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Kurtis Blow (born Curtis Walker, 9 August 1959, Harlem, New York) is one of the first commercially successful rappers and the first to sign with a major label. "The Breaks", a single from his 1980 debut album, is an early hip hop classic. Image File history File links Emblem-important. ... “Libel” redirects here. ... is the 221st day of the year (222nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Harlem (disambiguation). ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Hip hop is a cultural movement that began amongst urban African American youth in New York and has since spread around the world. ... Rap redirects here. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... For other meanings of DJ, see DJ (disambiguation). ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... Piano, a well-known instance of keyboard instruments A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. ... Rap redirects here. ... In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... Mercury Records is a record label currently headquartered in the UK, and is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. ... is the 221st day of the year (222nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Harlem (disambiguation). ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Rap redirects here. ... In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... The Breaks is a critically acclaimed 1980 hit single for Kurtis Blow and one the earliest hip-hop hits. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... An album or record album is a collection of related audio or music tracks distributed to the public. ... Hip hop music is a style of music which came into existence in the United States during the mid-1970s, and became a large part of modern pop culture during the 1980s. ...

History

Curtis Walker majored in communications at the City College of New York, eventually becoming a program director at the college's radio station^[1]. First performing as a breakdancer in New York in the mid 1970s, he then DJed under the name Kool DJ Kurt. Influenced by pioneering rapper DJ Hollywood, he began MC-ing around 1977, using the name "Kurtis Blow", suggested by his manager, Russell Simmons. Russell's younger brother Joseph Simmons was an early DJ for Blow^[2], even using the name "Son of Kurtis Blow", but he later went on to greater fame under the alias DJ Run, as part of Run-D.M.C.. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... “City College” redirects here. ... A radio station is an audio (sound) broadcasting service, traditionally broadcast through the air as radio waves (a form of electromagnetic radiation) from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device. ... A boy hitting (holding) a pike Breakdance (media coined phrase), also known as breaking, b-girling or b-boying, is a street dance style that evolved as part of the hip hop movement that originated among African American youths in the South Bronx of New York City during the early... For other meanings of DJ, see DJ (disambiguation). ... DJ Hollywood (born December 10, 1954) is an American old school hip hop DJ and rapper. ... Russell Simmons (born October 4, 1957 in Queens, New York), is an American entrepreneur, the co-founder, with Rick Rubin, of the pioneering hip-hop label Def Jam, founder of another label, Russell Simmons Music Group, and creator of the clothing fashion line Phat Farm. ... Joseph Simmons Joseph Ward Simmons (born November 14, 1964) is one of the founding members of hip hop group Run-D.M.C.. He is known as DJ Run, Joey Simmons or Rev Run, which is a play on his religious title. ... Joseph Simmons Joseph Ward Simmons (born November 14, 1964) is one of the founding members of hip hop group Run-D.M.C.. He is known as DJ Run, Joey Simmons or Rev Run, which is a play on his religious title. ... Run-DMC is a famous hip hop crew founded by Jason Mizell (Jam Master Jay) and includes Joseph Run Simmons and Darryl DMC McDaniels, all from Hollis, Queens. ...

Blow's first release, the "Christmas Rappin'" 12-inch single (1979, Mercury), was the first major label hip hop release. His second single, "The Breaks"—released hot on the heels of the Sugarhill Gang's mainstream breakthrough hit "Rapper's Delight"—broke into the top five of Billboard's R&B chart. "The Breaks" was voted the best single of 1980 in the Village Voice's influential Pazz & Jop music critics' poll [1]. In 1980 he opened for reggae legend Bob Marley at the Madison Square Garden where he performed for an audience of 20,000. As further evidence of Blow's ability to crossover to non-hip hop audiences, he opened for English punk rock band the Clash at their outdoor concerts on Pier 84 in New York City in 1982. Mercury Records is a record label currently headquartered in the UK, and is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. ... The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop group, known mostly for one hit, Rappers Delight, the first hip hop single to become a Top 40 hit. ... Rappers Delight is a 1979 single by American hip hop trio The Sugarhill Gang; it was one of the first hip hop hit singles. ... Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry. ... The Village Voice is a New York City-based weekly newspaper featuring investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts reviews and events listings for New York City. ... The Pazz & Jop critics poll is a highly influential poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. ... This article is about the reggae musician. ... Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG, known colloquially simply as The Garden, has been the name of four arenas in New York City, United States. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... This article is about the English rock band. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...

Over the course of the 1980s, Blow released five more albums and two EPs. He revisited the charts a number of times with various albums and singles. On his 1986 album, Kingdom Blow, Bob Dylan contributed vocals to the cut "Street Rock" (an arrangement set up, in part, by Wayne Garfield (co-writer of Blow's "Reasons for Wanting You") and Dylan's backing singer, Debra Byrd. Along with his own career, he has worked with other artists, writing and producing; The Fat Boys, for one, benefited from his help. This article is about the recording artist. ... A backing vocalist or backing singer (or, especially in the U.S., backup singer or sometimes background singer) is a singer who sings in harmony with the lead vocalist, other backing vocalists, or alone but not singing the lead. ... Debra Byrd is an American singer, musical theater actress, and author who is most notable as the head vocal coach on American Idol and Canadian Idol and also sings backup for the Idol contestants. ... “Instrumentalist” redirects here. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... The Fat Boys were an American hip-hop music trio from Brooklyn, New York City who emerged in the early 1980s. ...

He has been in several films (usually appearing as himself), including Krush Groove and The Show. Blow also became the first hip hop artist embraced by the mainstream advertising industry with his appearance in a commercial for the soft drink Sprite. This article is about motion pictures. ... Krush Groove (1985) Directed by Michael Schultz In this movie based on the early days of Def Jam Recordings, up-and-coming manager Russell Simmons has all the hottest acts on the record label Krush Groove records, including Run-D.M.C., Dr. Jekyll & Mr. ... Advert redirects here. ... A television advertisement, advert or commercial is a form of advertising in which goods, services, organizations, thoughts, etc. ... A soft drink is a drink that contains no alcohol. ... Sprite is a clear soda, lemon-lime flavored, caffeine free soft drink, produced by the Coca-Cola Company. ...

In the mid 1990s, Blow was a DJ for Los Angeles based hip hop FM radio station, Power 106, (KPWR 105.9) every Sunday night on the "Kurtis Blow Old School Show." He now DJs on Sirius Satellite Radio's old school hip hop station, Backspin.^[3] Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ... The abbreviations FM, Fm, and fm may refer to: Electrical engineering Frequency modulation (FM) and its most common applications: FM broadcasting, used primarily to broadcast music and speech at VHF frequencies FM synthesis, a sound-generation technique popularized by early digital synthesizers Science Femtometre (fm), an SI measure of length... A radio station is an audio (sound) broadcasting service, traditionally broadcast through the air as radio waves (a form of electromagnetic radiation) from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device. ... Sirius Satellite Radio NASDAQ: SIRI is one of two satellite radio (SDARS) services operating in the United States and Canada, along with XM Satellite Radio. ... Old school hip hop is a term used to describe the very earliest hip hop music to come out of the block parties of New York City in the 1970s and 1980s. ...

In 2004, he recorded the song "Hey Everybody" with Max C and Bomfunk MC's for their album, Reverse Psychology. The Bomfunk MCs are a Finnish rap/electro act, formed in 1997. ...

A theology major at Nyack College (Class of 2009), Blow's recent focus has been on spirituality, evidenced by Kurtis Blow Presents: Hip Hop Ministry (2007, EMI Gospel), a compilation of Christian rap. Nyack College is a private Christian liberal arts college. ...

Blow is also known for songs such as "If I ruled the world" "A.J. Scratch" and "Basketball"

References in popular culture

The They Might Be Giants song "Where Your Eyes Don't Go" on their second album, Lincoln, features the lines "You're free to come and go / And talk like Kurtis Blow." This article is about the musical group. ...

The Tom Tom Club song "Genius of Love" features the lines "Steppin' to the rhythm of a Kurtis Blow/ Who needs to think when your feet just go." Tom Tom Club was a New Wave band, a side project set up by Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz who were also members of the Talking Heads. ...

The Kurtis Blow hit, ‘Basketball’ is arguably, the most famous song about the sport in existence and it still timeless and popular today. He still works a crowd 20+ years later with that same hit according to various postings on youtube.com. 'Basketball' is heard at dozens of NBA games during half time each season and it was the theme music for ‘Like Mike’ a major studio film starring Lil Bow Wow released in 2002.

"The Breaks" was featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto Vice City on the Fever 105 radio station. The Breaks is a critically acclaimed 1980 hit single for Kurtis Blow and one the earliest hip-hop hits. ... Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is the fourth video game in the hit Grand Theft Auto franchise. ...

"The Breaks" was sampled in the song Macarron Chacarron which has become an internet phenomenon. The Breaks is a critically acclaimed 1980 hit single for Kurtis Blow and one the earliest hip-hop hits. ... Macarron Chacarron (usually shortened to Chacarron) is a hit Spanish-language song by El Chombo feat. ...

"The Breaks' was used in the video game Scarface The World is Yours The Breaks is a critically acclaimed 1980 hit single for Kurtis Blow and one the earliest hip-hop hits. ...

Discography

Albums

• Kurtis Blow (1980, Mercury)
• Deuce (1981, Mercury)
• Ego Trip (1984, Mercury)
• America (1985, Mercury)
• Kingdom Blow (1986, Mercury)
• Back by Popular Demand (1988, Mercury)
• Kurtis Blow Presents: Hip Hop Ministry (2007, EMI Gospel)

Kurtis Blow, (born Curtis Walker on August 9, 1959), is one of the most influential early rappers and hip hops first mainstream star. ...

Singles and EPs

• "Christmas Rappin'" (1979, Mercury)
• Tough EP (1982, Mercury)
• Party Time? EP (1983, Mercury)

References

External links

• All Music Guide entry
• Kurtis Blow at the Internet Movie Database