| Grandmaster Caz | |
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Birth name |
Curtis Fisher |
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Also known as |
Casanova Fly |
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Born |
18 April 1961 (age 55)
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Genres |
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Occupations |
Rapper, DJ |
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Years active |
1984-present |
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Labels |
Tuff City, Ol' Skool Flava, Jazz Child |
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Associated acts |
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Curtis Fisher (born 18 April 1961), better known by his stage name Grandmaster Caz, is an American rapper and DJ. Caz first encountered hip hop in 1974 at a Kool DJ Herc party. He soon bought his own equipment, and teamed up with JDL to form the group Notorious Two. During this period, he became the first person to perform both DJ and MC duties. He and JDL later joined The Cold Crush Brothers in the late 1970s.
In 1979, Sylvia Robinson, label head of Sugar Hill Records, overheard Caz's friend Big Bank Hank rapping over one of Caz's practice tapes. Impressed by Hank, she invited him to join the group The Sugarhill Gang, who were set to record the first rap single. Hank went to Caz and asked whether he could borrow his rhymes (Hank even raps Caz's stagename at the beginning of his verse), but Caz never received any royalties or songwriting credits for his contributions.
Caz launched a brief solo career in the late 1980s, but none of his records made much of an impact and he faded from the hip hop music scene. When attention began being paid to the roots of hip hop in the late 1990s, he resurfaced as a pioneer and began receiving credit for his contributions. He currently works as a celebrity tour guide for Hush Hip Hop Tours, a hip hop cultural sightseeing tour company in New York City.
Discography
- 1992: The Grandest of Them All
- 2004: You Need Stiches: The Tuff City Sessions 1982-1988
- 2006: The Ol' Skool Flava of Grandmaster Caz
- 2008: Mid Life Crisis