If you are a fan of hip-hop, then you have Grandmaster Flash to thank. He is one of the art form's earliest exponents, and the first hip-hop artist in history to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
On the night of his performance at this year's Fuji Rock Festival, he couldn't wait to get away from me. Bad luck, bad timing and the wrong questions made this an unfortunate interview, with the Grandmaster angry enough to harangue me on stage a few hours later. "The Japan Times says you don't know who I am," he bellowed to the crowd, "So let's tell them: WHO AM I?"
We all knew who he is. Born Joseph Saddler, he, Afrika Bambaataa and a few others sowed the seeds of hip-hop in the Bronx borough of New York City in the late 1970s. Moreover, Grandmaster Flash single-handedly created most of hip-hop's fundamental equipment and techniques. When DJs simply saw the turntable as a vehicle for playing records, he learned "to play the turntable as an instrument," laying the foundation for one of the biggest music genres on the planet.