Robert Keith Wiggins (20 September 1960 – 8 September 1989), known by his stage names Keef Cowboy and Cowboy was an American hip hop recording artist and a member of

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were an American hip hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. The group's members were Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Kidd Creole (not to be confused with Kid Creole), Keef Cowboy, Sc ...

. He is widely credited as having invented the term "hip hop".

Life and career

Wiggins was first recruited to the Furious Five by his friend

Grandmaster Flash Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958), popularly known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is an American DJ and rapper. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Hip Hop DJing, cutting, scratching and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the Fur ...

in 1978. He was a dancer and

hype man A hype man, in hip hop music and rapping, is a backup rapper and/or singer who supports the primary rappers with exclamations and interjections and who attempts to increase the audience's excitement with call-and-response chants. The hype man's i ...

for the band, and was a pioneer in the use of the

call and response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

style to communicate with the audience. In 1983 he left the group and joined

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 ...

, with whom he recorded the single "

White Lines (Don't Don't Do It) "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Melle Mel, released as a 12" in 1983 on Sugar Hill Records. The song, which warns against the dangers of cocaine, addiction, and drug smuggling, is one of Mel's s ...

", followed by the album '' Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five'' in 1985. He has been credited with coining the term "hip hop" in 1978 while teasing a friend who had just joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He did so by

scat singing In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...

the made-up words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of marching soldiers. Cowboy later worked the "hip hop" cadence into his stage performance. He was addicted to cocaine in the last two years of his life and died of a drug overdose in 1989. He is mentioned in the 1998 song “In Memory Of…” by

Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American hip hop duo, consisting of Texas record producer DJ Premier and Massachusetts rapper Guru. For the entirety of their association, they were based out of Brooklyn, New York. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 20 ...

, which references multiple hip hop figures who have died.

Album discography

Partially based on: *Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – '' The Message'' (1982) *Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – ''

Greatest Messages ''Greatest Messages'' is a compilation album release by Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five (''On The Strength'' is their official second album). It was released in January 1984, and it is a compilation of their Sugar Hill Records hit singles i ...

'' (1983) *Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five – '' Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five'' (1985) *Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – ''

On the Strength ''On the Strength'' is the second and final studio album by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Released in 1988, it was the full line-up's last album together. Although certainly contributing to the album itself, Cowboy (Keith Wiggins) wa ...

'' (1988)

References

External links

* 1960 births 1989 deaths African-American male rappers Cocaine-related deaths in New York (state) East Coast hip hop musicians Grammy Award winners Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five members Rappers from the Bronx 20th-century American rappers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians {{US-rapper-stub