Kidd Creole | |
---|---|
Glover at age 34 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Nathaniel Glover |
Born | The Bronx, New York City, U.S. | February 19, 1960
Genres | Hip hop |
Occupations | Rapper |
Years active | 1978–1988 |
Labels | |
Formerly of | Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five |
Nathaniel Glover (born February 19, 1960), also known as Nate or Danny Glover and better known by the stage name Kidd Creole, is a former American hip hop recording artist. He was a member of the pioneering old school hip hop group Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five with his brother Melle Mel. In August 2017, Glover stabbed a homeless man to death in an altercation in Manhattan, New York City. In May 2022, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison for manslaughter.
Glover was born in The Bronx, New York in 1960 as the third of five children to a working-class family. In July 1977, Nate and his brother Melvin met Joseph Saddler, a local DJ who went by the name Grandmaster Flash. The brothers and Keef Cowboy (Keith Wiggins) joined Grandmaster Flash's budding group the Three MC's in 1978. Melvin took the name Melle Mel while Nate took the name Kidd Creole, a reference to the Elvis Presley film King Creole. [1]
Two more MCs would join the group: Scorpio (originally Mr. Ness, aka Ed Morris) and Raheim (Guy Williams). The group recorded two singles (one as the Younger Generation and one as Flash & the Five) before they took the name Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five and recorded the Superappin' EP for Enjoy Records, owned by R&B record producer Bobby Robinson. Kidd Creole participated in the recording of several records with the group between 1980 and 1983. Tensions developed between Nate and his more successful brother Melvin; Melle Mel became the frontman and main songwriter for the band and was the singer in the band's most popular work, the 1982 song "The Message". Melle Mel was also on better terms with the recording label Sugar Hill and its managers, the Robinsons, than Creole. [1] Flash, Rahiem, and Creole left The Furious Five in 1983. They continued to record together for Elektra Records from 1983–1987, later rejoining Melle Mel and the others for a brief reunion in 1987. [2]
The later years of the group and its members were less successful; they produced no hits, and audiences shrank as tastes turned to new groups such as Run DMC in the mid-1980s. Creole disputed with Sugar Hill over a lack of royalty payments on earlier work. Creole eventually was unable to continue a full-time career as a musician, and took various temporary jobs while continuing to do occasional concert tours on the side. [1]
Glover had been arrested for firearm possession in 1982 and 1995, and possession of a knife in 2007. [3] In 2017, Glover was living in Mount Hope in The Bronx and had been working as a handyman and security guard in midtown Manhattan. [3] [4] According to security camera footage, on the night of August 2, 2017, he had a conversation with John Jolly, a local homeless man. The two left the field of view, and Jolly was stabbed to death. Glover admitted that he had stabbed Jolly with a knife he kept on his person, although he claimed he was provoked; in his initial confession, he said he thought that Jolly was making sexual advances on him. [5] Glover was arrested and charged with murder. [6]
At trial, the judge instructed the jury to disregard his legal defense's claims of self-defense, as Jolly was unarmed and thus not capable of posing a deadly threat to Glover by New York law, weakening Glover's case. [1] The jury found Glover guilty of first degree manslaughter on April 6, 2022. [7] On May 4, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison plus 5 years supervision. [8]
Old-school hip hop is the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music and the original style of the genre. It typically refers to the music created around 1979 to 1983, as well as any hip hop that does not adhere to contemporary styles.
Melvin Glover, better known by his stage name Grandmaster Melle Mel or simply Melle Mel, is an American rapper who was the lead vocalist and songwriter of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
Clifton "Jiggs" Chase is an American musician, composer, and influential record producer from New Jersey, United States. One of the earliest known recordings is his organ playing on the 1967 Buddy Terry recording Natural Soul, alongside Woody Shaw.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were an American hip hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. The group's members were Grandmaster Flash, Kidd Creole, Keef Cowboy, Melle Mel, Scorpio, and Rahiem. The group's use of turntablism, breakbeat DJing, and conscious lyricism were significant in the early development of hip hop music.
The Message is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, released on October 3, 1982 by Sugar Hill Records. It features the influential title track and hip hop single "The Message".
"The Message" is a song by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. It was released as a single by Sugar Hill Records on July 1, 1982, and was later featured on the group's debut studio album of the same name.
Sugar Hill Records was an American record label specializing in hip hop music that was founded in 1979 by husband and wife Joe and Sylvia Robinson with Milton Malden and funding from Tony Riviera and Morris Levy, the owner of Roulette Records.
"White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Melle Mel, released as a 12" in 1983 on Sugar Hill Records. The song, which warns against the dangers of cocaine, addiction, and drug smuggling, is one of Mel's signature tracks. The bassline is taken from a performance of the Sugar Hill house band (featuring bassist Doug Wimbish) covering "Cavern", a single by New York City band Liquid Liquid.
They Said It Couldn't Be Done is an album by Grandmaster Flash, released in 1985. It is his second overall studio album, and his first album credited solely to him following the breakup of the Furious Five due to the departure of rappers Melle Mel, Scorpio, and Keith Cowboy. For They Said It Couldn't Be Done, Flash signed with Elektra Records and retained the services of Rahiem and The Kidd Creole. New rappers Lavon, Mr Broadway, and dancer Larry Love were added. The album was re-issued on CD in the US for the first time on April 26, 2005.
The Source is the fourth studio album by Grandmaster Flash, released in 1986. It was reissued in the US on CD for the first time in 2005.
On the Strength is the second and final studio album by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Released in 1988, it was the full line-up's last album together. Although contributing to the album itself, Cowboy was not present for the album or single photo shoots.
"The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" is a single released by American disc jockey Grandmaster Flash in 1981. It is a live DJ mix recording of Flash scratching and mixing records from various groups using three turntables. The musician employed several DJ techniques in the recording, including crossfading, cutting, rubbing and backspins.
Joseph Robert Saddler, known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is a Barbadian-American musician and DJ. He created a DJ technique called the Quick Mix Theory. This technique serviced the break-dancer and the rapper by elongating the drum breaks through the use of duplicate copies of vinyl. This technique gave birth to cutting and scratching. It also gave rappers better music with a seamless elongated bed of beats to speak on. He also invented the slipmat.
Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel and the Furious Five: The Definitive Groove Collection is a double CD compilation album by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five released in 2006 on Rhino Records. It contains original full-length tracks by the various versions of both Grandmaster Flash and Grandmaster Melle Mel.
Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five was released in 1984 by Sugarhill Records after the split between Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel. For this album, Melle Mel kept the group name 'the Furious Five' and used the title 'Grandmaster'. Rappers Cowboy and Scorpio left with Melle Mel although Mel's brother The Kidd Creole and Rahiem remained with Flash. New rappers King Lou, Kami Kaze, and Tommy Gunn joined, as did Flash's best friend E. Z. Mike as DJ.
Message from Beat Street: The Best of Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel & the Furious Five is a 1994 CD compilation album released on the Rhino Entertainment record label in the US. It consists of tracks recorded by the various versions of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and Grandmaster Melle Mel. No tracks from the three Grandmaster Flash albums on Elektra Records are included or anything from the 1988 comeback album On the Strength.
Edward Gernel Fletcher, known by his stage name Duke Bootee, was an American record producer and rapper.
Robert Keith Wiggins, known by his stage names Keef Cowboy and Cowboy was an American rapper and a member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. He is widely credited as having invented the term "hip hop".
The following is a list of albums released by now-defunct hip-hop record label Sugar Hill Records.
The Sugar Hill Records Story is a 1997 compilation album compiling singles released by the Sugar Hill Records label. It was released by Rhino Records who had purchased the North American rights to the labels catalogue in 1995. On its release, it received positive reviews from Vibe, Spin and AllMusic.