In this fantastic excerpt from the legendary Dutch TV documentary about old school hip hop, Big Fun In The Big Town, a young Grandmaster Flash displays his “turntabilism” techniques—“backspin” “punch phrasing” and “scratching”—for the camera.
Shot in New York City in 1986 by Dutch filmmaker Bram van Splunteren, Big Fun In The Big Town contains a motherlode of amazing footage of Schoolly-D, DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Biz Markie, Jam Master Jay and more.
Check out Doug E. Fresh beat-boxing Kraftwerk’s “Tour de France” on a Harlem street corner.
I look at the new rock ‘n rollers…it’s a shame what they did to it, and I hope that rap don’t go that same route – where they take the rawness away…just then make it too pretty! I don’t think rock ‘n roll was meant to be pretty. Rock was meant to be bad – just like rap” - Schoolly-D