Kurtis Blow

Adrian Wright
Psychology Homework

Rapper and producer, born Kurtis Walker on August 9, 1959 in Harlem, New York. Blow got his first practice as a DJ in grade school, mingling with guests at his mother’s parties to take their music requests. By the time he was thirteen he had a fake ID and was sneaking in to New York City clubs to hear DJs spin, their tracks. In 1975, Kurtis Blow Enrolled in Harlem’s High School of Music and Arts, but was kicked out for selling marijuana. He transferred to another high school, where he was caught selling PCP. Recognizing Blow’s intelligence, the dean gave Blow the chance to test for his General Equivalency Degree as an alternative to expulsion. Blow passed, and went on to study at New York City College. In 1979, Kurtis Blow signed a deal with Mercury Records, making him the first rapper signed by a major record label. His first album sold more than four hundred thousand copies. At this point in his life I believe that Kurtis was at the Industry verses Inferior stage. I think that he had been successful at mastering all the earlier stages. He had become extremely independant and developed the essential skills necessary to survive in Harlem at a very early age. He may have been selling the wrong things, but he had already learned that he needed to something to survive. The fact that his mother let him DJ parties while in grade school tells me that she was an open minded mother who gave her child the freedom to do what he liked to do. It’s a good thing too, if she had been overbearing and stifled his creativity, we might have missed out on the whole genre of music. In previous stages, he had to come out on the healthy side of them. To be able to be thirteen and pass yourself off for at least eighteen, he had to be confident and be able to hold your bearing in certain situations not to be considered a child. During his earlier stages he probably recognized that without money he would have very hard time doing the things that he wanted to do. Therefore, he had to find some way to make money so that he could do some of the things that he wanted to do. What I see is that he did the thing that most inner city males do, turn to the easy money. It’s a good thing that his school dean noticed his potential and let him get his GED, or there’s no telling what would have happened to him.