Keith Caesar obit

Bronx hip-hop trailblazer of the Funky 4 + 1 dies at 64

Keith Caesar, aka "Keith Keith," made history with the Funky 4 + 1 as the first hip-hop crew to perform on Saturday Night Live. They took the stage on Valentine's Day 1981 and were introduced by Debbie Harry.

 

He was not on the list.

Bronx hip-hop trailblazer Keith Caesar, aka "Keith Keith" of the Funky 4 + 1, passed away due to medical complications on Friday, his family says. He was 64.

Caesar made history with the Funky 4 + 1 as the first hip-hop crew to perform on Saturday Night Live. They took the stage on Valentine's Day 1981 and were introduced by Debbie Harry.

The hip-hop pioneer was born on Feb. 15, 1962, and grew up with four siblings.

Caesar was a lifelong Bronx resident and lived at the Frederick Houses in Morris Heights at the time of his passing.

He is survived by his brother, Kevin Caesar, aka "Caesar the Poet."

When Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry hosted Season 6, Episode 10 of SNL in 1981, she invited the Funky Four Plus One to be a second Musical Guest.

“Saturday Night Live I have to say is responsible for a lot of things, but we in turn brought something very special to Saturday Night Live,” Harry said in SNL’s new music documentary. "What might that be? Funky Four!”

“They let us pick our Musical Guest, and we decided on those guys,” Chris Stein, Harry’s bandmate and Blondie co-founder, explained.

“They were so fresh and entertaining,” Harry added. “It seemed like a great idea.”

When Harry introduced the group ahead of their SNL performance in 1981, she described the Funky Four Plus One as “the best street rappers in the country.”

Sha-Rock explained how the group crossed paths with Harry while performing all over the Big Apple. “We were playing in every park in New York City, but we were not just in the South Bronx. We were headed downtown,” she recalled. “The Funky Four was the one that introduced hip-hop to punk rockers. That’s how we wind up running into Debbie Harry.”

Sha-Rock shared in 50 Years of SNL Music that they weren’t able to rehearse, but they crushed their live SNL performance regardless. “There was no pre-performance on anything. They said, ‘Okay, time for y’all to go on,’” she remembered.

DJ Breakout added, “We did it."

Five years after the Funky Four Plus One made rap history on SNL, Run DMC was booked as a Musical Guest on October 18, 1986. In Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music, Darryl McDaniels said they never felt out of place on the SNL stage because the Funky Four Plus One laid the foundation first.

“Saturday Night Live was really some superstar stuff. It was like validation for us that we’re a legit culture. We have just as much right to be accepted as a legitimate form of entertainment as everybody else,” McDaniels said.

“Run-DMC’s greatness in hip-hop is we’re pioneers of recorded rap, but we didn’t create it. We celebrate everybody before," he continued. "I’m very honored to be talking about being on Saturday Night Live only because I know the Funky Four did it first.”