DJ Charlie Chase

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DJ Charlie Chase, born Carlos Mandes, was a early Latino DJ who played a key role in the Bronx, New York hip-hop culture. Hitting the Hip-Hop scene a few years after the first Latino Hip-Hop DJ, DJ Disco Wiz,[1][2][3] Charlie Chase was a founding memeber of the Cold Crush Brothers which included two members of DJ Disco Wiz's group The Mighty Force; Grandmaster Caz (Casanova Fly) and J.D.L.

Chase was born in El Barrio in the 1950s to Puerto Rican-born parents. Chase's family moved often and lived in many different New York City neighbourhoods which were primarily Puerto Rican or Black. Chase began playing music as a bassist in bands representing a variety of musical styles. Chase produced his first album at the age of 16. In the 1970s, Chase DJ'd for WBLS.[4] Chase received criticism from both Blacks and Hispanics for playing hip-hop music because at the time it was believed to be a genre reserved for Blacks. However, Charlie Chase's talent outweighed racial differences. He fused hip-hop with salsa, among other music genres, in order to create a sound that was uniquely his. In the early 1980s, Chase was the DJ for the legendary New York hip-hop group The Cold Crush Brothers. Chase proved himself as an accomplished member of the hip-hop scene by being in The Cold Crush Brothers, the first rap group to be signed by CBS Records, and also the first to go on tour in Japan.[5] In 1981, Chase got his first movie role. He played himself in the film Wild Style, the first hip-hop movie ever made. In the film, he had a small speaking part and he performed with his rap group. The popular cult movie granted him widespread exposure and allowed him to tour all over the world. Charlie Chase was inducted into the Technics DMC DJ Hall of Fame in 2003. Other DJ's to receive this honour are the late Jam Master Jay, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Grandmaster Flash.[6]


[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Welcome to The Originators® - "Honoring the Early DJs, MCs, Writers, and B-Boys of Hip-Hop."
  2. ^ Hip-Hop: Now and Then - Timeline
  3. ^ DJDiscoWiz | Sí TV
  4. ^ Flores, page 71
  5. ^ Flores, page 74
  6. ^ DJ Charlie Chase at MySpace

[edit] Sources

  • Flores, Juan, "Puerto Rocks," in That's the Joint! The Hip-Hop Studies Reader, page 71, eds. Murray Foreman and Mark Anthony Neal (New York: Rutledge, 2004)
  • Latin Rap