Songwriters

Kurtis Blow Biography

Kurtis Blow is an accomplished American rapper, singer, songwriter, record/film producer, b-boy, DJ, public speaker, and minister. He is the first commercially successful rapper and the first to sign with a major record label.

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10 Quick Facts About Kurtis Blow

1. Name: Kurtis Walker
2. Age: 63 Years (As of 2022)
3. Birthday: 9 August
4. Zodiac Sign: Leo
5. Height: 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 meters)
6. Nationality: American
7. Occupation: Rapper, Singer, Songwriter, Producer, DJ, Public Speaker, and Minister
8. Marital Status: Married
9. Salary: Under Review
10. Net worth: $5 Million

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 Kurtis Blow Age

Kurtis is 63 years old as of 2022, he was born on 9 August 1959, in New York, New York, United States. He celebrates his birthday on 9 August every year and his birth sign is Leo.

Kurtis Blow Height

Kurtis stands at a height of 5 feet 10 inches.

Kurtis Blow Weight

Kurtis Weighs 63 kg. He has brown eyes and the color of his hair is black.

Kurtis Blow Education

Kurtis is a highly educated and qualified person. He attended CCNY and Nyack College, studying communications/film and ministry.

Kurtis Blow Family, Parents and Siblings

Kurtis was born and raised by his parents in New York City. Our efforts to find out more about his family came to no avail as no such information is publicly available. Thus, the identity of Kurtis’s parents is still unclear. It is also not known if he has any siblings. We will update this section once this information is available.

Kurtis Blow Wife

Kurtis has been happily married to his beautiful wife Shirley Stewart since September 2, 1984. However, he likes to keep his personal life private hence information about his dating/married life is not available. Nonetheless, further information regarding his family in detail is currently under review and will be updated as soon as it is available.

Kurtis Blow Children

Kurtis and his longtime spouse Shirley Stewart are both proud parents of three adorable children. Kurtis has done a very good job of maintaining his personal and professional life. He is a good husband and also a loving father.

Kurtis Blow Net Worth

Kurtis has an estimated net worth of $5 million dollars as of 2022. This includes his assets, money, and income. His primary source of income is his career as a Rapper. Through his various sources of income, he has been able to accumulate a good fortune but prefers to lead a modest lifestyle.

Kurtis Blow Measurements and Facts

Here are some interesting facts and body measurements you should know about Kurtis.

Kurtis Blow Wiki

• Full Names: Kurtis Walker
• Popular As: Kurtis Blow
• Gender: Male
• Occupation / Profession: Rapper, Singer, Songwriter, Producer, DJ, Public Speaker, and Minister
• Nationality: American
• Race / Ethnicity: Black
• Religion: Not Known
• Sexual Orientation: Straight

Kurtis Blow Birthday

• Age / How Old?: 63 Years (2022).
• Zodiac Sign: Leo
• Date of Birth: August 9, 1959
• Place of Birth: New York City, New York, USA
• Birthday: August 9

Kurtis Blow Body Measurements

• Body Measurements: Not Available
• Height / How Tall?: 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 meters)
• Weight: 63 kg (138.6 lbs)
• Eye Color: Brown
• Hair Color: Black
• Shoe Size: Not Available

Kurtis Blow Family and Relationship

• Father (Dad): Not Known
• Mother: Not Known
• Siblings (Brothers and Sisters): Not Known
• Marital Status: Married
• Wife/Spouse: Married to Shirley Stewart
• Dating / Girlfriend: Not Applicable
• Children: Three (3)

Kurtis Blow Net Worth and Salary

• Net Worth: $5 Million
• Salary: Under Review
• Source of Income: Rapper, Singer, Songwriter, Producer, DJ, Public Speaker, and Minister

Kurtis Blow House and Cars

• Place of living: U.S.A.
• Cars: Car Brand to be Updated.

Kurtis Blow Rapper

As the first commercially successful rap artist, Kurtis is a towering figure in hip-hop history. His popularity and charisma helped prove that rap music was something more than a flash-in-the-pan novelty, paving the way for the even greater advances of Grandmaster Flash and Run-D.M.C.

Kurtis was the first rapper to sign with a major label; the first to have a single certified gold (1980’s landmark “The Breaks”); the first to embark on a national concert tour; and the first to cement rap’s mainstream marketability by signing an endorsement deal.

For that matter, he was really the first significant solo rapper on record, and as such he was a natural focal point for many aspiring young MCs in the early days of hip-hop.

For all his immense importance and influence, many of Kurtis’s records haven’t dated all that well; his rapping technique, limber for its time, simply wasn’t as evolved as the more advanced MCs who built upon his style and followed him up the charts.

But at his very best, Kurtis epitomizes the virtues of the old school: ingratiating, strutting party music that captures the exuberance of an art form still in its youth.

Kurtis was in the earliest stages of hip-hop culture in the ’70s first as a breakdancer, then as a block-party and club DJ performing under the name Kool DJ Kurt; after enrolling at CCNY in 1976, he also served as program director for the college radio station.

Kurtis became an MC in his own right around 1977 and changed his name to K Blow at the suggestion of his manager, future Def Jam founder, and rap mogul Russell Simmons. Kurtis performed with legendary DJs like Grandmaster Flash, and for a time his regular DJ was Simmons’ teenage brother Joseph who, after changing his stage name from “Son of K Blow,” would go on to become the first half of Run-D.M.C.

From 1977 to 1978, Kurtis’s club gigs around Harlem and the Bronx made him an underground sensation, and Billboard magazine writer Robert Ford approached Simmons about making a record.

Kurtis cut a song co-written by Ford and financier J.B. Moore called “Christmas Rappin’,” and it helped him get a deal with Mercury once the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” had climbed into the R&B Top Five.

Kurtis’s second single, “The Breaks,” was an out-of-the-box smash, following “Rapper’s Delight” into the Top Five of the R&B chart in 1980 and eventually going gold; it still ranks as one of old school rap’s greatest and most enduring moments.

The full-length album Kurtis Blow was also released in 1980 and made the R&B Top Ten in spite of many assumptions that the Sugarhill Gang’s success was a one-time fluke.

Although the album’s attempts at soul crooning and rock covers haven’t dated well, the poverty-themed “Hard Times” marked perhaps the first instance of hip-hop’s social consciousness, and was later covered by Run-D.M.C.

Blow initially found it hard to follow up “The Breaks,” despite releasing nearly an album a year for most of the ’80s. 1981’s Deuce and 1982’s Tough weren’t huge sellers, and 1983’s Party Time EP brought D.C. go-go funksters E.U. on board for a stylistic update.

Around this time, Kurtis was also making his mark as a producer, working with a variety of hip-hop and R&B artists; most notably, he helmed most of the Fat Boys’ records after helping them get a record deal.

1984’s Ego Trip sold respectably well on the strength of cuts like the DJ tribute “AJ Scratch,” the agreeably lightweight “Basketball,” and the Run-D.M.C.

duet “8 Million Stories.” Blow followed it with an appearance in the cult hip-hop film Krush Groove, in which he performed “If I Ruled the World,” his biggest hit since “The Breaks.” “If I Ruled the World” proved to be the last gasp of Blow’s popularity, as hip-hop’s rapid growth made his style seem increasingly outdated.

1985’s America was largely ignored, and 1986’s Kingdom Blow was afforded an icy reception despite producing a final chart hit, “I’m Chillin’.” Critics savaged his final comeback attempt, 1988’s Back by Popular Demand, almost invariably pointing out that the title, at that point, was not true.

In its wake, Kurtis gave up the ghost of his recording career but found other ways to keep the spirit of the old school alive. In the early ’90s, he contributed rap material to the TV soap opera One Life to Live and later spent several years hosting an old-school hip-hop show on Los Angeles radio station Power 106.

In 1997, Rhino Records took advantage of his status as a hip-hop elder statesman by hiring him to produce, compile, and write liner notes for the three-volume series Kurtis Presents the History of Rap. The same year, he was a significant presence in the rap documentary Rhyme and Reason.

Kurtis’s music has also been revived by younger artists seeking to pay tribute; Nas referenced “If I Ruled the World” in 1996’s It Was Written, and R&B group Next sampled “Christmas Rappin'” for their 1998 smash “Too Close.” In the following decade, Blow founded the Hip Hop Church in New York, became an ordained minister, and recorded religious rap albums with the Trinity.

Kurtis Blow The Breaks

“The Breaks” is a 1980 single by Kurtis from his self-titled debut album. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the first certified gold rap song and the second certified gold 12-inch single in the history of music. In 2008, the song ranked on VH1’s 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs.

Lyrics and structure
“The Breaks” repeats the word “break” (or any of its homophones) eighty-four times over six and a half minutes. It features six breakdowns while there are three definitions for “break,” “to break” or “brakes” used in the lyrics.

Unlike most hip-hop songs that sample prerecorded funk, the funk beat in this song is original (contrary to suggestions that it sampled “Long Train Runnin'” by The Doobie Brothers).

Kurtis Blow Basketball

“Basketball” is a song that was written by William Waring, Robert Ford, Kurtis, J. B. Moore, Jimmy Bralower, and Full Force and recorded by him released in 1984 from his album Ego Trip.

It was later covered by Lil’ Bow Wow in 2002, featuring Jermaine Dupri, Fabolous, and Fundisha for the Like Mike soundtrack. A music video for the original Kurtis version was produced and directed by Michael Oblowitz in New York City in 1984. The song was used in the opening video, and as part of the soundtrack, in the video game NBA 2K12.

In 2016, the song was played during an episode of The Goldbergs entitled “Dungeons and Dragons, Anyone?”. Kurtis Blow also recorded a new version of the song with lyrics about the game Dungeons & Dragons for the episode.

Kurtis Blow Songs

• Kurtis Blow (1980, Mercury)
• Deuce (1981, Mercury)
• Tough (1982, Mercury)
• The Best Rapper on the Scene (1983, Mercury)

• Ego Trip (1984, Mercury)
• America (1985, Mercury)
• Kingdom Blow (1986, Mercury)
• Back by Popular Demand (1988, Mercury)

Other albums

• Kurtis Blow Presents: Hip Hop Ministry (2007, EMI Gospel)
• Just Do It (2008, Krush Groove/Trinity/B4 Ent.) (with The Trinity)
• Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (2009, Krush Groove/Trinity/B4 Ent.) (with The Trinity)
• 30th Anniversary of The Breaks CD (2010, Krush Records)

Compilation albums

• The Breaks (1986, Polygram)
• The Best of Kurtis Blow (1994, Mercury)
• Best of… Rappin’ (2002, Spectrum Music)
• 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Kurtis Blow (2003, Mercury)

Singles and EPs

• “Christmas Rappin'” (1979, Mercury MDS-4009)
• “The Breaks” (1980, Mercury MDS 4010)
• Tough EP (1982, Mercury)
• “Party Time?” (1983, Mercury)

• “Nervous” (1983, Mercury)
• “Ego Trip” (1984, Mercury)
• “Basketball” (1984, Mercury)

• “The Bronx” (1986, Mercury)
• “Back by Popular Demand” (1988, Mercury)
• “Chillin’ at the Spot” (1994, Public Attack)

Kurtis Blow Party Time

Party Time? is an LP by rapper Kurtis, released in 1983 on Mercury Records. The title track and the song “Got to Dance” were both party-themed, but the other songs struck a sociopolitical tone.

Kurtis Blow albums

• 1982 Tough
• 1984 Ego Trip
• 1981 Deuce
• 1985 America

• 1986 Kingdom Blow
• 1983 The Best Rapper on the Scene
• 1983 Party Time

Frequently Asked Questions About Kurtis Blow

Kurtis Blow Contacts

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• Twitter
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• Youtube
• Tiktok
• Website

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