Hip Hop History on January 1

Today on January 1 we celebrate the birth of:

• Joseph "Grandmaster Flash" Saddler. 

  One of the pioneers of DJing, cutting, and mixing. Grandmaster Flash played illegal parties and also worked with rappers such as Kurtis Blow and Lovebug Starski. He formed his own group "Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5" in the late 1970s, after promptings from Ray Chandler. They were the number one rap group on the streets of NYC before rap music was embraced by the music industry and set the standard for all other emcee groups who came after them.
   

• Richard "Crazy Legs" Colón.

  A B-boy from the Bronx, New York City. Crazy Legs featured in the earliest stories on breakdancing to appear in mainstream press, and as one of the original members of the Rock Steady Crew, he brought breakdancing to London, Paris and Tokyo in 1983. He also appears in many documentaries about Hip Hop, including the 1983 documentary Style Wars.