Robert Keith Wiggins (September 20, 1960 – September 8, 1989), known by his stage names Keef Cowboy and Cowboy was an American rapper and a member of

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. The group's members were Grandmaster Flash, Kidd Creole (not to be confused with Kid Creole), Keef Cowboy, ...

. He is widely credited as having invented the term "hip hop".

Life and career

Wiggins was first recruited to MC for his friend

Grandmaster Flash Joseph Robert Saddler (born January 1, 1958), known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is a Barbadian-American musician and DJ. He created a DJ technique called the Quick Mix Theory. This technique serviced the break-dancer and the rapper by el ...

(then DJ Flash) by 1977. He was a dancer and

hype man A hype man, typically in hip hop music, is a backing vocalist who supports the primary performer with exclamations, interjections, or ad-libs in an attempt to increase an audience's excitement or engagement. Origins Early hype men included Keef C ...

for the band, and was a pioneer in the use of the call and response style to communicate with the audience. In 1983, he left the group and joined

Melle Mel Melvin Glover (born May 15, 1961), better known by his stage name Grandmaster Melle Mel or simply Melle Mel (), is an American rapper who was the lead vocalist and songwriter of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Career Glover began per ...

, with whom he recorded the single " White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)", followed by the album '' Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five'' in 1985. He has been credited with coining the term "hip hop" in 1978 while teasing a friend who had just joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He did so by scat singing the made-up words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of marching soldiers. Cowboy later worked the "hip hop" cadence into his stage performance. He was addicted to cocaine in the last two years of his life and died of a drug overdose in 1989. He is mentioned in the 1998 song "In Memory Of…" by Gang Starr, which references multiple hip hop figures who have died.

Album discography

Partially based on: *Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – '' The Message'' (1982) *Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – '' Greatest Messages'' (1983) *Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five – '' Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five'' (1985) *Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – '' On the Strength'' (1988)

References

External links

* 1960 births 1989 deaths African-American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers Cocaine-related deaths in New York (state) East Coast hip-hop musicians Grammy Award winners Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five members Rappers from the Bronx 20th-century American rappers 20th-century African-American musicians People from Morrisania, Bronx {{US-rapper-stub