Grand Wizzard Theodore

Grand Wizzard Theodore
Grand Wizzard Theodore (right)
Background information
Birth name	Theodore Livingston
Born	March 5, 1963 Bronx, New York United States
Occupations	Musician, DJ
Associated acts	Grandwizard Theodore & the Fantastic Five

Grand Wizzard Theodore (born March 5, 1963), is an American hip hop DJ. He is widely credited as the inventor of scratching.^[1][2]

Born Theodore Livingston in Bronx, New York, his brother, Mean Gene, was Theodore's mentor, and began teaching him DJing before Theodore was even a teen. In addition to scratching, he achieved renown for his mastery of needle drops and other techniques which he invented or perfected. Theodore also apprenticed under Grandmaster Flash.^[2]

In the early 1980s, Theodore was a part of the group Grandwizard Theodore & the Fantastic Five. They released "Can I Get a Soul Clap" in 1980. He was also featured in the 1983 film Wild Style, as well as contributing to the film's soundtrack. He explains the origin of the scratch in the documentary, Scratch.^[2]

GrandWizzard Theodore at BelTek Festival in Belmont, Maine, 2009

Theodore's phrase "Say turn it up" from his track "Fantastic Freaks at the Dixie" was widely sampled by hip hop and rap acts such as Public Enemy (on the track "Bring the Noise"), Bomb the Bass (on the track "Megablast") and many others.

Grand Wizzard Theodore doing his famous "needle drop" at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, WA circa 2002

References

1. ^ David Dye (February 22, 2007). "NPR: The Birth of Rap: A Look Back". NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7550286. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Steve Huey. "Grand Wizard Theodore". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=B6sxsa93gi23a. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Grand Wizzard Theodore bio The 411 on Grand Wizzard Theo

Persondata
Name	Grand Wizzard Theodore
Alternative names
Short description	Hip hop DJ
Date of birth	March 5, 1963
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death