Hip-Hop pioneer Kurtis Blow
will be honored at a ceremony to forever solidify the emcee’s permanent
place in Hip-Hop by inducting him into the Bronx Walk of Fame.
The Bronx Walk of Fame honors
various people who have contributed to the Bronx’s legacy. Blow, despite
being from Harlem, was a fixture on the scene during the early development of
Hip-Hop in the Bronx from the 1970’s onward.
In 1979, Kurtis Blow became
the first rapper to be signed by a major label, after his independently released
hit “Christmas Rappin’," helped him land a deal with Mercury.
Mercury released “Christmas
Rappin” and it sold over 400,000 copies and became an annual classic.
Its follow-up “The
Breaks” helped ignite Hip-Hop on a global basis and earned Blow the first
certified Gold single by a rapper.
The award ceremony and unveiling
of Kurtis Blow’s street sign takes place June 26th at 11AM @ 851 Grand Concourse
Bronx Supreme Court Building (161st Street & The Grand Concourse).
Other notables that have
been inducted include Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5, KRS-One, boxer Jake
Lamotta, Colin Powell, Stanley Kubrick and others.