Grandmaster Flash Lehman College
news

Grandmaster Flash Receives Honorary Doctorate and Addresses Graduating Class at Lehman College

Grandmaster Flash Receives Honorary Doctorate and Addresses Graduating Class at Lehman College

Published Wed, May 31, 2023 at 2:05 PM EDT

Legendary DJ, Grandmaster Flash, received an Honorary Doctorate of Music while addressing the class of 2023 at Lehman College in the Bronx, New York earlier today (6/1).

Flash, who received an Honorary Doctorate of the Fine Arts from Buffalo State College last year, posted a video to his Instagram account where he spoke about the honor.

"Today is gonna be a wonderful day," he said. "I get a chance to talk to the young people today on the history of Hip-Hop and my contribution to the culture. I get to do the commencement speech and well wish all of the graduates, and I'm also receiving my second doctorate for the Science of Hip-Hop."

Addressing the students, Flash explained his humble beginnings: "I come from the projects, 2730 Dewey Avenue in Throggs Neck is where I was born. There was no internet, social media, apps, or computers," he explained. "There were just duplicate copies of records where the drummer got his moment [to play solo] but it was only a couple of seconds."

Flash then explained his "quick mix theory," and how he developed a method of manually looping drum beats using two turntables.

Grandmaster Flash came to prominence in the late '70's with MCs Keith "Cowboy" Wiggins, and brothers Nathaniel "Kidd Creole" Glover and Melvin "Mele Mel" Glover. Eddie "Scorpio" Morris and Todd "Rahiem" Williams would later join the group who became Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5.

On Enjoy & later Sugar Hill records the group would release "Superrappin,'" "Freedom," and "It's Nasty," creating the template for future MC's who wanted to make records.

1982's "The Message" which is widely credited as the song which injected social commentary into rap music would eventually lead to the group breaking up over royalties and writing credits.

After different iterations of the group released records throughout the mid '80's, the original group reunited briefly for On The Strength and earlier this year for a performance at the Grammy Awards 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop performance.

Related Posts

Grandmaster Flash attends the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 03, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Buffalo State College Honors Grandmaster Flash With Honorary Doctorate

May 22, 2022

Grandmaster Flash sits outside of 2730 Dewey Avenue

Grandmaster Flash: "They Said Hip-Hop Would Be Like a Ship Passing in the Night"

Feb 15, 2023

GRANDMASTER FLASH AND THE FURIOUS FIVE: Clockwise from left: Scorpio, Grandmaster Flash, Kidd Creole, Melle Mel, Rahiem, Cowboy

The Legacy of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5

Jul 09, 2021

Rock The Bells Festival 2023: The Epic Star-Studded Lineup Is Here

Apr 27, 2023

What's new