Born in the Bronx and Written!

Jan 19, 2013 @ 7:30pm

With photographer Joe Conzo Jr. & Grandmaster Caz
Joe Conzo Jr.
In 2005, The New York Times proclaimed photographer Joe Conzo Jr. as “The Man Who Took Hip-Hop’s Baby Pictures.” Born and raised in the Bronx, “Joey” an EMT for the NYFD, acquired a flair for photog- raphy at the age of nine and later advanced those skills at the School of Visual Arts. He grew up at the heels of his grandmoth- er—a dynamic leader and activist- Dr. Evelina Antonetty. His father, Joe Conzo Sr., was long-time confidant and historian for the legendary musician Tito Puente. Exposure to these worlds had a profound effect on how he viewed his environment through the lens of a camera. His first book, Born In The Bronx: A Visual Record of the Early Days of Hip Hop (2007), a collaborative effort with noted New York cura- tor Johan Kugelberg, has received world-wide acclaim. In 2008, a collection of his early hip hop photographs became part of a permanent archive housed at Cornell University. His images have appeared on HBO and VH1, in publications such as VIBE, Complex, Hip-Hop Connection (Europe), Urban Hitz (Australia), Esquire and Wax Poetics; and in the books, Hip Hop Immortals (2003) and Yes, Yes, Y’all (2002).
Grandmaster Caz
The first simultaneous DJ and MC in hip-hop history, Grandmaster Caz is perhaps best known for rhymes he didn’t even perform — namely, the uncredited verses that Big Bank Hank borrowed for the groundbreaking Sugarhill Gang single “Rapper’s Delight.” The fact that neither Caz nor his group the Cold Crush Brothers ever recorded an official full-length album doesn’t take away the fact that he was one of the most important and influential pioneers of old school rap. Caz was born Curtis Fisher, grew up in the Bronx, and attended his first Herc party in 1974. Inspired to try doing the same thing, he immediately purchased some equipment and adopted the DJ name Casanova Fly (which later morphed into Grandmaster Caz). He joined the Cold Crush Brothers circa 1978-1979 and they became one of the most popular live rap groups in New York during the pre- Run-D.M.C. era. The Cold Crush Brothers appeared in the 1983 old school hip hop film Wild Style.