LIFESTYLE

Hip Hop’s Legends Set to Get their Due at ‘Wild Style’ Anniversary

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

When the names Theodore Livingston and Tony Salas are mentioned in pop culture circles, they barely move the needle.

But when Livingston and Salas unveil their alter egos — “Grand Wizzard Theodore '' and “Tony Crush” — it more than gives a pulse to the masses.

Livingston, the DJ who helped start hip-hop 50 years ago with his groundbreaking scratching technique on the turntables, and Salas, the influential pioneer of the Cold Crush Brothers, are among the inductees into the National HipHop Museum’s Hall of Fame.

And while celebrating the high honor on June 10 and June 11, the pair will help observe two special anniversaries: hip-hop’s 50th and the 40th anniversary of the genre-changing movie “Wild Style.”

“We changed the world of music as we know it,” Livingston remarked.

“Time has gone by really quickly, but I’m so happy to be a part of something bigger than I am,” Livingston added.

“When I think about the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, I think about the DJs, MCs, bee-boppers, and others who are not here anymore. But, instead, those are the ones we should be honoring because this is a culture that changed the world.”

For Salas, the Hall of Fame recognition and the dual anniversaries only return him to his youth. A music lover, whose turntables burned with the sounds of the Temptations, Gil Scott Heron, and the Jackson 5, Salas got his inspiration from his cousin, “Disco Bee,” a member of the legendary group Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. He studied Disco Bee as his cousin mixed and scratched records, picking up valuable lessons that helped define Salas’ standing as one of hip-hop’s most influential figures.

Salas looks back on Wild Style with the fondest of memories. WI @StacyBrownMedia