Grand Wizzard Theodore (Theodore Livingstone) was born March 5, 1963 in Harlem and raised in the Bronx, New York on Boston Road and 168th Street. His older brothers Claudio and “Mean”Gene were part of a Hip Hop duo called the L-Brothers and introduced him to scratching even before he reached adolescence. DJ Grandmaster Flash, a frequent
Fab Five Freddy (Fred Brathwaite) was born in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn in 1969. As a teen in the 1970s, he became a member of graffiti crew “The Fabulous 5” and got his name after consistently spray painting his name on the number 5 train on the IRT subway. After having an epiphany
Hip Hop pioneer Robert Keith “Cowboy” Wiggins was well-known for being an emcee in one of the most legendary rap groups of all time: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Born September 20, 1960 in New York City and raised in the South Bronx , his sister remembers him “bangin’ on furniture and just rhymin’”
Coke La Rock was born April 24, 1955 on the east side of the Bronx between Union and Prospect Street. His grandparents had a strong hand in raising him since his single mother was busy working six days a week. At age 15, he attended high school at a night center where he met a fellow classmate
Dancer Campbellock (Don Campbell) was born January 7, 1951 in Saint Louis, Missouri and raised in South Central Los Angeles. As a child, he had a strong passion for drawing and enjoyed sketching trees, insects and people’s hands and faces. Campbell eventually pursued a career in commercial art when he decided to attend LA Trade-Technical
Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat was born December 22, 1960 in Brooklyn, New York to Puerto Rican mother Matilde Andrades and Haitian father Gerard. He was extraordinarily intelligent and began reading and writing by the age of four and learned to speak English, Spanish and French before turning 11. He was first exposed to art during visits