Nutcracker

Flashing back to 1980 is apropos not only because that was the big bang of hiphop, but it also was a special time for Blow, who a year after scoring a hit with breakout single “Christmas Rappin’,” made his Clevelandarea debut.

“I hung out at this club called the Mad Hatter,” Blow said. “It was a night I’ll never forget. What a

hot club — the people, the energy and the vibe of the town.”

At the time, Blow was supporting his follow-up single, “The Breaks,” which went on to sell more than 840,000 copies. As rap’s first gold single, the song — and Blow for that matter — played a pivotal role in spreading this new musical genre called hip-hop.

“When I played Cleveland, audiences were seeing hip-hop for the first time,” Blow said. “I’m out there with the DJ, and

people were like, ‘Where’s your band?’ By the end of the show, everybody is going ‘Ho’ and everybody was screaming.

“It was critical that we were good on stage. I don’t want to toot my own horn, but that was the time where everyone was looking and experiencing and checking out rap. If it wasn’t good, I don’t think it would have continued.”

What followed for Blow was a solid career as one of hip-hop’s early artists, with hits “8 Million Stories,” “AJ,”

“Basketball” and “If I Ruled the World.”

As far as his upcoming visit to Cleveland, Blow said he’s yet to visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, even though he was a part of its hip-hop exhibit a decade ago. However, he’s hoping sooner than later the venue will call his name.

“I’m waiting patiently for my induction,” Blow said. “I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t make it first, but that’s OK. Patience is a virtue and they’ll get it right.”