Biography
The six-man Crash Crew laid down several enduring old school anthems, among them “High Powered Rap,” which appeared prior to Grandmaster Flash’s own chart breakthrough with the identical track, retitled “Freedom.” Harlem’s Lincoln Projects served as home base for the collective, assembled from high-school friends E.K. Mike C, Reggie Reg (Reginald Payne), La Shubee, Barry Bistro, G-Man, and DJ Darryl C (Darryl Calloway). Starting roughly in 1977, performances at neighborhood block parties and Harlem’s Club 197 sharpened their live skills, while E.K. Mike C’s studio link allowed the group to enter a recording facility well ahead of most contemporaries. Drawing directly from the funk instrumental “Get up and Dance” by Freedom, they cut a brief demo titled “High Powered Rap” and peddled the self-released single directly to audiences at their shows. Whether Sugar Hill derived the concept for a fresh version from Crash Crew’s recording or from another source remains undocumented, yet the first national hit for Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five arrived in 1980 with “Freedom,” built on the same foundation; issued as the act’s debut single for the label, it climbed the R&B charts, proved markedly stronger than the Crash Crew original, and generated lasting friction between the two outfits.
Crash Crew themselves soon joined the Sugar Hill roster, releasing multiple tracks that included the old school standards “We Are Known as Emcee's (We Turn Parties Out)” and “Breakin' Bells (Take Me to the Mardi Gras).” Despite fielding five rappers, the group never ranked among the era’s more skilled lyricists; instead they specialized in energetic party cuts built around repetitive choruses rather than extended rhymes. The act faded from view shortly afterward, and none of its members pursued further careers in music. Sequel assembled the surviving material on the 2000 anthology We Are Emcees.
Crash Crew themselves soon joined the Sugar Hill roster, releasing multiple tracks that included the old school standards “We Are Known as Emcee's (We Turn Parties Out)” and “Breakin' Bells (Take Me to the Mardi Gras).” Despite fielding five rappers, the group never ranked among the era’s more skilled lyricists; instead they specialized in energetic party cuts built around repetitive choruses rather than extended rhymes. The act faded from view shortly afterward, and none of its members pursued further careers in music. Sequel assembled the surviving material on the 2000 anthology We Are Emcees.
Albums
