Editing Kurtis Blow

{{Short description|American rapper (born 1959)}}
{{For|the album|Kurtis Blow (album)}}{{redirect|Christmas Rappin'|the Waitresses song|Christmas Wrapping}}
{{use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
 |name=Kurtis Blow
 |image=File:Kurtis Blow im Musiktheater Bad (Hannover, Germany), 2012-03-30.JPG
 |caption=Kurtis Blow performing in Hannover, Germany on March 30, 2012
 |background = solo_singer<!--includes rappers-->
 |birth_name= Kurtis Walker
 |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1959|8|9}}
 |birth_place = New York City, U.S.<ref name="Huey">{{cite web |author=Steve Huey |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kurtis-blow-mn0000116388 |title=Kurtis Blow |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=2019-12-05}}</ref>
 |genre = [[Hip hop music|Hip hop]]
 |occupation = {{hlist|[[Rapping|Rapper]]|songwriter|producer|DJ|minister}}
 |years_active = 1979–present
 |label = {{hlist|[[Mercury Records|Mercury]]|[[Polydor Records|Polydor]]}}
}}

'''Kurtis Walker''' (born August 9, 1959),<ref name=":0">{{cite book |title=Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide |last=Hess |first=Mickey |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |year=2009 |isbn=9780313343216 |location=Santa Barbara (CA) |pages=34–35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XkCncJ7j744C}}</ref> known professionally by his stage name '''Kurtis Blow''', is an American [[rapping |rapper]], songwriter, and [[record producer]].<ref name="The Great Rock Discography">{{cite book |first=Martin C. |last= trong |year=2000 |title=The Great Rock Discography |edition=5th |publisher=Mojo Books |location=Edinburgh |page=93 |isbn=1-84195-017-3}}</ref> Walker is the first commercially successful rapper and the first to sign with a major record label.<ref name=Nyack2009>{{cite web |url= http://www.nyack.edu/blog/NyackNews/524 |title=Kurtis Blow Speaks at Nyack Rockland March 6 |first=Deborah |last=Walker |date=March 4, 2009 |access-date=April 19, 2017}}</ref> "[[The Breaks (song) |The Breaks]]", a single from his 1980 [[Kurtis Blow (album) |self-titled debut album]], is the first certified [[music recording sales certification |gold record]] rap song. Over his career he released 17 albums. He is an ordained minister.<ref name=":0"/>

==Early life, family and education==
Walker was raised in [[Harlem]], [[Manhattan]], New York City. He attended [[CCNY]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whcr.org/making-black-history-at-ccny/ |title=Making Black History at CCNY |date=February 16, 2022}}</ref> and [[Nyack College]], studying communications/film and ministry.<ref name= Nyack2009 />

==Career==
In 1979, at the age of twenty, Blow became the first rapper to be signed by a major label, [[Mercury Records|Mercury]], which released "Christmas Rappin'".<ref name=":1">{{cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/306188/kurtis-blow/biography |title=Kurtis Blow – Biography |access-date=December 17, 2014 |website=billboard.com |publisher=Rovi |last=Huey |first=Steve |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109193131/http://www.billboard.com/artist/306188/kurtis-blow/biography |archive-date=November 9, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It sold over 400,000 copies, becoming one of the first commercially successful hip hop singles.<ref>{{cite book |last=George |first=Nelson |author-link=Nelson George |date=1988 |title=The Death of Rhythm & Blues |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GgHIe-GFjZUC&pg=PT193 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Pantheon Books |page=191 |isbn=0142004081 |access-date=June 16, 2015}}</ref> Its follow-up, "[[The Breaks (song)|The Breaks]]", sold over 840,000 copies.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography" /> He released ten albums over the next eleven years. His first album was ''[[Kurtis Blow (album)|Kurtis Blow]]'', then his second was the [[top 40]] R&B album ''[[Deuce (Kurtis Blow album)|Deuce]]''. ''Party Time'' featured a fusion of rap and [[go-go]]. ''Ego Trip'' included the hits: "8 Million Stories", "AJ Scratch", and "Basketball". His 1985 album, ''America'', garnered praise for its title track's music video. From this album, the song "If I Ruled the World" became a top 5 [[hit record |hit]] on ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs R&B]] [[record chart|chart]]. By 1983, he moved into production.<ref name=":1" />

He lived in [[Co-op City]] in [[the Bronx]] in the mid-1980s.<ref name="On Da Come Up with Clap Cognac">{{cite web |url=http://hiphopruckus.com/2009/02/on-da-come-up-with-clap-cognac.html |title=On Da Come Up with Clap Cognac |website=HipHopRuckus.com |date=February 24, 2009 |accessdate=June 13, 2009}}</ref>

Besides his own work, Blow has been responsible for hits by [[The Fat Boys]] and [[Run DMC]].<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> Run began his career billed as "The Son of Kurtis Blow". [[Lovebug Starski]], [[Full Force]], [[Russell Simmons]] and [[Wyclef Jean]] all have been produced by, or collaborated with, Walker. Former label mates [[René & Angela]] had their R&B chart topping debut "[[Save Your Love (Rene & Angela song)|Save Your Love (For #1)]]" was gift rapped by Blow. Walker produced, with Phillip Jones as co-producer and [[Dexter Scott King]] as executive producer, the song "[[King Holiday]]", celebrating the first [[Martin Luther King Jr. Day]], a U.S. federal holiday inaugurated in January 1986.<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book |title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music |The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music]] |editor=Colin Larkin |editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer) |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |date=1997 |edition=Concise |isbn=1-85227-745-9 |page=151}}</ref>

He performed as an actor and in music coordination in several feature films including Leon Kennedy's ''Knights of the City'' and the hip hop film ''[[Krush Groove]].'' He was host and co-producer for ''Das Leben Amerikanischer Gangs'' (1995), an international film production focusing on the West Coast gang scene. As host and associate producer for Miramax's ''Rhyme and Reason'', he gave an informative account of the status of hip hop, while he participated in the three volume record release ''The History of Rap'' for Rhino Records in 1998. Blow also co-produced "Slippin, Ten Years with the Bloods" and won praises from Showtime for being the most viewed documentary in 2003. Blow was recently a producer for the Netflix show ''The Get Down''.

Blow has spoken out emphatically against racism. He was an active participant in the [[Artists United Against Apartheid]] record "[[Sun City (song)|Sun City]]". He worked with Rev. [[Jesse Jackson]]'s [[Operation Push]] and [[Rainbow/PUSH#National Rainbow Coalition|National Rainbow Coalition]] in Chicago and with Rev. [[Al Sharpton]]'s Action Network in New York City. In 1995, he started working on-air in radio, Power 106, the No. 1 [[Contemporary hit radio|CHR]] radio station in [[Southern California]]. He hosted ''The Old School Show'' on Sunday nights, featuring hits from the past. He also worked for [[Sirius Satellite Radio]] on the Classic Old School Hip Hop station Backspin (Channel 46) from 2000 to 2004.

Beginning in 1996, Kurtis Blow was featured in a hip hop display at the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]. In the same year, rapper [[Nas]] debuted at No. 53 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] with his version of Blow's "If I Ruled the World".<ref name=":0" /> The song went on to double platinum. In 1998, the group [[Next (American group)|Next]] released "[[Too Close (Next song)|Too Close]]", in which the music of "Christmas Rappin'" was [[sampling (music)|sampled]]. [[ASCAP]] honored Blow and Next at a gala affair on May 26, 1999 for having the number one song for 8 months. In 2002, he traveled to the Middle East to tour the Armed Forces bases performing seventeen shows for the troops.

In December 2014, Blow was the Guest MC for the world premiere of ''[[The Nutcracker|The Hip Hop Nutcracker]]'' at [[New Jersey Performing Arts Center]], a well received update of Tchaikovsky's holiday classic. A national tour of the show was scheduled to launch in November 2015 with Kurtis Blow reprising his role as Guest MC opening the show. The show has presently been up and running with 50–60 sold-out performances during the holidays.

In 2016 Blow was unanimously elected as Chairman of the Universal Hip Hop Museum. The museum is slated to open in 2023 in the Bronx point section of NYC.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kurtis Blow to chair Hip Hop Museum |url=http://www.tv3.ie/xpose/article/entertainment-news/229771/Kurtis-Blow-to-chair-Hip-Hop-Museum |website=tv3.ie |access-date=3 November 2017 |date=January 31, 2017}}</ref> In 2017, Blow formed "The Bboy Committee", a group of 1st generation Bboys/Girls, who created the style of dance called Bboying, Rocking, and Break Dancing. The members of the Bboy Committee are as follows: Trixie (Lauree Myers), RIP Wallace D, Dancing Doug (Douglas Colon), A1 Bboy Sasa, DJ Clark Kent (Tyrone Smith), the Legendary Smith Twins, the Zulu Kings and Cholly Rock (Anthony G. Horne), OG BGirl – Darlene Rivers, "Puppet" (William "Billy Bill" Waring), Darryl Solomon (The Mad Hatter), Kurtis Blow, Lil Cesar Rivas, and Shabba-Doo. The committee is dedicated to the facilitation of the Bboy section of the Universal Hip Hop Museum.<ref>{{cite web |title=1st Generations Bboys on MSNBC |url=https://www.msnbc.com/the-beat-with-ari/watch/chuck-d-and-breakdancing-legend-b-boys-on-politics-and-culture-1434890819991 |website=tv3.ie |access-date=3 January 2019 |date=January 30, 2019}}</ref>

Blow became an ordained minister on August 16, 2009. As the founder of the [[Greater Hood Memorial AME Zion Church|Hip Hop Church]] in Harlem,<ref name= Nyack2009 /> Blow serves as rapper, DJ, worship leader and licensed minister.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111696980 |website=NPR.org |title=Rapper Turned Minister Kurtis Blow Is 50 |date=August 9, 2009 |access-date=December 17, 2014}}</ref>

In 2016, Kurtis Blow appeared in a documentary on the evolution of hip hop, ''[[Hip-Hop Evolution]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hiphopdx.com/videos/id.25405/title.hip-hop-evolution-documentary-arrives-on-netflix |title="Hip Hop Evolution" Documentary Arrives On Netflix |date=2016-12-07 |website=HipHopDX |access-date=2019-11-09}}</ref> Hosted by Canadian rapper and broadcaster [[Shad (rapper)|Shad]], the series profiled the history of [[hip-hop music]] through interviews with many of the genre's leading cultural figures. The series was produced by [[Russell Peters]], [[Scot McFadyen]], [[Sam Dunn]] and [[Nelson George]]. It won the 2016 [[Peabody Award]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/hip-hop-evolution |title=Hip-Hop Evolution |website=www.peabodyawards.com |language=en |access-date=2019-11-09}}</ref> and the 2017 [[International Emmy Award for Best Arts Programming]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/2017/11/21/canadian-documentary-series-hip-hop-evolution-wins-international-emmy-award.html |title=Canadian documentary series Hip-Hop Evolution wins International Emmy Award {{!}} The Star |website=thestar.com |date=November 21, 2017 |language=en |access-date=2019-11-09}}</ref> The series has been broadcast on Netflix.

== Discography ==
{{main|Kurtis Blow discography}}

;Solo studio albums
*''[[Kurtis Blow (album)|Kurtis Blow]]'' (1980)<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Kurtis Blow Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More... |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kurtis-blow-mn0000116388 |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}</ref>
*''[[Deuce (Kurtis Blow album)|Deuce]]'' (1981)<ref name=":2" />
*''[[Tough (Kurtis Blow album)|Tough]]'' (1982)
*''[[Ego Trip (Kurtis Blow album)|Ego Trip]]'' (1984)<ref name=":2" />
*''[[America (Kurtis Blow album)|America]]'' (1985)<ref name=":2" />
*''[[Kingdom Blow]]'' (1986)<ref name=":2" />
*''[[Back by Popular Demand (Kurtis Blow album)|Back by Popular Demand]]'' (1988)<ref name=":2" />

;Group albums
* ''Urban Gypsys'' <small>(as part of Urban Gypsys)</small> (1999)

;Collaboration albums
* ''Just Do It'' <small>(with The Trinity)</small> (2004)
* ''Father, Son & Holy Ghost'' <small>(with The Trinity)</small> (2009)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p12 Kurtis Blow] on [[AllMusic]]
* {{Discogs artist}}
* {{IMDb name|0089423}}

{{Kurtis Blow}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blow, Kurtis}}
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:African-American Christians]]
[[Category:African-American record producers]]
[[Category:African-American male rappers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male rappers]]
[[Category:American beatboxers]]
[[Category:Record producers from New York (state)]]
[[Category:American boogie musicians]]
[[Category:Nyack College alumni]]
[[Category:People from Harlem]]
[[Category:People from Co-op City, Bronx]]
[[Category:Rappers from Manhattan]]
[[Category:21st-century American rappers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:Mercury Records artists]]
[[Category:Polydor Records artists]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:Heart transplant recipients]]