This one is for Hip-Hop!
According to Rock The Bells, Grandmaster Flash has officially received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Lehman College in The Bronx, NY.
Addressing The Class Of 2023
“Today is gonna be a wonderful day,” he said during his address to the class of 2023. “I get a chance to talk to the young people today on the history of hip-hop and my contribution to the culture. I get to do the commencement speech and well wish all of the graduates, and I’m also receiving my second doctorate for the science of hip-hop.”
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Grandmaster Flash also reflected on how huge this moment is for him and spoke about his own personal journey to where he is today.
Reflecting On His Journey
“I come from the projects, 2730 Dewey Avenue in Throggs Neck (The Bronx) is where I was born,” he continued. “There was no internet, social media, apps, or computers. There were just duplicate copies of records where the drummer got his moment [to play solo] but it was only a couple of seconds.”
From there, the rest is history for the legendary emcee known as one of the founding fathers of Hip-Hop and one of rap’s earliest technical pioneers. The same deejay techniques that he perfected during the 1970s are still in use today.
During his address to the students of Lehman College in the same place he was raised, the Barbados native explained his “quick mix theory” and opened up about developing a method of manually looping drum beats through the use of only two turntables.
Continued Wins For The Culture
As previously reported by AfroTech, some of the game’s hottest entertainers are the recipients of honorary degrees from colleges and universities across the nation.
This year alone, people such as Usher, Roberta Flack, and Tracee Ellis Ross have received the honor from educational institutions including Spelman College, Berklee College of Music, and more.
