Keef Cowboy
Keith Wiggins or Robert Keith Wiggins, known by his stage name Keef Cowboy and Cowboy was an American hip hop recording artist and a member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.Life and career
Wiggins was first recruited to the Furious Five by his friend Grandmaster Flash in 1978. He was a dancer and hype man for the band, and was a pioneer in the use of the call and response style to communicate with the audience. In 1983 he left the group and joined Melle Mel, with whom he recorded the single White Lines, followed by the album Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five in 1985.
He has been credited with coining the term "hip hop" in 1978 while teasing a friend who had just joined the US Army. He did so by scat singing the made-up words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of marching soldiers. Cowboy later worked the "hip hop" cadence into his stage performance.
He was addicted to cocaine in the last two years of his life and died of a drug overdose in 1989.Album discography
Partially based on:
