Kurtis Walker (born August 9, 1959), professionally known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record/film producer, b-boy, DJ, public speaker and minister.
He attended CCNY and Nyack College, studying communications/film and ministry. ==Career== In 1979, at the age of twenty, Kurtis Blow became the first rapper to be signed by a major label, Mercury, which released "Christmas Rappin'".
"The Breaks", a single from his 1980 self-titled debut album, is the first certified gold record rap song.
By 1983, he moved into production. He lived in Co-op City in the Bronx in the mid-1980s. Besides his own work, Kurtis has been responsible for hits by The Fat Boys and Run DMC.
His 1985 album, America, garnered praise for its title track's music video.
federal holiday inaugurated in January 1986. He performed as an actor and in music coordination in several feature films including Leon Kennedy’s Knights of the City and the hip hop film Krush Groove.
The committee is dedicated to the facilitation of the Bboy section of the Universal Hip Hop Museum. Kurtis received his salvation "born again" in 1994.
In 1995, he started working on-air in radio, Power 106, the #1 CHR radio station in Southern California.
He also worked for Sirius Satellite Radio on the Classic Old School Hip Hop station Backspin (Channel 46) from 2000-2004. Beginning in 1996, Kurtis Blow was featured in a hip hop display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
As host and associate producer for Miramax’s Rhyme and Reason, he gave an informative account of the status of hip hop, while he participated in the three volume record release The History Of Rap for Rhino Records in 1998.
In 1998, the group Next released "Too Close", in which the music of "Christmas Rappin'" was sampled.
ASCAP honored Kurt and Next at a gala affair on May 26, 1999 for having the number one song for 8 months.
He also worked for Sirius Satellite Radio on the Classic Old School Hip Hop station Backspin (Channel 46) from 2000-2004. Beginning in 1996, Kurtis Blow was featured in a hip hop display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 2002, he traveled to the Middle East to tour the Armed Forces bases performing seventeen shows for the troops. In December 2014, Kurt was the Guest MC for the world premiere of The Hip Hop Nutcracker at New Jersey Performing Arts Center, a well received update of Tchaikovsky's holiday classic.
Kurtis also co produced “Slippin, Ten Years With The Bloods” and won praises from Showtime for being the most viewed documentary in 2003.
He became an ordained minister on August 16, 2009.
In 2002, he traveled to the Middle East to tour the Armed Forces bases performing seventeen shows for the troops. In December 2014, Kurt was the Guest MC for the world premiere of The Hip Hop Nutcracker at New Jersey Performing Arts Center, a well received update of Tchaikovsky's holiday classic.
A national tour of the show was scheduled to launch in November 2015 with Kurtis Blow reprising his role as Guest MC opening the show.
The show has presently been up and running with 50-60 sold-out performances during the holidays. In 2016 Kurtis was unanimously elected as Chairman of The Universal Hip Hop Museum.
As the founder of The Hip Hop Church in Harlem, Kurtis serves as rapper, DJ, worship leader and licensed minister. In 2016, Kurtis Blow appeared in a documentary on the evolution of hip hop, Hip-Hop Evolution.
It won the 2016 Peabody Award, and the 2017 International Emmy Award for Best Arts Programming.
In 2017, Kurtis formed "The Bboy Committee", a group of 1st generation Bboys/Girls, who created the style of dance called Bboying, Rocking, and Break Dancing.
It won the 2016 Peabody Award, and the 2017 International Emmy Award for Best Arts Programming.
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Page generated on 2021-08-05