After seeing Kool Herc play at a party in the Bronx in 1974, Fisher decided to become a DJ, and purchase the necessary equipment the next day. As "Grandmaster Caz", he teamed up with his best friend, DJ Disco Wiz (Luis Cedeno). He later would team up with JDL (Jerry Dee Lewis) and form The Notorious Two. Caz began incorporating rhymes with his DJing and become known as the first DJ to do so. In 1978 he formed a group called the Mighty Force with Whipper Whip (James Whipper) and Dot-A-Rock (Darryl Mason). In 1979, DJ Charlie Chase (Carlos Mandes) from The Cold Crush Brothers asked Caz to help audition MCs for his group which was really a way for Charlie Chase to trick Caz into joining the Cold Crush Brothers. JDL, Whipper Whip, and Dot-A-Rock were also part of The Cold Crush Brothers before Whipper Whip and Dot-A-Rock left to join The Fantastic Five.
The Cold Crush Brothers began building a reputation in the burgeoning hip hop scene in New York, mostly for Caz’s routines and lyrical ability. Around this time, record mogul Joe Robinson, husband of Sylvia Robinson, and, along with his wife, co-founder of Sugar Hill Records, happened to hear part-time club bouncer and manager of the Cold Crush Brothers, Big Bank Hank (Henry Jackson) rapping to a tape of Grandmaster Caz while working at a pizzeria. She asked him be the third member of a group that she was putting together called the Sugar Hill Gang. Hank accepted and, since he wasn’t an MC himself, he borrowed a book of rhymes from Grandmaster Caz. Caz figured that if Hank was picked up by a record label, then he would help Caz and the Cold Crush get a contract in turn.
Hank would use Caz’s lyrics in the song "Rapper’s Delight" which would become a huge hit in 1979 and is the first hip hop single to land on the top 40 charts. This was also the first time the term rapper was used to describe a person who is rhyming to music on the mic, such people had been known only as MC on the hip hop scene at the time. Caz would never receive any credit or compensation for the rhymes that he contributed.
In 1982, The Cold Crush Brothers were featured in the movie Wild Style and would also be on the soundtrack with Grandmaster Caz doing the movie theme song. As captain of the Cold Crush Bros., Caz led the crew to new heights. Together the crew fostered a style and sound that has inspired many of today most famous MCs, including KRS-1, Will Smith, Big Daddy Kane and Slick Rick.
Caz also enjoyed a solo career. He released several songs on the Tuff City label. His writing abilities made him a much sought after lyricist. He has collaborated with many artists, including: Biz Markie, Doug E. Fresh, and KRS-1 among others.
In 1998, Caz was listed #11 out of Blaze Magazine’s Top 50 MCs of all Time. In an interview for NY’s Video Explosion, Caz explained, ‘I MC with the mind of a DJ and I DJ with the mind of an MC and B-Boy. I feel the essence of Hip Hop. It is what I do. It is who I am.’
Caz was inducted into the Technics DJ Hall of Fame in 1999. He was also invited to serve as an panelist and perform at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s Hip Hop Conference in 1999. In the following year, when the exhibit traveled to the Brooklyn Museum of Art, he taught the MC Master Class as well as represented on one of the the panels.
Caz continues to rock parties both on the mic as well as the turntables as well as host events worldwide.
