Before there was Kool Keith, Old Dirty Bastard or 2 Live Crew – before there was hip hop, for that matter – there was Blowfly, performing X-rated songs with a funky groove. Born 73 years ago in Vienna, Georgia, Miami’s Clarence Reid has recorded more than 40 albums during his illustrious career. He got his nickname as a child when his grandmother, after hearing him sing dirty versions of then popular songs – like “Suck My Dick” for “Do The Twist” – proclaimed, “You is nastier than a blowfly.”
In reality, there’s a split personality involved in this man’s music: there’s Blowfly, the outrageously garbed creator of trash classics such as “Shittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” and “Porno Freak,” and then there’s Clarence Reid, who recorded dozens of records and penned hits for the likes of K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Gwen McRae, Betty Wright, and Sam and Dave while inventing the famed “Miami Sound.”
Many people cite Blowfly as being the first rapper with his 1965 self-pressed “Rap Dirty” record, which was re-recorded for disco giants T.K. Records after the smash success of Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight.” Blowfly himself credits the “soul talking” Southern radio DJs of the ’50s and ’60s as the pioneers of rap, but he is without dispute the first rapper to have a song banned, after an Pineville, Louisiana record store was busted for peddling “Blowfly’s Party” in 1981. Blowfly was also sued by the President of ASCAP for his “What a Difference a Lay Makes.” (The music publishing honcho also happened to be the composer of the popular “What a Difference a Day Makes.”)
Blowfly’s sounds are a staple of modern-day hip hop. His music has been sampled by many rappers, including Beyonce (“Upgrade You”), The Game feat/ Drake (Good Girls Go Bad), The Jurassic 5,( “Quality Control”) Ice Cube (What Can I do), DMX (We In Here), Method Man & Redman (Cereal Killers) Puff Daddy, and dozens more.
