DJ Charlie Chase

DJ Charlie Chase, born Carlos Mandes, was the first Latino DJ who played a key role in establishing latinos as a contributing force in the Bronx, New York hip-hop culture. Hitting the Hip-Hop scene in 1975. Charlie Chase was a founding member of the Cold Crush Brothers along with Dj Tony Tone. The groups other members are Grandmaster Caz, JDL, EZ AD and Almighty Kay Gee. Charlie Chase and Tony were also responsible in forming the first ever MC convention in Hip Hop history in 1980.

Chase was born in Manhattan in 1959 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 at the age of 14 representing a variety of musical styles. Chase produced his first album at the age of 16. In the 1970s, Chase DJ'd for WBLS along side the legendary Funkmaster Flex. 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 Pioneer 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. 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 DJs to receive this honour are the late Jam Master Jay, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Grandmaster Flash.

Footnotes

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

Funk master Flex did not work for wbls in the 70's. He started at Kiss fm in the 80's working for DJ Chuck Chillout

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Name	Chase, Dj Charlie
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Date of birth	1959
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