The grandson of the late Puerto Rican artist and Santero Norberto Cedeño; (
La Mano Poderosa, 1950), Wiz is the creator of "The Hip-Hop Meets Spoken Wordz" series, a
hip hop and
poetry performance series that gives a voice to up-and-coming Latino talent in
New York City. As a poet, DJ Disco Wiz has performed at the
Apollo Theater and the landmark
Nuyorican Poets Cafe and his poetry can be seen in the upcoming book
Born in the Bronx. Wiz also appears in a few
documentaries on hip-hop history including
1 LOVE, a film produced by noted hip-hop historian
James "Koe" Rodriguez about the lives of
Joe Conzo,
Ernie Paniccioli, and
Jamel Shabazz—hip-hop's first photographers. Wiz has openly contributed to the community education about the formative years of hip-hop. In the millennium issue of
The Source Magazine he candidly shared his experience in being the first Latino DJ during the culture's evolution. He was also a major contributor in the opening of the
Experience Music Project in
Seattle, Washington in 2000. His contribution and donation of original hip-hop flyers, solely for the preservation of hip-hop can be seen as part of the archives. He was also instrumental in the making of Jim Fricke and Charlie Ahearn's rendition of the early years of hip-hop entitled
Yes, Yes Y’all; sharing numerous original flyers and first-hand accounts of the early years of hip-hop including an account of the historical
New York City blackout of 1977. He is also a board member of the Universal Federation for the Preservation of Hip Hop Culture, chaired by
Afrika Bambaataa of the
Universal Zulu Nation. The Federation also includes on its board;
Grandmaster Caz,
DJ Tony Tone,
Kurtis Blow, GrandMaster
Melle Mel,
KRS-One,
Lovebug Starski,
Jorge “PopMaster Fabel” Pabon, and photographer Joe Conzo. Wiz co-authored his memoirs with
Simon & Schuster author Ivan Sanchez. The book is titled
It’s Just Begun: The Epic Journey of DJ Disco Wiz, Hip-Hop’s First Latino DJ. The book was released on the Miss Rosen imprint of
powerHouse Books in 2009. == Television ==