What does GrandWizzard Theodore mean to hip-hop? He perfected the scratch, but his contributions to hip-hop don’t end there… Once DJ for the Fantastic Five, the Wizzard speaks on his contributions, that irritating Heineken commercial, and what he’s up to now.
When did you start DJing?
I was about eleven and a half or twelve. I had been thinking about becoming a DJ… I used to carry records for Grandmaster Flash (before his Furious Five days) when my Brother Mean Gene was his partner, and one day Flash just told me I should become a DJ. He showed me, this is a turntable, this is a mixer… I pretty much knew how to do everything but he went over everything with me.
You created the scratch in 1975. As the story goes, one day your mom told you to turn your music down, and you started moving the record back and forth. You liked what you heard, decided to experiment with it and soon perfected it. How did other DJs react when you first broke out the scratch?
Well there weren’t as many DJs back then. Now it’s like… I was speaking with Treach of Naughty by Nature, and we were talking about how back in the day there used to be a lot of fans. Now, instead of people walking up to you asking for your autograph, they’re walking up to you saying, “Here’s my demo tape.” But back then most of the crowd was very astonished. Coming to the party and hearing their favorite record, then hearing it being scratched back and forth… That made them party even more.
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You also innovated the needle drop. Was that before or after the scratch?
I developed it over the years. Before I became a DJ my mom had a little stereo and I used to play 45s on it. Certain parts of the record, I’d just skip back and forth by picking up the needle and dropping it back on the record and it just became the needle drop as time went by.
How did you first hear about the Heineken commercial that shows a DJ accidentally inventing scratching after he spills beer on his tables then tries to wipe it off? What did you think about it?
I saw it on TV, and then my phone started ringing off the hook. I just got online and voiced my opinion, and everybody else followed in suit. I met with people from Heineken and expressed my concerns as far as the commercial. They told me they had a lot of letters and they’re still getting a lot of letters, a lot of emails, and people calling them up and stuff like that. I feel that it’s very important for people to learn where hip-hop came from in order to know where it’s going. A lot of people are into this culture and they don’t even know why they’re into this culture or where it came from.
Unlike most old school legends, you’ve remained active for most of your over twenty-year career, and recently celebrated your twenty-seventh anniversary with two very successful parties (one in New York and one in Cali.) What are some of the things you’re working on now?
I teach a lot of DJ classes. I’m also part of a hip-hop tour company… People get on the bus and we take them around to all the spots that were famous as far as early hip-hop. I also just released a mix CD. It’s my first mix CD in about twenty years [because] before CD players I did a lot of tapes, so it was really nothing new to me. I’ve done it so many times before.
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If you could do anything over career wise, what would it be?
I’d probably would have tried to get my MCs (The Fantastic Five) to record more.
Fantastic appeared on the Wild Style soundtrack, a soundtrack which you actually were a great artistic force behind. There were a few other singles, but why didn’t the group record more?
Yeah, we made a record called “Fresh Out the Pack” early on and another record called “Can I Get a Soul Clap” and I was trying to get them to record other music but some of the members of the group couldn’t get along. There were too many egos and there was just so much going on. I think that if I could’ve kept their heads on straight we would have recorded a lot more music and people would’ve been able to hear more of the Fantastic Five today instead of just listening to them on tapes.
You’ve received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the ITF (International Turntablist Federation). Afterwards, they renamed the award after you (now it’s the GrandWizzard Theodore Lifetime Achievement Award.) How do you feel about that honor?
I feel good about it because the thing I worry about now is trying to keep this culture alive, and by me getting awards like that it just reminds me of how much effort I put into this gift that God gave me. It’s good to know that people appreciate it.
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Anything else you’d like to say?
Basically people have to understand that the DJ set the trend for hip-hop. The DJs had the turntables, the microphone…everything. They came out to the park and played, the b-boys come out there and danced to the music. When it was time for the DJ to throw a party, we’d call a graffiti artist on the phone and they would make the flyer and put their name on it. DJs definitely set the trend as far as hip-hop culture period.
