From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pioneering hip hop DJ
Grand Wizzard Theodore
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Grand Wizzard Theodore at BelTek festival 2009
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Birth name
| Theodore Livingston
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Born
| (
1963-03-05
)
March 5, 1963
(age 61)
The Bronx
,
New York City
,
New York
, U.S.
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Genres
| Hip hop
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Occupation(s)
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Years active
| 1977?present
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Musical artist
Theodore Livingston
(born March 5, 1963), better known as
Grand Wizzard Theodore
, is an American musician and DJ. He is widely credited as the inventor of the
scratching
technique.
[1]
[2]
In addition to scratching, he gained credibility for his mastery of
needle drops
and other techniques which he invented or perfected.
Early life
[
edit
]
Born in the
Bronx
, New York, Theodore's brother, Mean Gene, was his
mentor
, who began teaching him the technique of DJing at an early age. Theodore was later apprenticed by
Grandmaster Flash
.
In 1975, Theodore was playing records in his bedroom with the volume all the way up. Furious with the noise, his mother entered the room and Theodore paused the record to hear his mother scold him about the volume of the music. While holding the record still, he accidentally moved it back and forth but liked the sound it made. From there on, he played with records often and developed the technique known as
scratching
.
[2]
A dramatization of Theodore's invention of the record scratch was featured on Comedy Central's television show
Drunk History
, narrated by
Questlove
.
[3]
Career
[
edit
]
In the early 1980s, Theodore was a part of the group
Grandwizard Theodore & the Fantastic Five
. They released "Can I Get a Soul Clap" in 1982.
[4]
He was also featured in the 1983 film
Wild Style
, as well as contributing to the film's soundtrack. He explains the origin of the scratch in the documentary,
Scratch
.
[2]
Legacy
[
edit
]
Theodore's phrase "Say turn it up" from his track "Fantastic Freaks at the Dixie" was sampled by hip hop and rap acts such as
Public Enemy
(on the track "Bring the Noise"),
Bomb the Bass
(on the track "Megablast"), and many others.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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International
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National
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Artists
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