Grandmaster Flash Explains “What is the Quick Mix Theory” and Its Contribution to Hip-Hop

WILMINGTON, DE — Grandmaster Flash didn’t invent Hip-Hop.

But without him, it probably wouldn’t be here.

Grandmaster Flash's Quick Mix Theory Unveiled

Joseph Saddler, the American Hip-Hop DJ more popularly known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, presented an audiovisual demonstration of his “Quick Mix Theory” style of DJ performance at the Wilmington Public Library on Wednesday Nov. 16 before a standing-room-only crowd.

Understanding the Quick Mix Theory

Before computers and high-tech sample machines, DJs searched for records with the best drum solos and then manipulated the records by going back-to-back so that the rappers would have good beats to rhyme over, Saddler said.

But if the DJ wasn’t quick enough, the beats would be interrupted by the singers.

“This Quick Mix Theory way of DJing is like driving,” said Saddler. “You have to know where you’re going. You have to know when to pump the brakes, otherwise you’ll sound like that guy back in the days doing what I call train wrecks — one beat smashing into the other.”

Grandmaster Flash and His Contribution to Hip-Hop

Saddler first connected with the audience by sharing his childhood story of learning about his father’s record closet “where the music lived.”

When his father would come home, his dad would go into the living room and put a “black disc” into the “brown box” and music would come out.

“I thought dad was a magician,” Saddler said.

(To see more of the Grandmaster Flash demonstration, click here or watch the video at the beginning of this report.)

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