Grandmaster Caz: A Hip-Hop Trailblazer

grandmaster caz
Via Wikimedia Commons
Adé Hennis
June 21, 2024

In the late 1970s, Grandmaster Caz and his friends made a promise:  They were  going to kill disco.

The plan was to replace it with hip-hop. Luckily for Caz, he had two lethal weapons: turntables and bars.

Caz wrote the lyrics for Big Bang Hank’s part on the Sugar Hill’s Gang’s ‘Rapper’s Delight’ in 1979, one of the first hip-hop songs to go mainstream. Not thinking the song would be a hit, Caz just gave the lyrics away. He was never credited or compensated, but fans like Ice T and Will Smith are giving him his flowers now.

Grandmaster Caz has influenced music, television, and even tourism. He didn’t just help create hip-hop; he’s a force in Black culture.

Grandmaster Caz helped create a culture that influences every inch of the globe today. How powerful is that?

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