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Kurtis Blow
OffStereo builds narrated music history shows around real records. Kurtis Blow runs through 4 of them, each one placing them inside a wider story. They appear most often alongside Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Herbie Hancock and Cybotron.
Shows where Kurtis Blow appears
Rap's Radio Door: Theft or Translation?
New York City park jams, fueled by Chic and Incredible Bongo Band breaks, ignite rap's commercial explosion with The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" and Kurtis Blow's "Christmas Rappin'."
1 of 8 tracks — Christmas Rappin'
Wildstyle — Vice City's Electro Station
Mr. Magic's Wildstyle captures the 80s electro-funk and hip-hop sound, from Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" to Hashim's 808 beats, that defined NYC and Miami.
1 of 11 tracks — The Breaks
Nas: The Sample Lineage
Nas's iconic sound transforms jazz, soul, and funk samples, from Joe Chambers' "Mind Rain" on Illmatic to Kurtis Blow's hook and Michael Jackson's synth on It Was Written.
1 of 8 tracks — If I Ruled the World
The Breaks: Gold Rush
Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks" going gold in 1980 sparks hip-hop's leap from the South Bronx's raw energy to a commercial force, evolving its sound with pioneers like Afrika Bambaataa and Sha-Rock.
2 of 7 tracks — The Breaks · Basketball