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 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.