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Leather Boots Worn by The Kidd Creole of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Leather Boots Worn by The Kidd Creole of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five

Leather Boots Worn by The Kidd Creole of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five

Performing artist The Kidd Creole
Associated name Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Datec. 1984
Mediumleather
DimensionsOverall (HWD): 13 × 6 × 10 in. (33.02 × 15.24 × 25.4 cm)
Credit LineMoPOP permanent collection
Object number1998.805.4.A-.B
Text Entries

These boots were formerly owned by The Kidd Creole, a member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Like other early Hip-Hop groups, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five had elaborate stage costumes highlighted by flashy custom-made leathers, rhinestones, furs, and tassels. The group’s onstage dress reflected the glam/funk/sci-fi fashions that were popularized in the 1970s by funk musicians Rick James and George Clinton.  

Kidd Creole was one of Grandmaster Flash and The Furious 5’s original three MCs, along with Melle Mel and Keef Cowboy. Grandmaster Flash and The Furious 5 expanded the culture of Hip-Hop across the globe with their rapping and DJing skills. Making their debut as a group that performed for local parties in the Bronx then the world, the Furious 5 included Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Saddler, b. 1958), Melle Mel (Melvin Glover, b.1961), his brother The Kidd Creole (Nathaniel Glover, b.1960), Keef Cowboy (Robert Keith Wiggins, b. 1960-1989), Mr. Ness a.k.a. Scorpio (Eddie Morris, b. 1960) and Rahiem (Guy Williams, b.1963) from the Funky 4+1 more. 

The group is widely regarded as one of the greatest Hip-Hop groups of all time and inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 as the first Hip-Hop group to be inducted. With hits like, “Freedom”, “Birthday Party” and “The Message”, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five stood out as a unique group due to their ability to finish each other’s rhymes, mixing melodies and harmonies while also being able to keep the crowd hyped and engaged.

tan colored suede boots
CopyrightThis work is issued under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) License. For more information, go to https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
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"Creole" Leather Jacket Worn by The Kidd Creole
The Kidd Creole
Date: c. 1984
Medium: leather
Object number: 1998.805.1
"Creole" Leather Pants Worn by The Kidd Creole
The Kidd Creole
Date: c. 1984
Medium: leather
Object number: 1998.805.2
Leather Cummerbund Worn by The Kidd Creole
The Kidd Creole
Date: 1978-1988
Medium: leather
Object number: 1998.805.3
Jacket Worn by Scorpio of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Scorpio
Date: c. 1984
Medium: leather
Object number: 1998.827.83
Boots: Formerly worn by Paul Stanley of Kiss
KISS
Date: 1996
Object number: 2000.339.10.1.A,.B
Stage Jacket Formerly Owned by Scorpio of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Scorpio
Date: c.1985
Medium: leather
Object number: 2002.472.1a
Stage Trousers Formerly Owned by Scorpio of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Scorpio
Date: c. 1985
Medium: leather
Object number: 2002.472.1b
Kid Creole, Mele Mel, Keith Keith and Mr. Ness at The Renaissance, Saturday, January 6
The Kidd Creole
Date: 1979
Medium: ink; paper (fiber product)
Object number: 2002.396.35
Leather jacket: formerly owned by Kurtis Blow
Kurtis Blow
Date: c. 1985
Medium: leather
Object number: 1999.221.1,.2