Interview with DJ/MC Quenny Quen (Inner City Disco)

                                    Interview with DJ/MC Quenny Quen (Inner City Disco)

                                           

  DJ/MC Quenny Quen (Inner City Disco)

                                   conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)

 

SIR NORIN RAD:"Where were you born and raised?"

QUENNY QUEN:"I was born in the Bronx. Anderson Ave is where I was raised. Up the hill from Yankee Stadium."

SIR NORIN RAD:"May I ask when you were born?"

QUENNY QUEN:"1961."

SIR NORIN RAD:"To what kind of music were you exposed as a young girl growing up?"

QUENNY QUEN:"R&B. James Brown, The Moments, The Supremes.....My parents loved music. There was a lot of music where we lived."

SIR NORIN RAD:"On which occasions did your parents listen to music? After work? At the weekend? Did you have like family celebrations at your home where music was being played and people would dance?"

QUENNY QUEN:"They would play music at birthday parties, family get-togethers.... On weekends music flowed while we cleaned our apartment.".

SIR NORIN RAD:"In which way did your musical upbringing influence your later career as a DJ? Did you play an instrument?"

QUENNY QUEN:" The music in the 60s and the 70s made me appreciate rhythms and rhymes. I  would listen to the vocals, the instruments and the arrangements. Beautiful music!! The Moments, Black Ivory, Blue Magic. Barry White and his orchestra, James Brown and his band. James had those break beats. People would dance but when the drummer in any group dropped that beat, it made you do a little extra. As far as instruments, I played the clarinet in junior high school. I also was in the Bronx Boro Wide Chorus. Mr. Dennis Bell taught me how to appreciate and listen to all kinds of music. If you don't know who that is, google him! I couldn't really sing but there were great singers in there. It sharpened my ear for good music."

SIR NORIN RAD:"When did you move to Lefrak City?"

QUENNY QUEN:"It might have been 1976/77. I was about 15, 16."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, so when and where did you encounter Hiphop for the first time. Was it at a Park Jam in the Boogie Down?"

QUENNY QUEN:"By that time I went to Truman High School. There I heard breakbeats being played over and over for the the first time. People were in their little groups ryhming. By this time I lived in Lefrak City which is in Queens and so I had to travel to Truman High School in the Bronx. I had a cassette and a record player. I would record the break of the song, pause and record it over and it sounded like you was cutting if you caught the beat just right. I recorded "Apache", "Groove To Get Down" and a few more jams. In Lefrak on the elevator I met Kim aka Lady Sweet. I was playing beats from my little cassette player.  She was like,"Is that Apache?" We hit it off because we both were from the Bronx. From then on we would meet outside, listen to music and rap. Lady Sweet and I lived in the same building. She was a good MC. Me I would just say a little,"Yes, yes ya'll!!! You don't stop!" Stuff like that. We had our own park over there called Rock Creek Park. It was a little park across from Lefrak. A couple of guys would bring their equipment out to the little park and play music. It was the equipment of this man named Rich.  He had these guys Lance and Rob playing the music. People got on the mic and started rapping. All guys. So one day Lady Sweet was like,"Come on! Let's get on the mic!"So that's what we did! Lady Sweet was doing her thing. I was okay but the crowd was hyped because females were on the mic. Pop who was the manager of Inner City Disco was in the front really vibing and when we finished he asked if we wanted to be down with his crew. He brought us in as MCees. Then I met Roy and Johnny. Roy was DJ Vicious D and Johnny called himself DJ Johnny J. These guys were great! Clean cuts, backspinning, the tricks they did were amazing. Lady Sweet and I would rap and they would DJ. They hardly ever missed a beat."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Who were some of the MCees that you saw rocking in Truman High School?"

QUENNY QUEN:"A lot of people would rap. I even seen Rahiem who later got down with the Furious Five rapping with his boys. He wasn't famous yet. So I didn't know that he would blow up to be an amazing MCee. I would have paid more attention if I had known."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Please tell me how you got into DJing?"

QUENNY QUEN:" One day I got to Pop's house first and he asked if I wanted to DJ. He showed me what to do and I caught on quick. My memory is kinda short, but the first record I cut was "Listen To The Bass Play" by the Brothers Johnson. Clean cut first try. The other guys may have been a little reluctant at first but I picked up quick and they were good teachers. The guys showed me how to start slow and speed up the pace. From blending to cutting,to scratching. I did learn how to mix before cutting and scratching."

SIR NORIN RAD:“What were your top 3 breakbeats back then to rhyme over or to cut on the wheels of steel?“

QUENNY QUENN:""The Look Of Love" by Cerrone, "Sing Sing" by Gaz and "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith. There were so many. Some of them I didn‘t know because DJ Vicious D taped the title. Other nice beats were "Apache" by The Incredible Bongo Band ,“Funky Drummer“ by James Brown and "Well, Have A Nice Day" by King Errisson. Sorry, I‘ll be naming records all night."

MC/DJ La Spank (Inner City Disco)

SIR NORIN RAD:"When did MC La Spank join your ranks? How did that go down?"

QUENNY QUEN:"I think Lady Sweet brought her in. She had a powerful voice and her rap skills were just amazing. Later on La Spank brought in MC Hi-C and Lil Tee. We had our full crew of females!! I know you need dates and years but I can't remember when they all came in." 

MC Lady Sweet (Inner City Disco)

 

SIR NORIN RAD:"Where would the MCees of Inner City Disco rehearse at?"

QUENNY QUEN:"In Pop's house in Lefrak. They used to have very nice routines, they always rocked the crowd. The DJs would practice almost every day.A couple of hours during the week and all day on the weekends. I was there every day. We would also practice in our little park. "

SIR NORIN RAD:" Who would you say was the strongest MC among your ranks and why do you think so?"

QUENNY QUEN:"As far as for the Inner City Emcees everyone brought something unique to the table. So I can't really say who was the best." 

MC Hi-Cee (Inner City Disco)

 

SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe what kind of clothes you and the other female members wore at your parties!"

QUENNY QUEN:"We would wear jeans with a sweatshirt with our name and Inner City Disco on it."

SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of jeans did you wear? Lees?"

QUENNY QUEN:"We would wear Gloria Vanderbilt, Jordache or Sassoon. Those were designer jeans back in the day."

Gloria Vanderbilt Jeans

 

SIR NORIN RAD:"Who was supplying the crew with new beats?"

QUENNY QUEN:"Roy (DJ Vicious D) was pretty good at finding breaks in the records."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you recall who DJed for the MCs at your shows?"

QUENNY QUEN:" We usually took turns but when we played against the Mercedes Ladies I had to DJ by myself. The guys understood."

SIR NORIN RAD:"How old was Pop back then? Was he older than you guys?"

QUENNY QUEN:"Yes, back then we were teenagers and he was in his late twenties or early thirties."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Lady Sweet stated that it was Pop who actually bought mic stands for the MCees of your crew and even provided you with your crew shirts and Jordache Jeans. It seems that he must have had very high ambitions for Inner City Disco from the very beginning."

QUENNY QUEN:"Most definetely.  As I said he's the reason why I became part of the crew. It seemed like he knew about us before we did.. He invested a lot into Inner City."

Pop (Manager of the Inner City Disco Crew)

 

SIR NORIN RAD:"J-DL from the Cold Crush Four told me that he came across you and your crew in 82 Park in the Bronx one day. How did that come about?"

QUENNY QUEN:"At one point it was time for us to venture out. We felt we were good enough to take our talent to the BX. The Bronx was so popular with it because that's where Hiphop started and they had the best DJs and MCees. It was like if you did good there, you got your badge. So we packed up the equipment and went to the Bronx. We went to my old hood on Anderson Avenue in PS 73 park to set up but we couldn't get any power. Someone suggested to go to JHS 82 park, can't remember who. We got there and we didn't know anybody there. Another crew was already there playing music. So we were setting up and we were nervous because they were saying,"Be careful or they'll take your equipment!" The crowd wanted to hear us though because nobody knew us there. The guys got on and started playing. I'm not sure whether all our emcees were there but the crowd was responding. They really liked what our crew was doing. Later on JDL and some other MCees came through and they got on the mics. Then I started playing and it was crazy!!! A female cutting, scratching, needle dropping spinning blindfolded!!!! Our DJs Vicious D and Johnny J had the crowd going. Our emcees were rhyming with JDL, Butch Kid and Magic Fly. We rocked that park. By the time we finished they made sure we got our equipment in the truck safely and we was told to come back. Grandwizard Theodore and J-DL would later come out to Lefrak and perform in our little park. Pop was reallly happy when Theodore started playing on them. Needle dropping, backspinning and catching beats. His skills were amazing!! The crowd went wild."

SIR NORIN RAD:"How many people would show up there at that park in Lefrak on the regular?"

QUENNY QUEN:"It was a small park, maybe 100.... The people would come from Lefrak and from Sherwood Village across from Lefrak and where the park was. There were other DJs as well. DJ Lance, DJ Rob. They played in that park too."

SIR NORIN RAD:"What would the crowd do normally when you were playing music in the park? Would they dance or would they just watch you?"

QUENNY QUEN:"A little bit of both. They would do the Patty Duke, The Freak and all that but once we started performing, doing our tricks on the turntables they would watch us. The emcees would hype up the crowd as well."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Is it accurate to say that your crew Inner City Disco brought that BX B-Beat Music to Queens?"

QUENNY QUEN:"Absolutely! We were doing it since 1977/78. The people used to get crazy when they witnessed us playing in the park."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you recall who got Inner City Disco to perform at the legendary T-Connection in the Bronx? From what I have heard so far only the very best crews were allowed to perform there."

QUENNY QUEN:"Probably La Spank and Lady Sweet. La Spank lived in the Bronx. She knew most of the DJs and MCees up there. I stayed and practiced in Queens."

March 28th, 1980: Inner City Disco performs at the legendary T-Connection in the Bronx

 

SIR NORIN RAD:"What do you remember about that battle between Inner City Disco and The Mercedes Ladies which took place at the Ecstasy Garage on April 11th, 1980?"

QUENNY QUEN:" What I do remember about that battle was each of our MCcees was supposed to call out their MCees. When it came to me, I called out my own name instead that of DJ Baby Dee. I could laugh about it now. I did make up by burning the tables though. Both crews were good. My DJ skills may have been a little better than the skills of their DJ but that's just my opinion. I can't remember if anyone from Lefrak came because it was a long way from Queens to the Bronx."

SIR NORIN RAD:"So in your opinion who won that battle?"

QUENNY QUEN:"I think we did." 

April 11th, 1980: Inner City Disco battles The Mercedes Ladies

SIR NORIN RAD:"What was the relationship between Inner City Disco and the Mercedes Ladies like before and after the battle?"

QUENNY QUEN:"To be honest I didn't know about the Mercedes Ladies. MC La Spank knew them. She was down with them. We battled them and that was it. I didn't know them before or after."

January 12th, 1980: Inner City Disco performs at the Ecstasy Garage along with The Heavenly 7

 

SIR NORIN RAD:"Looking at all these flyers from spring 1980 it seems that Inner City Disco performed at the legendary Ecstasy Garage almost every weekend which in turn tells me that you must have been very committed to what you did. As far as I know no other crew from Queens or Brooklyn ever made it to the Ecstasy Garage or the T-Connection back then. Were you aware of what you had accomplished when you began to play regularly at these aforementioned clubs? And what did it feel like when you performed there?"

QUENNY QUEN:"We were very committed and our competitiveness took us over the top. We were there every day....practicing.  Everyone brought out the best in each other. We played for fun, not for money. I had no idea that what we did for fun would turn into this big phenomenal global thing.We didn't get paid dragging the equipment from Queens to the Bronx. We just wanted people to see and hear us. And playing at the T-Connection and the Ecstasy Garage with your dope ass crew and the best DJs and MCees from the BX are in the house, too......that was a honor. I wish I had our music from back then. Inner City Disco MCees we're so so good and our DJs were really talented. Such an amazing time of my life."

 

February 29th, 1980: Inner City Disco performs at the Ecstasy Garage along with the Kool DJ AJ Show and Grandmaster Caz & The Force 5 MCees

 

March 22nd, 1980: Inner City Disco performs at the Ecstasy Garage along with the Triple A Crew

 

SIR NORIN RAD:"Which qualities did a DJ need to have during the late 1970ies and early 1980ies in order to rock a crowd?"

QUENNY QUEN:"You had to have an ear to find the kind of beats that would move the crowd and inspire your MCees to rock the mic. You had to have the records and you needed to know how to read the crowd. You also had to have a good system and your MCeees needed to be good as well."

SIR NORIN RAD:"So you're saying that the soundystem was an integral part of DJing back then?"

QUENNY QUEN:"Of course. We played on Technics RS 1800 turntables, we had a Numark mixer, everything we had was of high quality down to the needles. If somebody bumped into the tunrntables, the needle barely skipped. We had crates full of records. The other DJs in my crew were good at finding breaks in all kinds of songs. They were like, "Yo, check this out" And we would cut up whatever they came up with. We had the Cut Line. It was like the Soul Train Line, o you cut once and then the next DJ went. We had a lot of weapons. Major tricks to show off your skill.Our MCees were literally able to rap on any breakbeat and if you accidentally skipped the beat they were great at recovering. They made us look and sound good as well. We had Cerwin Vegas speakers, though we didn't have a lot. Pop wanted nothing but the best for Inner City. I remember we were playing in our park in Lefrak. True story....the Disco Twins (legendary DJ Crew from Queens) showed up, set up their equipment and then they started pulling out endless amounts of speakers. They put their music on and blew us out of the water! They were known for that. We had better talent and better skills but their system was louder than ours. Can't remember why they came out but they blessed our park." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of music did the Disco Twins play? Did they play that raw BX breakbeat sound? Did they cut up beats like Jazzy Jay or Grandwizard Theodore?"

QUENNY QUEN:"They played songs like "Love Is The Message" by MFSB (a Disco song popular in Brooklyn and Queens). They didn't cut, they mixed. We were able to mix as well."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you feel that it was harder for you make it back then because you were a woman participating in a culture that was dominated by men? Or was it the other way around?  Like was it easier for you since the crowds weren't used to see females perform as DJs/MCees?"

QUENNY QUEN:"In the Bronx it really didn't matter. If you was nice with it, you got that respect. J-DL of the Cold Crush Brothers gave me mad respect when we played in 82 Park." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"Which advice would you give to young girls / women  that are getting into DJing today?"

QUENNY QUEN:"There's nothing I could say to the young girls today because I did it for fun, competition and the passion. It wasn't commercial. We played in parks and when we played in the clubs we got paid, but it was so many of us that it wasn't much that we earned but I didn't care then. It was the passion and the love for it."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you! Shout outs to my man Sureshot La Rock and my Intruders Crew."