Have you heard of Sister Rosetta Tharpe? She is known as the Godmother of Rock N’ Roll. She was known for her distinctive voice and going crazy on the guitar. She wove secular and gospel music into her play. Little Richard and Chuck Berry gave her props on being an influence on their music. So we’re giving her her props too.
Black History 365 | #32 - Prince
Did you know that Prince’s song “Darling Nikki” was the catalyst for the parental advisory sticker? Yes, Tipper Gore, wife of then-Senator Al Gore, purchased the album Purple Rain a gift for her 11-year old daughter. She was quoted as saying in her book, “When we brought the album home, put it on our stereo, and listened to it together, we heard the words to “Darling Nikki”: 'I knew a girl named Nikki/Guess (you) could say she was a sex fiend/I met her in a hotel lobby/Masturbating with a magazine," she recounted. "The vulgar lyrics embarrassed both of us. At first, I was stunned, but then I got mad! Millions of Americans were buying Purple Rain with no idea what to expect. Thousands of parents were giving the album to their children — many even younger than my daughter.”
Black History 365 | #14 - Grandmaster Flash
Shoutout to Grandmaster Flash! Another reputable founding father of Hip-Hop. He and his group Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five are the first Hip-Hop act to be inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame. He created a DJ technique that provided a seamless loop of the drum breaks on records. This technique also gave birth to cutting and scratching. It’s called the Grandmaster Flash Quick Mix Theory. This is where you use two turntables with identical records and rapidly switch between them to extend the rhythmic break.