Great news! Hip-hop icon Kurtis Blow is on the road to recovery following a successful heart transplant on December 5.
“We give all glory to God for the perfect heart and transplant,” his wife said to the Washington Informer. “He is out of surgery. Keep the prayers and praises up. God does all things well,” she added. Hopefully, this most recent surgery will help keep him in good health following his massive heart attack four years ago.
In late 2016, Blow (born Kurtis Walker) was arguing with his son in Los Angeles when officers were called to the scene. As the authorities spoke with the father and son, Blow collapsed and needed to be revived more than once. “I was holding his head, making sure he was stable, making sure his airway was open,” one officer said to ABC7. The trio of officers worked to keep him alive, with one performing CPR. Blow was rushed to the hospital and later said, “”They got there so fast. If they got there any later, I would have died.”
Another Hip-hop pioneer, Van Silk, spoke out about Blow’s condition, telling HipHopDX “Kurtis is doing great. The tubes have been removed and he’s breathing on his own. AMAZING GRACE. He is very happy.” He noted that although Blow is on pain medication, he is still doing extremely well. “Overall, everything is as expected other than he looks better than he apparently should. Everyone that has come commented on how well he looks.”
Blow shot to superstardom as a forefather of hip-hop during the genre’s early days. In 1979, he made history as he became the first rapper to be signed to a major label. His first two singles “Christmas Rappin'” and “The Breaks” sold 400,000 and just over 500,000, respectively. The latter was the first rap single to go gold.
We are sending love to Kurtis and his family as he heals.