Interview with DJ T-Rock (The Music Masters)



                                                            

DJ T-Rock (The Music Masters)

                                       

                                      conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)

SIR NORIN RAD: "From which part of the Boogie Down Bronx are you originally?"

DJ T-ROCK: "I was born and raised in the South Bronx and I moved up to the North Bronx to an area we call Edenwald Projects."

SIR NORIN RAD:" When and how did you run into the TNT Disco Crew? I think you once told me that their DJ Gary G used to live in your building...."

DJ T-ROCK:"TNT originally stood for Tony O'Gara and Tommy Crommel ......that was TNT! Before Gary G they had also had a DJ called Timmy Tim (not to be confused with the legendary B-Boy/DJ Timmy Tim from The Herculords)....."

SIR NORIN RAD:"as well as DJ Shevy Shev, right?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Right! Correct!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"And you told me that Gary G started out as their record boy while you were in charge of moving their equipment. How did that come about?" 

DJ T-ROCK:"I used to hang out with them. After a while I used to help carrying their equipment back and forth to the parks where they were doing all these different jams. Tommy lived across the street from me, Gary lived underneath." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you recall which year that was when you started carrying equipment for TNT Disco?"

DJ T-ROCK:"With TNT? That had to be about maybe 1975, 1976."

SIR NORIN RAD:"TNT Disco started out as a Disco Crew and then later on they transitioned into Hip Hop, right?" 

DJ T-ROCK:"Correct. Tony and Tommy were DJing at that time, that's when Disco was the only thing out. Right, and then when Hip Hop started coming in it was  DJ Timmy Tim and DJ Shevie Shev."

SIR NORIN RAD:"So what made you pick up DJing?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Well, it was my role with the equipment when I was hanging out with TNT Disco. I had spent so much around it that I became interested in it but they didn't want to take a chance on me. So that's when I got down with Continental Disco with DJ Love Squigg."

SIR NORIN RAD:"So TNT Disco wouldn't let you get on their turntables?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Right! My very first time on the turntables...it was very funny...we went to do an all girl's college party in Upstate New York and Gary (DJ Gary G from TNT Disco) had went off somewhere for a brief moment and the record was ending and I went and put on another record and I think I played about two or three records . So they let me stay on for about two or three records."

SIR NORIN RAD:"What was your relationship with DJ Garry G like?"

DJ T-ROCK:"As I said he lived in my building.. we all grew up together. Everybody in the building we all grew up together. His little sister and my little sister were best friends. We all knew each other."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you attend the same high school?"

DJ T-ROCK:"No. Actually, I went to two all male high schools. I first went to Samuel Gompers High School in the South Bronx. Then I transfered in 1978 to DeWitt Clinton High School. That's where I met DJ Love Squigg. "

SIR NORIN RAD:"So you had the caught the bug after DJing at that all girl's college party for a brief moment. What was your next step then towards becoming a DJ yourself? Did you ask TNT Disco to let you rock on their soundsystem?" 

DJ T-ROCK:"I did. I would talk to Tommy because by that time Tony had left the group but...I don't know..... Tommy never took me serious about anything more than just carrying equipment."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Ok, so you would go on to join Continental Disco with DJ Love Squigg. How did that happen?"

DJ T-ROCK:"We were both in the health service program at DeWitt Clinton. Me and him became good friends. Me, him and a guy named Tony Tee. Originally, I wanted my name to be DJ Tony Tee but the other DJ in Continental Disco was called Tony Tee so that name was already taken." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"So is it correct to say that they took you under their wings in terms of DJing?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Squigg and Tony actually gave me an opportunity to get on the turntables because we would always go over to either Tony's house or to Love Squigg's house to rehearse and practice. Everybody had parts of the set...like I had the receivers, Squigg had turntables, Tony had the mixer......so everybody came together to make a set."

SIR NORIN RAD:"I see. Were Love Squigg and Tony Tee already DJing by that time?"

DJ T-ROCK:"I think the group was just forming."

SIR NORIN RAD:"When did Continental Disco form? Was that around 1978/79?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Correct."  

SIR NORIN RAD:"Did that crew also have any MCs?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Let me see...we had Lady D. Her name was Dianne. We also had two male MCs, I can't remember their names though."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you recall where Continental Disco used to perform at? Like which parks, schoolyards etc."

DJ T-ROCK:"We performed in a little park which was right across the street  from my house."

SIR NORIN RAD:"In Edenwald Projects?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Right. It was funny because we performed maybe two or three times there and every time that we came out the housing cop officer Selaski harassed us. He would give us a ticket for unnecessary noise.  The president of the block association Mrs. Johnson would be very pissed with him because as she would tell him,"These kids ain't causing any trouble so why are you messing with them? Leave those kids alone they ain't hurting nobody. They could be doing worse." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"So you're saying that you only performed together for about three times?"

DJ T-ROCK:"With Continental Disco? Yeah!" 

SIR NORIN RAD:"Why did you leave Continental Disco?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Well, at that time Love Squigg started to get really involved with Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation had a bad reputation at that time. A lot of fights and stuff and I didn't want to be a part of that."

SIR NORIN RAD:"From what I have heard DJ Love Squigg would also go on to form the City Boy Crew (C.B. Crew) along with DJ Turtle Dove and DJ Smokey's former right hand man DJ Rob The Gold. Their MCs were known as The Devastating Four with Tricky Tee, Malibu (RIP) and them...."

DJ T-ROCK:"Right. They also went up to Mount Vernon."

SIR NORIN RAD:"So after Love Squigg had joined the Zulu Nation you formed your own crew...The Music Masters."

DJ T-ROCK:"Right, I formed my own crew. That's when I had met our MC Kay Jay. It was me and Kay Jay when we first started. Like I said we all met together in the health service program and through conversations we got together and decided this is what we are going to do."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Had Kay Jay performed as a MC before he hooked up with you?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Yeah!  He was with a crew named Kaos Crew before."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Where was he from? Was he from Edenwald as well?"

DJ T-ROCK:"No. Actually he lived across White Plains Road. He was about maybe eight blocks away from me. He was up in the same area but he was like eight blocks away from me." 

Kay Jay (The Music Masters / The Master Four MCs)

SIR NORIN RAD:"Now what's interesting about the Music Masters Crew is the fact that you were not only very active in the North East Bronx but also in Throggs Neck which is located in the South East Bronx. How did that come about?"

DJ T-Rock:"I had a lot of family in Throggs Neck like my other DJ Bo Rock....he lived in Throggs Neck. I had my godbrother and my godmother..they lived in Throggs Neck. I spent a lot of time between Throggs Neck and Edenwald. So at the time I formed the Music Masters Bo was living with me and my moms. We would be practicing DJing together. I knew everybody up in Throggs Neck 'cause I'd spent so many years there."   

                                       

DJ Bo Rock (The Music Masters)

SIR NORIN RAD:"Alright, so the Music Masters started with you and Kay Jay and then you also added DJ Bo Rock to your crew's roster. Judging from the many flyers featuring The Music Masters you also had a DJ called DJ Steel, correct?"

DJ T-ROCK:"That is correct. Steele came through one of my other MCs named Steve Steve. Steve lived in Castle Hill and I think Steve and Steele were related or they knew each other cause they lived in the same area. Any MC that wanted to get down with the crew had to audition with Kay Jay first before they even came to me. He had to listen to them first and if he wasn't satisfied with them they wouldn't make the crew."

SIR NORIN RAD:"So Kay Jay was the leader of the MC section of the Music Masters?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Yes, he was the captain." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"Who were the other MCs of your crew?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Our MCs were called The Master Four. Kay Jay was our hype man. He was also our ladies man. He was the crooner. Then I also had Steve Steve,  Krazy Ace and Texas Dee."

SIR NORIN RAD:"In an interview with the legendary Brothers Disco DJs Breakout and Baron which was conducted by the great Hip Hop historian Troy L. Smith I read that their styles differed in terms of the type of beats that they used to play at the jams...."

DJ T-ROCK:"Right. Baron was the DJ for the MCs (The Funky Four)...he did all the routines, he did all the Disco....he was the one that everybody was able to dance to.  Breakout was a certified B-Boy DJ! He played the fast B-Boy Breaks."

SIR NORIN RAD:"I see. Now within the DJ section of your crew the Music Masters, who was in charge of what in terms of beats?"

DJ T-ROCK:"My own style...I was more of a Baron type of DJ. I really liked the way Baron did his thing. I was a blender, I was a mixer. Bo Rock was the same way. Steele was like a Breakout type of DJ. He liked the B-Boy fast breaks and stuff like that. That was his thing." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"Ok, and who was in charge of rocking the beats for your MCs?"

DJ T-ROCK:"That was me."

SIR NORIN RAD:"How many crates of records did your crew have back then?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Well, we were short-lived. We played from about 1979 to 1982. So at that time we had about maybe eight crates."

SIR NORIN RAD:"That's still quite a lot!"

DJ T-ROCK:"Yeah, 'cause I had started collecting records from when I first caught the bug....when I lived downtown listening to Herc and them. I started collecting in 1976." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"So which DJ had the most beats out of your whole crew?"

DJ T-ROCK:"I would say that will have to be me because me and Bo lived together..we lived in the same house. Steel brought his crates of records. Everybody carried the crates of whatever records they wanted to play. I had a mixture of different beats. I also had some B-Boy breaks because like I said we had already formed before DJ Steele came on board. "

SIR NORIN RAD:"Which method did you use in order to acquire new beats?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Well, that's interesting (chuckles). I guess I followed the same philosophy like every other DJ..You know, you go to a jam, you listen to a song, next thing you know you are running downtown to Downstairs Records trying to find that beat because back then every DJ had the labels of his records blacked out."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you! What were the responsibilities of a record boy back then? Why was it even necessary to have a record boy?"

DJ T-ROCK:"You know that's a very good question.The record boy is the unsung hero of every crew! And the reason why I'm saying that is because the DJ is playing the record but it is the record boy who passes the records to the DJ and who establishes the order of records that the DJ plays. If that record boy passes him a bad record that will throw everybody's timing off! But the record boy never got the credit that he deserves."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Ok, but was it really the record boy who decided which record would be played next or did he merely follow the orders of the DJ? Or was it something of both?"

DJ T-ROCK:"They would work together. What the record boy would do is he would pull those records up and have them ready so he could just go ahead and pass them to the DJ. He kinda knew what record the DJ would play after which record."

SIR NORIN RAD:"So I guess the record boy was also present at those DJ practice sessions that took place in the DJs crib?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Yeah!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"Did your crew have a record boy?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Well, with my crew......Me and Bo Rock...we knew each other's styles, we knew each other's preferences, we knew which records to have ready for each other. Now one thing that a DJ has to keep in mind is that while he is playing a record he should not turn around trying to find the next record because you'll be late on the mix and that throws the crowd off. So that's why that record boy is crucial to hand the DJ in that record at the right time. And then after the DJ takes off the record he puts it to the side and it is the record boy's responsibility to put it back into the album sleeve and getting it put away." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"What about DJ Steel? How did he fit in into your practice sessions?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Being that he was the B-Boy DJ he practiced a lot on his own. He lived for himself. What he would do is he would have the records that he was going to play...he would have them partially pulled up inside the crate so that he could get to them quickly or he would have them lined up right behind each other so someone could pass them to him."

 

May 9th, 1980: The Music Masters are rocking at Throggs Neck Community Center

SIR NORIN RAD:"How did you coordinate your crew's activities? I mean it seems to me that it must have been a rather difficult task since you had members from all over the Boogie Down Bronx.... like from Edenwald, Castle Hill, Throggs Neck and there was no internet, no cell phones." 
 
DJ T-ROCK:"Well, how we did it was...... the DJs packed up the equipment and also unloaded the equipment, the MCs showed up to the event. At the end of the event the MCs helped us to  load the equipment back into the van. We also had a manager called Warren Taylor who had all of the equipment."


SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did you get that van from to move all that equipment around?"


DJ T-ROCK:"We hired somebody. It would cost us like 25$ and the guy would take the equipment there and we'd tell him about what time that we wanted to come back or we would call him when we were ready to come back."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Could you describe how you gradually built up your equipment? Most so-called DJs nowadays are not really familiar with that process."

DJ T-ROCK:"I started up....the first two things that I did were I found a new job, I got turntables, I got a mixer....then I went and got an amp. By that time my next door neighbour Jeff.....his brother...he had some subwoofers that I would borrow from him. That was before I met that guy Warren Taylor. He had a garage full of amps, speakers and everything. He loaned us stuff and then I asked him to become our manager. He said,"Not a problem. Definetely!"and he took a chance on us and from there we took off!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"So I guess he had high quality equipment?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Oh yeah! Oh yeah! He had Cerwin Vegas, he had double scoops...he had so much equipment that if something blew he could just run to his house and come back with another speaker or another amp."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Now how did that battle between your crew The Music Masters and The Dynamite Brothers go down at the Throggs Neck Community Center on June 6th, 1980? From what the flyer of this event tells me the Dynamite Brothers whose MCs were the legendary Cosmic Force MCs joined forces with the Brothers 5 to battle you? What are your recollections of that event?"

DJ T-ROCK:"That was very funny! That was our first time playing in Throggs Neck. And how that came about was like I said I lived up there  and I knew the person that was running the center. I apprached him about doing a party there...his name was Bob...he was like, "You know, we got some local DJs here!" and I'm like, "Ok, that's all fine and dandy." Then he said,"You gonna have to battle them if you wanna play here." I was like,"Battling? We ain't trying to go up there to battle but aight fine if that's what you wanna call it we gonna do this on this night here." We was supposed to get the stage that night but they lived there, they got there first and so they got on the stage. I was like,"You know what? I'm not gonna argue about it. No biggie!" So we got there and we set up underneath on the gym floor. They (the Brothers 5) had said that they wanted to have the The Cosmic Force with them and I'd been like,"Wow! Why you need another crew with you??? You can't do this battle on your own???" You know? The Cosmic Force back then already had a name.  So I said, "You know what? Y'all gonna have Cosmic with you, let me talk to my old friends from TNT (Disco)! Let's see if they gonna come with us!" Gary ( Gary G, the DJ of TNT Disco) said,"Not a problem!" They came in with me and   at first I was upset at our manager cause all he brought was four speakers!!! He brought Cerwin Vegas bass bottoms and some mid-range towers. I'm like,"Man, this is a battle now!!!! We need to come out with a Sasquatch type soundsystem (The Mighty Sasquatch was the infamous soundsystem of the Brothers Disco Crew)! We need to crush them!" He was like,"Man, trust me! You ain't even gonna need all of that!" And I'm sitting there like, "Man, we gonna get destroyed!" So the party starts, we're talking,"We gonna do 15 minutes, then we take turns. Cool?" "Not a problem." They went on first. When the turn came to us to get on they didn't wanna shut down! So they played for another ten minutes, then we got on. We played music and our MCs the Master Four were performing as well. Our system turned out to be very strong. So then they came over and they asked us if they could borrow our van to go and get some more equipment. We were like, "Nah! It's a battle! You gotta find your own transportation!" So it went back and forth about two more sets. Then there was a time were they didn't want to shut at all! They thought of themselves as being funny. So by that time they pissed Kay Jay off. We felt disrespected and all. So Kay Jay turned to me and he looked at me and he gave me that nod and when he gave me that nod I knew what he wanted. He told me to put on Millie Jackson. Millie Jackson had a song called "The Fuck You Symphony" We turned our system up just a little bit cause we knew we could drown them out. When we turned it up a little bit Kay Jay said,"Alright, alright, that's how you wanna be??? We got a little message for y'all!" Hey T-Rock drop that ! Here is our message to you. Then I played just a bit of it that said " Fuck you, Fuck you! FUUCK You!" and everybody started laughing at them. They were screaming at them and they got pissed off! They got so embarassed they jumped off the stage and started rushing towards us. So I lifted up my shirt and yelled,"You really wanna do this?" They stopped! But you know it's kinda funny because we all knew each other so we deaded it right then and there. That was about the end of it.  After that I had no more problems up there."

SIR NORIN RAD:"How many people fit into Troggs Neck Community Center?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Oh you could fit at least 250 to 300 people."

June 6th, 1980: The Music Masters battle against The Brothers 5 and  The Dynamite Brothers at Throggs Néck Community Center

SIR NORIN RAD:"What was the difference between performing as a crew in a park or a community center and participating at one of those DJ & MC conventions at the Ecstasy Garage or The T-Connection?"

DJ T-ROCK:"The conventions were cool! I mean I give props to my cousin DJ Willy Will and Touch Of Class for giving us a shot at the conventions cause they helped us to come out. Like I said we were still fairly new at the time. You were really considered really big and well-known if you made it to the T-Connection. If you played at the T-Connection you were like playing in Trump Towers, you were one of the top crews!"


SIR NORIN RAD:"I know the Music Masters performed at the Ecstasy Garage but did you also perform at the T-Connection?"


DJ T-ROCK:"I personally didn't, I would have loved to. You see back in the day if you got to play at the T-Connection you were big and had a big following. Because in order to play there you had to be able to pack it. That's why you see in a lot of flyers of the T-Connection that there weren't that many people that got to play there ALONE! Most time they were with another group or multiple groups to help them pack the place. You see the T- Connection could hold up to 800 people easily!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"What were some of the main spots that you and the Music Masters performed at regularly  back then?"

DJ T-ROCK:"We did Edenwald, we did Throggs Neck, we did Stevenson High School, we did Lehman High School, we did the Ecstasy Garage...places like that, you know?" 

SIR NORIN RAD:"How did these DJ & MC convention go down usually?" 

DJ T-ROCK:"Well, once you got there what would happen was whoever was hosting it they would have the system for the event and they would let you know what order you would gonna go in. You would get about..let's say there were about eight crews you would get maybe a fifteen minute set and you had to bring your A-Game for these 15 minutes!"

May 24th, 1981: The Music Masters participate in a DJ convention at the legendary Ecstasy Garage

SIR NORIN RAD:"How much effort was put into preparing for these kind of performances?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Well, I put it to you like this...being a crew is all about respect and reputation and the one thing that you do not wanna do is get embarassed!!! Because if you get embarassed you no longer have a following which means you are not gonna make any kind of money. So as far as rehearsing if you don't rehearse you're gonna get embarassed out there and nobody wants to embarassed."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you have certain procedures and rules that you followed when it came to these rehearsals?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Like I said I let Kay Jay handle the MCs and on at least one day in a week we got together so that we could rehearse their routines together or he would let me know what song they wanted to do a routine to and then I would keep blending the breakbeat to that. "

SIR NORIN RAD:"So let's say you were preparing a show for a particular party somewhere in the Bronx. When would you start practicing and how much time went into these rehearsals?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Usually during that time period there were lots of parties but sometimes we would only have like maybe two or three weeks to get ready for it. But everybody was always, always practicing and rehearsing because like I said the one thing that a crew is all about is reputation and respect. Everybody wanted to be on top, it was very competitive! Back then it was all about status...."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Becoming a street celebrity..."

DJ T-ROCK:"Exactly!" 

SIR NORIN RAD:"I have been told that the original DJ/MC crews usually used to perform in an uniformed look. Like wearing the sweaters of the same colour with their names on. Did your crew do something like that as well?"

DJ T-ROCK:"Yeah, we had burgundy sweatshirts with white letters. They had "Music Masters" on the front an the name on the back and it was required at every jam that they had to wear it. No ifs, ands, or buts!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you recall where you would purchase those sweaters at?"

DJ T-ROCK:"You could buy those at various locations of sporting goods stores. You'd get a sweatshirt or you would get a sweatsuit, you know it all depends. Whatever they decided in terms of, "This is what the dresscode of our crew is going to be." In winter we had longsleeve burgundy shirts with white letters....in summertime we had white t-shirts with burgundy letters. I think who had the best at the time...what really intrigued me and what really got me motivated was Brothers Disco with DJ Breakout! They had white shirts with black lettters, they had their names on the back and right there on the bottom it said, "For Members Only!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"I got another question regarding the rehearsals of your crew back then. Did the MCs also come to you with beats that they had found and that they wanted to use for a party?"

DJ T-ROCK:"See that's the thing about a crew. Everybody's influence is important! Just because you're a MC doesn't mean that you don't hear a beat that nobody else is using and that our crew can capitalize on. Everybody is looking for their edge that will put them on the top. It's the same thing with life in itself. There is no person on earth that knows everything. You may be looking at something just one way and then somebody brings to your attention another way of  looking at it and opens your eyes. There may be a DJ who used to listen to a certain record, only hearing the first part of the breakbeat and later on in that same song there is another breakbeat but you have never gone that far until somebody else brings that up to you."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Yes, I have noticed that many albums that are famous for one particualar breakbeat actually contain more than just one blazing beat but most people are not aware of it because they never take the time to listen to the album entirely."

DJ T-ROCK:"A lot of times people would find different breakbeats because they would go to a record store and they would spend hours there listening to the whole album and that's how they would find songs that nobody else had."   

SIR NORIN RAD:"Could you briefly highlight your relationship to your cousin DJ Willy Will from Touch Of Class?"

DJ T-ROCK:"You know what... it's funny because we lived maybe 15, 20 to blocks away from each other but we really didn't hang out with each other that much because he's my cousin from my stepfather and it wasn't until we got to high school that we even realized that we were both doing the same thing. In fact how I even found out about his crew was 'cause he lived right down the block from Breakout. So when I would go over to their park which was close to Breakout's house this is right away from my aunt's house. He was like, "What are you doing here?" I was like,"I came to this party. What are you doing here?" He said, "I live here!" You know, that's how I found out about him and his crew and so I started following them around and sometimes when I went there he would let me rehearse with him on his equipment."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Let's go back to these DJ / MC conventions at the Ecstasy Garage for a moment. What was your most memorable moment performing there?"

DJ T-ROCK:"There was this convention at the Ecstasy Garage where we were battling for the name Music Masters against Breakout's brother DJ Jeffrey Jeff and his crew. It's funny because right before we got on I got into a fight with my girlfriend's ex.We were thrown off by the fight and we used belt drive turntables and in thet competition they used direct drive! So we were not used to the system, weren't really focussed and it made a big difference!!!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"When all these crews back then battled at The Webster P.A.L., The Ecstasy Garage, The T-Connection and Harlem World did they threaten or verbally abuse each other like they do today?"

DJ T-ROCK:"The conventions back then weren't won by just the DJs, they were won by the MCs and by how well they did their routines. We didn't bring violence or families into it. What you would do is you would talk about your opponents . You would talk about their mic skills. Period! It was nothing hard, no families, nothing like that! It was nothing like they do it now. Back then all the MCs would is do was represent and say why they felt that they were better than the others. That's all it was."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Ok, and as a DJ you also had to be perfectly aware of what your MCs were doing so that it all appeared as a well-organized group performance?"

DJ T-ROCK:"The DJ had to watch the MCs to get their cue but there were also many routines that were acapella that had no music at all. There were also dance steps involved. The one thing that separated you from all the other crews was showmanship. You had to put on a show. Nobody wants to see a rapper that's just standing in one place, popping their fingers. You had to move, you had to put on a show. You were a performer! People are paying their money to see a show!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"From your perspective as an original Hip Hop DJ from the Bronx is it possible to call your event a "True Hip Hop Jam" if there's no DJ and no dance music at all? Just rappers doing their album material?" 

DJ T-ROCK:" You can't have "True Hip Hop" without a DJ or dance music! Remember without the dance music there would have been no foundation for the MC's to do their routines. Otherwise you are just putting on a Rap show! True Hip Hop consists of the DJ and MCs along with their routines."


SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you have some closing words of advice for those DJs and MCs that are trying to follow the path of the original DJ/MC crews from the BX and Harlem?"  

DJ T-ROCK:"If you take anything out of this then it should be that you gotta be able to communicate amongst your crew. You gotta be able to give and take constructive criticism.You know, cause some people they get offended but the the crowd ain't gonna be easy on you. So if you can't talk to each other and find out where you need to improve you set your whole crew for failure." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you wanna shout somebody out at the end of this interview? 

DJ T-ROCK:" I gotta give shout outs to my crew The Music Masters, Touch of Class Disco, TNT Disco, Brothers Disco!"

     July 12th, 1980: The Music Masters perform at another DJ convention at the Ecstasy Garage