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Funkmaster Flex

Funkmaster Flex's Genre:

East Coast Rap, Rap, Club/Dance, Old-School Rap, Electronic

Biography

Not since the early '80s when DJs such as Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa were acknowledged as two of rap's most popular figures had a hip-hop DJ attained such prominent status among the masses as New York's Funkmaster Flex. Throughout the 1990s he reigned over New York's mammoth rap scene, capable of making or breaking artists with his high-profile position at the top-rated radio station in America's top radio market, Hot 97. By the mid-'90s, he was also the weekly DJ at one of New York's top clubs, the Tunnel, and also had his radio show broadcasting on Los Angeles' Power 106, America's second largest radio market. Furthermore, Flex began releasing commercially successful mix albums in the mid-'90s, beginning with the first volume of the long-running 60 Minutes of Funk series. At the end of the decade, his popularity only continued to rise, landing him a coveted position on MTV with his own daily show, Direct Effect. Though hip-hop DJs such as Eric B and Terminator X had been recognizable names in the '80s and '90s, Funkmaster Flex was the first pure DJ without any affiliated MCs to match the popular success that early-'80s artists such as Grandmaster Flash had attained, harking back to the early days of hip-hop when the DJ overshadowed the MC.

The son of a Jamaican DJ, Flex was born in Brooklyn as Aston Taylor and bought his first set of turntables at age 16, influenced by early New York hip-hop DJs such as DJ Red Alert. His radio career began at KISS-FM as an assistant to Chuck Chillout in the late '80s. When Chillout transferred to WBLS, Flex accompanied him and soon began spinning at clubs and parties, where people began to take note of his skills. Among those fascinated with his talents were the programming chiefs at Hot 97, who offered him a prominent role as one of the city's top hip-hop DJs. In 1995, he released his first major-label mix album, The Mix Tape, Vol. 1: 60 Minutes of Funk, and followed this album with two more volumes on Loud Records by the end of the '90s, along with an album on Def Jam, The Tunnel. In 2000, he mixed a collection of that year's biggest rap anthems for Arista, Vibe Hits, Vol. 1, and continued the 60 Minutes of Funk series. In addition to his duties as a radio DJ and as a successful album artist, Funkmaster Flex has also served as a remixer and host of the Spike TV series Ride with Funkmaster Flex. The 2005 album Funkmaster Flex Car Show Tour featured music from the successful series. ~ Jason Birchmeier

AOL Radio Stations Funkmaster Flex is Featured on (1)

Funkmaster Flex

This station plays the best music from and music from related artists like DJ Clue?, DJ Kayslay, DJ Envy, DJ Green Lantern, Beanie Sigel, Ruff Ryders, Nas, Jadakiss, Method Man, Busta Rhymes and more.

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Funkmaster Flex's Selected Discography (16)

Sad And Blue b/w Six Million Ways To Die Album Cover

The Tunnel

(C)(P) 1999 The Island Def Jam Music Group199921 Songs

Artists Related to Funkmaster Flex (50)

	DJ Clue?	One of the handful of DJs to make the jump from mixtapes to the major labels, DJ Clue? hooked up with Jay-Z's Roc-a-Fella Records camp for a bit in the late '90s, then moved on to his own camp, Desert Storm Records.
	DJ Kayslay	Known as the Drama King (aka Slap Your Favorite DJ), DJ Kayslay rose to the top of his field by refereeing some of the most talked-about MC battles of the early 2000s, most notably Jay-Z versus Nas and 50 Cent versus Ja Rule, on his Streetsweeper mixtape series and later on his Hot 97 radio show, The Drama Hour.
	DJ Envy	One of New York's leading mixtape purveyors, DJ Envy climbed up the ranks quickly and, by the early 2000s, was peddling the latest exclusives and freestyles by big-name rappers like Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and the L.
	DJ Green Lantern	DJ Green Lantern, aka the Evil Genius, rose to prominence practically overnight when he aligned himself with Eminem, who wanted to get his Shady Records label into the mixtape game.
	Beanie Sigel	Philadelphian rapper Beanie Sigel had a rapidly rising career, beginning with his appearance on one of underground rapper/producer DJ Clue?'s mixtapes, to his cameos on Jay-Z's Vol.
	Ruff Ryders	The all-star hip-hop collective/production team Ruff Ryders included CEOs Chivon, Dee, and Waah Dean, producers Swizz Beatz, DJ Shok, and PK, and gold and platinum-selling rappers DMX, Eve, Drag On, and the LOX (Shawn "Sheek" Jacobs, Jayson Phillips, and David Styles).
	Nas	Beginning with his classic debut, Illmatic (1994), Nas stood tall for years as one of New York City's leading rap voices, outspokenly expressing a righteous, self-empowered swagger that endeared him to critics and hip-hop purists.
	Jadakiss	Jadakiss (born Jason Phillips) became a member of the Ruff Ryders in 1999. Five years earlier, he joined the LOX (who started their saga as a group called the Warlocks) and has remained a member of both groups since.
	Method Man	Method Man was the first -- and biggest -- solo star to emerge from the groundbreaking Wu-Tang Clan.
	Busta Rhymes	The most idiosyncratic personality in rap and possessor of its most recognizable delivery, a halting, ragga-inspired style with incredible complexity, inventiveness, and humor, Busta Rhymes formed Leaders of the New School in 1990 and released two albums with the group before breaking out with a 1996 solo hit single, "Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check.
	The Notorious B.I.G.	In just a few short years, the Notorious B.I.G. went from a Brooklyn street hustler to the savior of East Coast hip-hop to a tragic victim of the culture of violence he depicted so realistically on his records.
	Mobb Deep	As golden age rap suddenly gave way to West Coast gangsta in the early '90s, an East Coast variety of hardcore rap arose in turn, with Mobb Deep initially standing tall as one of New York's hardcore figureheads on the basis of their epochal album The Infamous.
	DJ Whoo Kid	Initially just one among countless other mixtape DJs in New York, DJ Whookid rose to prominence alongside fellow Queens native 50 Cent and his G-Unit posse, whose freestyles he featured extensively and exclusively on his mixes.
	Big Punisher	The first solo Latino rapper to go platinum, Big Punisher was also yet another member of the hip-hop community to fall victim to an early death -- though in his case, it was due to health problems, not violence.
	Ghostface Killah	As one of the original members of the seminal '90s rap crew the Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface Killah (aka Tony Starks) made an impact before he released his debut album, Ironman, late in 1996.
	Swizz Beatz	Swizz Beatz was born Kasseem Dean in the Bronx borough of New York City. He relocated to Atlanta as a teenager, where he started to DJ parties.
	Wu-Tang Clan	Emerging in 1993, when Dr. Dre's G-funk had overtaken the hip-hop world, the Staten Island, New York-based Wu-Tang Clan proved to be the most revolutionary rap group of the mid-'90s -- and only partially because of their music.
	Shyne	Immortalized by a much-publicized legal skirmish that resulted in a stiff ten-year prison sentence (and an acquittal for co-defendant Puff Daddy), Shyne was well-known among the public before Bad Boy Records even released his debut -- which was, for many years, his only -- album.
	N.O.R.E.	One-half of the Queens hardcore rap duo Capone-N-Noreaga, Victor "Noreaga" Santiago met Kiam "Capone" Holley in 1992 while both were serving prison sentences.
	The LOX	The LOX -- an acronym for Living Off Experience -- are a Yonkers, NY-based rap trio who worked their way up through the Bad Boy training camp, writing and rapping on hits by the likes of Puff Daddy, the Notorious B.
	Keith Murray	A native of Long Island, Keith Murray first hooked up with Erick Sermon (of EPMD) in 1994. The two worked together to produce Murray's debut single, "The Most Beautifullest Thing in This World," and the song became a hit by the end of the year.
	Erick Sermon	One-half of the legendary hip-hop duo EPMD, Erick Sermon was also among the genre's most prominent producers, deservedly earning the alias "Funklord" with his trademark raw, bass-heavy grooves.
	Redman	Never quite a superstar, Redman was nonetheless one of the most off-the-wall, beloved, and enduring rappers of the '90s and 2000s.
	Styles P	Strongly associated with his group, the LOX (aka D-Block), Styles managed a sporadic solo career on the side.
	Memphis Bleek	Rapper Memphis Bleek was raised in Brooklyn, NY's Marcy Projects housing community, making his recorded debut in 1996 on Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt.
	Noreaga	One-half of the Queens hardcore rap duo Capone-N-Noreaga, Victor "Noreaga" Santiago met Kiam "Capone" Holley in 1992 while both were serving prison sentences.
	DMX	Following the deaths of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G., DMX took over as the undisputed reigning king of hardcore rap.
	Jay-Z	Embodying the rags-to-riches rap dream, Jay-Z pulled himself up by his bootstraps as a youth to eventually become the reigning rapper of New York City and, in turn, a major-label executive following his short-lived retirement from music-making.
	State Property	After establishing himself as a recording artist with Jay-Z and his Roc-a-Fella empire, Philadelphia rapper Beanie Sigel set out to start his own network with the group State Property.
	Raekwon	Raekwon may not have achieved the solo stardom of his fellow Wu-Tang Clan mates Method Man or Ol' Dirty Bastard, but along with Genius/GZA and frequent partner Ghostface Killah, he's done some of the most inventive, critically acclaimed work outside the confines of the group.
	Black Rob	Bad Boy Records rapper Black Rob began his recording career appearing on albums like the Cru's Da Dirty 30 and collaborating with artists like L.
	KRS-One	KRS-One (born Kris Parker) was the leader of Boogie Down Productions, one of the most influential hardcore hip-hop outfits of the '80s.
	M.O.P.	Lil' Fame and Billy Danzenie formed hardcore rap act M.O.P. The duo's debut single, "How About Some Hardcore," became popular and led to the release of their first album, To the Death, in the spring of 1994.
	Cam'ron	Rapper Cam'ron was born and raised in Harlem, attending Manhattan Center High School, where one of his basketball teammates was Mason "Mase" Betha, who also became a successful rapper.
	Rakim	Although he never became a household name, Rakim is near-universally acknowledged as one of the greatest MCs -- perhaps the greatest -- of all time within the hip-hop community.
	Slick Rick	Slick Rick foreshadowed and epitomized the pimpster attitude of many rappers during the late '80s and early '90s, with gold chains, his trademark eye-patch, and recordings that were no less misogynistic -- "Treat Her Like a Prostitute," for example, became an underground hit in 1988, though it was justly criticized for its view of women.
	Prodigy	Generally acknowledged as the more lyrically gifted member of the New York hardcore rap duo Mobb Deep, Prodigy debuted as a solo artist in 2000 with H.
	The Diplomats	Cam'ron's Harlem-based Diplomats crew (also known as Dipset) centers around Juelz Santana, Jim Jones, JR Writer, and Diplomat Records president Freekey Zeekey.
	DJ Red Alert	A popular radio personality and rap archivist, Red Alert is known for breaking the careers of many in hip-hop's elite, including Boogie Down Productions, Black Sheep, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Jungle Brothers.
	Canibus	Following some underground work and cameo appearances, most notably on Wyclef Jean's "Gone Till November" remix in 1997, hardcore rapper Canibus feuded famously with LL Cool J.
	LL Cool J	Hip-hop is notorious for short-lived careers, but LL Cool J is the inevitable exception that proves the rule.
	D-Block	The members of Yonkers, NY, rap crew the LOX (Jadakiss, Sheek Louch, and Styles P) founded D-Block Records, which officially launched with Sheek's solo album Walk Witt Me in 2003.
	EPMD	On the surface, the sample-reliant productions and monotone rapping styles of Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith had little to recommend them, but the duo's recordings as EPMD were among the best in hip-hop's underground during the late '80s and early '90s.
	Sheek	Sheek Louch united with childhood friends Jadakiss and Styles to form the LOX, and the trio in turn signed with Bad Boy in the late '90s.
	The Firm	The East Coast gangsta rap supergroup the Firm never lived up to its excessive hype and instead became a brief footnote in the careers of its main participants.
	Clipse	Hailing from Virginia, Clipse -- brothers Pusha T and Malice -- were one of the first artists to associate with the Neptunes.
	Talib Kweli	If skills sold, Talib Kweli would have been one of the most commercially successful rappers of his time.
	Fat Joe	Latino rapper Fat Joe (aka Fat Joe da Gangsta, Joey Crack, and his real name, Joe Cartagena) was raised in the South Bronx area of New York.
	Freeway	Freeway fast became a valuable member of the Roc-a-Fella family in the early 2000s. His ascent can be traced back to an agreement he made with fellow Philadelphia native Beanie Sigel.
	Ol' Dirty Bastard	One of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan, who recorded some of the most influential hip-hop of the '90s, Ol' Dirty Bastard was the loose cannon of the group, both on record and off.

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Top Songs by Funkmaster Flex (50)

If I Get Locked Up

3:41