kurtis blow
do the do
loading / —
Kurtis Walker (born August 9, 1959), professionally known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record/film producer, b-boy, DJ, public speaker and minister. He is the first commercially successful rapper and the first to sign with a major record label. "The Breaks", a single from his 1980 self-titled debut album, is the first certified gold record rap song for Hip Hop. Throughout his career he has released 15 albums and is currently an ordained minister.In 1979, at the age of twenty, Kurtis Blow became the first rapper to be signed by a major label, Mercury, which released "Christmas Rappin'". It sold over 500,000 copies, becoming one of the first commercially successful hip hop singles. Its follow-up, "The Breaks", also sold over half a million copies. He released ten albums over the next eleven years. His first album was Kurtis Blow, while his second was the Top 50 pop album Deuce. Party Time featured a fusion of rap and go-go. Ego Trip included the hits: "8 Million Stories", "AJ Scratch", and "Basketball". His 1985 album, America, garnered praise for its title track's music video. From this album, the song "If I Ruled the World" became a Top 5 hit on Billboard's R&B chart. By 1983, he moved into production. Besides his own work, Kurtis has been responsible for hits by The Fat Boys and Run DMC. Run began his career billed as 'The Son of Kurtis Blow'. Lovebug Starski, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Full Force, Russell Simmons and Wyclef Jean all have been produced by, or collaborated with, Walker. Former label mates René & Angela had their R&B chart topping debut "Save Your Love (For #1)" was gift rapped by Kurtis. Along with Dexter Scott King, Walker produced his most meaningful production "King Holiday", a song to celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday, released in January 1986. He performed as an actor and in music coordination in several feature films including Leon Kennedy’s ”Knights of the City” and the hip hop film ”Krush Groove”. He was host and co-producer for ”Das Leben Amerikanischer Gangs” (1995), an international film production focusing on the West Coast gang scene. As host and associate producer for Miramax’s ”Rhyme and Reason”, he gave an informative account of the status of hip hop, while he participated in the three volume record release ”The History Of Rap” for Rhino Records in 1998. Kurtis also co produced “Slippin, Ten Years With The Bloods” and won praises from Showtime for being the most viewed documentary in 2003. Kurtis was recently a producer for the Netflix Show “The Get Down”.
discogs
Curtis "Kurtis Blow" Walker, (born on August 9, 1959, in Harlem, New York) is one of the pioneer rappers in the recording industry, and hip hop's first mainstream star. "The Breaks" (1980) is one of hip hop's undisputed classics, with its catchy disco tune and rapping style. Blow was influenced by DJ Hollywood. He became an MC in his own right around 1977, and changed his name to Kurtis Blow (as in a body blow) at the suggestion of his manager, future rap mogul Russell Simmons. Blow began his career in New York City in the mid-1970s, when he was a breakdancer until switching to DJing under the name Kool DJ Kurt and then finally rapping. He was the first rapper to record a full length album on a major label (1979). This occurred after recording "Christmas Rappin", his first single; during this time, "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang became the first hit for hip hop. The whole field was derided as a fad, though, and thus there was much resistance to signing Blow. In 1980 he opened for reggae legend Bob Marley at the Madison Square Garden where he performed for an audience of 20,000. He has appeared in several feature films, including Krush Groove and The Show. A duet with rock icon Bob Dylan called "Street Rock", appeared on Blow's 1986 album, Kingdom Blow[1] by special arrangement of Wayne Garfield (Garfield and Blow co-wrote, "Reasons For Wanting You" on Kingdom Blow)[2] and Debra Byrd, American Idol's head vocal coach and former Dylan backup singer (see album credits).[citation needed] And in 2004, he recorded the song "Hey Everybody" with Max C and Bomfunk MC's for their album, Reverse Psychology. He also co-wrote songs with The Fat Boys, including their signature songs, "Fat Boys" (1984) and "The Fat Boys Are Back" (1985). Kurtis Blow also became the first hip hop musician embraced by the mainstream advertising industry with his appearance in a commercial for the soft drink Sprite. He is currently a DJ on Backspin 43, which is the old school hip hop station on the Sirius Satellite Radio service. According to an interview with I Suppose Productions, he is also currently a theology major at Nyack College working to enter the ministry. According to Blow, "Man's real telos... the real purpose in life, is to serve God."
last.fm
WEFUNK plays the finest in hip-hop, funk and soul. Discover our radio stream and show archive, and join our 20+ year journey through classic cuts, underground gems and dusty obscurities in the mix.