What’s ‘The Get Down’? A Guide To The Hip Hop World Of Netflix’s Latest Show

If you were wondering what precisely Netflix’s new show The Get Down was about, you’d have to wait one hour, fourteen minutes, and approximately thirty-one seconds into the pilot for the following exchange:

Ezekiel: “What’s The Get Down?”

Shaolin Fantastic: “You don’t know what the f*cking Get Down is? You’re a natural and you don’t know who Grandmaster Flash is? Oh shit. Alright, punks, y’all want to go to the flyest underground party in the entire Bronx? You follow me.”

Based on that, you might think “The Get Down” is the name of the electric party where Grandmaster Flash holds court, emcees are discovered, and boys and girls are inventing break-dancing and grinding. (And it sort of, in spirit, is.) However, that’s not really what “The Get Down” is. Here’s a quick breakdown to help you plow through Netflix’s adventurous new show. [Here is our Who’s Who Guide]

So what is “The Get Down”?

“The get down” is actually what legendary hip hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash called his system to manually take a drum break on a record and seamlessly repeat it on its own for long periods of time. This revolutionized the way DJs played records and set the stage for another performer to rap on top of the loop, thereby creating the essential hip hop sound that sounds completely normal to us today.

Who’s Grandmaster Flash?

Grandmaster Flash, born Joseph Saddler, is one of the pioneers of hip hop. When he was a teenager living in the Bronx, he became obsessed not only with DJing, an emerging art form, but with figuring out how to manipulate DJ equipment on a technological level. Through experimentation, he mastered a variety of techniques that would change how music is made.

So he’s a real person?

Yes.

And he’s a character on The Get Down?

Yes. Grandmaster Flash is played by Mamoudou Athie. (Grandmaster Flash is also a producer and consultant on The Get Down.)

Are all the characters on The Get Down based on real people?

No.

The kids keep talking about Misty Holloway. I’ve heard of Donna Summer, but I’ve never heard of her. Was she a big disco diva, too? Did she just fade into obscurity?

Nope. Misty Holloway is a fictional character invented for The Get Down.

Okay. Circling back to the show — what’s a wordsmith?

Heh. Well, a “wordsmith” is a poetic term for rapper or MC (or “Master of Ceremonies”). This is the performer who recites rhymes over the DJ’s music for the enjoyment of the crowd. You know, a rapper.

In The Get Down, Shaolin Fantastic wants to learn how to be a great DJ, but Grandmaster Flash warns him that he needs a “wordsmith.” Ezekiel (aka “Books”) is a preternaturally talented poet with the talent to become a rap king.

What are the other kids in the group there for? There’s a bunch of them, right?

Right, so together they want to form Voltron, an unstoppable collective that combines the traditional four pillars of hip hop: MCing, DJing, B-boying, and graffiti art. (B-boying is break-dancing.)

So that guy in the beginning narrating everything… That’s grown up Ezekiel, right?

Yes, and the adult Books is played by Hamilton star Daveed Diggs, who won a Tony for his dual performances as Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the show.

Whoa. He didn’t sound like Lafayette to me in The Get Down.

Well, that’s not Daveed Diggs rapping. That’s Nas. Nas is also a producer and consultant on the show and helped write the original raps you’ll hear.

Hmm…that seems like that would suck for Daveed Diggs, though. He’s just lip-synching Nas.

Sure, but as Nas so eloquently put it himself, “Life’s a b*tch and then you die.”

Anything else I need to know?

The show goes into the finer points of hip hop’s evolution, so you may as well just kick back and watch it.

[Watch The Get Down on Netflix]

[Photo: Netflix]