Grandmaster Flash

“I came up with the backspin, scratching, and the cutting and the quick-mix theory.”

“'The Message' was a record that was done out of desperation.”

“I think a lot of DJs don't understand that people are there to hear them play music. Not to hear them talk, not to hear them hype up the crowd.”

“I'm the one that cut the record in half and was able to go from this part of the record to this part of the record.”

“The turntable is my instrument. It is my Stradivarius.”

“It's been one of the most important tools for me in my life, and that is to be able to listen.”

“Hip-hop is not a color. It's a culture.”

“A lot of people call me a legend, but I don't see it that way. I'm just a guy that went to a party, and I was told I couldn't touch the turntables, and I'm still trying to prove that I can.”

“I am a scientist. I'm a scientist in the lab, and I'm a DJ.”

“I don't like to call it a job, what I do. I call it a passion.”

“My father told me, 'If you're going to do something, do it right.'”

“You can't do what I do on a laptop. You can't. Not the way I do it.”

“When you talk about the thing that is close to the heart, you don't have to use too many words.”