Luis Cedeño (born August 11, 1961), more commonly known as DJ Disco Wiz is an American
DJ. He is noted as being the first
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
DJ in
Hip-Hop.
Old School
He was born in the
Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, United States, to a
Puerto Rican father and a mother from
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
After being inspired at a
Kool Herc
Clive Campbell (born April 16, 1955), better known by his stage name DJ Kool Herc, is a Jamaican-American DJ who is credited with contributing to the development of hip hop music in the Bronx, New York City, in the 1970s through his "Back to ...
jam by the emerging
hip hop movement taking place in
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, DJ Disco Wiz collaborated with his best friend, Casanova Fly (
Grandmaster Caz
Curtis Brown (born April 18, 1960), better known by the stage name Grandmaster Caz or Casanova Fly, is an American rapper, songwriter, and DJ. He was a member of the hip hop group The Cold Crush Brothers from 1979 to the mid-1980s. He is best know ...
), to form a group called the ''Mighty Force'' crew. ''Mighty Force'' is noted as being one of the first Hip-Hop DJ crews in the mid-to-late 1970s. Noted for their DJ battles in the streets of the
South Bronx
The South Bronx is an area of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...
, the ''Mighty Force'' crew was also responsible for presenting the first
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
rapper to the world,
Prince Whipper Whip
James Whipper II, better known by his stage name Prince Whipper Whip, is an American Hip hop music, hip hop recording artist. He is of Puerto Rican descent and an original member of Grandwizard Theodore & the Fantastic Five.
Whipper Whip appear ...
, who is also of
Puerto Rican descent. DJ Disco Wiz is also credited for being the first DJ to create a "mixed plate" in 1977 (Hip-Hop's first mixed dub recording) when he and Grandmaster Caz, combined sound bites, special effects and paused beats.
New School
The grandson of the late Puerto Rican artist and Santero Norberto Cedeño; (''
La Mano Poderosa
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
'', 1950), Wiz is the creator of "The Hip-Hop Meets Spoken Wordz" series, a
hip hop and
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
performance series that gives a voice to up-and-coming Latino talent in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. As a poet, DJ Disco Wiz has performed at the
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a not ...
and the landmark
Nuyorican Poets Cafe
Nuyorican is a portmanteau of the terms "New York" and "Puerto Rican" and refers to the members or culture of the Puerto Ricans located in or around New York City, or of their descendants (especially those raised or currently living in the N ...
and his poetry can be seen in the upcoming book ''
Born in the Bronx
Richard "Handsome Dick" Manitoba (born Richard Blum; January 29, 1954) is an American punk rock singer and radio personality, best known as the original lead singer of New York City-based band The Dictators and the reunion singer of MC5.
Bac ...
''. Wiz also appears in a few
documentaries
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...
on hip-hop history including ''
1 LOVE'', a film produced by noted hip-hop historian
James "Koe" Rodriguez about the lives of
Joe Conzo
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
,
Ernie Paniccioli
Ernie Paniccioli (born February 26, 1947) is an American photographer of hip hop culture who lives in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was inducted into the Hip Hop Hall of Fame in 2014.
A Cree Native American, Paniccioli grew up in Brooklyn, New Yo ...
, and
Jamel Shabazz
Jamel Shabazz (born 1960) is an African-American fashion, fine art, documentary and street style photographer. His work has been published in books, shown in exhibitions, and used in editorial magazine works. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. ...
—hip-hop's first photographers.
Wiz has openly contributed to the community education of the formative years of hip-hop. In the millennium issue of ''
The Source Magazine
''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the maga ...
'' he candidly shared his experience in being the first Latino during the culture's evolution. He was also a major contributor in the opening of the
Experience Music Project
The Museum of Pop Culture or MoPOP is a nonprofit museum in Seattle, Washington, dedicated to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. Since then MoPOP has organized ...
in
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
in 2000. His contribution and donation of original hip-hop flyers, solely for the preservation of hip-hop can be seen as part of the archives. He was also instrumental in the making of Jim Fricke and Charlie Ahearn's rendition of the early years of hip-hop entitled ''
Yes, Yes Y’all''; sharing numerous original flyers and first-hand accounts of the early years of hip-hop including an account of the historical
New York City blackout of 1977
The New York City blackout of 1977 was an electricity blackout that affected most of New York City on July 13–14, 1977. The only unaffected neighborhoods in the city were in southern Queens (including neighborhoods of the Rockaways), which w ...
.
He is also a board member of the Universal Federation for the Preservation of Hip Hop Culture, chaired by
Afrika Bambaataa
Lance Taylor (born on April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is an American DJ, rapper, and producer from the South Bronx, New York. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenc ...
of the
Universal Zulu Nation
The Universal Zulu Nation is an international hip hop awareness group formed by and formerly led by hip hop artist Afrika Bambaataa.
The Universal Zulu Nation promotes the idea that hip-hop was created to sustain the ideals of “peace, love ...
. The Federation also includes on its board;
Grandmaster Caz
Curtis Brown (born April 18, 1960), better known by the stage name Grandmaster Caz or Casanova Fly, is an American rapper, songwriter, and DJ. He was a member of the hip hop group The Cold Crush Brothers from 1979 to the mid-1980s. He is best know ...
,
DJ Tony Tone,
Kurtis Blow
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 is the first commercially successful rapper a ...
, GrandMaster
Melle Mel
Melvin Glover (born May 15, 1961 in The Bronx), better known by his stage name Grandmaster Melle Mel (or simply Melle Mel) () is an American hip hop recording artist who was the lead vocalist and songwriter of Grandmaster Flash and the Furiou ...
,
KRS-One
Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...
,
Lovebug Starski
Kevin Smith (May 16, 1960 – February 8, 2018), best known by his stage name Lovebug Starski, was an American MC, musician, and record producer. He began his career as a record boy in 1971 as hip-hop first appeared in the Bronx, and he event ...
,
Jorge “PopMaster Fabel” Pabon, and photographer Joe Conzo.
Wiz co-authored his memoirs with
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...
author Ivan Sanchez. The book is titled ''It’s Just Begun: The Epic Journey of DJ Disco Wiz, Hip-Hop’s First Latino DJ''. The book was released on the Miss Rosen imprint of
powerHouse Books
powerHouse Books is an independent publisher of art and photography books founded in 1995 by Daniel Power, based near the Brooklyn waterfront of DUMBO in The powerHouse Arena.
The powerHouse Arena also serves as a gallery, bookstore, and event ...
in 2009.
Further reading
*It's Just Begun: The Epic Journey of DJ Disco Wiz, Hip Hop's First Latino DJ By Ivan Sanchez and Luis "DJ Disco Wiz" Cedeño, Miss Rosen Editions, (2009) Powerhouse Books
* Yes Yes Y'All: Oral History of Hip Hop's First Decade. Fricke, Jim and Charlie Ahearn (eds). Experience Music Project. Perseus Books Group.
* Born in the Bronx: A Visual Record of the Early Days of Hip Hop. Joe Conzo, Johan Kugelberg, Afrika Bambaataa, Buddy Esquire and Jeff Change. (2007) - Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.
* ''
Freedom of Expression: Overzealous Copyright Bozos and Other Enemies of Creativity''. Kembrew McLeod (2005) - Doubleday
* Hip Hop Decoded. The Black Dot (2005) - MOME Publishing Inc.
* Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco. Peter Shapiro (2005) - Faber & Faber
* Rap Music and Street Consciousness (Music in American Life). Cheryl L. Keyes (2004) - University of Illinois Press
* Rap Whoz Who. Steven Stancel (1996) - Schrirmer Books
* U.net, Bigger than hip hop 2006, Agenzia X, Cox 18 Books,
Television
* The
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
Nominated
Vh1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
Rock Doc ny77: the Coolest year in hell Developed by
Nanette Burstein
Nanette Burstein (born May 23, 1970) is an American film and television director. Burstein has produced, directed, and co-directed several documentaries including the Academy Award nominated and Sundance Special Jury Prize winning film ''On the R ...
and Firehouse Films for Vh1.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Disco Wiz, Dj
1961 births
American people of Cuban descent
American people of Puerto Rican descent
American hip hop DJs
Living people
Musicians from New York City
Musicians from the Bronx
East Coast hip hop musicians