Grandmaster Flash, is an American hip hop and rap recording artist and DJ. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of hip hop DJing, cutting, scratching and mixing.
Grandmaster Flash started out played parties and collaborated with rappers such as Kurtis Blow. In the late 1970s, he formed his own group. The original lineup consisted of Cowboy (Keef Cowboy), Melle Mel (Melvin Glover) and The Kid Creole and the ensemble went by the name "Grandmaster Flash & the 3 MCs".
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five developed out of this group and in 1980 they signed to Sugar Hill Records and began touring and releasing numerous singles. The seminal "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", released in 1981.
That year, the group opened for The Clash and were poorly received by an audience unaccustomed to the new style. The group's most significant hit was the electro rap song "The Message".