Talking to pioneers is one thing, but talking to Grandmaster Caz is another. The Bronx native has been immersed in culture of Hip-Hop almost since it started. DJ Casanova Fly, as he was once known, has blazed trails that people walk on to this day. He was in the first Hip-Hop movie, “Wild Style,” putting him next to director Charlie Ahearn, Lee Quiñones, Lady Pink, Fab 5 Freddy and many more. Before that, he was boldly ripped off by Sugar Hill Gang’s Big Bank Hank, who unwittingly made Caz Hip-Hop’s first ghostwriter. This also made Caz party to 1979’s “Rapper’s Delight,” the first Hip-Hop song to go pop.
Since then, Caz has managed to stay relevant and maintain a stature as elder statesman of respect though a myriad of ways like LL Cool J’s Rock The Bell’s platform. Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur and DJ Thoro join forces for this special edition of the AllHipHop Podcast. They talk to the legend about his life and times, the tough period after Run DMC hit and also how he came up as a force in Hip-Hop. He also discusses the game-changing moment when Macklemore and Lewis’s first single changed his life with “Downtown,” a platinum hit starring Caz, Melle Mel and Kool Mo Dee.
Check out the convo a learn a thing or two.
