Interview with B-Boy Ak La Rock (The Mission Impossible Crew)

                                                    Interview with B-Boy Ak La Rock

B-Boy Ak La Rock (The Mission Impossible Crew)

                                                  

                                           conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders/ Germany)

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

AK LA ROCK:"Well, I was born on Vyse Avenue in the Bronx and I was raised....well, we moved around different neighbourhoods but I ended up on Sedgwick Avenue at the age of 11 in 1972.....1600 Sedgwick Avenue. It's the building right next door to 1520 Sedgwick Avenue."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, and when were you born?"

AK LA ROCK:"I was born in 1961."

SIR NORIN RAD:"To what kind of music were you exposed as a child?"

AK LA ROCK:"Well, my parents were definetely listening to Motown. I'd say they also listened to James Brown, Gladys Knight & The Pips....all the Soul groups that were out then at that time. We liked Soul music and Funk music as little kids growing up."  

SIR NORIN RAD:"So you've mentioned that you moved to 1600 Sedgwick Avenue in 1972..."

AK LA ROCK:"Yes, we moved there in August, 1972. We were one of the first families on the third floor. Our apartment was on the side of the high right. 1600 Sedgwick Avenue is one building and it is 26 stories high. In between 1600 and 1520 Sedgwick Avenue there is a park. It's a playground there and my floor was the third floor that was on the same level as the park. It was straight out my window. You could see if someone was standing outside or whatever. It was far, you know the view was far but I could see the whole park in its entirety. Like if people were gathered in the park I could see everyone there from my window.  That was my vantage point."

1600 Sedgwick Avenue, The West Bronx

SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe your very first encounter with Hiphop!"

AK LA ROCK:"My very first encounter that will never leave my mind took place on the day when I was sitting in my bedroom  in 1600 Sedgwick Avenue and I heard music. I thought that it was coming from the living room. I thought my siblings had the radio on or something like that and I said, "What's that music coming from the living room?" So I walked to the living room and I looked and I noticed that there was noone in there and that the music was coming from outside.  So I looked out of my living room window and I saw the tall statue of a man standing behind a table. I saw speakers and columns and the horns and the music that he was playing at that point was "Skin Tight" by The Ohio Players. I had never heard that record before but I remember the beginning of it. I noticed that the man was Clive Campbell who I knew him as. I used to see him come down to the playground. Everyone would always give him props and stop what they were doing 'cause he was very popular. But I didn't know that he played music outside. I had never seen someone set up like that outside as a DJ. A friend of mine called me…another original B-Boy from 1520 Sedgwick Avenue...Jeffrey Wyatt aka Spooky..that's what Herc called him 'cause Herc would shout him out on the microphone,"Spooky is in the house!" And then my friend Jeffrey aka Spooky would breakdance. So Spooky called me from my window,"Ak! Ak! Come on downstairs!" I said, "What's going on?" He said,"It's a block party!" I said, "A block party? What's a block party?" And from that day on I knew what a block party was 'cause a lot of people was coming down the stairs, that were there. We had a couple of hundred people showing up that day and that's just word of mouth. He didn't use flyers when he announced his parties, most of them anyway in the beginning. Most of this was word of mouth, you know? Especially the outdoor block parties but the rec room and the clubs? Yeah, we had a flyer. It was amazing. We're on the west side of the Bronx facing Manhattan. You would see people come across the bridges, walking down what we call The Valley...Sedgwick Avenue. Sedgwick Avenue is the lowest ascension from the top of the hill, from University Avenue and other parts. In order to get to us you had to either take a bus around Sedgwick Avenue to the end and then come on the avenue or you had to walk down the stairs. " 

B-Boy Spooky (1520 Sedgwick Ave B-Boy)

SIR NORIN RAD:"When did this take place?"

AK LA ROCK:"This was the summertime of 1973/74. I know that he was already playing music but I had never seen him out there like that before, you know, in the park.  I would also go to Kool DJ Herc's rec room parties later. All of my friends lived in 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. 1520 was like my second home. I knew all of the families and they knew me and my family. I remember when Herc first got his major equioment. He also had a lot of records. His amp and his speakers were official!!! Just like Mr. Lee's. You know back then DJ Mr. Lee was called  Baby Herc or Son Of Herc. His soundsystem was also top notch. He could make the same noise and noone could mess with him. He used to always travel a lot and battle other DJs. It was DJ Kool T and DJ Mr. Lee."

SIR NORIN RAD:" DJ Kool T and DJ Mr. Lee and their Mission Impossible Crew...."

AK LA ROCK:"Yeah, there were B-Boys that were dancing under DJ Mr. Lee and they were called The Mission Impossible Crew."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Were you also part of the Mission Impossible Crew? DJ Mr. Lee told me that you were a part of it."

AK LA ROCK:"Yeah, we was part of that. I was part of the Mission Impossible Crew and I was definetely part of Herc's B-Boys from 1520 Sedgwick Avenue."

SIR NORIN RAD:"What was it like to grow up in the Bronx in the 1960ies and 1970ies?"

AK LA ROCK:"There were territorial areas of the Bronx in those days. A lot of gangs were out then. I grew up in the 1960ies. The 1960ies and the 1970ies were the gang era for me.  I would see people with their dungaree jackets, with their jackets turned inside out....their colors, you know, the names of their gangs. The Ghetto Brothers, The Black Pearls, The Black Spades. It depended on what you was. I feel like back then if you wanted trouble you would get trouble. I wasn't like that. We just grew up and enjoyed ourselves as youth. Me and Poe Dean we used to go to some other neighbourhoods. Poe Dean is the uncle of Swizz Beats. Swizz Beats' father is DJ Kool T. Me and Poe Dean we would go to the Bronx River Projects. DJ Afrika Bambaataa was giving parties over there and we would dance against the B-Boys from Bronx River. And there were times when we were chased back on the train, back home. There were incidents like that back then but if you looked for trouble you would get trouble. We weren't about that. We just enjoyed the music."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Is it accurate to say that the West Bronx was calmer than the South Bronx and the East Bronx?"

AK LA ROCK:"Yeah, because some areas like the South Bronx are a little bit more rougher and tougher. This is also true for the East Bronx. The West and the North Bronx.....well, especially the North Bronx was totally different. The North Bronx was more classy, more middle income because of the neighbourhood. Now my neighborhood wasn't bad either. Sedgwick Avenue was a nice neighbourhood. You had three or four high rised buildings on the whole avenue. You had husband and wife families that raised their children, you know, middle income. Other neighbourhoods were poverty stricken. It was different especially during those times. There were some neighbourhoods that were dilapidated. You know, some were burnt down 'cause all the landlords that had buildings would burn them for insurance. Some of the neighbourhoods in the South and East Bronx were left like that for decades. They weren't fixed up. Where we were it was different."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Let's talk some more about that summerday when you saw Kool DJ Herc playing in the park."

AK LA ROCK:"At the end of the day it was like a movie. Herc would call all the B-Boys to come down. He would shout them out and everyone would form a circle and they would breakdance to the music. And everyone had their own style and their own rhythm. They even had their own records that Herc distinctively played and selected. You had guys like A1 B-Boy Sasa, you had Trixie and Trixie was part of the Myers family. His little brother Rossy was a B-Boy, too. Then there was his little sister Kim who was not only a B-Girl but also a famous basketball player back then. You had Wallace Dee and Eldorado Mike Mike. Back then we used to breakdance, we used to do The Hustle, we used to do The Bus Stop which is really something like the Electric Slide.  But all his music distinguished these different types of styles and dances that we would do. We didn't only breakdance to Herc's music 'cause like I said the first song I heard was "Skin Tight" by The Ohio Players. He did play music that had you dance with a girl. But back in the day the first thing was Burning.  And you would burn a girl. Like you and this girl would be dancing and this girl would do a move on you and you would do a move on her. She burnt you, you burnt her. We called that Burning. Then there were times when guys would burn each other. Then it became Breaking when B-Boys would get on the ground and do all these moves with their legs."

SIR NORIN RAD:"What was the atmosphere like at those Kool DJ Herc parties in the park?"

AK LA ROCK:"The atmosphere was electric! It was hyped! The music was clear and crisp. His soundsystem was very strong, so the music was very loud. He would have a spotlight on the stairs coming down from Undercliff Avenue 'cause we had the stairs that goes up half way between Undercliff Avenue and Sedgwick Avenue. Right at that top of the stairs you had a guy coming down. Let's say Wallace D and then Trixie would follow him. Trixie battled Wallace D in that park for the first time. I remember seeing that. Trixie was doing a dance called The Munster.........we didn't call it Breaking then but Trixie was a B-Boy that was burning Wallace D. Trixie would have his hands in front of him you know just like Herman Munster and he would do the same kind of walking. I saw that. Later on I saw A1 B-Boy Sasa. I saw The Twins and I saw  Clark Kent. I saw Timmy Tim. He was a B-Boy first, then he was a DJ with Herc. Clark Kent was breakdancing with the Twins until he became a DJ. The Twins were my rivals. Me and Poe Dean..that was our rivals! Poe Dean would take both of them on by himself.  He used to breakdance against both of them. I would be ready for Clark Kent. I remember we had a battle at one point in Dodge High School in 1976. Kool DJ Herc had the Twins battle Po Dean and my other friend Derrick Moody aka Derrick D. May he rest in peace! He was also from 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. It was three of us. Derrick D and Poe Dean danced against the Twins and they did good. Then it was my turn. Clark Kent did his move on me first and after he finished his moves he flew out of the crowd!!!! You know, he was Superman 'cause he's Clark Kent. Kool Herc was playing "A Groove Will Make You Move" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch. Clark Kent did his move on me and then he left. I was so disgusted. Everybody was laughing and looking at me like, "He's gone!!" But I think he didn't want it. He knew already. We used to choreograph everything. Back then B-Boys knew every segment of the record. We knew when we would do what move. We always practiced coreographing our moves!! We had our battling down pat."

The Jimmy Castor Bunch - A Groove Will Make You Move 1975  

SIR NORIN RAD:"You've mentioned a B-Boy called Derrick D. Please elaborate on him!"

AK LA ROCK:"Yeah, that's Derrick Moody.His brother Mike Moody hung out with El Dorado Mike. They were like tough guys, you know? Let's put it like that. They were our gangsters that we looked up to like,"Wow!!" They were a part of the scene, too, 'cause El Dorado Mike used to do the Gangster Hustle. The Gangster Hustle is a different animal. They were cool! I was like 12,13,14, 15, so these guys were like seniors to me."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe how you became a B-Boy? Were you dancing as a child already? Who was your main influence?"

AK LA ROCK:"Well, we always grew up watching Soul Train. On Saturdays we always watched Soul Train. We'd see people over there dancing and stuff BUT we wasn't dancing like that. We had a whole different style. It wasn't Hiphop what we saw on Soul Train. But...Spooky introduced me to Breakdancing. He was the one that showed me how to do this dance. That first block party that I witnessed Spooky from that point on had shown me moves, you know? How to dance and stuff like that 'cause he's an original B-Boy. He danced. That's what he used to do. So I looked at that and adapted it. Then maybe a year or two later Poe Dean moved to 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. Cause they weren't there at first. I think they moved there in 1975. So when he and his family moved in I already knew how to breakdance. Kool T started to learn the music.  Him and my brother were good friends. He became a DJ. But if it wasn't for DJ Mr. Lee they probably would have never pursued that 'cause DJ Mr. Lee was the one who had all the equipment. He had everything."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Having spoken to Trixie, Wallace Dee, Bosco Rock, Dancin' Doug, Teenie Rock, Sasa etc. I know that Breaking was originally done mainly on top. Besides, the first B-Boys often danced to the whole song. What do you remember about that?"

AK LA ROCK:"I know exactly what you're saying. Yeah, 'cause in the beginning we heard the record in its entire length. "Give It Up Or Turn It A Loose" by James Brown that record was like more than eight minutes up to the breakdown part. At the early parties Herc wasn't mixing the break part back and forth. No, Herc would play the whole record. We used to see Herc come down with two albums from buying music. He would place his Cerwin Vega speaker outside his bedroom window. It was on the same level as the backyard of 1520. We could stand in the back of 1520 and look inside his second floor window. His  bedroom was a full size bed and albums in crates. He would play the A side from the beginning to the end and the B side. So we would hear everything. So in order for us to groove to the music yeah we had to dance upright. We didn't go on the ground right away. No, we had to dance and do  moves with our feet and our body without getting on the floor. We did our own type of movement in our own style and then we got down on the floor when the break part set in. That's what we were waiting for.  Then we would get back up in continuation of what we was doing. Me and Poe Dean we had that type of style, too. We actually danced in terms of standing upright, shuffling our feet and then we'd do our break moves. Because like I said you didn't just hear break part after break part. You didn't hear that. You'd hear the whole record. Like "Shaft In Africa" by Johnny Pate. You know, "Shaft In Africa" comes on you dance from beginning to end.  There's about three break parts to that record but in order to get up to that you had to do your dancing. One record that everybody loved back then is "It's Just Begun" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch". The break part would come at the end of that record. The dance got on the floor more a litte bit later. That's when we got more dirty."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Please shed some more light on your mentor Spooky!"

AK LA ROCK:"He was one of my best friends. He lived on the 14th floor of 1520. Like I said he taught me Breakdancing." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"How would he teach you?"

AK LA ROCK:"I'd hang with him all the time. Every time there was music we would always be together.  We would to listen to Herc playing music when he came home and played new albums, getting ready for a party or whatever.  Sometimes Herc would play and he would look outside his window and see us dancing. So this is why he was like,"Oh yeah, this is the part that the kids like. Let me play it again!" He'd see us do it  and he knew who we were. He'd know,"Oh this is Ak La Rock and Spooky!" He knew what we were capable of doing as far as dancing, you know? Then Spooky moved from the neighborhood a little early. After he had moved Poe Dean, Derrick D and me became a team. Whenever there was a battle we we would be ready." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"Did Poe Dean already know how to do Breaking when you met him?"

AK LA ROCK:"Well, Poe Dean and them they knew Coke La Rock before I did. They didn't live on Sedgwick Avenue but they lived close by in the vicinity and they had probably heard of the music, what was going on but they was introduced to it when they moved directly above Herc. Anytime they would be the first ones to hear him play. You know their mother she was a nurse, she worked over night and she would be resting during the day and Herc would come home and start playing music. She would tell him, "Could you please turn the music down?" I remember when she used to complain about the music."

Po Dean with Coke La Rock and Kool DJ Herc

SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you remember how you became acquainted with Poe Dean and his family?"

AK LA ROCK:"Well, they was in the Nation Of Islam and they would go to the temple. We did the same thing. Their mother and my mother were good friends. I met Poe in the neighborhood and we clicked right away. I think I met him behind 1520 and Herc would be playing his music and I'd be back there with Spooky. We listened to the music and we started from there. Poe Dean really adapted."

 SIR NORIN RAD:"So what was it like to live in the West Bronx after Kool DJ Herc had successfully managed to build up a name for himself through his parties?"

AK LA ROCK:"Every weekend we looked forward to a Herc party!! It would either be on a Saturday during the day like a block party or it would be a club party at the Hevelow or the Executive Playhouse or The Top Of The Lane or The Twilite Zone. Herc played in those establishments. He also played at Dodge High School, the Webster P.A.L. Herc became so popular that many clubs had to close down because they didn't have Herc there.  And they didn't have the soundsystem. Coke La Rock called it the Herculoids back then. The Herc parties..that was the most exciting thing to do back then besides going to a movie or a concert. Herc was our outlet. You know, at the end of the week we would be like,"Yeah, let's go to a Herc party!""

SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe your style of Breaking back then!"

AK LA ROCK:"Well, when I listened to the music, to the record that was playing...to its groove and its melody for me it was about style. I was dancing to make my moves. I wasn't staying on the floor all the time. There were parts where people had their certain antics. Sometimes we would set up like we would play baseball. Like Po Dean would pitch to me and I would act like I would hit. I struck out or hit a home run, take a base or slide into a spin of Breaking. Or like the Twins used to do. They used to do a move where they would be getting in a car. Like one of them would get down and squat down like he's getting into a car. Then he would open the door and his brother would get by him. Then they started moving upright.  Remember back then it was not only the echo chamber and the music, we also had like the strobe light.  That would create a whole different type of vibe. So we would try to enhance that effect through our dancing. We would incorporate the Robot into our dance to catch the effects of the strobe light. Remember every record that we heard was different.  Every breakbeat was different. So the styles was different, too. Like I said we were a team. The Twins were our rivals, they always looked out for us at the parties. They'd locate us where we were and then we'd have a crowd form and you know...that's how the battles began."

SIR NORIN RAD:"What is your earliest recollection of Puerto Ricans coming to the Kool DJ Herc jams?"

AK LA ROCK:"Well, in general we had Puerto Rican friends. In 1520 and in 1600 Sedgwick Avenue we had Puerto Rican families. In 1520 there was a Puerto Rican family that lived on the 10th floor. They were about six siblings. Then on the third floor there was another Puerto Rican family. There was this guy called Chino. Me, Spooky and Chino used to always hang out together so we when used to hear Herc's music in the early days Chino would be there and he would actually dance, too, 'cause he loved the music as well. I knew Chino in those early days. There was no separation or fighting or nothing like that. We would just be there and enjoy the same thing. They were there and to me Johnny Kool is one of the earliest B-Boys I've ever seen. When I hear "The Mexican" by Babe Ruth I think of Johnny Kool. He was Hispanic. I remember when Kool DJ Herc played "The Mexican" in Dodge High School in 1977 and Johnny Kool went off to it. He was nice!" "

SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you also go to the parties at the River Park Towers?"

AK LA ROCK:"Yes, DJs would play down there in between the buildings or in the back of the buildings. They had four towers. Each tower was about 44 stories tall and they sat right on the Harlem River at around 176th Street & Sedgwick Avenue. There were DJs there. I remember one guy his name is DJ Spice Nice. Me and him used to breakdance against each other. He would come up and dance and I would dance. He would do a move, I would do a move on him. We would always generate a crowd. He was a few years younger than me but it's funny cause he is still down. He is still DJing and everything. He met Kool Tee and DJ Mr. Lee and they helped him and gave him his first equipment. He has an older brother named DJ Ice that was DJing back then. "

B-Boy Spice Nice

SIR NORIN RAD:"Did these battles take place in the late 1970ies?"

AK LA ROCK:"Oh no,  Spice Nice was there in the beginning. Yeah, he was there in the beginning at those block parties that Kool DJ Herc had on Sedgwick Avenue. We was breakdancing against each other. He was like maybe nine years old. Breakdancing at nine!!!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"What were your top 3 breakbeats to go off to?"

AK LA ROCK:""Funky Music Is The Thing" by The Dynamic Corvettes, "Listen To Me" by Baby Huey and "Get Into Something" by The Isley Brothers." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"What was the difference between dancing at a block party and dancing in a club like the Executive Playhouse?"

AK LA ROCK:"(In a club) It was night time, different atmosphere, the way you dressed was different, too. If you'd go to a club you'd put something nice on.  You'd wear Applejack's or a hat and a trenchcoat or a Cortefiel or a leather jacket."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe your relationship with DJ Mr. Lee and his Mission Impossible Crew back then!"

AK LA ROCK:"Being that me and Poe Dean were close friends I was down with them because Poe Dean is Kool Tee's brother. When they went to a club we would go there with them and carry their equipment. We would get inside the club. Of course we didn't have to  pay because we came with the DJs, you know?"

SIR NORIN RAD:"What comes to your mind when you think of that song "For The Love I Gave To You" by The Delfonics?"

AK LA ROCK:"I'm glad you mention that. Yeah, we had slow jams where we would grind with a girl. We called it grinding..the slow dancing. You know, rubbing on her, getting close to her. It's funny that you mention that 'cause every  Kool DJ Herc party ended with that song. That was beautiful because see we battled each other all during the party but then at the end of the party he would wind it down with the love songs. So everyone could get the phone number of their favourite girl, you know? That record is phenomenal and that's Herc signature. To this day when I hear this record I feel like I'm back in the 1970ies in a Kool DJ Herc party and it's closing. Those days were the the best days of my life. Growing up and experiencing that. "

SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give some shoutouts at the end of this interview?"

AK LA ROCK:"Oh yes, I would like to give a shoutout to 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, the Campbell family, Clive Campbell aka Kool DJ Herc. Shoutout to the Dean family, to the Ruff Ryder family, Terrence Dean aka Kool Tee, Poe Dean, Sandra Dean their mother,  to DJ Mr. Lee. Shoutouts to the Hiphop world!!!  I didn't know that it would reach so far. We welcome everybody!!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you for this interview! I want to shout out my Intruders Crew: DJ Scarce One (Germany's best when it comes to Breakbeat DJing), A.G, Akira, Krwizard! Shoutouts to Kenan, Pluto 7, Troy L. Smith, Pete Nice. I also want to shout out my man Sureshot La Rock, Input MZK! UKUBAMBISANA!!!!! To all my teachers!!! Peace!"