WISDOM Grandmaster
Flash—The Messenger
Dj Grandmaster Flash might be one of hip-hop’s founders,
but he’s not content on living in the past.
On how hip-hop has changed:
“There’s one thing that’s inevitable in
life, and that’s change. Each time a new person puts
their hand in it they’re gonna change it…sometimes
for the good and sometimes for the controversial, but I’m
never gonna say bad. There’s no such thing as bad
when it comes to hip-hop. Everybody got their own point
of view.”
On the art of dj-ing:
“I love MCs, but I’m sorry, they don’t
work as hard as us. Man versus machine—you gotta make
five inanimate objects talk to you and do your bidding.
That means two turntables or more, a mixer and two pieces
of vinyl. It’s a juggling act. I love what the X-ecutioners
and the Skratch Piklz are doing. Q-Bert is phenomenal. I’m
like a happy father!”
On the state of hip-hop:
“If hip-hop would’ve stayed in the Bronx, I’d
be forced to do something else. If it didn’t get the
necessary exposure, I don’t know where I would be.
With Grandmaster Flash, [DJ] Kool Herc [and] Afrika Bambaataa,
it was groundbreaking. It was an alternative to the music
of that time, and now for it to have grown like it is, they
can no longer tag it as a fad. It’s damn near the
biggest music on the planet and it’s more multicultural
than any other music. Being one of the people who made this
from nothing, I’m glad to be here.”
See all the photos and read the complete story in KING Magazine, on sale now!
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RANSOM
A self-professed serial entrepreneur,
Celeste Beatty tried her hands at a number of endeavors
before she found her calling in 1995 thanks to a gift. “I
always wanted to experiment with making beer, and then I
got a home-brewing system as a gift. My friends were very
encouraging, so I thought ‘Why not?’”
recalls Beatty
Beatty’s foray into the mainly white male world of
brewing was moving slowly until she discovered as untold
truth about the history of beer while visiting breweries
in Europe. “Believe it or not, they speak very openly
in Europe about how beer was first created in Africa for
medicinal purposes and the involvement of women in brewing
it,” explains the thirty-something Beatty. “I
couldn’t believe it!”
See all the photos and read the complete story in KING Magazine, on sale now!
