Grand Wizzard Theodore

Grand Wizard Theodore (actually Theodore Levingston; born March 5, 1963 in the Bronx, New York City ) is an American DJ, one of the pioneers of hip hop and inventor of scratchings.

Life

Theodore came to rap music by his two brothers Claudio and Mean Gene that occurred under the name The L Brothers in the mid 1970s in New York. His brothers introduced him to Grandmaster Flash, who had a great role model for Theodore.

The invention of the scratchings was by his own admission Levingstons rather instead by accident. He was still living at home with his mother, who often felt disturbed by his DJ activities and always admonished him to rest, just as he had placed the needle at the beginning of a song to disk. While his mother scolded him now, he moved the plate again and again back to the beginning:

Fascinated by the resulting sound, he experimented on and refined this technique in the following years, more and more, which made him one of the most sought-after New York DJs of his time.

At block parties he often joined with the support of MCs under the name Grand Wizard Theodore and the Fantastic 5 MCs.

To hear is Theodore, among other things on the single Can I Get A Soulclap (1980, Tuff City Records) and in Hip Hop cult movie Wild Style, in which he also plays a small role.

1998 we took him into the Technics DJ Hall of Fame and both the International Federation Turntablists (ITF ) and Back To Mecca, distinguished him for his life's work.

In Germany, a documentary DVD was released titled Scratch in which it is also devoted to a report in 2003.