This rare Grandmaster Flowers set from ’79 has been floating around, but this is the first time I’m hearing the story involving X-Clan finding the legend on the streets and bringing him on the road as their soundman. via 238 Beats, peace to Essential Elements
Back in the 90′s the name Grandmaster Flowers was just an urban legend. As you’ve written on your tape list Troy, Flowers died because of his addiction, he lived his last days as a panhandler. Paradise of X CLan told me this story:
“In Brooklyn, Flowers was to brothers in Brooklyn what Kool Herc was to brothers in the Bronx. Everybody loved and followed Flowers. Lumumba (Professor X – God Rest His Soul) loved Flowers!
One day we were either coming off tour or going on tour. The group was really blowing up. We were riding around midtown Manhattan, when all of a sudden Lumumba said, “Stop the car!”
All Lumumba could say was “Oh stuff…oh stuff!’
He got out and walked toward a brother with a sign in his hand. The guy was really down on his luck and was in bad shape. He bought him back to the car and introduced him to us. He said, ‘This is Grandmaster Flowers!”
Lumumba was speaking to us about the jams and how hard Flowers used to rock and then he looked at him and lunged at him. I had to hold him back. Lumumba was crying, he kept saying, ‘How could you do this to yourself? How could you do this to yourself! Don’t you know that your responsible for all of this we’re doing now!”
We cleaned Flowers up and took him on tour with us, he was our sound man.”
Yo fellas, I saw X Clan a few times back in the day, I had no idea that the dude that was setting their equipment up was the legendary Grandmaster Flowers, the man that bears the distinction of being of one of – if not THE first Black mobile disc jockey in New York City to mix (blend) records as we know it today.
kool
nice set with good music
Hey Flowers was the man the system was power ful turn the parks out and as the said made the fish in the sea dance at riis beach
I USED TO WORK WITH FLOWERS ON SOME OF HIS SOUND SYSTEMS,HE HAD PLENTY OF SOUND SYSTEMS. HE TAUGHT ME HOW TO HOOK A SOUND SYSTEM THE RIGHT WAY. I’M DJ LESLIE-G FROM RED-HOOK BKLYN!!! R.I.P. ‘THE GRANDMASTER FLOWERS.
great compilation
Thanks for this article and vintage set. Grandmaster Flowers was an uncrowned legend. He didn’t get the props he deserved in those days because he was from Brooklyn (Bronx Rule: the further south you went from the Bronx, the weaker the music was…just ask the Fatback Band….sad!) Anyhow, Flowers taught my uncle how to D.J.: Disco Tee out of Coney Island. Flowers Forever!!!!
I have been a DJ since the mid 90s and ashamed to say i never heard of flowers till just this night, thank you for posting this mix i think it is amazing, what a sad end to such an amazing human being. such a shame he did not hold in longer he may have got the respect he deserved in the world of music. truly a artifact mix tapes like this are true gems.
great post up and great responses as well. brooklyn never got and will never get the props for our contributions to the origins of hip hop on all levels. djing graffiti mc’s dancing. i could list so many legendary mcs djs & crews from the brook. the truth of the matter was that by the mid 80s more hit rappers came from brooklyn queens long island. even philly had more hot rap acts than the bx. and manhattan. while the bx. would have been silent during the golden age if it wasn’t for BDP. Ditto for manhattan minus The Get Fresh Crew. All them “uptown pioneers” know the truth. i’m from BK but we can’t front Queens’ has been owner of the hip hop crown since juice crew days til now.
[...] man didn’t throw ‘em jams by Sedgwick Houses in the Bronx. Oh yeah, lets not leave out Grandmaster Flowers RIP, he doesn’t get any respect either. Yeah, I know some of you may disagree but you more [...]
I REMEMBER WHEN FLOWERS ROCKED IN KINGSBORO PROJECTS HE WAS TIGHT WITH MY UNCLE LEROY RIDDICK AKA BINGO, GRAND MASTER FLOWERS WAS THE BADDEST DJ EVER BUT IF U WAS NOT REALLY FROM THE REAL OLD SKOOL U WOULD NOT KNOW THAT, JUST ASK DJ HOLLYWOOD HE CAN REALLY TELL YOU HE WAS THERE ! THIS IS WHY OLD SKOOL MUSIC WILL ALWAYS RULE, DJ,S NEED TO LEARN HOW TO MIX AND KEEP THE GROOVE AND STOP CHOPPING THE RECORD UP…..I LOVE UR COMMENT LESLIE G..KUDOS !
Yes , Yes God rest his soul hip -hop historians I Use to carry the equipment and set it Up for ,The Grandmaster Flowers me and 5 other rock dancers also started the dancers in the clubs to start break dancing , when Flowers use to put on all the Upbeat dime pieces of music he use to play I was moon lighting from my disco dance troupe called the IND Dancers and everybody had big , big love for Flowers once Flower’s name appear on a flyer you can bet people were at the club way before he himself showed up they were like camping out waiting on The Grand Master, shout out to The Maboya Dancers The City Steppers…. Salute !
RIP to the legend. All love and respect due to the brothers that set a multi-billion dollar industry in motion. Don’t forget Maboya either. Those were the names running this game at one time. I love them for creating something that gave a lot of us thirty seconds of fame and priceless memories. Tell the babies who opened those doors. Much love to the X-Clan for BEING who they said they were cause we all know…it ain’t always like that. OneLove, Big Hodge, Strong Island
As a kid in Brooklyn in 70s, I remember having a Grandmaster Flowers tape. Now I wished I kept that tape. Grandmaster Flowers was part of what we now call Hip-Hop. Brooklyn stand up! Names like Grandmaster Flowers, Jazzy Jay, Grandmaster Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore, Kool Herc, Afrika Bambatta and others are names we need to record in Hip-Hop history.