I had the opportunity to see Grandmaster Flash perform live at the Upac Center. It was amazing the way he had a crowd of all ages on their feet either dancing around or singing along as he switched up the turntables. In the youtube video they take time to show us how he did it with literally NOTHING. There was no youtube back then or social media he breaks that down in the video while explaining when he was approached about The Get Down if you were going to make it in the industry it was solely off of pure talent and love for your passion. The way the Get Down also incorporated Homage at the end was dope.
One thing I really admired about his UPAC performance was the way he paid homage to other artist and artist that have passed away. He also took time to to represent every burrough in the city and the west coast. In both the youtube video and his performance you can see how passionate he is about his craft, the way he closes his eyes and sways left and right as if becoming one with his art.
In the youtube video Grandmaster describes which turntable passed the test and in his performance he did a close up on the way he spins the tables. He briefly talked about the way doing what he loves has allowed him to travel to over 120+ countries an meet all different kinds of people. The time he has taken to master what he does,come up with equations and make a pathway for others shows he is a pure genius. He was willing to take risks, like using the crayon that little did we all know was a mastery move. He didn’t care about being seen differently and the greatest part despite all his fame still such a humble person.
