Interview with MC Tricky Tee (The C.B. Crew /The Devastating Four) 


                                                                    

Tricky Tee (The C.B. Crew / The Devastating Four)

                                          conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)

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

TRICKY TEE:"Okay, I'm from the northeast part of the Bronx."

SIR NORIN RAD:"You're from what is known as Edenwald Projects, is that correct?" 

TRICKY TEE:"Yes, born and raised in Edenwald Projects....Northeast Bronx."

SIR NORIN RAD:"What was your very first encounter with Hiphop? Where and when did that take place?"

TRICKY TEE:"It took place in 1978. I used to go to the park jams of around my way. I used to listen to DJ Breakout & The Funky 4 MCs."

SIR NORIN RAD:"So you caught the bug at one of those Brothers Disco parties?"

TRICKY TEE:"Absolutely, yes."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Could you please elaborate on what exactly made you fall in love with Hiphop? What was it? Was it the music, the vibe at the park jam, the girls...?"

TRICKY TEE:"I think it was a combination of everything. It was the music, it was the impact of the DJs spinning (beats), the coordination of the MCs rhyming and just overall....just bringing people together to have a good time."

SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of beats intrigued you at those parties?"

TRICKY TEE:" I used to really like to listen to KK Rockwell a lot and the way he used to rhyme over beats like Edwin Starr ("I Just Wanna Do My Thing"), "Livin' It Up" (by Bell & James), "Indiscreet" (by DC LaRue)....some new breakbeats that DJ Breakout used to play."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, and these parties used to take place in that area around Edenwald Projects?"

TRICKY TEE:"Yes, the Northeast Bronx. Say 229th Laconia Avenue, Boston Road, Boston Secor, Co-Op City, The Valley...that was considered the Northeast Bronx. The Brothers Disco used to actually jam in my center back in the days.....Edenwald Center....and then in the summer time they would be in the big park in Edenwald."

April 15th, 1978: The Brothers Disco are rocking at the Edenwald Center

SIR NORIN RAD:"Could you please describe Edenwald Center? I'm asking this question because I deem it important that the memory of all these legendary jam spots will be kept alive."

TRICKY TEE:" Well, the Edenwald Center was a small center. The capacity was probably....you could fit about 80-100 people in there. It was a small center, it wasn't a gym. It was utilized very well."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Was there a stage in that center or would the DJs set up their equipment on the floor?"

TRICKY TEE:"Yeah, they would set up on the floor. It was no stage, it was totally different from Bronx River Center. Bronx River Center was basically a gym with a stage. For those out there that don't know Bronx River Center was the place where DJ Afrika Bambaataa used to throw his parties."  

SIR NORIN RAD:"Was there any kind of security at those parties in Edenwald Center and how much was it to get in?"

TRICKY TEE:"Well, the security was Brothers Disco's security and at the time they would charge the girls 3$ and the guys 5$ to get in.....somewhere around there."

SIR NORIN RAD:"I see. Now who inspired you to pick up the microphone and become a MC? You said that KK Rockwell really impressed you when he was rocking on the mic....."

TRICKY TEE:"Absolutely, it was him and Rahiem. I met Rahiem before he was even down with the Funky 4....so I used to listen to Rahiem rhyming. Eventually he got put on to the Funky Four, then of course later on he moved on to the Furious Five. I saw the progression of him from day one. KK Rockwell was a member of the Funky Four from day one. But yeah, I was very impressed by listening to him and Rahiem back in the days."

SIR NORIN RAD:"What exactly was it that intrigued when you saw them perform?"

TRICKY TEE:"They were very tight with their routines! Jazzy Dee who was actually DJ Breakout's brother he was the one who actually used to rock their echo chamber. It was just so intriguing to me! Jazzy Dee would know all their rhymes and he would know where to put the echo to their rhymes. It would just sound so phenomenal!!!!! If you ever listened to Sha Rock (first female MC in Hiphop and member of the Funky Four).....forget it! It was just phenomenal, phenomenal!!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"Ok, so please describe the process from being impressed by what KK Rockwell and Rahiem and the rest of the Funky 4 did to starting MCing yourself."

TRICKY TEE:"Well, originally I was a member of the Brothers Disco. I was pretty much helping out as a staff member of their crew. Here's a funny story.....there was a another crew called TNT Disco. One day in the big park up in Edenwald TNT Disco had a blockparty and I just happened to get on the mic and I just started to say my rhymes, trying to perfect my craft. I was just helping out TNT Disco or whatever and I guess Breakout caught wind that I was rapping with TNT Disco and they (Brothers Disco) did a party at Edenwald Center and they fired me (laughs)!!!!!  They told me, "You gotta go!" (laughs)  So I wasn't part of Brothers Disco anymore and that kinda left a bad taste in my mouth. So on that day I decided that I would formulate my own crew which was the C.B. Crew from DJ Love Squigg."

SIR NORIN RAD:"What's your explanation for Brothers Disco firing you back then?"

TRICKY TEE:"Nowadays they call it violation. So basically I violated being down with one crew and rocking for another but, you know, at that time I was just perfecting my craft. So I wasn't really good enough to tell Breakout to give me a shot to rock with them. They already had their crew. So it was only right for me to get my name going and to formulate something that I wanted to do. It was a risk that I took and you know sometimes when you take a risk the rewards don't come right away."

SIR NORIN RAD:"So what exactly was your job as a staff member of the Brothers Disco?"

TRICKY TEE:"I would stand behind the ropes and make sure that the people don't come behind the ropes. Helping out with the crates and stuff like that because at the time vinyl was very popular so all the DJs had crates of records and they'd like to have a crew to help out, you know? So that's pretty much what a staff member would do."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you also wear one of those famous Brothers Disco shirts?"

TRICKY TEE:"Yeah, actually I had a white sweatshirt with "THE BROTHERS DISCO" on the front and "TRICKY TEE" in the back which they took from me due to the fact that I was rapping with TNT Disco (laughs)."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Since you've said that you were perfecting your craft when you were rocking on the set of  TNT Disco I guess you had already begun to write your own rhymes before that, right?"

TRICKY TEE:"Yeah, I had already started playing around with words and metaphors....putting things together like any other MC would do."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Ok, so then the next step for you was creating your crew.....the C.B. Crew. Could you please explain what this abreviation stands for?"

TRICKY TEE:" C. B. stands for "City Boy". City Boy was a guy from Mount Vernon, New York who actually Love Squigg joined forces with because of the fact that Richie Livingstone  owned the equipment which we called The Earthquake. You see, DJ Breakout and DJ Baron had this incredible system called The Sasquatch and we as The C.B. Crew had a system called The Earthquake which was run by Richie Livingstone. Because, you know, soundsystems were big in the 1970ies / early 1980ies. If you had a big system you were saying something....like Kool Herc, you know? Yeah, with the C.B. Crew.... we started with this guy City Boy and City Boy had a DJ named Turtle Dove. So we started with Love Squigg, City Boy and Turtle Dove. At the time when I was rapping I was from the south side of Edenwald and I linked up with MC Malibu......may he rest in peace....he was from the north side. What happened was..me, Squigg, Rob Ski and Harry O..we all went to the same high school together. We went to DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx and they were a year ahead of me and me and Malibu were of the same age. So they were a year ahead of us...Rob Ski and Harry O were in the 10th grade and let's say me and Malibu we were in the 9th grade. In any event Love Squigg asked Harry O and Rob Ski if they were interested in forming a crew. At the time me and Harry O used to play football together in high school. The buzz with Malibu was that they were talking about this guy called Malibu from the north side of Edenwald and so Love Squigg went there and asked him if he wanted to join our crew. Malibu was very interested in joining us and so we formed "DJ Love Squigg & The Devastating Four" which by the way I came up with that name."

SIR NORIN RAD:"So in the very beginning of the C.B. Crew you also had a DJ by the name of City Boy?"

TRICKY TEE:"Yes, City Boy!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"So what happened to him? Did he leave your crew?"

TRICKY TEE:"I forgot....I left out DJ Rob The Gold....so we had DJ Love Squigg, DJ City Boy, DJ Turtle Dove and DJ Rob The Gold. City Boy wasn't that nice as a DJ but he actually lead us to Richie Livingstone and it kinda fit. As you would say..when we started...we originally started to perfect our craft in Mount Vernon, New York which at the time it was only three Hip Hop groups there. It was us (The C.B. Crew), The Collins Brothers, and Grandmixer D.St....."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Infinity..."

TRICKY TEE:"Yeah, Grandmixer D.St & The Infinity Four. Right."

SIR NORIN RAD:"So is it accurate to say that Mount Vernon was the first stomping ground of the C.B. Crew?"

TRICKY TEE:"Yes, we would do shows in various locations in Mount Vernon. Like The Rodbender's.....The Rodbender's was a popular spot back in the days in Mount Vernon. We also did the Go Center and a few other spots I can't remember at this time."

SIR NORIN RAD:"I got a question regarding Edenwald Projects......Edenwald by the way is German word which means "Forest of Paradise"....You've mentioned that there was a north side and a south side of Edenwald. Could you please elaborate on that?"

TRICKY TEE:"Edenwald is one of the biggest Housing Development Projects in New York City. It covers...how many blocks? Let me see....it covers about seven blocks. The north and south of Edenwald Pojects is divided by East 229th street. Each side had their sense of pride."

SIR NORIN RAD:"So to make to sure that I have understood you correctly you said that you and the other three MCs of The Devastating Four all went to the same high school, right?"

TRICKY TEE:"Two other members..which was Rob Ski and Harry O. Malibu went to Evander High School. But we knew each other from the projects....just by reputation."


SIR NORIN RAD:"From where did you know DJ Love Squigg?"

TRICKY TEE:"Well, Love Squigg lived across the building from me and he was more or less like a big brother to me.  So we would always hang out together, I would always come by his house or whatever. And he also went to DeWitt Clinton. He was the oldest out of all of us."

The legendary DJ Love Squigg (The C.B. Crew)

SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you ever consider joining the ranks of TNT Disco to rock together with Roger K, Gangster B and Kid Ice? I mean you stated that your first public performance on the mic happened on the set of TNT Disco....."

TRICKY TEE:"No, because it was really short breathed when I joined TNT Disco. Roger K, Gangster B and Kid Ice they all actually formed their own MC group which was called The Jazzy Three. At the time I was so focussed on forming my group that I didn't stay long in TNT."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, so now you're up there in Money Earnin' Mount Vernon doing your thing......"

TRICKY TEE:"Yes Money Earnin' Mount Vernon is where we actually started to put our shows together, that's where we started perfecting our craft real heavy.........We were getting notoriety like you wouldn't believe up in Westchester County at that time."  

SIR NORIN RAD:"Yes, and not only that because from what I have noticed by looking at those original flyers your crew also managed to make it to the legendary T-Connection and you performed there on a regular basis. For those out there in Europe that don't know about the T-Connection only the best DJ / MC Crews were allowed to rock there."

TRICKY TEE:"That's absolutely correct!!! And how that happened with us was... we had gained so much notoriety in Mount Vernon and then we started doing parties in Edenwald.like outside..... Kool Herc took a liking in us. Kool Herc found out about us!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"Oh shit!"

TRICKY TEE:"Kool Herc literally rode his bicycle to Edenwald cause he wanted to know who we were. So when he found out who we were he was like,"I want you guys to perform at the T-Connection!" And Kool Herc gave us our first official break at the T-Connection."

December 23rd 1979: The C.B. Crew is rocking at the legendary T-Connection along with Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force Note: The C.B. Crew is billed as Westchester's No.1

SIR NORIN RAD:"So when did the C.B. Crew actually form?"

TRICKY TEE:"1978, 1979 would be the precise years when we formed as a unit."

SIR NORIN RAD:"So how were you received by the Bronx crowd at the T-Connection?"

TRICKY TEE:"Yeah, see we were pretty good. I tell you like this and I'm gonna state this on the record. If we didn't break up in terms of Harry O and Rob Ski going to college......we would be very elite. I mean we were doing routines that you wouldn't believe. Even Cold Crush knew what we were doing...Fantastic Five... we had a battle with The Fantastic Five at that time....The Furious Five knew who we were back then. I mean we were up and coming and we was ready !!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"Who was the captain of the MC squad of the C.B. Crew.....the Devastating Four?"

TRICKY TEE:"That's a good question. I would give it to Rob Ski 'cause Rob Ski came up with the routines. I came up with pretty much passing the mic and Malibu and Harry O were lyrical monsters. I mean it all came together! It all came together!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"From which sources would you draw your inspiration for routines?"

TRICKY TEE:"We would take our routines off things like Earth Wind & Fire....We used to do things like (starts singing "Brazilian Rhyme" by Earth, Wind & Fire) and then we'd go "Here come The Four! Here come The Four! Everybody, everybody, here come The Four!" and then we'd go into a routine off of "You make me feel like dancing" (by Leo Sayer) We used to kill'em!! We used to kill'em!(laughs) We used to take like early 70s songs and melodies and used to incorporate our rhymes into them."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you say that all those legendary funk & soul groups like The Temptations, The Jackson Five etc. were a major influence on you original MCs? Through their whole showmanship?"

TRICKY TEE:"Absolutely! Absolutely! That's where we drew our inspiration from. You have to give it to the Furious Five because their routines were very tight. They didn't play.  Melle Mel and them, they didn't play around, man! When they got on the stage to perform, they performed!!! Same thing with the Funky Four, same thing with the Fantastic Five...When you hit that stage you have to be ready to go off, man!! There's no half stepping when it comes to this situation! It really wasn't...there was no half-stepping because you'd get booed."

May 4th, 1980: The C.B. Crew performs at the legendary T-Connection

SIR NORIN RAD:"I have said that many times but it still doesn't cease to amaze me how these real MCs back in your era built up a reputation for themselves through hard work and talent."

TRICKY TEE:"Right. We put in our blood, sweat and tears! We practiced our routines on top of Love Squigg's building. Love Squigg's building was 14 stories high. We'd be on the roof practicing. We had our little boom box with the music and we'd practice our routines, man! Time in, time out! Everybody would meet up after school, then we'd meet up at Squigg's house and then we'd go up to the roof and do what we got to do. Those were the days, man!!!!! I'm actually very blessed to be a part of that." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you also incorporate steps into your stage show?"

TRICKY TEE:"Yes, we incorporated different steps and you know just different ways to present ourselves on the mic."

SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you dress back then? I mean obviously the gear was of high importance back then... "
  
TRICKY TEE:"Yeah! Well, back then in the late 1970ies/ early 180ies it wasn't about gold chains. We wasn't really into gold chains at that time. The way you would dress fly was you would wear a nice clean pair of sneakers, nice jeans, you would rock a mockneck shirt, you would have like maybe a baseball cap. At that time we used to have afros or whatever.  You know, you would have to have a fresh haircut! Stuff like that! That's what "fresh" was back then, what you would wear as a fresh MC." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"What about that more dapper style...wearing Playboys, British Walkers, Overlaps, Suede Front Sweaters.....would you dress up like that as well?"

TRICKY TEE:"Oh, absolutely! There was a historical store in the South Bronx called Jew Man's. Jew Man's is where everybody went to get their clothes. Everybody! All the guys would go to Jew Man's to get their clothes! He would have the freshest Teardrops, Overlaps, Ice Cube Pants...At the time everybody would rock Lee Jeans. Adidas, fresh Adidas! Jew Man's was like the epicenter of where you could go to get your clothes."

SIR NORIN RAD:"How did you make sure that no stick up kids stepped up to you over there?"

TRICKY TEE:"Well, the thing was this....you know, we had a crew so we would all move together. Back then we all used to work for Summer Youth Program, so everybody knew when everybody got paid. So you would go pick up your check and the stick-up kids knew that you had your money and that you would go down to Jew Man's to get your clothes. Fortunately with me.. and all of us... we were affiliated with the Zulu Nation and affiliated with the scene Uptown. So when we used to go downtown we used to make sure that we were good. We didn't have to go through that situation where we got stuck up. We were ghetto celebrities because we used to rap so that also kinda gave us a pass. We grew up with a lot of stick up kids and I used to go to high school with a lot of stick up kids. Pretty much a lot of stick up kids went to DeWitt Clinton so if I see them in the streets then they knew who I was 'cause I used to play football back then as well. But yeah, stick up kids were very popular back then... back in the late 1970s / early 1980s."
 
SIR NORIN RAD:"Since you mentioned the Zulu Nation could you please describe how you became members of that organization?"

TRICKY TEE:"Well, once again through our reputation Bambaataa found out about us and being that we were from the Northeast Bronx he asked Love Squigg to form a Zulu Nation chapter up in the Northeast Bronx...which we were Chapter 11 of the Zulu Nation.  I believe we were one of the first chapters in the Northeast Bronx."

SIR NORIN RAD:"What did it mean to be a Zulu in the 1970s and early 1980s? Did you already have Zulu Beads back then?"

TRICKY TEE:"Absolutely, yes. Let's make it clear before there was the Zulu Nation in Bronx River it was the Black Spades. So once in the late 1970s when gangs started to die down that's where the music started to pick up and instead of fighting each other everybody came together and that exactly was Bambaataa's plan to bring the people together in peace. That's why he started the Zulu Nation."

SIR NORIN RAD:"So did you receive membership cards when you joined the Zulu Nation?"

TRICKY TEE:"No membership cards but you had to sign a book." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"What I find fascinating about some of those old Zulu Nation flyers is the fact that oftentimes more than 20 crews are being shouted out which all seem to have been affiliated with Bambaataa's organization. Like the Crazy 8 Zulus from Monroe, Cozy Corner Crew, Zulu Gestapos, City Boy Crew, Mac Dynasty Crew etc. It almost looks like an entire army..... "

TRICKY TEE:" Yeah, well Bam used to make sure that everybody would be acknowledged. So where Bronx River is located there are various projects that are in that vicinity. You have Bronx River, you have Trio, you have Bronxdale where the Black Spades originally started, you have Monroe which is right next to Bronxdale, you have Soundview Projects which is where Cozy Corner is and you have Throggs Neck that's where the Cosmic Force is from which is Ikey Cee, Ice Ice and all of them guys. So each project had their own crew but was also affiliated with the Zulu Nation. That's how Bam had made peace with everybody to make sure that everybody got along when he was throwing a party anywhere in those projects."

SIR NORIN RAD:"So I guess your crew would also perform at Bronx River Center?"

TRICKY TEE:"Oh absolutely, we performed so many times at Bronx River Center for the Zulu Nation Anniversary in November.....anytime Bam would have an event he would put us on the flyer. Bam's main MC crews were the Soul Sonic Force and the Cosmic Force. We were like extended family to that so he would allow us to perform along with Soul Sonic and Cosmic."

May 10th, 1980: The C.B. Crew is rocking at The Webster P.A.L. along  with Afrika Bambaata & The Cosmic Force and Kool Herc & The Herculords

SIR NORIN RAD:"What are your five favourite breakbeats to rhyme over?"

TRICKY TEE:"Starting with number five...let's see....(hums a melody)....damn, I forgot the name of that song. My fourth song would be "Music, Harmony and Rhythm" by Brooklyn Dreams. My third song that I would put in the mix would probably be "Apache" by The Incredible Bongo Band.My second song...old school breakbeat.. that I would rock to...would be "I Just Wanna Do My Thing" by Edwin Starr. And last but not least, my favourite Hip Hop beat that I always love to rap to is "Nautilus" by Bob James. I love that! I love that beat! It gives me goose bumps every time I hear it."

Bob James - Nautilus

SIR NORIN RAD:"What was your prefered method of writing rhymes back then?"

TRICKY TEE:"What I used to..I used to be in my house, in my room and I would just start writing and then I started perfecting the rhyme. Then when it was time for us to practice everybody would come with their new rhymes. And then, you know, everybody would be like, "Oh, man!!! That rhyme sounds nice!" So we would pile on all the rhymes that we wrote. When it came to the routines... like I said Rob Ski would be in charge of the routines..he would write all the routines and then we would go through the routines and just memorize our lines and then we would practice them until we didn't have to use the paper anymore. That's how we started perfecting our routine."    

SIR NORIN RAD:"What caused the end of the Devastating Four MCs?"

TRICKY TEE:"Well, like I said Rob Ski and Harry O went on to college and me and Malibu were still in New York. So that's pretty much how that went down. And once they had left for college everything pretty much came to a hold. Now me and Malibu tried to do it again with two other MCs. One MC was Robbie Rock...Robbie Rock and somebody else but it was never the same."

SIR NORIN RAD:"How did the original DJ/MC battles go down back in the late 1970s / in the early 1980s?"

TRICKY TEE:"It wasn't about cursing or talking about somebody's mom, or father or anything derogatory. It was about who had the better routines, the better rhymes. That's what that was. It was about showmanship. Who had the better showmanship? Who had the better dance steps? That's what we used to do back in the days in terms of battling."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Would like to give any shout outs at the end of this interview?"

TRICKY TEE:"Well, I wanna give a shout out to you!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you!"

TRICKY TEE:" Yeah, man! I enjoyed this interview. I hope you enjoyed it as well?"

SIR NORIN RAD:"Absolutely!"

TRICKY TEE:"Peace!"      

SIR NORIN RAD:"Peace!"