Old School Saturdays--Kurtis Blow

photo courtesy of bluebeat.com

The man I’m about to write this post about needs no introduction, reigns supreme in the world of hip-hop; Kurtis Blow, aka Kool DJ Kurt.

Born Curtis Walker, he was one of the first commercially successful rappers that signed a major record deal. Growing up in Harlem, Blow jumped on the scene as a breakdancer and block party DJ in 1976. During that same year, he became the program director for the college radio station at the City College of New York; he also became apart of a group called “The Force,” which was led by none other than Russell Simmons. “The Force” promoted parties in and around Harlem, but later moved to Queens. With the persuasion of Simmons, his manager, Blow changed his name from “Kool DJ Kurt” to Kurtis Blow (as in (body blow) and the two began promoting him as “the number one rapper in Queens.” In the late 70s, Blow recorded his first single, “Christmas Rappin,” which was co-written by Robert Ford (a Billboard reporter that had previously given Blow and Simmons magazine press) and J.B. Moore (a music industry insider who funded the recording). Although the single was a success, no major record labels wanted to touch it; many thought the single would be a one hit wonder. Eventually, an executive at Mercury Records offered Blow a deal, after hearing the song; this became the first major label hip-hop release. His next single, “The Breaks” became an instant hit, breaking in the top five on the Billboard R&B charts, then going gold.

Struggling to crossover and find the same success as “The Breaks,” Blow stayed persistent and it paid off. In the early 80s, he opened for the legendary Bob Marley at Madison Square Garden, performing for an audience of over 20,000. In addition, he opened for the English punk band the Clash at their outdoor concerts on Pier 84 and collaborated with Bob Dylan on his 1986 album entitled, Kingdom Blow. He had now crossed over to non-hip-hop audiences. Around this same time, Blow became a record producer, helping groups get signed deals; the Fat Boys were one of the groups he helped. He also released a few more songs and appeared in the hip-hop film Krush Groove, where he performed his smash hit, “If I Ruled World,” which saw the same success as his chart-topping single “The Breaks.” This was the last of his hits and his mainstream vibe slowly declined as new artists emerged.

Blow has remained active over the years, appearing in a documentary, contributing rap material to several projects, DJing, attending college (Nyack College, class of 2009), and collaborating with others.

I hope you’ve enjoyed learning a little about one of the TRUE “Kings of Hip-Hop.” Now, go ahead and groove to the head-bopping lyrics of Kurtis.

kurtis blow