Grandmaster Caz is clearing the air after some old comments he made on VladTV resurfaced this week. It all began when Fat Joe opened up the dialogue surrounding the contributions of the Latin community to hip-hop. Though some pushed back against Joe’s claims, he explained that the first hip-hop party in the Bronx was made up of Puerto Ricans and Black people.
Rapper Grandmaster Caz attends the 4th Annual VH1 Hip Hop Honors ceremony at the Hammerstein Ballroom on October 4, 2007 in New York City. Bryan Bedder/Getty Images
During a 2014 interview, Caz reflected on Lord Jamar’s comments about Eminem and white people being a guest in hip-hop. However, Caz also extended that sentiment to the Latinx community. “Puerto Ricans were playing Congos and tamales in the park while we was playin’ turntables,” he said at the time. “Alright, so they our guests.”
“Some of the first Latinos in Hip Hop were down with me. Disco Wiz. Charlie Chase. Joe Conzo, the man who took Hip Hop’s babies pictures. Prince Whipple Whip. All Latinos. All part of my crew,” he said after acknowledging the controversy surrounding his comments.
“OK, so there’s no way I could talk about there not being a Latino presence in the culture of Hip Hop,” he continued. “Now, I’ve stuck my foot in my mouth a couple of times on Vlad interviews and they probably caught an off-comment or something like that. But let me clear that up. For all my Latino brothers and sisters in Hip Hop, I’ve been an advocate since day one, so knock the bullshit off.”
Check the clip below.
View this post on Instagram