grandmaster flash post furious five what did you like?

they said it could not be done is a great album and i like the single u know what time it is but otherwise i was not impressed with anything else.

I just saw him do a set at Seaport Square in Pier 17 in the financial district. (There was literally boats right next to the stage.) It was part of Bastid's BBQ (a cookout with several local vendors) which ran from 2 to 10. He's 67 now but I wouldn't have guessed it if I hadn't known who he was - I was close enough to see his hands work the turntables and he can still move really fast.

He apparently gave a talk last year at Columbia:

“Four bars forward is equal to six counterclockwise revolutions, which equals a full loop extraction.” That discovery changed the course of music forever and, on February 7, a full house of students in Roone Arledge Cinema heard directly from Grandmaster Flash about how he started the hip-hop revolution with a mathematical equation...

Later, Flash changed into a self-branded sweatshirt and got in front of the turntables. While cameras projected an overhead view onto the cinema’s giant screen, students watched in real time as he demonstrated his theory, spinning records seamlessly and filling the room with harmonious beats.

After his musical demonstration, Flash fielded questions. Excited students asked everything from where he thinks the industry is going to how young people who are interested in recording and producing music can improve their skills. One student asked, “At what point did you know that what you created was bigger than you?”

“I knew for quite some time, (but) it took me a long time to accept it,” Flash answered thoughtfully. “I was afraid of it for a long time. I toured when I was very young, and to go to different countries and see the DJ taking two turntables and a mixer and hear a person speaking in front of them — I was very afraid for a long time. Because this thing that I had been doing for three years, this whole thing could have missed.

“You know, some people put their whole life into something and then serve it to the public and the public go, ‘Nah, we ain’t with that,’” he continued. “It took me many decades to accept what I did. I grew up as a geek, I didn’t know how to rap to girls, I didn’t know how to be cool. I was strictly math, science — grades were A. Corny, geek, nerd — I grew up as one of those. I got more comfortable as nerds got more accepted. Because now nerds rule the world, and I’m a nerd.”

can someone explain what that first sentence means? how can you measure that without knowing the BPM or how close to the inner groove it is?

Good question. I'm still trying to find an answer, but here's a more in-depth article from Columbia's newspaper - doesn't explain that specific point, but it has more details on his lecture about that concept.

Also before I forget, found this demonstration of him on the original beat box. He also goes into detail about how he found it, etc.