Interview with B-Boy Ace From Space (The Magnificent Seven)

                                Interview with B-Boy Ace From Space (The Magnificent Seven)

B-Boy Ace From Space (The Magnificent Seven)

                                 conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)

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

ACE FROM SPACE:"I was born and raised on 177th Street & Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"When were you born?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"1963."

SIR NORIN RAD:"When did you move to River Park Towers?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"I moved to River Park Towers in 1975."

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

ACE FROM SPACE:"I listened to a lot of songs that my mother used to play all the time. Latin music, stuff from American Bandstand. Stuff like that. Soul Train music...."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Which schools did you attend? You went to I.S. 229, right?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"Yes, I.S. 229. My public school was P.S. 115 before I moved to the Bronx. That was my junior high school. I went there until I was in the 6th grade then I moved to the Bronx in 1975."  

SIR NORIN RAD:"What is your very first recollection of DJs playing breakbeats in a park or in a rec room?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"Well, where I lived in River Park Towers there were four big buildings. Two that went up to the 43th floor, two that went to the 38th floor. I lived in the one that went up to the 43rd floor. I lived on the 41st floor.  So I would be upstairs and I would hear DJ Kojak and DJ Ice playing music downstairs. People started coming downstairs. That was like in 1976, 1977."  

April 29th, 1978: DJ Ice & DJ Kojak battling Kool DJ Troy and his crew at the legendary Webster P.A.L. 

SIR NORIN RAD:"Was the music that you heard them play new to you?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"It was new but I had heard a lot of these beats when me and cousin would play a lot of records on our little record player. We would listen to "Mr. Big Stuff" and all that other stuff on 45s. But then moving to the Bronx I heard a lot of other beats. It was intriguing to just listen to all the new beats!! You knew the DJs would always play something new and fresh!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"Is it accurate to say that DJ Ice and Kojak were the number one DJs in River Park Towers?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"Yes."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Where would they be playing at?" 

ACE FROM SPACE:"Well, where we lived the complex was one way in, one way out. So you drove your vehicle in, you drove back out. What they would do is they would close the entrance so no cars could come in. The street was so big. So they would set up between building 20 and 30 in our little recreation park. That was the only park we had and everything else was not even done yet. Back then them buildings weren't even finished yet."

SIR NORIN RAD:"How many people would fit in that recreation park?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"In my neighbourhood 550 people lived in one building. Like I said these buildings went up to the 43rd floor and the alphabets would be from A to K. So that's how many apartments were on each floor. So when they played music it was so many people outside."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did you see B-Boying for the very first time?" 

ACE FROM SPACE:"It was outside in River Park Towers. It was summertime."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Who were those B-Boys that you saw dancing? Were they local cats or did they come from other neighbourhoods?"  

ACE FROM SPACE:"Some people didn't come to breakdance where we lived.  We did our own thing in our own community, right in River Park Towers. Me, Spice Nice... It was a few of us that started dancing in River Park Towers back then. Like in the community room down in the basement. Between building 20 and building 30 we had a community center. I remember my first time breakdancing right there in 1976, in the community center 'cause I was shy. Spice Nice was breakdancing and I told him I wanted to breakdance. He told me,"Just go down, man! You good." And I went down and I started breakdancing and that's when I first got out of being shy of breakdancing."

River Park Towers -West Bronx

SIR NORIN RAD:"What inspired you to become a B-Boy?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"The music! Because when you lived in the towers and you heard Kool Herc setting up across the highway there and you knew it's a party going on....we would cross the highway, make a shortcut to get over there to Sedgwick Park to go to the party and start breakdancing. You could hear his music from over there all the way to the towers."

SIR NORIN RAD:"What did you do in order to improve your B-Boying skills?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"Well, it was seven of us. Like Magnificent Seven? So we would practice in numerous places.  Like in the towers we would practice in the laundry room between building 30 and building 40. We would practice our moves there and we would practice them in the street 'cause we didn't breakdance with any cardboard. We used to breakdance on the concrete. None of that stuff came out till later."

SIR NORIN RAD:"From where did you know the other members of the Magificent Seven?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"Well, we all went to the same school. We would dance on Sedgwick Avenue or sometimes on Undercliff Avenue 'cause that's where Lil Eldorado Mike lived with Cadillac Mel. It didn't matter where we was at. We could be downtown and we would be practicing in the street. We took the dance  very seriously. We practiced everyday. All of us had a special move that we did but we did more than just the moves we did. We didn't even have music! This is so crazy! We used to breakdance by mimicking the beat with our mouth while we were breakdancing 'cause we didn't have money to buy a radio. We would just mimic the beat with our mouth. That's how much dedication we had."

SIR NORIN RAD:"So you said that the Magnificent Seven consisted of seven B-Boys. Cadillac Mel only mentioned six to me when I interviewed him. Please elaborate on this point!"

ACE FROM SPACE:"It was Cadillac Mel, me, Spice Nice, Lil Eldorado Mike, Rock Head, Noose...his B-Boy name was Casper and there was another one: Dingo! He was one of the Magnificent Seven which he lived in Cadillac Mel's building. He barely practiced with us but when we was battling people he was around. We made him our seventh member."

B-Boy Lil Eldorado Mike (The Magnificent Seven) 

SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you describe your style of Breaking?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"Well, I was fast!! I was one of the fastest B-Boys on our squad. So I would do so many different things so fast and then I would freeze to a pose. Sometimes I would clown the opponent. A lot of things that I did...I used to handstand on my elbows and flip and all of that. We used to do like ballett. Like we used to stand on our toes and then we would spin on one foot and then just go down and do a Freeze or we would do the Zulu Spin. My Zulu Spin.... I could do it with no hands! And then I'd go into a Freeze."

SIR NORIN RAD:"You would do the Zulu Spin without using your hands?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"Without hands! That's how fast I was."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Please name those places where the Magnificent Seven would show up on the regular and get busy on the floor!"

ACE FROM SPACE:"We would go to Cedar Park. Well, I'm gonna name all the places we used to go to...If Kool DJ  Herc was DJing in Sedgwick Park we would go there.  That was the park between 1600 and 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. Which I used to hang in 1520  many, many, many years!  So if he was playing we was over there. If he was playing in Cedar Park we was there.  82 Park....we was there. River Park Towers...we was there. But Cedar Park was one of the biggest places that a lot of DJs went. Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, Theodore..it was a lot of DJs. They would do battling in Cedar Park and we were there breakdancing. Echo Park was another big  park. We danced there, too. We loved the music and B-Boying so much back then 'cause there were only two things you did: You did the Hustle or you B-Boyed. They had their music and we had ours. When it was time to B-Boy we took care of business. " 

SIR NORIN RAD:"What was it like when you witnessed Kool DJ Herc DJing for the first time?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"When I first saw Herc DJing I would say, "Wow, he's got the loudest music around!" He would drown every DJ! Whoever battled him they couldn't deal with him because of the loudness of the beats but when it came to techniques you had other people that were like better in their techniques. Like DJ Mr. Lee, DJ Kool Tee, DJ Ice, DJ Kojak....But I was also hanging in that building 'cause I was dating a girl in that building. Kool Herc lived on the first floor. When he played music we used to be over there breakdancing right in front of his window. He was getting his practice on and we would just party. Hiphop back then was totally different from what it is now."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Were there any other DJs on the west side of the Bronx that you remember playing breakbeats?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"Yeah, DJ Medicine Man, DJ Kryptonite...they all lived in 1600 Sedgwick Avenue.  You know, that's across from the highway from River Park Towers. You can walk to these buildings in five minutes. DJ Black Jack.....his partners were DJ Fudge and DJ Kryptonite.  It was a lot of DJs that are not mentioned. DJ Pee Wee.....he was also from River Park Towers. But the first DJs in the towers were DJ Ice and DJ Kojak. Just like the first DJs on Sedgwick Avenue was Kool DJ Herc and then later you also had DJ Mr. Lee and DJ Kool Tee. Then there was DJ Whitehead in 82 Park. Kool Herc had a club called The Sparkle and we would be breakdancing there. I remember being it 50 cent or 1 dollar to get in there back then. That's the way it was back then."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Please decribe how you would dress back then!"

ACE FROM SPACE:"Well, back then we would go to Jew Man to get our Pro-Keds 69ers or Super Pro-Keds. The Super Pro-Keds had the red and blue stripe on the side of the sneaker.  That was one of the best sneakers to dance with because it was easy to stand on your toes with and it was easy to be swift on the floor. The Pro-Keds had the extra rubber on the tip and when they were new you could do whatever you wanted while standing on your toes. I'm telling you we was doing ballett moves and didn't even know it. We liked to breakdance with our Super Pro-Keds and we had Lee pants on and sweatshirts with our name on it. We would also wear Kangols and name belts." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"What's the story behind your name Ace From Space?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"Well, my name came from Spice Nice. When I told him I wanted to B-Boy he said, "Well, B-Boy! Let me see what you got!" So he saw how swift I was with it. I said, "The only thing I don't have a name." So he said,"You know what? I gonna call you Ace From Space!" His older brother is DJ Ice. We would help him to bring his stuff downstairs. He was from building 40 and DJ Kojak was from building 10. Our area is so big. It's like.. if you came into the projects..it's like four blocks. So when they would DJ I would hear it all the way upstairs where I lived on the 41st floor. I was facing the water, the Harlem River and I could see the little park. So I could hear the music and I could see them already setting up. I said, "Aight! I gotta get myself downstairs!" And that's how it went."

                                       

B-Boy Spice Nice (The Magnificent Seven)

SIR NORIN RAD:"So how would you prepare yourself?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"Well, you gotta iron your clothes. That's for sure. I knew I would be breakdancing so I knew I had to wear my sneakers. Sometimes it was hot outside so then I would wear shorts but like I said the majority of time we would wear Lees. We would iron permanent creases into our Lees. We'd use spray starch, you know, keep' em stiff. We had to make sure sure that our sneakers and sweatshirts were always clean. That was very important! We'd also wear BVDs . We'd get them in different colors. We had Lee jackets with our names on it.  Spraypainted, stuff like that. Breakdancing was part of a rich culture back then. All that is gone. Tagging your name.....all that was part of Hiphop.So  then after we got dressed we just went  and breakdanced when the beats came."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Is it true that it was important to make sure that you wore matching colors?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"Yes. We liked a lot of blue. A lot of our Pro-Keds were blue 'cause if we wore white it's gonna get dirty. So we wore blue Super Pro-Keds. We all came out with the same similar colors. We'd wear the same sneakers, jeans and sweatshirts and then you had the long tube socks. Most people today don't even know about those tube socks. "

SIR NORIN RAD:"You're talking about those kind of socks that Kareem Abdul-Jabar and Dr. J wore, right?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"Yeah, that's the era where B-Boying comes from...the 1970ies."

Tube Socks

SIR NORIN RAD:"What was it like to jump into a B-Boy circle back then?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"You felt adrenaline rushing through your body! When you heard specific beats like "Shaft In Africa", "Bongo Rock", "Apache", "Dance To The Drummer's Beat"...once you heard those you was electrified 'cause you knew you was breakdancing. You just had to see who was coming to breakdance but we had our crew there so we're not worried about who's there. As soon as you heard those beats you knew you was out there to dance. The culture is different now. The people forgot where it came from."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you also go to clubs like the T-Connection in order to check out MC crews like the Funky Four + One?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"Yes, I had so many flyers. My whole bedroom was covered with flyers!!! All the places! T-Connection, Ecstasy Garage....Often we would find out about where jams was taking place through the beats that we heard while we was walking outside 'cause we would do a lot of walking. We would walk everywhere. We didn't care. We walked to Harlem, we walked to Manhattan, we walked to the east side of the Bronx, we walked everywhere. The majority of the parties was always on a Friday, Saturday...sometimes on a Thursday. It depended on who wanted to come out. Sometimes we would even go to Kool T and Mr. Lee and ask them to come out and play beats for us. We would help them out. We would take the speakers, the records and all that and bring it to 1600 Sedgwick Avenue just so we could have a party!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"You're saying that the party wasn't even scheduled?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"They came out because we had influenced them to do a party!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"What did you drink on a hot summer day when you were B-Boying in a park and you had become thirsty?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"We drank soda. We'd drink those Sunkist grape or orange sodas. What was the name of that other soda? Nehi!!! That was one of our favourite drinks back then. The Nehi pineapple, grape, orange...those sodas back then. Nehi....that's an old soda and that's what we used to drink." 

Nehi Soda

SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did you buy those Nehi sodas?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"We had bodegas around everywhere we had a party. Cedar Park, we'd go up the hill. It was right there on Burnside Avenue. "

SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you tag up your name back then?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"Yeah, I tagged up my name with markers, the big Pilot markers. I didn't do too much spray painting but I did write my name here and there. The Bronx back then looked like everything was damaged. So you saw graffiti everywhere!!! On the trains, on the bus, in your hallway, in the staircase. You saw it everywhere!"

SIR NORIN RAD:"What did you write?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"I wrote ACE. Then sometimes I would add FROM SPACE with some stars."

SIR NORIN RAD:"Please explain the importance of the breakbeats for Hiphop!"

ACE FROM SPACE:"The beats were important to the culture because you felt the beats! They made you want to breakdance. The B-Boys they knew what time it was. We waited for them breakbeats and we knew all of them. Like "The Mexican"...when you heard it you knew it was time to get busy. Or "Theme From S.W.A.T.", we'd breakdance to that. "Listen To Me" by Baby Huey. Ah man!!!!!!!!! That was one of the songs that....I can't explain that breakbeat but that beat would pull you right out!!  The beat wasn't that much but when they played it back to back? That was it!!! You just couldn't get off the floor. You ain't even gotta call the B-Boys up to the front. Nothing! Everybody knew! If you were a B-Boy and you heard those beats, you was there ready to breakdance! Footwork at first 'cause everything comes with the footwork and we had plenty of that footwork."

SIR NORIN RAD:"What do you mean by that? Is footwork what you do on top or on the floor? I heard different definitions of the term "footwork" that's why I'm asking."

ACE FROM SPACE:"That's what we would do on top before we even got down to the floor, you know what I'm saying? So we did a lot of footwork and then when that breakbeat drops you on the floor! Now you gotta come with your A game!!!!"

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

ACE FROM SPACE:"I gotta say "Apache", I gotta say "Shaft In Africa" and I definetely gotta say "The Mexican". Those three right there pulled you out!! It didn't matter where you was at. Like you was eating ice cream at the block party you knew where to go to dance and it always was in front of the rope. The DJ was DJing behind the rope." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"What was the name of the dance back then?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"We was always calling it breakdancing....B-Boy! You had the B-Boys and the B-Girls. If a girl breakdances she's a B-Girl. I'm a B-Boy."

SIR NORIN RAD:"I know that you were kool with Jojo (Spider Man) and his brother Easy Mike (Beretta) as well as with Spider Web who are all Puerto Rican B-Boys. Were there any other Puerto Rican B-Boys that you remember?" 

ACE FROM SPACE:"I am Puerto Rican (laughs) and I'm the only Puerto Rican that was in our crew. Everybody else was Black. I'm a Black Puerto Rican. We were doing our thing out there  before the Rock Steady Crew. Hector Lavoe, Tito Puente I know all of that. Like I said I grew up with Latin music. Me, Cadillac Mel, Lil Eldorado Mike and them, we were like brothers. There was no hatred. We was all kool. We didn't fight amongst each other. Nothing! All we did was dance. We danced, we played basketball together, we played a lot of games...and when it came to Hiphop, B-B-Boying we practiced and we practiced well. I mean we would practice for hours." 

SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you know that a new move that you had created was nice? Would your crewmates tell you?"

ACE FROM SPACE:"When we practiced I would tell 'em, "Yo, check this move out!" And they would be like,"Yo, that's hot!" or they would say, "Nah, that's whack! You gotta do it better!" But we all had different techniques. Like Cadillac Mel was mostly comic, me I was mostly speed and freezes, Spice Nice was smooth with it, Lil Eldorado Mike had his own unique style. We all had smooth moves. Like this is how you know your moves are smooth: Your Pro-Keds 69ers when you got 'em....if you messed up the canvas on your sneakers you was a sloppy B-Boy. We didn't breakdance that way. That's why I am saying our technique was different. When we breakdanced our sneakers stayed clean and crisp. That's why we was on point with our moves. We even did the Figure Four Leg Lock Freeze in three different ways."  

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

ACE FROM SPACE:"Yeah, I'd like to give a shoutout to Kool DJ Herc for bringing all this out! I also give a shoutout to Jerry Leader! I know him for a long time. I give a shoutout to Kool T and DJ Mr. Lee! I also gotta give it to DJ Kojak and DJ Ice! Those DJs embody Hiphop for me. That's where it came from. Shoutouts to Cadillac Mel and the Magnificent Seven and to you Norin Rad!" 

SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you! Shoutouts to Jerry Leader and Cadillac Mel for making this interview possible. Shoutouts to my Intruders Crew and all the true pioneers of Hiphop! Shoutouts to Troy L. Smith, Pluto Seven, Mr. Wiggles RSC and to Input MZK, Sureshot La Rock, Kenny IB. UKUBAMBISANA!!!"