash has a clothing line, "G.Phyre", and has signed a deal with Doubleday who will publish his memoirs. He hosts a show on Sirius Satellite Radio & he was recently presented with the BET "I Am Hip Hop" Icon award.

Melle Mel (now known as Mele Mel) has a clothing line with Sedgwick & Cedar.  He released the children's book/CD/DVD "Muscles" on January 30, 2007. The first single and music video is "M3 (The New Message)", released on the 25th anniversary of "The Message".

thumb|right|Grandmaster Flash beim Ingenuity Festival 2007
'''Grandmaster Flash''' (eigentlich Joseph Saddler; * Hip Hop neben Kool DJ Herc und DJ Grand Wizard Theodore.

== Leben und Werk ==

Ab 1976 entwickelte er unter dem Künstlernamen DJ Grandmaster Flash die meisten Techniken, die bis heute das Cutting'' (das zum Beat parallele Einspielen von Tracks), das ''Backspinning'' (die Platte wird zur Wiederholung eines bestimmten Abschnitts schnell rückwärts gedreht) und das ''Phasing'' (bei dem durch die Verringerung der Geschwindigkeit eines der beiden Plattenteller ein Phaseneffekt erzeugt wird). Weitere, teils auch rein akrobatische Techniken gehen ebenfalls auf ihn zurück. Gemeinsam mit Kool DJ Herc und dem von ihm entdeckten DJ Grand Wizard Theodore hat er so das Instrumentarium des DJ-ing erschaffen und perfektioniert.

Die ersten Erfolge hatte Grandmaster Flash mit der Band Queen) und ''Rapture'' (Blondie) als wegweisend. Nach mehreren Jahren mit seinem Ensemble in wechselnder Zusammensetzung ging man Ende der 80er Jahre getrennte Wege. Kurzlebige Reunions blieben ohne große Resonanz.

Auch in Deutschland kollaborierte er mit verschiedenen Künstlern schon Mitte der 90'er Jahre. So lieferte Grandmaster Flash zusammen mit Grand Wizard Theodore und Disco Bee Beiträge zu dem 1994 erschienenen Sampler ''Schützt die Rille'' (Köln Massive). Er und viele andere Musiker wie Das Duale System, Die Coolen Säue (DCS), Plattenpapzt oder Kontruktive Kritik setzten sich für die damals populäre ''Save The Vinyl''-Bewegung ein, welche das schon fast besiegelte Ende der Schallplatte verhindern wollte und, wie man heute auch weiß, dies zumindest verzögert hat.

Der bei weitem bekannteste Song von Grandmaster Flash ist ''The Message''. 1999 erregte seine Zusammenarbeit mit dem deutschen DJ Tomekk ''1...2...Rhymes Galore'' Aufsehen und landete in den Charts. 2002 kehrte Flash zum DJ-ing auf Platte zurück und veröffentliche mit den ''Official Adventures'' eine Live-Retro und mit ''Essential Mix'' eine „klassische“ Old-School-DJ-CD.

== Bedeutung ==