In the 70s, Joseph Robert Sadler, better known as Grandmaster Flash, pioneered a DJ technique called the ‘Quick Mix Theory.’ Today, many consider it the precursor to sampling– the early sound that helped shape the hip hop genre into the cultural movement it is today.
Grandmaster Flash– one of the world’s first hip-hop producers– sat down with Digital Music News to discuss the evolution and growth of hip hop over the years.
Describing his ‘Quick Mix Theory’ and how it shaped the global hip hop phenomenon, Flash explained, “Before there was the rapper, the beatboxer, and the turntable, it was just [me] taking 2 copies of the same record and repeating one specific area or piece of music composition.”
“It could have been a section from a pop, rock, jazz, blues, funk, disco, or R&B record,” Flash said, adding, “At the same time, I put a microphone on the other side of the table just to see if someone could talk to this new style of DJ– called ‘Quick Mix Theory.'”
“What I was doing on the turntables– being able to take a small piece from a composition and extend that, and have a human speak on it– was human sampling,” said Flash, revealing, “[Then] the producers got involved.”
When music producers entered the picture, Flash explained that they would take a small piece of that existing composition, ‘put it on a floppy, and tell the computer and the sampler to loop that specific section over and over again,’ adding, “[Now] they go into a recording studio.”
“So here we are, basically doing the same thing that I pioneered when I first was doing it in the park 50 years ago.”
While discussing artificial intelligence and its potential impact on music production, Flash shared that he doesn’t think AI can replicate the spontaneity of his DJ set– just.
“I might want to test it,” he said, explaining that his own natural curiosity has left him open to the possibility of experimenting with AI soon.
Today, Grandmaster Flash makes a fabulous living booking speaking engagements and DJing special events. He shares that had he realized fifty years ago the impact his ‘Quick Mix Theory’ would have on the economics of music, he would have leveraged the idea more, adding, “I probably would have been a trillionaire.”
Flash revealed that instead, “I have a trillionaire of love everywhere I go,” expressing that he’s grateful to fans who tell him how his contribution to music has positively impacted their lives.
