DJ Disco Wiz
DJ Disco Wiz (born Luis Cedeño), was born in the Bronx, New York, USA, to a Puerto Rican father and a mother from Cuba. He is also credited with being the first Latino DJ in Hip-Hop music.
After being inspired at a Kool Herc jam by the emerging hip hop movement taking place in The Bronx DJ Disco Wiz teamed up with his best friend, Casanova Fly (Grandmaster Caz), to form a group called the Mighty Force crew. Mighty Force is credited as being one of the first Hip-Hop DJ crews in the mid-to-late 1970s. Legendary for their DJ battles in the streets of the South Bronx, the Mighty Force crew was also responsible for presenting the first Latino rapper to the world, Prince Whipper Whip, who is also of Puerto Rican decent. DJ Disco Wiz is also credited for being the first DJ to create a "mixed plate" in 1977 (hip-hop's first mixed dub recording) when he and Grandmaster Caz, combined sound bites, special effects and paused beats.
The grandson of the late Puerto Rican artist and Santero Norberto Cedeño, Wiz is the creator of The Hip-Hop Meets Spoken Wordz Series, a hip-hop and poetry performance series that gives a voice to up and coming Latino talent in New York City. As a poet and pioneer DJ, DJ Disco Wiz has performed at the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival, Trinity Hip-Hop Festival, Powerhouse Arena, Tools of War Turntables Series, the Apollo Theater and the landmark Nuyorican Poets Cafe and his poetry can be seen in Joe Conzo's book Born in the Bronx. Wiz is also featured in a few documentaries on Hip-Hop history including the Emmy Nominated Vh1 Rock Doc, ny77 The Coolest year in hell Developed by Nanette Burstein and Firehouse Films for Vh1, "All Out War" and "1Love," a film about the lives of Joe Conzo, Ernie Paniccioli and Jamel Shabazz; hip-hop's early photographers.
Wiz has openly contributed to the community education of the formative years of Hip-Hop. In the millennium issue of The Source magazine he candidly shared his experience in being the first Latino during the culture's evolution. He was also a major contributor in the opening of the Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington in 2000. His contribution and donation of original hip-hop flyers, solely for the preservation of hip-hop can be seen as part of the archives. He was also instrumental in the making of Jim Fricke and Charlie Ahearn's rendition of the early years of hip-hop entitled Yes, Yes Y'all; sharing numerous original flyers and first hand accounts of the early years of hip-hop including an account of the historical New York City blackout of 1977.
He is also a board member of the Universal Federation for the Preservation of Hip Hop Culture, chaired by Afrika Bambaataa of the Universal Zulu Nation. The Federation also includes on its board; Grandmaster Caz, DJ Tony Tone, Kurtis Blow, GrandMaster Melle Mel, KRS-One, Lovebug Starski, Jorge "PopMaster Fabel" Pabon and photographer Joe Conzo.
At present time Wiz is co-authoring his memoirs with Simon & Schuster author Ivan Sanchez. The book is titled, It's Just Begun the Epic Journey of DJ Disco Wiz, Hip-Hop's First Latino DJ. Powerhouse Books Release Date June 2009. He is also the host of the Hip Hop Chronicles on Urban Latino Radio.
