GRANDMASTER CAZ
Curtis R. Brown (born April 18th, 1960 in The Bronx), better known by his stage name Grandmaster Caz got his start in Hip-Hop in 1974 and is widely known as one of Hip-Hop’s 1st and greatest Emcee’s(ranked #11 Greatest MC’s by BLAZE Magazine) of all time!!! Referred to as a member of Hip-Hop’s “Holy Trinity of Emcees”(Grandmaster Caz, Melle Mel & Kool Moe Dee) Caz co- wrote “Rappers Delight”[8], Hip-Hop’s 1st Top 40 Hit peaking at #36 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Rappers Delight” would go on to be ranked #251 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" while ranking #2 as Best Hip-Hop song of all time by Rolling Stone & VH1 before its induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014. With his platinum collaboration on the hit single “Downtown” with Grammy Award Winning duo Macklemore & Lewis peaking at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2016, Grandmaster Caz is officially the Hip-Hop Recording Artist aka Emcee with the longest running tenure atop the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Originally known as DJ Casanova Fly, Caz teamed up with DJ Disco Wiz in high school forming one of Hip-Hop’s first DJ crews the Mighty Force Crew, en route to becoming Hip-Hop’s first simultaneous DJ/ Emcee. Caz & Wiz are credited for being the first DJ’s to create a “mixed plate”(Hip-Hop’s first mixed dub recording) in 1977 when they combined sound bites, special effects and paused beats. In 1980 Caz became Captain of the legendary Coldcrush Brothers, who were featured in the worlds first ever Hip- Hop film Wildstyle, before going on to be widely regarded as one of, if not the, most influential Hip-Hop group in history. Everyone from Will Smith, Jay Z, Eminem, Tupac, Biggie, Nas, Rakim, Run DMC, Big Daddy Kane, The Wu Tang Clan, Freddie Foxx, and more credit Caz and his Coldcrush Brothers as early influences. In his new memoir entitled WILL, Will Smith wrote, “Grandmaster Caz was singlehandedly, undeniably the greatest influence of my Hip-Hop life. I wanted to be just like Caz..... In a way Caz validated and unleashed a part of me that I never thought anybody would ever care about, he made it OK for me to be me.”, while Jay Z famously rhymed, "I'm Overchargin’ Ni**as For What They Did to The Coldcrush" on his hit Single “H to the Izzo!”
