tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11971461887752272552024-03-21T12:25:51.685-07:00Castles In The SkyBrought to you by the Intruders Crew from Germany, this blog aims at providing those who are seeking a true and profound understanding of what is known today as Hip Hop Culture with the essential knowledge as it was shared with us by the original DJs, B-Boys & B-Girls, Writers and MCees from the Boogie Down Bronx and Money Making Manhattan of the 1970ies and early 1980ies.Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-51646371908189097982024-03-11T12:26:00.000-07:002024-03-11T13:23:15.579-07:00Interview with MC Terry Tee (Touch Of Class / The Nice & Nasty MCees )<p> <b> Interview with MC Terry Tee (Touch Of Class Disco / The Nice & Nasty MCees )</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijM0kr-Qd7nbm_OYkhnqUp92MTTk_a68mXR_ThkCSorcGKDIUEj17UiqUWXGXE5s2kdPIMyj77PJUEqu4sLhGDLhqDvmoFl7vNbtw4vVqr9t81TqyoNBUI_-5QpHQQ5Avyf2ZU2HN6NGu4g8kBpBJEAEur8oDYJvR5PYyogLuHwpKrPf4zIDEQlupW/s265/Terry%20Tee%20(The%20Nice%20&%20Nasty%20MCees).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="265" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijM0kr-Qd7nbm_OYkhnqUp92MTTk_a68mXR_ThkCSorcGKDIUEj17UiqUWXGXE5s2kdPIMyj77PJUEqu4sLhGDLhqDvmoFl7vNbtw4vVqr9t81TqyoNBUI_-5QpHQQ5Avyf2ZU2HN6NGu4g8kBpBJEAEur8oDYJvR5PYyogLuHwpKrPf4zIDEQlupW/s1600/Terry%20Tee%20(The%20Nice%20&%20Nasty%20MCees).jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>MC Terry Tee (Touch Of Class Disco / The Nice & Nasty MCees)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b></b><p></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders/Germany)</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly were you born and raised at?"<br /></b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"I was born in the Bronx. Originally down...near Arthur Avenue in the Little Italy section of the Bronx. As strange as it may seem I was born on Washington Avenue in the Bronx. I then at a early age....ten years old...moved up to the Northeast Bronx...the Baychester section of the Bronx where I spent most of my adult life. That's where I was educated and that's where I would say I really found myself....up in the Northeast Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, and may I ask when you were born?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"I was born in the lovely year of 1963." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"To what kind of music were you exposed as a kid?</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"My parents both are from the Caribean island of St. Martin where I reside right now. My father is from French St. Martin and my mother is from Dutch St. Martin. St. Martin is a unique island in the Caribean. It is a welcoming island to a diaspora of cultures and inividuals from all over the world. So my parents also were exposed to a lot of different music. St. Martin wasn't the booming tourist destination it is now, so my parents migrated to the US...to the Bronx where they met, married and where I was born. My father would listen to Country,James Brown, Roberta Flack. He was also a lover of his Caribean music...Reggae, Skat, Calypso....The Mighty Sparrow. So my parents listened to a lot of Caribean music and me growing up in the Bronx I was exposed to the American side. So I was growing up in a Caribean household but I was influenced by the American scene as well....by what was happening in the 1970ies I would say. I was exposed to a lot of different types of music....to what was going on at the time...you know, the Jackson Five and even the Osmond Brothers (laughs). Music has always been a part of my life."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So when you were in your teens you were exposed to a lot of classic Soul and Funk music?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Yes, I was."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where and when did your first encounter with Hiphop take place?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Okay, I was exposed to Hiphop from its foundation. It was all about the DJs and their different beats and breaks. It was the DJ that was the superstar. The MC played a minor role because the MC...that's where MC comes from...Master Of Ceremonies.....he kinda guided and narrated what was going on and tried to tell the crowd when to clap.....he would say things like, "Let me hear you say Hooo!!!" That was the MC. That's all they did. The star of the show was the DJ and then second to that was the B-Boys, not the MCees. The B-Boys...they would battle on the floor dancing. I became exposed to Hiphop from going to some of these events down in the South Bronx. DJ Breakout started his crew The Brothers Disco before Touch Of Class was formed. Breakout is also from our neighbourhood. We were all neighbours, we lived a block away from each other. Kool DJ Herc eventually migrated up to the Northeast Bronx as well. Herc lived a block away from me on Seymour Avenue. As Breakout emerged Kool Herc came into the neighbourhood. Touch Of Class ....we were friends, we played basketball together.....we started to harness our raps as MCees started to do more than just saying, "Throw Your Hands In The Air!" or, "Everybody Say Hooo!" .....that's when our group started to form. The DJs were still paramount. The MCees were starting to emerge."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So where did you witness breakbeats being cut up by a DJ for the first time? Was it at a Brothers Disco party?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"No, it was actually....the very first time was in 123 Park.....which is a school....JHS 123...in the Soundview area of the Bronx. I went with my cousin. We listened to Afrika Bambaataa and somebody else and I was just totally taken in. Like the B-Boys, the breakbeats!!! (excited) The mixing of music, you know breakbeat after breakbeat......it was just totally amazing! From there I was just mesmerized by the potential of what all this is about! I got caught up in this movement from that first party in 123 Park in the Southeast Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You were really captivated by what you saw and heard there....."</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Oh yeah!!! Like I told you my household was always full of music. My parents were admirers of all genres of music. So me and my brothers and sisters we grew up in a household of a lot of music. As a Caribean parents on a Saturday...you're out of school...it was cleaning day in the house. The music was jamming, my mother was cleaning. I was always a admirer of music but when I went to JHS 123 I saw this movement emerging and that thing just grasped my soul and it's never left!!! It has never left!!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"It's interesting that you should say that because after having talked to many of the original B-Boys I have noticed that they all described these Hiphop parties as life changing events. <br /></b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"I'm not a very religious man but I'm a very spiritual man and I do believe that those of us who were instrumental in the foundation of this movemnt called Hiphop...I believe it was a divine calling. When you heard those beats it touched you not in your ears, not just in your brain it touched you in your soul, okay? And when you heard that calling you had to answer, you had to be a part of it, you had to make your contribution to this movement."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"As you said the DJs dominated Hiphop in the beginning but after Grandmaster Flash had invented the backspinning technique which enabled the DJ to cut up the breaks seamlessly and thus to provide the MCees with Beats they could rhyme over without being interrupted by a singer the dynamics of HIpHop changed. What made you pick up MCing? Were you inspired by the Funky Four?"<br /></b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"You are correct. The second stage of the early foundation of Hiphop is when....you're right......Grandmaster Flash evolved into not just dropping beats but also mixing it. He took two copies of the same record and elongated the beat, he made the break longer to go on forever as long as he was mixing it. That gave the MCees a foundation to do something. Now MCing evolved to where MCees started telling stories. They started really rapping. That's where rhymes came about and that's where the Nice & Nasty MCees of Touch Of Class started to do their thing. We were inspired by the Brothers Disco when Rahiem was in The Funky Four. Rahiem, Sha Rock and them I'd say they were like two or three years ahead of us. Rahiem was just a master of rhymes! He's not getting enough credit. I know Melle Mel is a genius and he deserves all the accolades but my hero, my inspiration from rhyming came from Rahiem. Rahiem to me was a lyrical genius and he inspired myself and the other Nice & Nasty MCees. I would say I can speak for my colleagues. We had to up our game! Now Brothers Disco....that's when groups started to become corporations because Brothers Disco was the umbrella group, The Funky Four was the MCees and Breakout and Baron were the DJs. Touch Of Class was the umbrella group, The Nice & Nasty MCees were the MCees. We even had a B-Boy, we called him Psycho because we were part of that early element of Hiphop. What carried us and gave us a bit of notoriety was the Nice & Nasty MCees but our group Touch Of Class had every element of the early days of Hiphop. We had our DJs, we had our B-Boy and we had our MCees. The MCees took center stage when rapping now became the group's forte. The DJs now were supportive of the MCees so the MCees could kick some wicked rhymes."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So what was it like to witness The Funky Four live on stage when Rahiem was still with them?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"The Funky Four gave us motivation because we were all from the same neighbourhood.....Breakout was from the same neighbourhood. We performed in the same venues...Edenwald, Valley Park, 78 Park. We looked at them as inspirations because they were older than and they were there before us but they also were our competition. So they were our motivation in the sense that we admired them and we were neighbours but they also were our competition for notoriety and predominance in the Northeast Bronx. So their routines inspired us to create and develop even better routines....in my opinion!!! (laughs)! I think that our rhymes and routines were just as deep or even deeper than theirs because we evolved and we started to build our own reputation in the Northeast Bronx. But they were still our brothers. When the day is done and the sun sets we all were from the same neighbourhood but the word "inspiration" wouldn't probably fit. I'd say they were more of a motivating factor." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When did Touch Of Class form? 1978?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"1977. We formed in 1977. We really started to make inroads in 1978/1979 but we were together from 1977."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi19g1lxd9ShZ6aoEjDg2uqIJz0T8TTEwT7w-UHHItAkJVh_h6jVa2sDKF9euI1ze55iPQ0kv9u6QnGmu_8081w9OOC5CQNlpfUQCHpEqpC2L68oTc0vK2c7idHBwEFYz-cABELEWimUiNn_KgWce20sBkmKcvtqlvlwZqQJDlij0Bma5kQjxT4K4ze/s512/toc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="512" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi19g1lxd9ShZ6aoEjDg2uqIJz0T8TTEwT7w-UHHItAkJVh_h6jVa2sDKF9euI1ze55iPQ0kv9u6QnGmu_8081w9OOC5CQNlpfUQCHpEqpC2L68oTc0vK2c7idHBwEFYz-cABELEWimUiNn_KgWce20sBkmKcvtqlvlwZqQJDlij0Bma5kQjxT4K4ze/s320/toc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>November 9th, 1979: Touch Of Class performs at the Edenwald Center in the Bronx along with The Mercedes Ladies<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b> </b><br /><b><br /> </b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrBk4XlHwolym-5kvBpPeKm1Xa-8nHLI2zqGrNIg1QoKc6yYV0QqFw1300FWb16pgBPGUSXrqOD_3SxQx6Ax9D4pwIlUayWkwdbBboOpJbgr8Yy3zITkJPQCVKLxvWbC2xtHHMY4QQHJEGa-xQoLLP-PIfmrmFQVkUUhWXCE62HdXpQ8tYtAh64iDY/s960/Touch%20Of%20Class%20Disco%20@%20The%20NAACP,%2023.11.1979.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrBk4XlHwolym-5kvBpPeKm1Xa-8nHLI2zqGrNIg1QoKc6yYV0QqFw1300FWb16pgBPGUSXrqOD_3SxQx6Ax9D4pwIlUayWkwdbBboOpJbgr8Yy3zITkJPQCVKLxvWbC2xtHHMY4QQHJEGa-xQoLLP-PIfmrmFQVkUUhWXCE62HdXpQ8tYtAh64iDY/s320/Touch%20Of%20Class%20Disco%20@%20The%20NAACP,%2023.11.1979.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>November 23th, 1979: Touch Of Class performs at the NAACP along with the Cheeba Crew</b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b> <br /></b></p><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, so that means that you as Nice & Nasty MCees must have also undergone that change from being MCees that were basically just aiding their DJ to keep the party rocking to that kind of MCees that did routines and had intricate rhymes." </b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"That is correct. As MCing was evolving we evolved as well. We started out as just Masters Of The Ceremonies helping our DJs. We had three DJs: Mellow Beat, Willie Wil and Disco Gee. We would just narrate what they were doing and try to hype up the crowd, try to motivate crowd but then when MCing started to dominate and when DJing evolved to carrying a beat then we started working on routines and how to pass the mic. We'd sit down and write rhymes...things of that nature. We went along with the trend that was going on in Hiphop at the time."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Which DJ would cut up the beats for the Nice & Nasty MCees?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"All three of them they had their different genres. DJ Mellow Beat was more into .....he was like the party starter. He would start with..you know, the warm up. But when the MCees had to do rhymes ...Willie Wil and Disco Gee they were the ones who carried the weight for the Nice & Nasty MCees during the routines and the hype session of the party."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Didn't you also have a Puerto Rican DJ by the name of Grandmaster Ike among your ranks?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Yes, Norin! You really know your Hiphop History! Grandmaster Ike was with us for a year or so before he left us. He was a good DJ." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who came up with that name Nice & Nasty MCees?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Ah, that I have to give credit to Mexi Ray. Him and Apollo One are brothers."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who was the captain of the Nice & Nasty MCees?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Okay, in our group we had...Apollo One was with us but he left the group as were really making our name known because he went into the service. So then it was Mexi Ray, Charlie Dee and me. There was a girl that we had at the time..for a short period..her name was Hi-C. But during the heyday of Touch Of Class it was the Nice & Nasty 3 MCees. From the three of us I have to give props to Mexi Ray. He came up with the most routines. We would practice. We would practice just like any athletic team. We would practice about two times a week in the basement of DJ Mellow Beat's house. Mexi Ray would come up with the foundation of the routines and me and Charlie Dee would then say, "Okay! See at this bridge here we could do this or we could do that!" It is a collaborative effort that puts it all together and that's what we would go on stage with. Mexi Ray had a very imaginative mind. I would give him that rating. He came up with the creation of many of the routines and me and Charlie Dee would then probably say, "Yeah Curtis (Mexi Ray's government name) that's a good concept but we gotta make it nasty!!! You know, me and Charlie now we would throw in this and we would throw in that and change this more into a slang. So all our routines were all collaborative efforts. The creator of the foundation? Yes, that was Mexi Raybut the final product everybody had their hands on the steering wheel."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:" Who was the best lyricist out of the Nice & Nasty MCees and who was your hype man?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"That one? Okay, I'm gonna be biased...that was me. Who had the more intricate rhymes and the more far out there lyrics? That was Mexi Ray but when it came to getting the crowd hyped and....you know, the DJ throws on a heavy beat and the crowd goes wild and you just wanna match that heavy beat with some really devastating rhymes and people are saying, "Wow!!" That was I!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who was the flyest MC among you? The one that had the girls go crazy like Easy AD of the Cold Crush Four or Mr. Ness of The Furious Five?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"The pretty boy of the crew and the more stylist of the crew that's Mexi Ray!! Me I concentrated on getting the crowd hyped and I would be like, "We're taking this to the next level!" Mexi Ray was more about getting those ladies all wet and wild. That was Mexi Ray's job. And Charlie Dee? He was in between. He could get the crowd hyped with me. We were a good duo when it was to time to get the crowd animated and he could also fall back into the role of the ladies' man."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX_4OG03duRLLr4ZwcrYjE8y80MKocrKs7pNiMBy5Q0mSSZnPL3Nqs-i5o70tmFmzaGPnXyHqv-kR-s47ubcp1jm0a5eX3Ubj6eQtsfuI2OODH1rq-kd_KYgKoGJojq9Wf9utIOUG3Sfq4aBAjlpED8QmaehfwkFQAqucmr6r1C5MiDf2saoikW3qL/s1498/touch%20of%20class%207.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1498" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX_4OG03duRLLr4ZwcrYjE8y80MKocrKs7pNiMBy5Q0mSSZnPL3Nqs-i5o70tmFmzaGPnXyHqv-kR-s47ubcp1jm0a5eX3Ubj6eQtsfuI2OODH1rq-kd_KYgKoGJojq9Wf9utIOUG3Sfq4aBAjlpED8QmaehfwkFQAqucmr6r1C5MiDf2saoikW3qL/s320/touch%20of%20class%207.jpg" width="231" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Nice & Nasty MCees<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you describe Apollo One's role?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Apollo One was unique! He was a little older than all of us. He maybe got us by two years and he came up with more mature rhymes and with a more mature style. And his style was just very different. Because he was a little older than us he kind of was the bridge between Disco and Hiphop. He still had some Disco roots in him but he managed to do a version of both Hiphop and Disco. "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Like Lovebug Starski?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Exactly! Lovebug Starski...right! I would not say that Busy Bee Starski was a hybrid, I would say Lovebug Starski was a hybrid. That was Apollo One. He was like a hybrid. He came from the Disco scene but he realized the importance, the relevance of the Hiphop scene and he was the embodiment of that in the Touch Of Class Crew."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR39_hrA8jggYwm1IXqIMswiuBInlVSJqSjpKpuZ0YyGyqAlW9RCg3M_H0w8vlbjz8PGG0zbdcNE7qDXx-Vmip8NVGNUg1WGotv8lSjdUzKAztXL7Xb-XS4jK9pS0-VXsuv8cp1YuU7hg0P-E8QwWFX8lKHH73V8VQZP9VkFEpOWc8xclp56n1Irw8/s960/DJ%20Mellow%20Beat%20(Touch%20Of%20Class)%20-%20Apollo%20One%20(The%20Nice%20&%20Nasty%20MCees)%2079.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR39_hrA8jggYwm1IXqIMswiuBInlVSJqSjpKpuZ0YyGyqAlW9RCg3M_H0w8vlbjz8PGG0zbdcNE7qDXx-Vmip8NVGNUg1WGotv8lSjdUzKAztXL7Xb-XS4jK9pS0-VXsuv8cp1YuU7hg0P-E8QwWFX8lKHH73V8VQZP9VkFEpOWc8xclp56n1Irw8/s320/DJ%20Mellow%20Beat%20(Touch%20Of%20Class)%20-%20Apollo%20One%20(The%20Nice%20&%20Nasty%20MCees)%2079.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>DJ Mellow Beat and Apollo One (Touch Of Class) in 1979<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I was told by other people from the Northeast Bronx that the Touch Of Class crew really distinguished itself from other crews through its approach to writing rhymes and through the way you used to dress up. Would you say that that's an accurate statement?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Yes, it is. Hiphop came from a really raggamuffin kind of place but then people saw,"We could take it to another level! We got our own little thing going on here." Touch Of Class...we wanted to move not in a raggamuffin way. We wanted to compete with the most raggamuffin crews out there but we also wanted to be like that bridge 'cause you gotta understand we were just coming out of the Disco era. People were coming in with that fresh new sound called Hiphop. Touch Of Class kinda wanted to be like that bridge in the middle. Now we could rock with the best of them! We could play with the L-Brothers, we could play with Grandmaster Caz and all of them but we also were able to do functions in Mount Vernon Park. We were able to do functions in New Rochelle Park. We wanted to take it to a more upscale era because Hiphop had a little dark side to it. Now it's mostly positive but it also had a little dark side to it because of where it came from. It came from gangs wanting to make peace. It came from B-Boys battling each other on the dance floor. Not every B-Boy session ended peacefully! Most of them did, some of them didn't. You know, there were shots fired. There was this and there was that. We wanted to make sure that we were on the cutting edge of taking Hiphop into a direction that would be embraced by more people because there was some people out there that would say, "This Hiphop thing will never make it anywhere. All y'all are doing is listen to beats! How can you take a beautiful tune from James Brown and just play the beat? Those were the old schoolers at the time. Those were the forty and fifty year olds in the 1970ies. Those old schoolers would say that we were destroying R&B and that movement from the 1960ies. They would say that we were destroying that artform that they had. But thank goodness for Flash, thank goodness for Theodore who took the criticism and turned it into an artform. Thank goodness for the MCees that took the artform and turned it into routines and rhymes. We got into storytelling and things of that nature. It's not Rap, it's Hiphop. Hiphop has music, Hiphop has clothes, Hiphop has art......Hiphop has a swag, dances.....all of that is Hiphop. Hiphop is a lifestyle. That's what it is. I'm right now 60 years old and I could tell you..I'm a facility manager of a major establishment here in St. Martin </b><b>and I still have my Hiphop swag, okay? Why? Because I was part of that movement.</b><b> "</b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl2YsFTKITqdli0UfuVG8viFuw6S45HX_LxFvIB6GOChvB7TSjkImeRnZrvIoNaMl4juDZHlTZQXjcXeBkWl-oBgVPVRrRFVC4m-mIrHPUPIgcjWhg0DjYD69tcmkod1ZDOr2NqHUIJMWgX5NAhzFtdG-y11DLeTc7qs5aUfKOpK0hHD3-sBkVZK23/s960/Touch%20Of%20Class%20Disco%20@%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage,%20%2024.10.1980.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl2YsFTKITqdli0UfuVG8viFuw6S45HX_LxFvIB6GOChvB7TSjkImeRnZrvIoNaMl4juDZHlTZQXjcXeBkWl-oBgVPVRrRFVC4m-mIrHPUPIgcjWhg0DjYD69tcmkod1ZDOr2NqHUIJMWgX5NAhzFtdG-y11DLeTc7qs5aUfKOpK0hHD3-sBkVZK23/s320/Touch%20Of%20Class%20Disco%20@%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage,%20%2024.10.1980.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>October 24th, 1980: Touch Of Class performs at the Ecstasy Garage in the Bronx along with DJ Afrika Islam & The Funk Machine<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What did it mean to dress fly back in the 1970ies and early 1980ies?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Oh well, unlike the movement that they're trying to do now today, making it a gender neutral society...back then the men were men and women were women and women were attracted to men. The better you dressed, the more girls you had. Okay, that's the way it went. A man dressing in an Alpaca V-Neck Sweater was saying something!! A man in the freshest British Walkers was saying something!! Before Run-D.M.C. took it to Adidas, it was Puma that was dominating. When you came out with some Pumas, some Lee Jeans and Alpaca, a Cortefiel coat you were saying something!!! Throw a Kangol on with that? You were the freshest cat in the jam, okay? You turned heads, you were a traffic stopper, okay? That's the way it went and when I saw your gear, Norin...... I was like, "Man, Norin Rad would have killed them out there!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you also wear sweaters that had your crew's name in old english letters?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Yeah, that became a trend for a little while. I wouldn't say that we started it but we did emulate it and wore it to most of our jams. You'd get a Graffiti Writer.....I forgot about Graffiti...I said B-Boys but forgot about Graffiti..our whole crew had their name written in Graffiti on their Lee Jeans. And then we also had t-shirts and sweatshirts with our name Touch Of Class in the front and our MC names on the back. When we went to perform we were in uniform and we believed in putting on a show. That's where MCing really evolved to. It was all about entertainment and I might say we were only 17, 18 years old at the time."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were your main stomping grounds as far as indoor and outdoor jams are concerned before you started to perform in places like the T-Connection or the Ecstasy Garage?"<br /></b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Okay, in the early days of Hiphop it was out in the park. Everything was free. They took power from the light post to perform in the parks. As it started to evolve into, "Hey, we can make a few dollars of it." Then they started to go to certain venues. The T-Connection..that was a club. It was a Disco club. You know, disco was starting to fade out. Richie T the owner of the place decided, "Well, this Hiphop movement is going on now. Bring it to my club!" That's the ground zero for one of the most iconic indoor venues of Hiphop. The Ecstasy Garage was just that. It was a garage! At night the owner would allow crews to rent it out and do parties there. It was a garage. Literally a garage on Jerome Avenue. You also had those skating places...They wanted to bring in more money that's why they invited Hiphop groups to perform there. The outdoor never lost its appeal. It was a way to get back to your community, your base. So we would do something in 78 Park, we would do something in Edenwald Park, we would do something in the Valley. That was your base, you gave them a little free something on a Saturday or a Sunday night if you weren't booked somewhere but you excited your base, performed for free. But now when you're at the Stardust Ballroom or the T-Connection you billed together like two or three groups from different areas of the Bronx or Manhattan. Now people would come to support their group. If Touch Of Class played with let's say The L-Brothers at the T-Connection all the L-Brothers supporters would come uptown to the T-Connection and all of Baychester, White Plains Road, Gun Hill Road are coming to the T-Connection to support Touch Of Class. So it wasn't one way or the other. The outdoor venues were still there for you to keep your name and your rep up and to keep your base motivated. The indoor venues became a place were you could go up against other crews and that's where the enterpreneurial money making aspect came about because now we could do jams, we could charge two or three dollars and make a little something. And trust me it was a little something. People did this for the love, not really for the money. Richie T from the T-Connection...yeah, he at the end of the night could say, "I did pretty good." Because he got his bar, he got his door. The groups...the money you made... it was enough to take a OJ and go home. That's about it. Then you pulled your money together to buy new Sure mics. You needed new speakers. So the leader of our group which was DJ Mellow Beat he would say,"Guys, today we got paid 300 $ but I gotta split up 150 $ because the other 150 $ we need for new bass bottoms." So it is what it is."</b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxPeNrvvTIWeg-RKZlrRGHmhiCInTj3kifr0-UY8QJxHRwAiZPJE_AbYK58mBpTevLIDufB9d-TNqOUrIGhjT62lejhzKC5iyWXHwgQ0FR1QatyS5u3yonlAIUMmdryXLfP0boL4PFD0M6t0_5M_bharLir7I7pWfAiZYWrD_iMHiHo-alnK7z-4F/s960/Touch%20Of%20Class%20@%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage%2028.06.1980.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="776" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxPeNrvvTIWeg-RKZlrRGHmhiCInTj3kifr0-UY8QJxHRwAiZPJE_AbYK58mBpTevLIDufB9d-TNqOUrIGhjT62lejhzKC5iyWXHwgQ0FR1QatyS5u3yonlAIUMmdryXLfP0boL4PFD0M6t0_5M_bharLir7I7pWfAiZYWrD_iMHiHo-alnK7z-4F/s320/Touch%20Of%20Class%20@%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage%2028.06.1980.jpg" width="259" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>June 28th, 1980: Touch Of Class performs at the Ecstasy Garage along with Grandwizard Theodore & The Fantastic Five, The Cold Crush Brothers and Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I see but I guess it felt good to enjoy the admiration of the people in your neighbourhood and in your school."</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"That is true. I mean like I said we were teenagers and it was flattering. I went to Aviation High School and that's all the way up in Long Island City. I had to take the 7 train to Grand Central and the 5 train to Gun Hill Road. For the 5 train to Gun Hill Road......during the late 1970ies and early 1980ies all the cool people, all the fly girls were in the back of the train. So everybody would be in the last two cars. Everybody mixing and mingling. You know, checking out girls...this and that. Now when the 5 train is reaching up now to Gun Hill Road everybody is getting off at Gun Hill. Your moving from the back to the front of the train and it felt good when you heard people playing your music from the jam last week as you were walking through the train. You heard yourself rapping on a tape as you were walking through the train....I ain't gonna lie it did feel good." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"My man Sureshot La Rock provided me with a flyer from August 1979 which advertises a DJ & MC Convention at the legendary Webster P.A.L. in the BX. Your crew Touch Of Class did participate in that event....."</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Yeah, we won that."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVhZgJ7ZM-BiQlg99CiCRPUO069N0IpcIVFNAcwGsb18r4laP35qfOre17emTlAlydxvdDRdM_lJ5j8ULFhfG7u3lt5x5VQq5d06YJg8x0ulTk095uAJt2m544APy4_SoJHAeNGSrWQ0ES-0RWyRXQSGAt7ECIjXs4_v2XWxhyxt89ofcPRYTyEgTY/s505/Touch%20Of%20Class%20@%20The%20Webster%20P.A.L.%2024.08.1979.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="319" data-original-width="505" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVhZgJ7ZM-BiQlg99CiCRPUO069N0IpcIVFNAcwGsb18r4laP35qfOre17emTlAlydxvdDRdM_lJ5j8ULFhfG7u3lt5x5VQq5d06YJg8x0ulTk095uAJt2m544APy4_SoJHAeNGSrWQ0ES-0RWyRXQSGAt7ECIjXs4_v2XWxhyxt89ofcPRYTyEgTY/s320/Touch%20Of%20Class%20@%20The%20Webster%20P.A.L.%2024.08.1979.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>August 24th, 1979: Touch Of Class Disco participates in a DJ / MC Convention at the legendary Webster P.A.L. in the Bronx.<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did these competitions go down back then and did your prepare yourself for these kind of events as a crew?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Well, for these events..you're talking about the P.A.L. on Webster Avenue...we had to practice. Just like I told you we would practice several times a week. Your passing of the mic had to be flawless. Like the Furious Five would say, "Make five MCees sound like one!" The DJs....as an MC you had to be able to ride the beat....that's why the DJ would practice with the MCees. So the DJs had to be flawless in what they did. All of that took a lot of practice. Those who put the work in rose to the top. Ourselves and a few other crews put in the work and it paid off when we went to these conventions. That's where the uniforms came in. We were all in our uniforms...we had mic stands....Sure mics...our DJ was on point. You know, our DJ would walk in with his own needles. You wouldn't take a chance somebody sabotaging you. You'd walk in with a little cheering section, too. Every crew came with their own cheering section but the goal was to get everybody else on board to cheer for you. Yeah, we won two of these events at the P.A.L."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"By whom was the winner of such a convention determined?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Okay, at this time now you had godfathers like Kool DJ Herc. He had started in the early 1970ies and by the late 1970ies he was now Hiphop royalty. So people like Herc they were given the status of judges. As a crew participating in these conventions you had one shot. You'd go up there and you'd have maybe 15 minutes. Now if you wanna do two tunes, you do two tunes, two routines. You wanna do three tunes....It's up to you but you got 15 minutes. You got 15 minutes to move that crowd and make them fans of yours. After 15 minutes is up the next crew comes on stage. At the end of the night the judges determined the winner. They'd take the crowd participation also, "Who thinks T.N.T. Disco won?" or, "Who thinks Grandmaster Productions won?" They would listen to the crowd but the judges' scoring was the ultimate deciding factor. Most of the times the judges and the crowd they matched."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-9-4Rr_N6dC62hxWREZkvoIcSKkcshj8-u6XxVlZfohk8kNkc82hNqXJguKCMwX4Lft6qQDCsl5gzt_kDPpCh4vh4bZjb-t1q_7Osmvm6A0oQJMWeCP8waGL_pqE0KQEDf7JcQVmhFTpGFR19kD5Bsz3aJjTxNRKqRh-WhHD7CQiPEsaPTrpLA3OM/s960/Touch%20Of%20Class%20Disco%20@%20The%20T-Connection,%2009.02.%201980.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-9-4Rr_N6dC62hxWREZkvoIcSKkcshj8-u6XxVlZfohk8kNkc82hNqXJguKCMwX4Lft6qQDCsl5gzt_kDPpCh4vh4bZjb-t1q_7Osmvm6A0oQJMWeCP8waGL_pqE0KQEDf7JcQVmhFTpGFR19kD5Bsz3aJjTxNRKqRh-WhHD7CQiPEsaPTrpLA3OM/s320/Touch%20Of%20Class%20Disco%20@%20The%20T-Connection,%2009.02.%201980.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>February 9th, 1980: Touch Of Class performs at the legendary T-Connection in the Bronx<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What did take back then to be considered as an outstanding MC?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"You had to have the x-factor. There were a lot of people that tried to be MCees but they didn't make it. Those that made it, they had that x-factor. Number one you had to have an aura about you so that the crowd would gravitate towards you. You had to be an entertainer, okay? Then also your rhymes had to be captivating. It couldn't be boring and mundane. It had to be about something. You had to have something that would make the crowd say,"Wow, let me listen to this!!" I'm not bragging and I don't want to hurt nobody's feelings but not everybody could be an MC. You gotta be born with it just like a dancer. You could go to the best dance school but if you don't have that x-factor as far as having that rhythm in you will not become a dancer. MCing is the same way. You gotta be able to feel your lyrics, it's the best if you live your lyrics 'cause that makes you say them with passion. You have to have good rhymes, you have to have a stage presence and you have to have that aura about you that makes people gravitate towards you. You gotta be born with it. It's not something you could learn. Like I told you I loved Rahiem but my style and his style were different. He's a smooth operator. I like the nature of his rhymes but he's a smooth operator. My style was little bit more rough but I was motivated by him and I looked up to Rahiem. Melle Mel...he was just naturally gifted. Keith Cowboy...naturally gifted. Keith Keith from the Funky Four....naturally gifted. Sha Rock!!!!! It just flowed from Sha Rock!!!! Sha Rock didn't go to an MC school and she was ground breaking!!! She is the first female MC! It just flowed out of her. She didn't learn that from nobody!!!! She didn't emulate nobody. It just flowed and when she added the echo chamber to it.....(laughs)..she took it to a whole 'nother level!!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I would like you to describe what it was like to perform in the Valley back then. Talking to DJ Breakout I was told that it was a special kind of location because you had to be built a certain way in order to survive out there. Before he DJed there he had been Breaking in the Valley with his friend Doc La Rock."</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Okay, you know of the Rucker Park in Harlem....for basketball. The Valley was to the Northeast Bronx......I'd say that was our Rucker Park. When you played in the Valley park you had to come with your A game...no B game!!! Like I told you the outdoor venues were give backs to the community. They were free jams. But when you played in the Valley park you had to come with your A game. I'm glad you're mentioning Doc La Rock. He and DJ One Time....these were old DJs from our community where me and DJ Breakout are from. They are no longer with us but big ups to them. Those were the DJs that we looked up to. But the Valley was our Mecca!! Only royalty touched those stages. If you didn't have it...... it could get rough! The Valley park was a rough place. If you came with anything less than your A game people would throw bottles at you. You had to come good in the Valley."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you have a people behind you that carried and protected your equipment and had your back when things got out of hand on a foreign turf?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"When you went to those other people's territories you had to be prepared for anything. Now we came with a different element and we weren't about that gangsterism and all that but you had to come prepared. Yes, we had some brethren that were with us who would watch our back at the door, who would watch our back on stage. Some of the people that DJ Breakout used did security for us as well. We had our security crew. You had to move crates of records back in the days so you had to have people help you move things in and out. If you came with your sound sytem moving those bass bottoms was no joke. So like I told you Touch Of Class wasn't just a crew of DJs and MCees, it was an organization."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What are your recollections of Edenwald Center?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Okay, Edenwald Center was not on the level of the Valley but Edenwald Center had a lot of budding crews like T.N.T. Disco and others. When Touch Of Class played in Edenwald...you know, people liked to challenge us because they felt like, "Ok, these guys got the reputation but we're better than them!!" So we got challenged a lot in Edenwald. But you had to go in there and dominate them. That's what they expected. They felt if Brothers Disco played in there, they should dominate all the small crews. Whenever Touch Of Class played in there we had to dominate. We couldn't go in there and play nice with these groups. When I say "nice" I'm talking on a musical level. You had to go in there and spank them and spank them good. And we did that. Edenwald is rough!! If you go in there it could lead to physical confrontation, it could lead to a lot of things 'cause now you're on the home court of these smaller crews. So if you agreed to perform in Edenwald there again you had to come good! For you to keep your rep you couldn't avoid these places. Places like Edenwald Center, Boston Secor Center.. you had to go. When they called you and said,"Touch Of Class we want you to come down here and we want you to play with Grandmasters Productions or T.N.T. Disco in Edenwald." We could not say, "No!" because you had to show them why you're dominant. That's how DJing and MCing was back in those days. If you were one of the leading groups there were people gunning for your spot but you could not walk away from a gunfight.....I don't mean literally a gunfight..... but you couldn't walk away from a challenge. You had to go and show your dominance. You had to show them why you deserved the top honours that you got. And we did that."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So it was like the young wolves were coming for the leader of the pack to get his position and he had to fight them off?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"At all times, yes! That was the competitive, sometimes ugly side of Hiphop back then because there were always young wolves...you put it right....trying to take you down and you couldn't let that simmer. You had to take that challenge! They would challenge you and you had to take them on and show them why you're number one. Show them why you dominate this area. You had to do it."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What do you remember about jamming at Boston Secor?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Boston Secor was small. It was a more upscale community. They weren't really too favourable for the Hiphop movement but they had a lot of people who loved Hiphop in their area and they would rent out the spot. DJ Pete La Rock from P.T. Disco he would call us down to there to play and we would go. It was a good spot. It wasn't on a level with Edenwald and definitely not on a level with the Valley but it does get his reputation. It was one of the big Hiphop spots in the Northeast Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please highlight the importance of the breakbeats for Hiphop! You got a lot of people nowadays who don't appreciate the breakbeats." <br /></b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Well, if you don't understand the foundation of anything it will be very hard to build on it. The BREAKBEATS are the FOUNDATION OF THIS WHOLE HIPHOP MUSIC!! Breakbeats...that's where it started, that's where it came from. It was all about the beats!!! People would go through their parents' archives of records looking for breakbeats and the breakbeats were the hits. Who could outdo who? Who did more research on beats and who found something out of all the Jackie Wilson records etc. It was all about finding something that another DJ didn't find. It was all about the beats!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"And that's why people who weren't down with the DJ and his crew were not allowed to go near the beat crates."</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Now listen....to protect beats....let's say DJ Breakout found a beat or one of our DJs found a beat.....like DJ Mellow Beat found a beat on an old tune or maybe even from a different country..they scrape off or black out the label so no one would know and then when you rocked it at a party people were trying to look over the ropes. They would ask themselves, "Yo, what record is that???" By you blacking it out you're keeping it secret until someone eventually a month or two months in would figure it out and they would have it, too. But while you had it exclusively, you had to protect it. That's why DJs were very particular who could come behind the ropes because other crews would try to spy on you. It was all about beats!!!! I remember when DJs would cut up that beat by Barry Manilow....Copacabana.....I think it was Grandwizard Theodore who dropped it first. He drove the whole Hiphop scene insane 'cause nobody knew where it came from. He would just start it at the break and then mix it, mix it, mix it! And it was such a dope beat and he had that exclusively for about let's say a month or two until somebody figured it out and other DJs started playing it. But that was a competition..beats."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So what were your favourite breakbeats to rhyme over back then?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"For me personally one of my favourites was "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" by Bob James. That was my favourite 'cause it was heavy, you could rhyme on it, you could dance to it you could go fast or you could go slow. I just loved it! And then it also had a nice intro. The our DJ used to cut that up!! Oh man, I loved it. I also loved "Seven Minutes OF Funk" by the Whole Darn Family when that came out I used to love that and surprisingly "To Be Real" by Cherryl Lynn. I loved the break on Cherryl Lynn!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you rate the sound system of the Touch Of Class Disco Crew? If I'm not mistaken the Northeast Bronx had a couple of crews that came through with heavyweight sound systems such as the Kaos Crew and of course The Brothers Disco."</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"We had a good sound system. We brought it out to 78 Park and we brought it to The Valley but these crews you mentioned they had devastating sound systems!!! So we never got into sound system battles because we were not on that level. DJ Breakout was in our neighbourhood and he had the Mighty Sasquatch. And the Sasquatch...we couldn't compete with the Sasquatch, nor did we try because the Sasquatch when that rolled out....I mean, DJ Breakout could be playing in The Valley and you would hear him in Edenwald!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly is 78 Park located?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"On Needham Avenue in the Northeast Bronx."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CxXdOqjLi0-5Qo_1wgciORCDmsB1vKKm5PndZlPxTNMZgn3yauUsrBuTWXVr1WxPTcI6gvPAB0GRCIHOR633cFIPEdO0-a_2EpbbQgDJdQeChk8ZcNAzr53bgRYpDdSu1TSXVwyxpXW71GqIiBifJbzyAsLlacH0T0VGx2hRMC-ALinynRkPZbRS/s1240/78%20Park.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="827" data-original-width="1240" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CxXdOqjLi0-5Qo_1wgciORCDmsB1vKKm5PndZlPxTNMZgn3yauUsrBuTWXVr1WxPTcI6gvPAB0GRCIHOR633cFIPEdO0-a_2EpbbQgDJdQeChk8ZcNAzr53bgRYpDdSu1TSXVwyxpXW71GqIiBifJbzyAsLlacH0T0VGx2hRMC-ALinynRkPZbRS/s320/78%20Park.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>78 Park</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was your relationship with the Grandmaster Productions Crew? There are a couple of flyers from 1979 that have both your crews names on them."</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"They were good friends of mine and neighbours as well. We all lived in the same neighbourhood. DJ Scorpio...he lived around the block from me. We called his van the Big Green Machine. He had a Chevy G20 van. His van was what carried our soundsystem and our equipment. I know Grandmasters Productions very well. They made some noise in the neighbourhood as well. They did not get the same recognition as Touch Of Class but in the neighbourhood, yeah......they were pretty much known. They played a lot of times in Edenwald."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTMX8EXGdgX4emcCCXUsmhp3WultaJ-4I4hnoRrpbnguaEuyeedkICVFCkA3VfRo2FMLwKtXyQ7wWwqq3CIZm2tQ_okNRwwiXldDw2qkx9FtKbHHG9cb1HVE9Dcc0ND1MMr2E7YS8vHvCFv2992IsntiHq7F9G95PS2tyyQK-x41klssqqrrQVUPa/s960/2.%20Grandmasters%20Productions%20@%20Edenwald%20Center%2018.04.1980.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="742" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTMX8EXGdgX4emcCCXUsmhp3WultaJ-4I4hnoRrpbnguaEuyeedkICVFCkA3VfRo2FMLwKtXyQ7wWwqq3CIZm2tQ_okNRwwiXldDw2qkx9FtKbHHG9cb1HVE9Dcc0ND1MMr2E7YS8vHvCFv2992IsntiHq7F9G95PS2tyyQK-x41klssqqrrQVUPa/s320/2.%20Grandmasters%20Productions%20@%20Edenwald%20Center%2018.04.1980.jpg" width="247" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>April 18th, 1980: Touch Of Class performs at Edenwald Center in the Bronx along with Grandmasters Productions<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give some shout outs at the end of this interview?"</b></p><p><b>TERRY TEE:"Ah yes....to all my colleagues in Touch Of Class...DJ Disco Gee, DJ Mellow Beat, DJ Willie Will, Charlie Dee, Apollo One and of course Mexi Ray!!! To the Brothers Disco! To Grandmasters Productions and to the Bronx as a whole!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:" Thank you!! I wanna shout out my crew The Intruders and my mellow Sureshot La Rock! Princess Teela (RIP)!" <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-24387957901385878512023-10-14T03:27:00.001-07:002023-10-14T12:01:51.924-07:00Interview with MC Hi-Cee (Touch Of Class / Inner City Disco)<p><b> Interview with MC Hi-Cee (Touch Of Class / Inner City Disco)</b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiXSDSWXnD_j7hlEhWo3WDPCJen7T1lt4yHsr9tTybfCPEwmBrvMXjUqMOE70sQ8b6Us62mOfle218kD0-Oo7Iy1xuWorjDHyp-7LkemWRWdE42hFkHH5Wo8dyAyYW5HpotY4Ogt6UYtarbFrl9VmQ0CZ-RjNMqvU01GpIDi5RBLHTpROQYj3Nx6oD/s1990/MC%20Hi-Cee%20(Inner%20City%20Disco).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1990" data-original-width="1980" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiXSDSWXnD_j7hlEhWo3WDPCJen7T1lt4yHsr9tTybfCPEwmBrvMXjUqMOE70sQ8b6Us62mOfle218kD0-Oo7Iy1xuWorjDHyp-7LkemWRWdE42hFkHH5Wo8dyAyYW5HpotY4Ogt6UYtarbFrl9VmQ0CZ-RjNMqvU01GpIDi5RBLHTpROQYj3Nx6oD/s320/MC%20Hi-Cee%20(Inner%20City%20Disco).jpg" width="318" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>MC Hi-Cee (Touch Of Class / Inner City Disco)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)</b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where were you born and raised at?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"I was born and raised in the Bronx, New York City.....in Jacobi Hospital which is in the northeast section of the Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay and where exactly did you live in the Bronx when you encountered Hiphop for the very first time? Was it Edenwald ?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Yes, it sure was. That's where I was born and raised in Edenwald Housing Projects. Yup, that's exactly where it started."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of music were you exposed to as a young girl growing up?"<br /></b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"I come from a very diverse background. My mother is Caribean..Trinidadian and my dad was Southern. Music was a very big part of our family. I was raised on traditional Soul music at the time, right in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. R&B of course...and then my oldest brother had a very huge influence on me with Jazz. So I was introduced to a lot of classical Jazz artists at a very young age. So melting Hiphop and some of the Jazz was pretty familiar to me. So yeah it was a myriad of different music of different sounds. So my evolution with music has been a long standing part of my life."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Could you please name those artists that stood out to you before you became a part of Hiphop?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Sure. James Brown.....of course.....all the Motown artists. The Temptations, Diana Ross & The Supremes. Aretha Franklin was another very huge sound in my household. Sam Cooke....and then in the 1970ies....of course the Jackson Five, The Stylistics, Blue Magic, The Manhattans...that whole genre of music...and then you know it just transitioned into Disco in the mid to late seventies....like Donna Summers and all of these new artists."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe how you got into Hiphop! Where did your first encounter with it take place? Was it at a park jam?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Uhm.... sorta kind of but it actually stems back to the B-Boys..to that whole B-Boy culture and Graffiti. Breaking was my initial exposure to Hiphop."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please elaborate on that! Were you a B-Girl back then?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"I would say I was. I was a self-proclaimed B-Girl. That whole culture was just about being young and relaxed. You know, having jeans and sweatshirts and sneakers....you know just hanging out. We would wear the Super Pro-Keds and the wide bottom Lee Jeans. So yeah it was something for the young people to do, just to hang out and express their creativity through music and dance."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Your name appears on Hiphop flyers as early as 1979. So you were undoubtedly among the first female MCees. What made you pick up the microphone and start rhyming?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"I had a friend who was at the time a DJ. He was spinning on the 1s and 2s and we would just hang out. I just picked up the mic and I had a knack. I had always been a little bit of a poet. So you know I would write rhymes and I just got encouraged one day to pick up the mic when he was jamming in house. And that was the beginning of it. So wherever he would go he would bring me wih him and I would just get on the mic and rhyme."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was his name?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"His name was Carl. I forgot what his DJ name was. He wasn't from Edenwald but he was from right outside of the neighbourhood."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did you meet him?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Actually I knew him before he started DJing. We were all like teenage friends and I was dating his best friend at the time. We actually had a crush on each other but I wind up dating his best friend. Me and his friend got close but we maintained our relationship as friends. So when he started DJing and started doing his thing it happened organically and I just started rocking the mic. He was actually my connection to Touch Of Class."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Which year was that?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"1977/78."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How long did you perform with him?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"It wasn't long. Maybe a few months. I do remember that it was warm when I started rocking with him because we were doing our thing outside. So I would say it was probably about four months. He was connected to DJ Mellow Beat of Touch Of Class. He was really good friends with him. He knew him, we went to his set and the rest is kind of history."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So what was it like for you to stand in front of a crowd and to kick your rhymes for the first time?" <br /></b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"I kinda sort of..I remember being in a house and it was all guys. Hiphop was dominated by males back then. DJ Breakout lived on the same block. It was a little stressful but because I was with my really good friend and he felt that I had the confidence to do it I kinda didn't wanna let him down.So I had to bolster up whatever courage I could find at the time to pick up the mic because of course they wanted to hear me and they were all looking at me like, "Is she the next Sha Rock?" (laughs) I was right behind her. So yeah it was a little intense when I think about it."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:" Please describe how you joined the Touch Of Class Crew which was one of the most prestigious DJ/MC crews in the northeast Bronx. How did your first DJ react to your decision to leave him for Touch Of Class?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"There wasn't no bad feelings. He just wanted to see me get to the next level. Which was good..."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:" So did you have to go through something like a tryout in order to join Touch Of Class? Did you have to rock the mic in front of the crew while their DJs were cutting up beats?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Oh yeah! Exactly! I had to kinda audition. They had some beats going on. I kicked some of my rhymes they liked what they heard and let me join their group."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you already go by the name of Hi-C at that time?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Yes, sir!!! (laughs) It was Hi-C from the beginning." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did you come up with that name? Did your choice have anything to do with that drink Hi-C?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"So it goes a little something like this: I didn't get my name from the Hi-C drink. That's what a lot of people like to think. It's just that if you put "Hi" to the initial letter of my first name you would get Hi-C."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did the other MCees of Touch Of Class treat you when you joined their crew?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"They were very, very happy to have me on board because those gentlemen were like different. Touch Of Class was a different type of crew. It was exactly what that title was. During that time you had a lot of....I don't wanna say non-classy but unclassy MCees. We were classy! You know, we had a lot of pride in our appearance and in our delivery of lyrics, in our technique of rapping. We were all very, very lyrical. They all were very lyrical and they all could move a crowd. So for me to be able to pretty much impress them it was an honour for me to be part of that team. Now they were all very welcoming. We really, really performed well together. There was a little tension between me and Mexi Ray....who is Apollo One's brother. He was a little bit spoiled and I was, too. He liked the limelight......so to be a female with them made it a little bit competetive...for the most part between he and I...but the formula still worked well."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTL6VzmJwQD6kYWOze2rkfdvtGMLkkfjbrdNgYQcTbqvTruv1fZbzdyaV2M7-dDh_laUxLCmldHS4sK2H1StBqovJDq5iuDBF1vttif8vVIQmbUCrpFtEh6EEfrwpVbUXTNcFCnaP5qpbAlRjPeO0qd3WmcYuQeGF5N0oGnrrCeXMBwHobXnj5r5K/s403/Touch%20Of%20Class%20@%2028%20Lincoln%20Ave%20Disco%201979%2004.08.1979.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTL6VzmJwQD6kYWOze2rkfdvtGMLkkfjbrdNgYQcTbqvTruv1fZbzdyaV2M7-dDh_laUxLCmldHS4sK2H1StBqovJDq5iuDBF1vttif8vVIQmbUCrpFtEh6EEfrwpVbUXTNcFCnaP5qpbAlRjPeO0qd3WmcYuQeGF5N0oGnrrCeXMBwHobXnj5r5K/s320/Touch%20Of%20Class%20@%2028%20Lincoln%20Ave%20Disco%201979%2004.08.1979.jpg" width="254" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>August 4th 1979: Touch Of Class is rocking at the 28 Lincoln Ave Disco<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So please explain how much work went into coming up with exceptional rhymes and routines, into making the whole crew appear as a well functioning unit."</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Well, the process pretty much was.....each invididual MC of course had their own rap lyrics that they would develop and you know we would come together and rehearse just to get a flow and to be comfortable with each other but then with specific beats we would have specific routines. There was one time where Touch Of Class....we were in a competition....it was an outdoor competition and our routine just totally took over. Nobody after that competed against us. We would come up with routines. Usually it started with a specific song, a specific beat. The DJ may have something that he wanted us to work on an so we would just listen to it and then we would just come up with you know different rhymes, the rotation of the rhymes. If there were gonna be any movement we would build that in. We would rehearse multiple times during the week whenever it was feasible for everybody to get together. I know weekly we....Touch Of Class..would have a standing day that we would rehearse. When we knew there was gonna be a competition we would be rehearsing multiple times during the week."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So I guess you would think a lot about new rhymes and concepts for new routines during your days back then."</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Yes, I did but it never felt like work. So I at the time was in transition. I was going to school downtown in Manhattan. That took up much of my time along with my boyfriend. So I basically dropped out of high school. Unfortunately I did but that gave me a little bit more time to work on my craft. I managed to go to work and in my private time I would write rhymes. A lot of our rehearsals would be done later on in the evening once everybody was through with their working. You know, some of the team they were old enough to work and we would just plan to get together in the evening and work and do what we neeeded to do. We pretty much knew that while we were not actually together and rehearsing we still needed to work on our craft. That kinda build in."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe your approach to writing rhymes back then. Would you write your rhymes while your fellow MCees were around or did you prefer to be alone when it came to that? Would you write your rhymes to a certain beat that was playing on a boom box in your room at home or did you write rhymes to a beat in your head?" <br /></b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"I'm just a creative person. So a lot of my rhymes were tied back to old school songs or lyrics. Things that people would sing at the time. So I would just play with that. For the most part it was music that woul inspire me to write a rhyme. So I remembered old school lyrics and I may twist it and you know come up with something. We styled it you know to Hiphop and we would just write."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you keep a rhyme book with you?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Of course! Every MC has to have a rhyme book!! I would keep pads or a notebook. Probably a spiral at the time."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You have stated that the whole Touch Of Class crew also stood out because of the way its members dressed. Please elaborate on that!" <br /></b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"We were all definetely fly! As I said I was very creative so I would design a lot of my outfits. So I would make sure for me that I was always fly cause I knew that the brothers would always gonna come nicely dressed. We presented ourselves with a high level of class to the young Hiphop scene at the time. Nobody was doing it like we were."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was considered as female fly gear in Hiphop during the late 1970ies and early 1980ies?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"You had the bamboo earrings with the big gold chains. A lot of the designer jeans definetely was the thing. High heeled shoes, some would have on platforms. You had the sheepskin coats. At that time there was a heavy influence of the cowboy style. So we would wear cowboy hats, cowboy boots with heels. Again the designer jeans was the thing back then. That's when that whole genre began with Gloria Vanderbilt, the Sassons, the Jordaches, the Calvin Kleins. The Le Tigre shirts at that time were very stylish. You would pop your collar.....yeah."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I have seen a lot of 1970ies pictures of Black and Puerto Rican ladies from the Bronx which show them wearing a scarve around their head as well as colorful blouses with huge collars. Was that style still around when you got into Hiphop?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Yeah, so that was right towards the end of the Disco era. So they would have these really puffed sleeves. We would call them puff sleeves and they would have the really long collars. So that's indicative of getting towards the end of the Disco era and going into Hiphop. Some girls you would see them with scarves. Either they would tie them around their neck because it was just part of the dance gear at the time or they would tie them around their neck. It was some sort of a gypsy kind of style. Yeah, that was that mid seventies look."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Did you have a pair of Marshmallow shoes back then?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"I had a pair of maroon Marshmallow shoes with the white bottoms. I sure did. I also had a leather coat. Delancey Street is where you would go to get your leathers. If you were fashionable you had to have a leather jacket or a leather coat. That was another big part of your attire, of you being fly." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What type of hats did the women in Hiphop wear back then?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"You would see some of them with Kangols...you know, the one that LL Cool J rocked... you would see some of them rocking those but for the most part...the females...they would have their hair out. They wouldn't have their head covered unless, you know, you had a cowboy hat during that time."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"At which venues did you rock at when you were part of the Nice & Nasty MCees of the Touch of Class Crew?"<br /></b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"The T-Connection was one....Edenwald Center. We did the Ecstasy Garage one time. That was towards the time when I was gonna separate with them. We did a lot of outdoor jams in the parks. There was one spot on Webster Avenue that was really popular for us....the P.A.L. We rocked down in the Valley, too, at some point. Edenwald Park.......places like that."<br /></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg49Kq-k8jksejJk7yG1tENOk1biYt5BLgDk1d1R6J1XPuUy_mXA02j675oTAnpPVoE_a5a25-QMkQSWCY6OrVwyoja5VqUQyLkn7nXdDk--2QvhR-Z4ueQ2cjDIZVGpu6Jt-LLQ9aOlADwI8pI-cQ2cl9aKyf1gQJikTBTVZoVAUbW_--m09mRix4t/s505/Touch%20Of%20Class%20@%20The%20Webster%20P.A.L.%2024.08.1979.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="319" data-original-width="505" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg49Kq-k8jksejJk7yG1tENOk1biYt5BLgDk1d1R6J1XPuUy_mXA02j675oTAnpPVoE_a5a25-QMkQSWCY6OrVwyoja5VqUQyLkn7nXdDk--2QvhR-Z4ueQ2cjDIZVGpu6Jt-LLQ9aOlADwI8pI-cQ2cl9aKyf1gQJikTBTVZoVAUbW_--m09mRix4t/s320/Touch%20Of%20Class%20@%20The%20Webster%20P.A.L.%2024.08.1979.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>August 24th, 1979: Touch Of Class Disco participates in a DJ convention at the legendary Webster P.A.L. in the Bronx.</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What's the difference between rocking at a community center like the Edenwald Center and rocking at a club like the T-Connection?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Well, the first difference was at a club you had the potential to get paid. So when you rocked at a club that was basically like the birth place of the battle scene. You know, the battling of the different crews. The jams at the community centers were more of a recreational thing. You gotta chance to go and do your thing. You know, showcase your talent. But when you moved into the club, when you're performing in a club....now you have the element of making money. Now you're being paid. And that, you know, really was the difference. Getting into the T-Connection... which at the time was the number one club in the Bronx....that meant you had arrived!!! </b><b>They had a big stage. The venue was just set for performances. You really felt like an artist."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So that means in places like the Edenwald Center you were on the floor standing face to face with the crowd?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Yeah, exactly you were on the floor. You know, the same floor as the party and everybody was up close. You didn't have the barrier of a stage...it was all together with the party. And that was the difference! The jams at the centers were partys. Even though you partied at the T-Connection but you also had the payment. You know, it was just the way it was marketed."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please elaborate on the parties in the community centers during the late 1970ies. What kind of dances were done there? What was the atmosphere like?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"The Freak!!! That was the main dance!!! (laughs) At the community centers it would actually be such a big party scene....it would be so heavy that the floors would be muddy because of the sweat and the dirt of the shoes. And so when you asked me about the gear back then I recalled the guys when they were coming out of a community center party......the dirt was up to their calves on their Lee Jeans because of all the moisture! It was hot in there. These places were called sweat boxes. But it was the most phenomenal time because you had a large group of people that was coming of age and there was just a new freedom and liberty that you were experiencing and you know we didn't know that we were giving birth to a whole new cultural artform. We were just having a really, really good time...."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirBdamf45Pkv_83kERuI9PQ0LfB9OPymM7ea4e8R01DqWC-dDsjm0EjvSb5UQ7dReDbJ_TJN5fTWw6X1fGul4WPzis3-3fDpZLZBo3sg-iRH2Lzk-YSYTHzrVmnPC3MW06YImNLhewy-iURa_KehTn-1NjvhV_AYBCXNCBQmolXtDkbqGtFTnvlBos/s1110/Touch%20Of%20Class%20@%20Edenwald%20Center%2012.10.1979.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="1110" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirBdamf45Pkv_83kERuI9PQ0LfB9OPymM7ea4e8R01DqWC-dDsjm0EjvSb5UQ7dReDbJ_TJN5fTWw6X1fGul4WPzis3-3fDpZLZBo3sg-iRH2Lzk-YSYTHzrVmnPC3MW06YImNLhewy-iURa_KehTn-1NjvhV_AYBCXNCBQmolXtDkbqGtFTnvlBos/s320/Touch%20Of%20Class%20@%20Edenwald%20Center%2012.10.1979.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>October 12th, 1979: Touch Of Class Disco is rocking at the Edenwald Center in the Bronx</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> <br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you say that it was harder for you as a young woman to make it as an MC back then?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"It's interesting because I rocked with two different crews it's two different perspectives for me. So yeah, with the Touch Of Class.. because it was a male dominated group it was a little bit more difficult because they were very dominating, they made all the decisions about the direction of the crew. I was not consulted on anything and they actually dismissed me from the crew for really no reason. In my opinion I became a lot more popular than the other MCees because I was a female and I had a small following. They would come to all of our jams and they would help me hype it up. So whenever I got on the mic it would just be hyped! The others weren't getting exactly that level of response. So it kinda created a little bit of friction there. There was some resentment. So they decided that I wasn't gonna be a part of the team. From the outside looking in I just disappeared. Kenny Ken....(DJ of the Cheeba Crew) he introduced me to Inner City Disco. With them it wasn't hard because I was with my contemporaries. We were all females, we fed off each other. We knew that there were other female crews out there but we felt that we were number one. So it was a whole different experience. I believe that this particular crew..because we were all females and we performed just so well.....that made it easier for us to get into doors than it was for other groups." </b></p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkKu6R1G8b0qPTlq5mAePYk03xsDqw1e_AVvDiDQfcT7bLk7QQcTybyj8_oHD_ewmY3d0yd9zLhrPCc9o7Ms722zyz_6R7_GuNbjDwq4_TshWIuQryNi619lqdJTJEUD1wRgDRlmz1F5y3-4g5Zyrr_t_8QLMsTV00sErGpkOqbxgWS9doBKhRmqyB/s512/f4a0047a-ea8a-4326-9239-379cbbd544db_size3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="395" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkKu6R1G8b0qPTlq5mAePYk03xsDqw1e_AVvDiDQfcT7bLk7QQcTybyj8_oHD_ewmY3d0yd9zLhrPCc9o7Ms722zyz_6R7_GuNbjDwq4_TshWIuQryNi619lqdJTJEUD1wRgDRlmz1F5y3-4g5Zyrr_t_8QLMsTV00sErGpkOqbxgWS9doBKhRmqyB/s320/f4a0047a-ea8a-4326-9239-379cbbd544db_size3.jpg" width="247" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>January 5th, 1980: Touch Of Class rocks at the legendary Ecstasy Garage. This was the last time Hi-Cee performed with them.<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"From where did you know DJ Kenny Ken?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"I met him through Touch Of Class. We were jamming together somewhere and Kenny Ken is such a personable person.... he just started talking to me and we just clicked and then we became reallly cool friends. He married my best friend. I introduced him to his wife and it's history ever since (laughs). They just celebrated 40 years, so you know?! He saw in what kind of situation I was with Touch Of Class and he didn't like it. He intervened and I guess he knew Inner City Disco through La Spank (MC of Inner City Disco).....but yeah, he made the connection for me." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did they welcome you with open arms?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Definetely. It was amazing. We really felt like family."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did you manage to regularly get to your new crew's rehearsals in Queens?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Yeah, well Kenny Ken was kinda helpful because he would drive out to Lefrak from time to time and when he wouldn't drive it would take me all day. I would hop on the train. It was a journey and it took a lot of time but that's what I love about New York..that ability to transfer to different neighbourhoods because of the train system. I spend a lot of time riding trains and that's how I became familiar with the city......all boroughs....with the exception of Staten Island. It was just something that had to be done. I didn't think much about it. My mother was very supportive with anything I wanted to do positive. She would just tell me to be careful and that we did. La Spank actually came from Gun Hill Projects which is not far from me. She's a couple of stops ahead of me. It just all kinda worked together. Lil Tee...I forgot...I think she was from the South Bronx. So, you know, we would all come back together to the Bronx. It was just us together. We would do what we had to do. We were very comitted!! It's just amazing to think back."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivZQjRmCx4Kt9O0vigbx2fuZag2k5D0xvaK_Jg74mpvr21V-PQhD8Mfr32M-bgkKd4opCBk2ePEduEF1MJysS3r8UOUUncdtXZPhyG9VwPpen2GRGYCcW0jHyqfWbhxA-1ZS0_BvgzJPXbEWj8V-k3El6Tn4obdxlyDcFXlkL9GNq5DcXYg59zTvzV/s960/Inner%20City%20Disco%20@%20%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage%2012.01.1980.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivZQjRmCx4Kt9O0vigbx2fuZag2k5D0xvaK_Jg74mpvr21V-PQhD8Mfr32M-bgkKd4opCBk2ePEduEF1MJysS3r8UOUUncdtXZPhyG9VwPpen2GRGYCcW0jHyqfWbhxA-1ZS0_BvgzJPXbEWj8V-k3El6Tn4obdxlyDcFXlkL9GNq5DcXYg59zTvzV/s320/Inner%20City%20Disco%20@%20%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage%2012.01.1980.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>January 12th 1980: Inner City Disco rocks at the Ecstasy Garage in the Bronx along with the Heavenly 7. As you can see by that time Hi-C had already joined Inner City Disco.<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Were you already present for that battle between Inner City Disco and the Mercedes Ladies?" </b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Oh, are you kidding me? Some people say that they beat us but they never showed up because we were so ready!! We had all of our arsenal we had created. We had routines and we had rehearsed them to the tee. It was fly and we were ready and somebody probably told them that we were that ready as far as the MC battle of it.....'cause see their DJs couldn't touch our DJs!!! They just couldn't! And there were some guys that couldn't touch DJ Quenny Quen. One thing that Quenny Quen showed us that she should have did is that she mixed "Apache" blindfolded. Blindfolded!!!! Blindfolded!!! Do you hear me!!! That's something I will never forget! I wish that was recorded! That's something I will never forget! Never!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Well, when I interviewed Quenny Quen she stated that a battle did indeed take place between Inner City Disco and the Mercedes Ladies. She said that your crew had a routine in which each MC would call out his counterpart. She also said that she messed that part up because she called out her own name instead of that of DJ Baby D. Could it be that you weren't present for that battle?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"I know the first initial announcement......'cause we had practiced so hard. They didn't show up. So that battle must have happened at another time. The routine that she was talking about was one that I created off of that movie where this one gang calls out another gang. We would say, "Mercedes Ladies!!! Won't you come out to play??"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"That's from that movie called "The Warriors"."</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Yeah, exactly!!! But I'mma be honest with you I don't recall a battle with them. I don't remember that. It may have happened though when I wasn't around....I know it was a little drama about it and I think they called us out and we responded and they knew that we was ready so they didn't show up."</b></p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpAjTlBuZO0buYpY1pjDxicWrZ4rdTQuS4S1UnEQ0QDdwbrW3aTg7j04v6Xfud-FecqHOUMFGUur58jjCk4mvGx0Ici-29DtvRWEmr5fzZYS2MyMTcoI3IC-UUX2hkqYB_ZQ_gV4DGVA_Q-AerhUNOJ58uykNxP0xUe0PL-DHMXreoiQzYNZP4XTiz/s960/Inner%20City%20Disco%20@%20%20The%20T-Connection%2028.03.1980.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpAjTlBuZO0buYpY1pjDxicWrZ4rdTQuS4S1UnEQ0QDdwbrW3aTg7j04v6Xfud-FecqHOUMFGUur58jjCk4mvGx0Ici-29DtvRWEmr5fzZYS2MyMTcoI3IC-UUX2hkqYB_ZQ_gV4DGVA_Q-AerhUNOJ58uykNxP0xUe0PL-DHMXreoiQzYNZP4XTiz/s320/Inner%20City%20Disco%20@%20%20The%20T-Connection%2028.03.1980.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>March 28th, 1980: Inner City Disco performs at the legendary T-Connection in the Bronx.<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I was told that your manager Pop believed so strongly in your crew because he bought equipment and even clothes."</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Oh yeah, he took us shopping! It was the most magical experience. One day..I believe we were in Macy's..probably been there the first time in my life....it was the first time that someone spend that kind of money on me and the other girls. Yeah, he took us shopping and we were ready! We were just ready! From head to toe! He bought us shoes, he bought us jeans, he bought us swatshirts. All of our mics..we had top notch equipment!!! He invested a lot in us."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe the role of each MC of Inner City Disco!"<br /></b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"I would say that Lady Sweet was like the beauty queen. La Spank was just a force, you know? She was just powerful. She would take over!! Lil Tee... she was just standard but she was a pretty girl. We were all scorpios I believe. And then me I would just rock the mic! I was just the lyrical one. And everybody was lyrical but you know I was the lyrical pro. Whenever they needed something clever or catchy.......or someone that would move the crowd that would be me. My skills were a little bit more advanced and I will say that I didn't think that there were any other female MCees out there that really were as lyrical as I was."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-STGTjHXGNEYmvNRS9s372YAFhOcB-pit-B-k1VwipmFTJjd4r4uUPl60UwZPO2sHnVsWz571qMhdYx0zsXlv-RHOgYS9ntTPA39EYxlgPX8ENDr0jkGZCGHwK2p5A0-KQNEGBlPFjr-sHduekAi6Rj9onO7H7V3VyXChPMS-3QOFRcFysKj-_0If/s604/MC%20DJ%20%20La%20Spank%20(Inner%20City%20Disco).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="338" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-STGTjHXGNEYmvNRS9s372YAFhOcB-pit-B-k1VwipmFTJjd4r4uUPl60UwZPO2sHnVsWz571qMhdYx0zsXlv-RHOgYS9ntTPA39EYxlgPX8ENDr0jkGZCGHwK2p5A0-KQNEGBlPFjr-sHduekAi6Rj9onO7H7V3VyXChPMS-3QOFRcFysKj-_0If/s320/MC%20DJ%20%20La%20Spank%20(Inner%20City%20Disco).jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>MC/DJ La Spank (Inner City Disco)</b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /><b><br /> </b></p><p><b> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6I9ATbbyUC68PKI25R24vEyXDvQy0iKefb6lXnFTSdOBgiBWsj_-jEnU1CWbD3C19OLevi4ADj-2Lv_FcEe3qCbqtJ2a4HqoNrwgnRWP1HwyYOh_XDzhp6OPInVV-3m8tAx1NlHVd0pcWMwDmBIhAUqNJW7PoI9RihJwm1cxccSBiHzNQsiq9fV-V/s1024/MC%20Lady%20Sweet%20(Inner%20City%20Disco).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6I9ATbbyUC68PKI25R24vEyXDvQy0iKefb6lXnFTSdOBgiBWsj_-jEnU1CWbD3C19OLevi4ADj-2Lv_FcEe3qCbqtJ2a4HqoNrwgnRWP1HwyYOh_XDzhp6OPInVV-3m8tAx1NlHVd0pcWMwDmBIhAUqNJW7PoI9RihJwm1cxccSBiHzNQsiq9fV-V/s320/MC%20Lady%20Sweet%20(Inner%20City%20Disco).jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>MC Lady Sweet (Inner City Disco)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <br /></b></p><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you rock with them in that big park in Lefrak which they referred to as Rock Creek Park?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"No. I went straight to the clubs with them."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I would like to ask you a couple of questions now which deal with the nature of true MCing. How did MC battles go down during your era, during the era of original pure MCing? Would MCees diss each other personally? Would they threaten each other?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"No, no way. MCing was a platform that was used to have a party, to have a good time and then later it got into that storytelling thing. Rap changed all of that. I believe al lot of it stems from that 2 Pac Biggie Smalls scenario. Rap now became adversarial to a degree where lives began to become threatened. They began to use Rap as a platform to threaten other people's lives and to tell tales of hurting and terrorizing other people's loved ones in that process. You just started to see things that were not the original intent of Hiphop. It took a different turn. The other huge I would say transition from my era...the true Hiphop era...to where we are now is that in the beginning the DJ was the center piece of Hiphop. It was all about the DJ, the DJ skills and the beats that he played, what they would do to keep the party going. The MCees were just pretty much the hype men for the DJs. So when it went to recording you no longer had the DJ. You didn't need the DJ and now it's all just focussed on the rapper. I think that was another huge transition that took Hiphop into a whole 'nother direction. That really changed the dynamics of Hiphop. Now the party element disappeared."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Reading about what happened to some of those legendary original DJ/MC Crews after they got signed to record labels like Sugarhill Records about twentyfive years ago really shocked me. All of a sudden the DJs who started Hiphop and were the backbone of MCing became obsolete as they were replaced by a studio band and the record labels had no real use for them and didn't want to pay them." <br /></b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"We lost a very huge part of Hiphop when that happened...you know, a part of the culture. It's not surprising that this was motivated by money but at the the end of it those early MCees would not have been where they were without their DJ. That's just the bottom line. The Furious Five would have been nothing without Grandmaster Flash,okay? Because in the beginning people came to see Flash. And yes, they were very good MCees but the people came to see Flash. The Funky Four Plus One they came with DJ Breakout and DJ Baron.They had the best beats that you could ever imagine!!!! I take off my hat to them....till today!!! These dudes??? Their crates???? Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.....Yeah, it was really incredible! I'm a music enthusiast. So I can appreciate the DJ side of it. But yeah, we lost a huge part of Hiphop when the recording of rap started to happen. DJing....it's a craft. It's something that you had to work for in order to master it and all these parties in the early days of Hiphop took place because of the DJs, because of their performances and the beats that they mixed." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you agree with the assertion that Hiphop music for the most part is a child of the Funk, Jazz & Soul music of the 1970ies?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Absolutely!!! We would NOT HAVE HIPHOP if we didn't have these genres. No, no!!! The beat.....the breakbeat.....that is the driving factor of Hiphop. That is the core of Hiphop....the DJ in the mix!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"It is fascinating to ponder upon the efforts which the DJs invested back then in order to build up their soundsystem and what it took to find beats back then. Travelling through New York City, taking the train from the Bronx all the way down to Brooklyn, going to different thrift stores and looking through dusty stacks of records just to get a second copy of a specific breakbeat. At times the beat part was very short so the DJ had to be fast to be able to catch it and from those beats and DJ techniques grew a whole beautiful culture!!! I have interviewed many of the most influential B-Boys in Hiphop and most them stated that hearing those breakbeats blasting through the speakers of a powerful soundsystem filled them with bliss. They called it a spiritual experience."</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Yes!!!! And see that is the connection to our original culture...to Africa and just the power of that!!! It's a unique phenomenon."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"No doubt. What did take to be a fresh MC in the original era of Hiphop? Like when it was all about rocking the mic live in front of a crowd with a DJ in the back cutting up breakbeats?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Well, you had to stay on beat. You had to be able to rock as a unit. That really had to become your instinct. That's why the rehearsal piece is so important because DJs would have their own routines and what they were gonna play. So you had to be able to rock over their mixes and so you had to rehearse. Then you had cassette tapes so we would record the mix and we would rock over it so that we would become one with the beats. Were few people could rhyme off the top and I take my hat off to them but you had to go over your raps. And you had to go over your rhymes with the beats. And you would only rock certain rhymes over certain beats. So when you heard a specific beat at a party you knew,"Oh yes, I'm gonna pull out specific rhymes! These are the rhymes that I'm gonna rock to this beat!" The beats and the rhymes, they went together, you know? So sometimes when I was still with those outstanding MCees of Touch Of Class they would pass the mic to me when they heard a certain break that they knew I was popular with."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you say that it was important to possess a certain charisma as an MC?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Oh, definitely!!! You had to have a certain swag! You really had to be confident and part of that confidence came from how you looked. So when you knew that you had a show coming up you had to prepare for that show! And you know with Inner City Disco we had uniforms. Pop invested in us, in our uniforms and our look an we really looked like a group. So when you came to our show and you saw five ladies dressed alike you would do a double take and be like,"Oh wait a minute! Who are they?""</b></p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgcQHiMnGaNwJ4yFeSXKQ1hn1AfZ7tVc1VxqZjkLAxAmyNEc6cIM1bC5CzjL4Rb2n1ijiF0APAt_OVh0mYhGjUq-h630f1IN_N60DrFkiUMBjTnX_ZMd4qhw8LtjLfqNHwbDrNcTdHepD4vPVNHv9kNOqh43_9DqWEZPvo-lz_OcW_uuA0DGT2C-jh/s960/Inner%20City%20Disco%20@%20%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage%2029.02.1980.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgcQHiMnGaNwJ4yFeSXKQ1hn1AfZ7tVc1VxqZjkLAxAmyNEc6cIM1bC5CzjL4Rb2n1ijiF0APAt_OVh0mYhGjUq-h630f1IN_N60DrFkiUMBjTnX_ZMd4qhw8LtjLfqNHwbDrNcTdHepD4vPVNHv9kNOqh43_9DqWEZPvo-lz_OcW_uuA0DGT2C-jh/s320/Inner%20City%20Disco%20@%20%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage%2029.02.1980.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>February 29th, 1980: Inner City Disco performs at the Ecstasy Garage in the Bronx</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were your top three breakbeats to rhyme over?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:""Scratching" by the Magic Disco Machine. That beat is crazy! Number two is "Frisco Disco" by Eastside Connection. I loved that. And then there was a song called "Planetary Citizen" by John Mac Laughlin. Loved that! That was my theme song!! That kinda goes back to the DJ Breakout days."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you must have attended the early DJ Breakout parties then. When it was still mainly about the B-Boys?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"What??? Of course!!!!! All the time!!! Come on, yo!!! I was there! I remember him playing "Indiscreet" by D.C. La Rue which was one of DJ Kenny Ken's favourites. We called that beat the Cricket Song!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"The Cricket Song?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Yeah, 'cause the break sounds like a bunch of crickets. Breakout just used to go crazy with it. Baron was a good DJ, too. Don't get me wrong....He was more of a party DJ. Kinda little on the Disco side....just a little. But Breakout was the hardcore B-Boy Beatmaster. If you wanted to hear raw beats you would go to his jams. I remember when he played "Give The Drummer Some More" by The Little Hooks with Ray Nato & The Kings. People would go crazy over that beat!!!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Last question........what was it like to perform in front of a BX crowd back then. I mean I guess the people in the crowd pretty much decided who would make it as an MC and who would not, didn't they?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Oh yeah, they weren't kind. So....here's the thing if you didn't step up and you weren't good you knew it because they would let you know and that ended whatever MC career you had. So when you see those MCees that were able to perform for any length of time back then you know that they were tried because if you weren't good you were not gonna see them anymore. That's what also happened to a lot of DJs early on. Many of them didn't have the equipment or the beats to make it. You really had to have some money behind you to some degree to be able to be out there! The equipment piece alone was a huge investment to make sure you had the right speakers and the right amplification. That's how you were tested during that time. The abililty to bring some power with your equipment and your beats and then your skills, you know? So if you made it to any degree you had a formula that was working. "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give some shout outs at the end of this interview?"</b></p><p><b>HI-CEE:"Oh sure, I'm gonna shout out my son who has a career of himself in R&B & Hiphop. H continues with the legacy of the family and I definetely wanna shout out my two crews the Inner City Disco and Touch Of Class. And DJ Breakout, too, because he was very influential in Hiphop in my area and in my era. But yeah, that's who I'm shouting out."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I wanna shout out my Intruders Crew and my mellow Sureshot La Rock (thanks for all the flyers)." <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b><br /><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> </b> <br /></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-63310796234316534232023-09-03T11:39:00.013-07:002023-09-03T12:45:58.385-07:00Interview wit MC Ikey Cee (The Dynamite Brothers / The Cosmic Force)<p><b> Interview with MC Ikey Cee (The Dynamite Brothers/ The Cosmic Force)</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ZjAgn-z7_-LyqWWfGqqxVeMSgwbZe8T3Iz3Ri8PLcqiJuAQA8bSN7tGFboPXIMlTOTg9Qq3yNKqBrZz34dFatngNf4GOPoNpPhnyFXIsGh4fmtqpAAy5hUxUFRRkZutMj6jZBNePNsLq2Q8tndNAA2dTOEh5Sjzcovpo8JdYWebW7LEmwTzlpDnw/s960/Ikey%20Cee%20(MC).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ZjAgn-z7_-LyqWWfGqqxVeMSgwbZe8T3Iz3Ri8PLcqiJuAQA8bSN7tGFboPXIMlTOTg9Qq3yNKqBrZz34dFatngNf4GOPoNpPhnyFXIsGh4fmtqpAAy5hUxUFRRkZutMj6jZBNePNsLq2Q8tndNAA2dTOEh5Sjzcovpo8JdYWebW7LEmwTzlpDnw/s320/Ikey%20Cee%20(MC).jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>MC Ikey Cee (The Dynamite Brothers / The Cosmic Force)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders/Germany)</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly were you born and raised at?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"I was born in the Bronx......actually Jacobi Hospital...in 1965 on October 7th."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, and where you did you grow up at?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"You know it's weird. I really didn't grow up mostly in the Bronx. My father was in the service, so I was all over the place. My family is originally from the South Bronx but I grew up in Germany, I grew up in Texas, I grew up in Mexico. So I grew up in a lot of different places. Then we came back to New York in the late 1970ies and Hiphop was going on strong where I ended up growing up in the Bronx right by Throgs Neck."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you recall the very first time that you encountered Hiphop?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Yup...a lot of my family lived in Forest Projects. My family was a real basketball oriented family so I used to go to Forest Projects every summer. My mother lived in Throgs Neck but I used to go every summer playing basketball in Forest Projects. And if you know Forest Projects that's actually where Fat Joe comes from."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"That's also where the Blue Courts are located at, right?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Yup, the Blue Courts! Wow, you know a lot! Those Blue Courts...Lovebug Starski was out there DJing. I left from playing on the other side of the tournament and I watched Lovebug do it and on that day I said,"I think I can do that!" 'Cause back then it wasn't so much about intricate rhyming and all that. It was more about getting the party going but Lovebug Starski was a DJ and an MC. So I was like, "Yo, that's nice!" when I saw him doing it. Lovebug Starski used to be DJing in a Burger King on Prospect Avenue. We was little. So we used to sneak up in the back of the Burger King and look through the window and watch him DJing. May God bless him! I always told him before he passed, "You're the reason why I did this MCing thing." He's the reason. He was on one of those Blue Courts and I saw him and I was like, "I wanna do this!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When did that happen?"<br /></b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"It had to be around 1977 'cause by 1978 I was really rhyming. By 1979 I think I was down with DJ Disco King Mario."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe how you got into MCing! What made you pick up a pen and start writing rhymes?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"I mean it was the control that Lovebug Starski had over the crowd and things like that which made me say, "I wanna do this!" It was so amazing to me at the time. I was like, "Wow! Look at this dude! He's out here on the court. All he got is two turntables, a mixer and a microphone and he got everybody going crazy!" And I just wanted to have that! I wanted to have that power that he had. If you hear anything about me I was never really a super duper rhymer but I was more into getting the crowd going and you know that's what I got from Lovebug Starski." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So what were your first steps towards achieveing the goal of becoming an MC?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"I actually was backwards 'cause I went out and bought records. I bugged my mum and we went down to Harlem..I got a couple of records and from there I started writing rhymes but I wanted the music first.I wanted to understand the music, I wanted to feel the music 'cause that to me was a bigger part than anything else...just understanding the music and then from there I started rhyming but I wasn't like out there. I was doing it on the low, in the house and all of that. Then after I got down with Mario I started moving out a little bit." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did you get down with DJ Disco King Mario?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Like I tell eveybody Mario is such a big part of Hiphop that everybody starts to forget. He was one of the very first DJs in Hiphop! Mario was one of the first DJs that would travel from place to place. And when Mario came to Throgs Neck....when I was living in Throgs Neck.....he recruited all of us and when he recruited all of us that's when I kinda started rhyming more, he would let me get on every now and then but I wasn't getting the shine that I got once I got down with DJ Afrika Bambaataa. He would let me nurture my skills. Put it that way!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you're saying that Mario got around to different places a lot?" <br /></b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Oh yeah, Mario was definetely the epitome of that. Mario would DJ anywhere that he was welcome. That's what it was. When we met him he asked us,"Where do you live? Throgs Neck? Okay, I'm gonna come ot there DJing." We were all excited about this 'cause he came out there with his full sound system. That's why I say I give him a lot of props that other people don't give him 'cause he died young."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Is it accurate to say that the DJs back then actually were enabling the MCees to build a reputation for themselves by letting them get on the mic?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Yeah, that's what it was. Mario basically gave me the chance to kinda show my skills. He gave me the chance to kinda like break through, you know? And that's what kinda caught the attention of other people out there. I mean back then it was the Golden Era. In the Golden Era you had to be good in your building, you had to be good on your block, you had to be good in your neighbourhood and then it transferred around through those live tapes. That's how everybody knew who you were and what you did."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you join Mario after you had been rocking in Throgs Neck?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Well, we already had the Come Off Crew and that's why Mario came up there 'cause we was making a lot of noise out of Throgs Neck. We also used to go to 123 where he was giving parties at. So my movement into Mario's camp came after the Come Off was alreay developed."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"That Come Off Crew is not to be confused with the Come Off Crew from Uptown that played Disco though, right?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Yeah, it was a different crew. What it was in Throgs Neck there were really two big crews at one point. There was a crew called Disco One which was with Rocky Dee. If you hear those early Dynamite Brothers tapes Rocky Dee is on there with us. Disco One was his crew. I was part of that crew actually." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who were the members of the Come Off Crew? Their main DJ was DJ Boobie Boob, correct?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"DJ Boobie Boob, yeah! He was great! They had DJ Kenny Ken...God bless the dead! He passed on, he was a good DJ. Who else they had? Those were really the main DJs though."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIEwODBBQdrkYmwitSYMz2luGfBa3oLK0pv-8zLuaq4dSthp2CF6Fsdo4_3jZoahtDx2oJJKTuPp50sEQ76SkKwpXnvotwMSbO9pEE5g2Ty05oW_U2C2ZJZUpOQMLNnmbBAtkcYBtFsGUuLmDqTm_IIh1NxAoM60Y8izeUR9wmDGLzSZ1KO-h07gkF/s960/1.%20The%20Music%20Masters%20%20@%20Throgs%20Neck%20Community%20Center,%2006.06.1980.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIEwODBBQdrkYmwitSYMz2luGfBa3oLK0pv-8zLuaq4dSthp2CF6Fsdo4_3jZoahtDx2oJJKTuPp50sEQ76SkKwpXnvotwMSbO9pEE5g2Ty05oW_U2C2ZJZUpOQMLNnmbBAtkcYBtFsGUuLmDqTm_IIh1NxAoM60Y8izeUR9wmDGLzSZ1KO-h07gkF/s320/1.%20The%20Music%20Masters%20%20@%20Throgs%20Neck%20Community%20Center,%2006.06.1980.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>June 6th 1980: The Dynamite Brothers and the Come Off Crew join forces to battle the Music Masters at the Throgs Neck Community Center.</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who were the MCees of the Come Off Crew?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"The original MCees was.......E-Man..he was one of the original MCees. Larry Tee..he was like my brother and he was one of the MCees and actually Chubby Chub was also down with the Come Off Crew. I was running with Disco One at that time. Actually, I never came over to the Come Off Crew until we became the Dynamite Brothers." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I see. So where would the Come Off Crew perform at?"<br /></b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Throgs Neck..the center and the park. They used to do the park like almost every weekend."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where is that park located at?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"It was actually in the middle of the projects between Dewey and Schley Avenue, right in the middle by the basketball courts. That's where we used to do it. Then there was another park that we had in the back of the projects. It was a big park. We would DJ and MC there every now and then but mostly we would do it in the middle of the projects between Dewey and Schley."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Are those the places where you developed yur MCing skills?"<br /></b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Yeah, definetely."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe the relationship between your first crew Disco One and the Come Off Crew?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"It was really weird because it was like a lot of beef because Disco One was Rocky Dee and he was a street dude and a lot of dudes from the Come Off Crew they were street dudes as well and really that's what kinda developed the Dynamite Brothers because Elroy who was the DJ for the Dynamite Brothers wasn't into nothing but the music. He wasn't about the streets. So that's why I ended up as a Dynamite Brother because I didn't wanna end up in the middle of all of that. You know, that back and forth."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So there was a heightened sense of rivalry between those two crews?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Yeah, yeah!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So when did the Dynamite Brothers start? Was that before or after you had gotten down with DJ Mario?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Actually, it started after we was with Mario 'cause basically the Dynamite Brothers ended up being like an offshoot of Mario and an offshoot of the Zulu Nation....as we developed. So we kept the Dynamite Brothers cause when the Dynamite Brother got all together it was me, Ice Ice, Chubby Chub, Rocky Dee, EZ Bee and R Rockwell. You know, we were the MCees. Our DJ was Elroy. We kinda developed as we was going along. "</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1B3vanfvbWX6mixmbXkWji6pc1-K5695CU1wPq_mDG-kNDnT25zXK7mabv941MAWZnY2A5aGTvOLKpGfj6JucB7xWftmnONmxxdWwrHqHvaYFypMv0VztoeDn4FFWZkfZlZ5PIbKj-OCNmawqr8U4E0iBMR4McRND2V5Uag3jHd1gqRSOyEnrju1/s960/1231633_507907365967776_1574831503_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1B3vanfvbWX6mixmbXkWji6pc1-K5695CU1wPq_mDG-kNDnT25zXK7mabv941MAWZnY2A5aGTvOLKpGfj6JucB7xWftmnONmxxdWwrHqHvaYFypMv0VztoeDn4FFWZkfZlZ5PIbKj-OCNmawqr8U4E0iBMR4McRND2V5Uag3jHd1gqRSOyEnrju1/s320/1231633_507907365967776_1574831503_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>January 11th, 1980: The Dynamite Brothers rock at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem along with DJ Love Squigg & The C.B. Crew, Afrika Islam & The Funk Machine, The Kool DJ AJ Show and DJ Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How long did you stay with Mario? A couple of months?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Yeah, not that long because what happened was we were out and about and as you start to be out and about people started to see that you had a new crew out here making a lot of noise and being that the Zulu Nation was so big they wanted us. So they actually like crossed over. We actually left Mario in the middle of a party. We had Chuck City Crew shirts on and Bambaataa came over to us like, "Yo, you wanna be down with the Zulu Nation?" So we all took our shirts off in the middle of the party and left to be part of the Zulu Nation."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I find it interesting that a lot of people started out with Mario and then later on went over to DJ Afrika Bambaataa and his Zulu Nation. This was the case with DJ Jazzy Jay who even got into a physical fight with Mario when he went to Mario's house to pick up his crates from there in order to join Bambaataa...."</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Yeah, they had a fight."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Mike G a well-known B-Boy who was down Mario also left him and joined Afrika Bambaataa's Shaka Zulu B-Boys. I guess Mario wasn't too happy about all that."</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"No, he wasn't happy about none of that. He wasn't happy but I do always say I give him his props because he was the beginning for a lot of us. Jazzy Jay comes from Mario, I come from Mario, Busy Bee comes from Mario. So a lot of people come from Mario. "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So what your relationship to Mario like after you had left him? Did you have to fear any kind of negative repercussions because of your decision?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Nah, 'cause Zulu Nation was so big. Nobody really wanted to deal with them."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What did it mean back then to be a part of the Zulu Nation? Were you given those Zulu Beads? Did you have to attend specific meetings? Did you have to study and follow the Infinity Lessons?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"To be honest you're asking the worst person in the world 'cause I never really followed the Zulu Infinity Lessons and all of that. I was there as an MC. I was down, but I wasn't really part of that. I mean I love the Zulu Nation....it's like a family to me. But back then I wasn't really into learning the lessons and all of that...not even the Zulu Meetings...I didn't go to too many because I was there just to get on the mic. It was about the music."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did the members of the Dynamite Brothers come together? You've said that one part of the Dynamite Brothers used to be down with the Come Off Crew while the other part rolled with the Disco One Crew and these two crews had beef with each other."</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Well, as far as the MCees it was easy because Ice Ice and Chubby Chub are brothers. Bringing them together was pretty easy and then me and Ice Ice we were always best friends so that was pretty easy, too. What it was is like me and Ice Ice hung out together so much, we just started making up routines together and as we started making up routines we added Chubby Chub. You know, that's how we ended up saying,"You know something? Let's rock with the Dynamite Brothers 'cause it's really all about the music." And that's what it was. We ended up with the Dynamite Bothers. Elroy was a great DJ, so you know it was a good fit."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Judging from the Dynamite Brothers flyers that I have seen so far it seems that you had actually three DJs: DJ Elroy, DJ Rocky Dee and DJ Lightning J. So who was in charge of what?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Yes, (Lightning) J was pretty good, too. Everybody had their job. Rocky Dee was both DJ and MC. Remember like I said you can find certain tapes with him rhyming with us, you know? Elroy really was the headman in charge of the group though. "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Which DJ was in charge of cutting up the beats for the MCees?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"I would let them know what we needed. So I would let Elroy know, "Yo, we need this, this and that!"and he would play 'em."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of soundsystem did the Dynamite Brothers have?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"We had a soundsystem. It wasn't the best one out there though. The Come Off Crew had the best soundsystem in Throgs Neck. They really did. What it was is like when Hiphop became more organized the Dynamite Brothers was a good organization, you know what I mean? Like we would do a lot of routines and I had everybody rehearse. Things like that. The Come Off Crew was more of a natural, "In the park we just do what we do." Which was good at a certain time but then as Hiphop evolved you had to come out there with your routines and your DJ had to know which records to play. All that was more of a Dynamite Brothers thing, being more organized."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqvYbnw9PCD4TTPmEO2iaAcNNlNb_sW3AvMMYEM9OuRIJwuwbou80SP14TxINRy-RVoqABaHl9Kww4gzJUSlSESe0FfH3IXpSK3Nl6dBQd7lI5hSCoxCV1zqnb6N5-qVpdmm4YzxLYXNQfuv4e4uWMzVn4iBjkM9NLlIRHcSMnW8kcwr8h0W_dZEx8/s960/The%20Cosmic%20Force%20@%20T-Connection.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="774" data-original-width="960" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqvYbnw9PCD4TTPmEO2iaAcNNlNb_sW3AvMMYEM9OuRIJwuwbou80SP14TxINRy-RVoqABaHl9Kww4gzJUSlSESe0FfH3IXpSK3Nl6dBQd7lI5hSCoxCV1zqnb6N5-qVpdmm4YzxLYXNQfuv4e4uWMzVn4iBjkM9NLlIRHcSMnW8kcwr8h0W_dZEx8/s320/The%20Cosmic%20Force%20@%20T-Connection.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Cosmic Force MCees and friends at the T-Connection</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you invest a lot of time and effort into your rehearsals?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Oh yeah! Like I said, Chubby Chub and Ice Ice they were brothers. I practiced with them in their house 'cause we would be there everyday rehearsing. Everyday! 'Cause me and Ice Ice would be together anyway. He was my best friend so we would always be around each other. When we were around each other we would be practicing and throwing things back and forth basically everyday." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you also do harmonizing like the Funky Four with Rahiem who had a really good singing voice?" <br /></b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Yeah, we did routines, we harmonized. What it was is like we...Ice Ice, Chubby Chub and me...we kinda brought that to the Zulu Nation. By the time we was getting with Bam, leaving Mario...the Soul Sonic Force, if you remember, they were like nine MCees at one point. They were doing no routines. They were doing nothing like that. So when we came along we kinda made them change up a little bit because before we came along MC G.L.O.B.E. and Pow Wow wasn't doing routines like they were doing later on. When we came along it got them more into it." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"If I'm not mistaken the Soul Sonic Force also had an MC by the name of Ice Ice at one point. Was there any kind of animosity between the two MCees who had this name when the Dynamite Brothers joined the Zulu Nation?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"No animosity and the thing was when me, Chubby Chub and Ice Ice came in the other Ice Ice was fading out because when we came in that's when the Soul Sonic Force shrunk down because we made it tougher for them. When we came in Hutch Hutch was going right away because he didn't like the fact that we were coming in. You know, we were a little bit younger and we were doing things different and you know a lot of the members of the Soul Sonic Force didn't like that. Afrika Bambaataa let us do it the way we wanted to it though because we wasn't gonna do it no other way than the way that we wanted to do it. So if you notice... like those flyers starting from 1980 on...the Soul Sonic Force started shrinking down. "</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRnAdS0poetlLH05XHm4LopNDKHHt05FwV6KVp7Rqrv0PCMlWwnGCcrjPu58bDKiu10nSzkKrBOAK3b1pQzSnnjI0AnahT7lz474jRDao50kWQJDzmHPTPFlZQBUyJqREDPOUKUyMM6VZqCc0QQtH4UgSGBAkTLdfph0rBCQn8MUYnyyF2XUuRIBgz/s750/ice.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="578" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRnAdS0poetlLH05XHm4LopNDKHHt05FwV6KVp7Rqrv0PCMlWwnGCcrjPu58bDKiu10nSzkKrBOAK3b1pQzSnnjI0AnahT7lz474jRDao50kWQJDzmHPTPFlZQBUyJqREDPOUKUyMM6VZqCc0QQtH4UgSGBAkTLdfph0rBCQn8MUYnyyF2XUuRIBgz/s320/ice.jpg" width="247" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>October 3rd,, 1980: The Cosmic Force is rocking at the legendary Ecstasy Garage along with Afrika Bambaataa and The Soul Sonic Force (Note that there two MCs by the name of Ice Ice. One is rocking for The Soul Sonic Force, the other one rocks for The Cosmic Force )<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Right. Please describe the role of each MC within the Dynamite Brothers!"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"We were a good combination. I lead the group but I lead the group by watching other leaders. The first one I watched was Rahiem when he was with the Funky Four. His leadership was really out of this world! I watched his leadership and said, "I'mma apply this to my group." I was more like the leader. I was more like the party guy. Chubby Chub was the rhymer. He was THE rhymer! Chubby Chub could outrhyme me any day of the week 'cause he was forever writing rhymes! To me Ice Ice was the first heart throb in Hiphop. Everywhere we went the ladies was going crazy for him, you know? So we had a really good combination. We had the skills, we had the routines and we had the heart throb. So everybody played their own role well. That's why we did decent and that's one part of the reason why the Soul Sonic Force kinda dwindled away because they didn't have that. They didn't have the heart throb. They didn't have the routines like we did. You know, later on they did. Pow Wow came up with some great stuff. " </b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi28ELp7EBvajNFSjXUIVNHXCSRJM98gv8T4_pW5pHgvW9UrjreGS-yNmz0rpbD6ivJg-GdsxRIbXMUZW1srmwtGzzraVmhh-gJ4OaIIKuyPKbi3dY02YQJMaoMDZUbT8NyVQQ90Td5iRLl05oXsZVIQ19JnX512WXRHOg9B75FDg4zrXS-h_5KmZws/s720/Chubby%20Chub%20&%20Ice%20Ice%20(%20The%20Cosmic%20Force%20).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="540" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi28ELp7EBvajNFSjXUIVNHXCSRJM98gv8T4_pW5pHgvW9UrjreGS-yNmz0rpbD6ivJg-GdsxRIbXMUZW1srmwtGzzraVmhh-gJ4OaIIKuyPKbi3dY02YQJMaoMDZUbT8NyVQQ90Td5iRLl05oXsZVIQ19JnX512WXRHOg9B75FDg4zrXS-h_5KmZws/s320/Chubby%20Chub%20&%20Ice%20Ice%20(%20The%20Cosmic%20Force%20).jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>MC Chubby Chub and his little brother MC Ice Ice (The Dynamite Brothers / The Cosmic Force)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"At one point the Dynamite Brothers obviously became the Cosmic Force and you parted ways with DJ Rocky Dee, DJ Lightning J, EZ Bee and R Rockwell. Why did that happen?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:" Well, we was more connected to the Zulu Nation. The Dynamite Brothers was part of the Zulu Nation but then we was more connected to Bam. That's when you started seeing flyers that said Dynamite Brothers and Cosmic Force. My man Rocky Dee...Rocky Dee wasn't as serious about it. That's why it became just Ikey Cee, Ice Ice and Chubby Chub. That was the Cosmic Force. We transitioned into being Afrika Bambaataa's second group of MCees."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I also want to shed light on those who may not have become that famous in Hiphop but nonetheless did their thing and were part of the foundation. How would you rate EZ Bee's MCing skills?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Oh, EZ Bee was a rhymer!!! He was a real rhymer! Him and R Rockwell!!! As a matter of fact R Rockwell was a real great rhymer! He's an MC....if he had stuck with it he would have went much further. EZ Bee had a slow, laid back style of rhyming. He had an altogether different style. I would compare him to Mase from Bad Boy."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did the Dynamite Brothers perform in the same locations as the Come Off Crew and Disco One?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Yes, we did and we branched out a little bit because of the close connection to the Zulu Nation that the Dynamite Brothers had. Actually, the Come Off Crew was part of the Zulu Nation, too."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When and why did Queen Lisa Lee join the Cosmic Force? Wasn't she down with the Soul Sonic Force initially?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Yes, she was one of the million MCees that were down with the Soul Sonic Force at one point (laughs). What happened was the night we went to record "Zulu Nation Throwdown"..our first record...the Soul Sonic Force went in....Mr. Biggs, Pow Wow and MC G.L.O.B.E...and they started working on the routine without us. We was standing there. I wanted Lisa Lee to be with us anyway. So I was like,"You know something? Here's my chance!" I went over to her and said,"Listen! Why don't you make the record with us instead of making it with them?" And then she came over to us and stayed with us."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2wmaFMHurBW35zSUPzB2a1MZliF66r_dK-bATvtdf6YEawOXlvwtUjkt6Fg45uom9HOAvwShBz0BYKSSDJBXjGg8QPDiSTRKxR6LE9qIz8pahvRunlRAs7j_EtR0sKe7W9HfIcR54SJ3PGQMjc3Kq6mp-mveabE0ql5A7Or2KN7vRa7LxI8kf93-/s604/DJ%20Love%20Squigg%20&%20The%20Devastating%20MCees,%20The%20Cosmic%20Force,%20The%20Cool%20Out%20Crew%20@%20The%20T-Connection,%202.%20November%201980.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="462" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2wmaFMHurBW35zSUPzB2a1MZliF66r_dK-bATvtdf6YEawOXlvwtUjkt6Fg45uom9HOAvwShBz0BYKSSDJBXjGg8QPDiSTRKxR6LE9qIz8pahvRunlRAs7j_EtR0sKe7W9HfIcR54SJ3PGQMjc3Kq6mp-mveabE0ql5A7Or2KN7vRa7LxI8kf93-/s320/DJ%20Love%20Squigg%20&%20The%20Devastating%20MCees,%20The%20Cosmic%20Force,%20The%20Cool%20Out%20Crew%20@%20The%20T-Connection,%202.%20November%201980.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>November 2nd, 1980: The Cosmic Force is rocking at the legendary T-Connection in the Bronx along with DJ Love Squigg & The C.B. Crew and The Cool Out Crew<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were your top 3 breakbeats to rhyme over back then?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:""Impeach The President" by The Honey Drippers, "Seven Minutes Of Funk" by The Whole Darn Family and "Catch A Groove" by Juice."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay and which DJ cut those breakbeats up in such a way that you felt you had to get on the microphone and rock the house?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Catch A Groove"...DJ Boobie Boob. He was the best with "Catch A Groove". I mean he would tear that up! And "Seven Minutes Of Funk"...I used to like Afrika Issac cutting that up because he knew my "stops" and he knew my "gos." And everything else DJ Jazzy Jay and Kool DJ Red Alert."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I must say that I'm surprised by the fact that you give DJ Boobie Bob so much credit. Was he really that good?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Oh yeah! Let me tell you.... when DJ Mario came to Throgs Neck he had a DJ with him by the name of DJ Lil Starski. He battled Boobie Boob when they came to Throgs Neck and Boobie tore him a new one, he totally demolished him."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You have also mentioned DJ Afrika Issac from the Crazy Eight Crew. How would you rate him as a DJ and how did you get down with him?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"As a DJ? Oh my God! He was actually great! He was one of the best out there.... cutting it up and all that....he was one of the fastest cutters at the time. How I got with him was really more of an Ice Ice thing 'cause Ice Ice was really close to him. They (The Crazy Eight) were from Monroe Projects. Ice Ice was all over the place. That was him. He was everywhere. So one day Ice Ice came to me and said, "Let's rock with Crazy Eight" and I said, "Let's do it!" You know, Ice Ice was like my brother if he said it I was gonna come with him. That's how I ended up with them. Issac's personality was great! He was a little weird 'cause he had snakes and spiders and pitbulls in his house. He was a great dude and he had a great family around him. His mum, his brother they were all great people. When we started rocking with the Crazy Eight we was welcomed by the whole neighbourhood. You know, back then everything was about the neighbourhood. This hood, that hood..... We were welcomed in their neighbourhood like we had lived all our lives. Afrika Issac was on a come up and so were we. He was making a lot of noise and we was maing a lot of noise, too. So it was really a good fit at the time. We was rocking in 100 Park all the time. That was their park, they ran that. We would come out there and battle DJ Kenny Ken & The K Connection a couple of times."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who won those battles?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Oh, we always had them because we had Afrika Issac. You couldn't touch him!!! There were only very few DJs that could touch Issac back then. Like I said DJ Boobie Bob was one of them but they never got to go against each other. DJ Elroy was very good, DJ Jazzy Jay of course. Jazzy Jay and Afrika Issac never battled though 'cause they were both down with the Zulu Nation."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did the MCees of the K-Connection Crew pose a threat to you?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Nah!!!"<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did all the other Soul Sonic Force MCees treat you when you started rocking for Afrika Bambaataa at Bronx River and how did the crowd react when you performed there for the first time?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"You know what it was? It was a show and prove. As I said we were younger than all of them. So it was a show and prove type situation. We showed and proved everybody that we could do it just as good as them. It was a respect thing that they gave us. Bronx River...I mean a lot people tought that we were from Bronx River. That's how comfortable we were there. I loved Bronx River and Bronx River loved me. The same love I felt in Throgs Neck I felt in Bronx River and in Monroe. It wasn't like I came to invade a territory, I was coming to be a part of what you have to help what you have and you can help me. So we was all helping each other."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcailW5KIbEeBhnX3bwlrsxVV1IrvCsmBth2pNGeQ5orP4VUd073E4O0qwiTwQ3JXoWPAR3VoxYPL3zGDp0otV5b7dnWNhQetFOW9my8RPbH00BEBAJL_uEfk7ia7lkkLIOgjGwPYIXAUyXDhuGXArS9_y8x7aKmukJOcSSKgJ1geKaW9aYj7jj0cB/s960/DJ%20Afrika%20Bambaataa,%20DJ%20Jazzy%20Jay,%20The%20Cosmic%20Force,%20Kool%20DJ%20Herc,%20DJ%20Wiz%20Kid,The%20Ultimate%203%20@%20T-Connection%2013.%20M%C3%A4rz%201981.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcailW5KIbEeBhnX3bwlrsxVV1IrvCsmBth2pNGeQ5orP4VUd073E4O0qwiTwQ3JXoWPAR3VoxYPL3zGDp0otV5b7dnWNhQetFOW9my8RPbH00BEBAJL_uEfk7ia7lkkLIOgjGwPYIXAUyXDhuGXArS9_y8x7aKmukJOcSSKgJ1geKaW9aYj7jj0cB/s320/DJ%20Afrika%20Bambaataa,%20DJ%20Jazzy%20Jay,%20The%20Cosmic%20Force,%20Kool%20DJ%20Herc,%20DJ%20Wiz%20Kid,The%20Ultimate%203%20@%20T-Connection%2013.%20M%C3%A4rz%201981.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>March 13th 1981: The Cosmic Force battles against The Ultimate Three from Kool Herc's camp at the T-Connection (Note: By this time Queen Lisa Lee is a part of the Cosmic Force)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did MC battles go down in your era?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"It was just show and prove. I didn't have to tell you what I was gonna do to you. We didn't rap about killing each other and stuff like that. When I came up as an MC....Hutch Hutch..who was down with Soul Sonic..he was like, "You're gonna be the son of Hutch!" and I was like,"No, I'm not because I'm better than Hutch! I'm gonna be nobody's son!" And that was the mentality. It was a competition. just like as the Cosmic Force came along with the Soul Sonic Force. We wanted to show them that, "Listen, you're gonna respect us!" It was never a Cosmice Force vs. Soul Sonic Force battle. It was nothing like that. It was just like, "Okay, we gotta respect these dudes 'cause they're coming here every week with something different. They're coming here with routines. They're coming here wearing the same clothes." So they respected us. It wasn't about talking about each other. It was about...if we're coming, you know that we're coming with something good. It's not nothing against you. It's just that we wanna be looked at as the best and we gonna do whatever it takes to be looked at as the best. My high school which was Lehmann High School was like Hiphop High and I give you the reason why. I went to that school, KK Rockwell went to that school, Rodney Cee went to that school, Jazzy Jeff went to that school, El-Roy who was down with Afrika Islam went to that school, Chubby Chub went to that school and Ice Ice went to that school. We were all in the same high school. Back then at lunch time they used to bang on the table and we used to rhyme. Me and Rodney Cee...back then we called ourselves Lil Ikey Cee and Lil Rodney Cee...we would go off kicking rhymes. That was just an everyday thing!!! All these MCees..everybody had skills. That was the best in Lehmann. We're just rhyming! We're just kicking it!!! And then you know we use to give the high school parties...some parties the Funky Four would give...some parties the Dynamite Brothers would give. There was some tension but we never ever fought."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How important was it for an MC to dress fly back then?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"That was very important. You see that was another thing that we brought to the Zulu Nation when the Cosmic Force came to the Zulu Nation. They didn't do that. Me and Ice Ice we went out and bought Hush Puppies and certain jans and certain shirts. We would come there with all the same things on. That made a difference. That's what made us special."</b></p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikEFaCOMzA6mVmhRp8586zRSjVYdmSa2OiQOBPzNL8jXZ2KTISM7_zjm32YQSvIRjpeFExNtKIqKZef0yCIfw1ALm8lU4j2BkUeacDZ3on-FRUUskfu_dCgaNItRZ0FH1mu7RV6r2-KAoRTg2My5cyUzkTh_cC0aYRTDZYifn6vmQUfKkCm0kztU_K/s225/m%20hines.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="152" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikEFaCOMzA6mVmhRp8586zRSjVYdmSa2OiQOBPzNL8jXZ2KTISM7_zjm32YQSvIRjpeFExNtKIqKZef0yCIfw1ALm8lU4j2BkUeacDZ3on-FRUUskfu_dCgaNItRZ0FH1mu7RV6r2-KAoRTg2My5cyUzkTh_cC0aYRTDZYifn6vmQUfKkCm0kztU_K/s1600/m%20hines.png" width="152" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Cosmic Force MCees with Zulu Nation member Mike Hines</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of character traits did an MC have to have in order to make it in Hiphop back then?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"I say it in three words: DON'T BE AFRAID! That's it. Everybody wanted to be an MC back then but the ones that weren't afraid were the ones that became MCees."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Last question: Why was the DJ so important for Hiphop back then?"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"The DJ knew the records, he had all the beats. And the DJ knew the MCees. The DJ knew the pace of the MCees. The DJ knew what this MC sounded good on and what this MC didn't sound good on. That's why the MC was very important. And then like back then it wasn't a Rap Show, it was about the party as a whole. The DJ had to keep the people partying before and after the MCees got on."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you so very much!"</b></p><p><b>IKEY CEE:"Thank you! I appreciate what you're doing!"<br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-10172031732078865482023-06-12T11:28:00.003-07:002023-09-04T07:59:49.177-07:00Interview with DJ Afrika Issac (The Crazy 8)<p><b> Interview with DJ Afrika Issac (The Crazy 8)</b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fVo9mftviFTF0q2_mc1IDX4oOZMQEj6YNz0uUXKvxbbnqGpALldo1vjBsFhFJ1RQhYT8q_kmHN8t-C_blxQBCv4QesXmZlSMmZq_KEj-ZMk6TZo8pV0FXfM7QdmvA142pumpjvI1dWxQLokSII6CNfRl5iv9xufIxiq8J7nW22NnAqlAHPeZ4Q/s1944/DJ%20Afrika%20Isaac.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1944" data-original-width="1944" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fVo9mftviFTF0q2_mc1IDX4oOZMQEj6YNz0uUXKvxbbnqGpALldo1vjBsFhFJ1RQhYT8q_kmHN8t-C_blxQBCv4QesXmZlSMmZq_KEj-ZMk6TZo8pV0FXfM7QdmvA142pumpjvI1dWxQLokSII6CNfRl5iv9xufIxiq8J7nW22NnAqlAHPeZ4Q/s320/DJ%20Afrika%20Isaac.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>DJ Afrika Issac (The Crazy 8)</b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> </b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> </b></td></tr></tbody></table><b> </b><p></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders/Germany)</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly were you born and raised at?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"I was born and raised in the Bronx in the Monroe Projects on Story Avenue."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay and in which year were you born?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"I was born in 1960."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Are you of Puerto Rican descent?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"I'm biracial. I'm Puerto Rican and Polish. My dad is from Poland, my mother is Puerto Rican."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So to what kind of music were you listening to as a child growing up?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"As a young boy growing up I was mainly listening to Rock music."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of Rock music was that?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"I was listening to stuff like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Kiss, Kansas...stuff like that."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So who was it that introduced you to all the Funk, Soul and Jazz breakbeats? Was it DJ Afrika Little Khayan (RIP)? "</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Yes, that was Khayan." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“How did you meet him?“</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:“We met cause we were both first riding bikes. You know, dirtbikes...stuff like that. I ride motorcycles. So that’s how we met. He had a Suzuki and I had a 125 Honda. He rode and I rode and that’s how we met. We met in the projects cause we both lived in the same projects. Monroe Projects..He lived just a building away from me and he already knew Bam (DJ Afrika Bambaataa). So one day he said, „I wanna introduce you to Afrika Bambaataa.“ And that‘s how I met Afrika Bambaataa and his MCees of The Soul Sonic Force. Khayan was already DJing by that time. So when I saw him messing with those records I was introduced to Funk and R&B music. He was doing a lot of backspinning like Grandmaster Flash. There wasn‘t too many people that were doing that needle dropping. I got that from Grandwizard Theodore from The L-Brothers. He was the first one that I had seen dropping the needle at the beginning of the breakbeat again and again without ever missing the beat. I gravitated towards that. That became a part of my style.“</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2dBYr19-ESRNeFlWBbLlvPKTco4_N_ZttqI639PKv7fFwGx_uxTb6Erro07jzxTjK6C8iPBVom2FMdN9kuQl2w1dQ9z50wMR5W1aH_zwS7yli7rbiL__Eay7qFlOYKjNeszwRmyP3oU6PvLln7ky-aWcw_uLkhUiWadrl-auIl91l4eW-jd_TuQ/s320/Afrik%20Khayan.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2dBYr19-ESRNeFlWBbLlvPKTco4_N_ZttqI639PKv7fFwGx_uxTb6Erro07jzxTjK6C8iPBVom2FMdN9kuQl2w1dQ9z50wMR5W1aH_zwS7yli7rbiL__Eay7qFlOYKjNeszwRmyP3oU6PvLln7ky-aWcw_uLkhUiWadrl-auIl91l4eW-jd_TuQ/s1600/Afrik%20Khayan.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>DJ Afrika Little Khayan (The Crazy 8)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was your first Hiphop jam experience like? Where and when did it take place?" <br /></b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISAAC:"As a matter of fact the first jam that I ever went to was an Afrika Bambaataa jam at Bronx River. I went with Khayan and his guys, you know? So we was in Bronx River and this girl started talking to me. She called me up to her. We were in this dark corner talkimg to each other and then Bambaataa's own cousin stuck me up! He walked up behind me and pulled out a pistol and cocked it back. He tried to take my medallion but I wouln't give it to him. So then he forced me to give it to him. So then I left. They didn't know I left and I went and got my older brother an he came with his crew (chuckles). They had two pitbulls and they went inside Bronx River and put everybody against the wall and got my medallion back. Then after that me and Bam had a meeting, he spoke to his cousin and he got the whole shit squashed."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So your first jam experience was a rather negativ one?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Yeah, it was."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"But nonetheless you went on to become a well-known DJ. What sparked your motivation to become a DJ?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Just watching DJ Afrika Little Khayan mixing. You know, going back to beginning of the beat, extending the beat. That’s what drew me in. Taking two records and making a whole different song out of it. That’s what I used to do. Like I would take the record „Scratching“ by The Magic Disco Machine and I would make a new song out of its break. That’s what sparked my interest.“<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Where did you practice in the very beginning of your DJ career? Would you go over to DJ Afrika Little Khayan‘s house?“</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:“Yeah, yeah in the beginning I used to always go to his house cause his building was right next to mine. He lived in 1770 on Story Avenue. I went upstairs to his apartment, up to his room and we kept on practicing for hours on his turntables ‘cause I didn’t have turntables at the time. After we had met I started going to his house slowly and then more on the weekend. I just made it a habit. Then we started playing literally everyday.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“What kind of turntables did he have?“</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:“He had the belt drive Technics. Matter of fact we both had them cause after a while I went and got my own Technics turntables. From then on I would stay at my mom‘s house and I used to be playing all day and night. I decided to stay in my bedroom and to practice for hours.....countless hours. I wouldn't even go outside. People from all over would gather in front of my bedroom window and listen to me playing my music because I lived on the second floor. I was real close to the ground. Sometimes I would hear them cheering outside. That's how I got real nice. Everything else became secondary to me. “</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“So is it accurate to say that DJ Afrika Little Khayan taught you how to DJ?“</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:“He didn’t really show me no tricks but he showed me how to mix the records.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“As far as introducing new beats into Hiphop is concerned what was your method of finding breakbeats that no other DJ had ever played before in HipHop?“</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:“My method was looking into Rock music! I incorporated Rock beats into R&B. Every time I started playing I always started with Rock. I would play songs like „Kashmere“ by Led Zeppelin or „Keep Your Distance“ by Babe Ruth and I would mix those with R&B Beats. Remember Aerosmith did a song with Run D.M.C called „Walk This Way?“ They say Run D.M.C. brought Rock music into Hiphop but I was already doing that in the 1970ies. Matter of fact I used to play the original version of „Walk This Way“ back then. Playing Rock & Roll Beats was my signature style. Everybody knew I would start my set with Rock music.Always! I just loved the sound of it when it came out of my speakers. It always filled the air, you know.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How old were you when you started DJing?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"I was about 15 or 16. Some shit like that." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So that means you were already doing it in the mid-1970s?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Yeah."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you must have witnessed Hiphop before the advent of the MCees. When the parties were still all about the DJ and the B-Boys and B-Girls."</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Oh yeah, the B-Boys would always be at the parties waiting for us to play the heavy beats so they could get down and do their thing. They were always in the crowd forming circles where they would get down! I didn' t pay them too much attention though because I was too busy DJing, trying to keep the tempo up, you know?" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Are you familiar with a B-Boy from Monroe that was called Rick The Worm?" </b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Yes, I know Rick The Worm. He's my friend. He was a B-Boy and also a troublemaker. A big troublemaker! He always wanted to fight somebody."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I was told that he would dance with a cup of liqour in his hand without spilling it." <br /></b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Yeah, I remember that! He was nice! Everybody liked his style of dancing. He was a dancer and a bodyguard (laughs)." </b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz2IwXqTuWofHpj78NTaqqjgIcJ0_K42EIwRDLmDlL3INEH5pPomZFOwTVrSyMhjCQcmmVBd5tKQuTBJViCwZYjRlNp-G7O4Rku6JsSnkmR0lu0Up0A2buhDc-3gLlenh3tR_tZ2gbdsk_La9_kEUrhA9a9jgmWxIGgw1pwklkQ4aF-2I0wQ1ycQ/s261/345587491_917584269336360_3365469537187447771_n.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="202" data-original-width="261" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz2IwXqTuWofHpj78NTaqqjgIcJ0_K42EIwRDLmDlL3INEH5pPomZFOwTVrSyMhjCQcmmVBd5tKQuTBJViCwZYjRlNp-G7O4Rku6JsSnkmR0lu0Up0A2buhDc-3gLlenh3tR_tZ2gbdsk_La9_kEUrhA9a9jgmWxIGgw1pwklkQ4aF-2I0wQ1ycQ/s1600/345587491_917584269336360_3365469537187447771_n.png" width="261" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>November 10th, 1979: DJ Afrika Issac rocks at the Bronx River Center along DJ Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Jazzy Jay, DJ Afrika Islam and the Soul Sonic Force MCs<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Please describe how you build up your own sound system!“</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:“Remember I told you last time we spoke that I used to build speakers. I sold a lot of those speakers to other DJs. They would buy them from me. That‘s how I got the money to buy my own sound system.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“DJ Lightning Lance told me that his first DJ partners the Thomas Twins bought speakers from you in 1978.“</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:“Right. I still do carpenter work now.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“So when did you start doing parties?“</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISAAC:“The first party I did was in Monroe Center. A lot of people were coming to party. They had to pay at the door. I was doing it by myself. Then I went to JHS 123 to play. Then I played at a boat ride. Then I played at Bronx River. That‘s when I started to go to different places to DJ. Later on we also went against the Mac Dynasty Crew.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Yes, we are going to address that battle later. What is the story behind that DJ name of yours?“</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:“Afrika Bambaataa gave that name to me. I don’t remember how that came about. I had started playing with him. He started to let me play on his set and he was impressed by what I did on the turntables. I know that he came up with the name and said, „We gonna call you Isaac“ He also said,“This is the son of Bambaataa!“ Khayan had already gotten his name from Bambaataa.“</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg46eQvV1Q6UC9NP8qm2TD9fmdXdiGmPEdELyBq8Ym69Q9yTW8hTGjNsIMFXTiGX3b5KLjemWTnbHBn3Kj2x6WkScR0R_hLQB1d88miXhXWWlxpI8ouxv5ARUIzcsiKwXbiA5Ivq7fVfspypsXIh8OcMW-85zx9YkmbEaNN21df6K_Saiv8kNkdug/s960/5.%20DJ%20Afrika%20Bambaataa%20&%20The%20Soul%20Sonic%20Force%20%20@%20Castle%20Hill%20Park,%20%2028.7.%201979.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg46eQvV1Q6UC9NP8qm2TD9fmdXdiGmPEdELyBq8Ym69Q9yTW8hTGjNsIMFXTiGX3b5KLjemWTnbHBn3Kj2x6WkScR0R_hLQB1d88miXhXWWlxpI8ouxv5ARUIzcsiKwXbiA5Ivq7fVfspypsXIh8OcMW-85zx9YkmbEaNN21df6K_Saiv8kNkdug/s320/5.%20DJ%20Afrika%20Bambaataa%20&%20The%20Soul%20Sonic%20Force%20%20@%20Castle%20Hill%20Park,%20%2028.7.%201979.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>July 28th, 1979: DJ Afrika Isaac rocks with DJ Afrika Bambaataa &The Soul Sonic Force at Castle Hill Park in the Bronx<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So Bambaataa put you down with the Zulu Nation because he liked your DJ skills?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Yeah, he just took a liking to me and then he saw that I was playing Rock beats and he said, "Yo man, that's good that you got your own style! You got a different style! You're different!""</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did Afrika Bambaataa tell you some song titles that had a nice breakbeat?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"No, he never told me any song titles. What he would do was he would sometimes pass me some of his records when I was playing on his set and he would tell me which part of which song I should play. He'd be like, "Play the beginning of the third song!" We were good friends." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, and did he ask you about song titles since you had such a vast knowledge of Rock music?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Not really. He always had his own ways. He was never one to follow nobody. You know Bambaataa. Bambaataa is the leader. Everybody was following what he was playing. He wasn't following nobody.<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of relationship did you have with the numerous other Zulu Nation DJs like DJ Jazzy Jay or DJ Afrika Islam?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"We were all like cool with each other but I wasn't talking too much with them, you know? 'Cause they had their own different set. They all were Bambaataa's people that had their own set like me." </b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMBapr8q_Xj4d-NGy_BfUZQ1tVw_i3Idsi1LCNa7qcPrhLHHnOsC47sorn9Tb7t6MJmNDAtOhh3Smp_avO2N5htkQGwRhA7Pp54y_w6vIvxMM3FrttP589Jw98Bxc6Xu41vtIYpPH54xPyEHApYFMBY60SBmzoSk3PzxLp6mFEKiWOCYzKoK6qUg/s603/Afrika%20Isaac%20&%20The%20Crazy%20Eight%20Crew%20@%20Audobon%20Ballroom%2011.01.1980.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="603" data-original-width="436" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMBapr8q_Xj4d-NGy_BfUZQ1tVw_i3Idsi1LCNa7qcPrhLHHnOsC47sorn9Tb7t6MJmNDAtOhh3Smp_avO2N5htkQGwRhA7Pp54y_w6vIvxMM3FrttP589Jw98Bxc6Xu41vtIYpPH54xPyEHApYFMBY60SBmzoSk3PzxLp6mFEKiWOCYzKoK6qUg/s320/Afrika%20Isaac%20&%20The%20Crazy%20Eight%20Crew%20@%20Audobon%20Ballroom%2011.01.1980.png" width="231" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>January 11th, 1980: Afrika Isaac & The Crazy 8 are rocking at the Adoubon Ballroom in Harlem along with Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul sonic Force and other Zulu Nation crews as well as with Kool DJ AJ and Lovebug Starski</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was your home base? Like where would you throw most of your indoor and outdoor parties at?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"My home base was Monroe. Like I said I would do parties in Monroe Center. During the summertime I would play in 100 Park. It's a school...PS 100. They had a park in the back.....a playground. We would go right out there. It was right across from my building."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you have a security crew that had your back at those parties? I was told by different DJs and MCees that you had to have a crew because there was always the danger of cats trying to snatch your equipment and records." <br /></b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"That's true. Some people had crews but we didn't have security 'cause everybody knew us already. Everybody knew us!" <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who came up with the name Crazy 8 Crew and who were its members?"<br /></b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Curt came up with that name. We were all from the same projects. Me and Khayan were the DJs. Lisa Lee started out with us before she went on to MC for Bambaataa. Curt was one of my MCees as well. Squirpy La Rock was another one. That was my next door neighbour. Matter of fact that was my best friend in the whole team. He was our MC but he was also in charge of the equipment. He would put the wires together and he would even DJ sometimes. If Khayan didn't want to DJ he would spin. He was like the all around guy. He would help with the system, he would carry the system. He would help with the system. He was the main source! You know why? Because he was the closest to me! Later on Ice Ice and Lil Ikey Cee would also get on the mic for us from time to time."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What about Chipper Chip?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Chipper used to live with me. My mother almost adopted him. She never adopted him but his father threw him out of the house and he ended up living with me. He stayed in the same bedroom with me. So Chipper lived with me. He tried to rap but he did not have that knack for MCing. You know some people have that knack and some people don't have it. He was more of a fighter, you know what I'm saying? He would always have my back. The same is true for Loose. He was a troublemaker, a loose canon. He would take no shit from nobody but he was no MC. He was my boy but he wasn't really into the music. He was just there with us all the time." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When did the Crazy 8 Crew form?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Around 1978//79. That's when all these crews started to form all over the Bronx." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you say that you and your Crazy 8 Crew benefitted from the fact that you were down with the Zulu Nation?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:" Yeah, definetely!! Being down with Bam and everything like that it kept everything cool with us. I never had a problem with anybody except for when Flip did that craziness in our battle against the MacDynasty Crew. Jumping over their rope.....his foot caught the rope and that's what brought their speaker crashing down. Boom!!! It sounded like an explosion! It was real loud, you know?"</b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDhiwJGNY1Xe_1Nl0KGaOsQmeZ86d8zg9I_ibHoTjxosNjgwJb_0wx6cc4Cugcvb421x8rjBwwQ82UdOcwpwk3Rmq67ORgHbyBOWOM0PbGa0mc9AbBtNQEyN0m-5u7F5x5v5P8EYdee5H9NVyucAaI5QbIXNroS7Q1Aa66zM9KA7Ob9DXVC6LOA/s613/Isaac.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDhiwJGNY1Xe_1Nl0KGaOsQmeZ86d8zg9I_ibHoTjxosNjgwJb_0wx6cc4Cugcvb421x8rjBwwQ82UdOcwpwk3Rmq67ORgHbyBOWOM0PbGa0mc9AbBtNQEyN0m-5u7F5x5v5P8EYdee5H9NVyucAaI5QbIXNroS7Q1Aa66zM9KA7Ob9DXVC6LOA/s320/Isaac.png" width="251" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>November 17th, 1979: DJ Afrika Isaac rocks at the Bronx River Center along with the Dynamite Brothers and the C.B. Crew</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who exactly was Flip?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"He was just a good friend. He was like a roadie."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When I interviewed MC Hutchy Bee from MacDynasty Crew he told me that after their speaker had fallen to the floor a big fight broke out in Bronx River and him and his crew mates were basically jumped by the people of their own project...."</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Yeah, because everybody liked us! Everybody knew us! I was known from Castle Hill down to Bronx River, down to Soundview Projects, down to Cozy Corner......everybody liked us, they didn't like Mac Dynasty Crew as much as they liked us. Don't get me wrong...Mac Dynasty.. they was nice but the crowd liked us more. That's why that happened." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you battle any other crews besides Mac Dynasty Crew?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Yeah, yeah, we battled DJ Kenny Ken & The K-Connection Crew. Kenny Ken he lived very close to me as well. We also battled Steven Akins. There were a bunch of little crews all around that did their thing. It wasn't just four or five crews back then. There were so many of them that people don't talk about anymore. I met Grandwizard Theodore through the K-Connection Crew. Kenny Ken was the one that introduced me to Theodore. Me and Kenny Ken were close because me and his brother Timmy Tim used to hang out. Kenny Ken brought me to Boston Road where Theodore lived at the time and that's where I saw him doing the needle dropping."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who won that battle between The Crazy 8 and The K-Connection Crew?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"I couldn't really tell who won. We battled but nobody ever decided on who won the battle."</b><br /></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was DJ Afrika Little Khayan's role within the Crazy 8 Crew?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"He was my back-up DJ. He used to pick the records. He was the only person that was allowed to touch my records besides myself, you know what I'm saying? Him and Squirpy La Rock."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"But you would also let him get on the turntables, right?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Yeah, definetely! Matter of fact when I first met him he was the only one. Then I started DJing. I was like,"Let me check this out!" He showed me how to do it just one time and I kept on doing it everyday. Playing with it, playing with it all the time, making beats. Then when Khayan saw that I had gotten real good he passed the number one spot over to me. That's when I became the number one DJ of the Crazy 8."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was the relationship between Blacks and Puerto Ricans on your side of the Bronx like? Did they get along well?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"On my side they mostly got along well. I never had problems with nobody 'cause I'm actually dark-skinned. I'm copper red. I look like a copper penny. I never hung out with a huge bunch of Puerto Ricans. Besides the Crazy 8 I had another little crew of friends. Two of them were White and of them was Black." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were your top 3 breakbeats back then?"<br /></b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"I always loved "Scratching" by the Magic Disco Machine. Then I also loved „Keep Your Distance“ by Babe Ruth. Another one I loved was "Frisco Disco" by The Eastside Connection. I had the colorful record...."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"From your perspective.....Why was it so important back then to have a powerful sound system?"<br /></b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Because you always wanted to be the loudest person out there! I remember everybody used to love DJ Breakout's set. His bass was crazy and then DJ Mario came out with the Mcintosh and that shit was powerful, man! I'm talking about his amps. They were crazy!!! Then Breakout came out with the Phase Linear and those were crazy, too!!!! To be at a jam when those sound sytems were rocking that was the best! That's what everybody was striving for!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How important was it to have beats that no other DJ had?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"It was very important. That's why DJs would black out the titles of their records because they didn't want you to know them. The science is they don't want you to get the same records they got. They black the names out! Like I might have a certain record, a certain beat that I liked a lot and I don't want you to get it, so that's why I get the Magic Marker or the tape to black out the name. The DJs didn't want nobody to play the same beats as them. Forget it! It was always a competition!!! They didn't even want other DJs to know where to find those beats. Nothing. And nobody let other DJs touch their records unless they were in the same crew. That was a no-no. That's why they kept a rope around the DJ set. Nobody ever stepped over those ropes because everybody knew what would happen but if they had done it they would have had problems."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you say that it is accurate to maintain that in the beginning of Hiphop the DJ held the most important position in the culture?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"Yeah, and that's what's so crazy to me, you know? I remember back in the days the DJ was way more important than the MCee 'cause without the DJ no MC could have ever rapped on the mic. Nowadays it's all about the Rappers. The DJ ain't shit now. It seems like he's the lowest guy right now. The music industry changed everything. They don't even need a DJ anymore in what they call Hiphop nowadays. Back in my days the DJ was the head of everything. He was the captain of the ship!" <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give any shoutouts at the end of this interview?"</b></p><p><b>DJ AFRIKA ISSAC:"I want to give a shout out to DJ Mario (RIP), to DJ Afrika Bambaataa regardless to what his problems are, to Kool DJ Herc, DJ Breakout, Kool DJ AJ, Curt, Squirpy La Rock, Chipper Chip, the whole Crazy 8 crew."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I wanna shout out my crew the Intruders, Sureshot La Rock (Thanks for the flyers-you're the man!!!), Andre Wilson aka Lil Herc for making this interview possible (Thank you!!!! It's a dream come true!!!), Princess Teela (RIP)!" <br /></b></p><p><b> </b> <br /></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-63384983357305006992023-02-07T11:01:00.001-08:002023-02-07T11:01:20.283-08:00 Interview with DJ Pete La Rock (The P.T. Disco Crew)<p><b> Interview with DJ Pete La Rock (The P.T. Disco Crew)</b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigD1DaD0XiRy9YlammytxEu8kW8ikXFzEGHLG-Yu_NaR_hetyjClNHcMDZOkyfXbRkXx3Iv1GbJJFYwrgdY8Nxam9sxxSAoDiAur0zVmBUnvWF7ZP6Z88WSKJBPlqBJ5Tlg1oRKSjdnolsakK51jQ22AGe9yqg6W8zlW9hTMEeBsTD_NMNt7qqjw/s720/DJ%20Pete%20La%20Rock%20(The%20P.T.%20Disco).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigD1DaD0XiRy9YlammytxEu8kW8ikXFzEGHLG-Yu_NaR_hetyjClNHcMDZOkyfXbRkXx3Iv1GbJJFYwrgdY8Nxam9sxxSAoDiAur0zVmBUnvWF7ZP6Z88WSKJBPlqBJ5Tlg1oRKSjdnolsakK51jQ22AGe9yqg6W8zlW9hTMEeBsTD_NMNt7qqjw/s320/DJ%20Pete%20La%20Rock%20(The%20P.T.%20Disco).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <b>DJ Pete La Rock ( The P.T. Disco Crew )</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Where were you born and raised at?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“I was born and raised in the Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"In the Northeast Bronx...which will be Uptown.....last stop on the number 5 train."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You're from Boston Secor Houses, right?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"That's correct. That's the housing project that I live in."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When were you born?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"I was born in 1962."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was it like to grow up in Boston Secor?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Oh, it was nice, man! Like we had four buildings altogether. One building went to fourteen floors. We got like ten or eleven apartments on each floor. The tallest building went up to eighteen floors. So it was like thirteen, fourteen..the next building I believe was sixteen and the next building was eighteen floors. That's as high as it went. It was very nice at the time when I was growing up. We played games, you know, growing up. Everyone stuck to each other. Everyone hung around each other. No one went outside the projects. It was nice, man."</b></p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh51xNwnJ5MVvqX_rlVL8C1eLNJJB1qqmc_PztOpt44RLNZRgfuP0ARG3JcdtF8TTj9VSuHBCROsfV-aa0BGL6O9MC-4_WQbt_LhNRyMqdBt_Shw9bwCq4jbI7l-7xwNL1zvoDOQFLnUb45_3C6C8Ueos9HSRPPG1rCpAKsoNFXpU26twIXm5T5IA/s720/Boston%20Secor%20Houses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="720" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh51xNwnJ5MVvqX_rlVL8C1eLNJJB1qqmc_PztOpt44RLNZRgfuP0ARG3JcdtF8TTj9VSuHBCROsfV-aa0BGL6O9MC-4_WQbt_LhNRyMqdBt_Shw9bwCq4jbI7l-7xwNL1zvoDOQFLnUb45_3C6C8Ueos9HSRPPG1rCpAKsoNFXpU26twIXm5T5IA/s320/Boston%20Secor%20Houses.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Boston Secor Houses, Bronx NYC<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"To what kind of music where you exposed as a young child growing up in your home?" <br /></b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Well, my father used to listen to classical music. He was born in Guyana and he listened to Calypso.....steel bands but he also listened to classical music, too."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"And your mom? What did she listen to?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Mom was from Portugal and she listened to the same things my father listened to but she liked a little bit of variety."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When and where did your very first encounter with Hiphop take place at?"<br /></b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Seeing these DJs play music in the park. Going to different venues like high schools. It was a time where DJs used to play in high schools. But my first thing was like viewing Hiphop in the park. People playing music in the park."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So when you are saying that you saw DJs play music in the parks who are you talking about? Are you talking about DJ Breakout and DJ Baron? The Brothers Disco?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Yeah, but they came later. It was DJ Lil Rock from Kaos Crew. Grandwizard Theodore..... It was these guys first. Breakout was there but he was now coming."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you witnessed Hiphop as early as 1976/1977?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Oh yeah! That was long before there were MCees and before any of that was on vinyl. It was nothing but two turntables and a mic. DJs came out and played music. They had crates. You'd go in the park and hear music. Then later on as Hiphop progressed MCees would be rapping, too. I was a teenager when I saw that. I was running around here buckwild!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So what was it like to be at those jams back then?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Yeah, when I was a teenager... like I said when I was going to different parks witnessing different DJs playing music...it was a unique experience!! There were a lot of other guys that played in the South Bronx, too. Like Grandmaster Flash and Kool DJ AJ."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you're saying that DJ Lil Rock from Kaos Crew was one the first DJs that you witnessed back then..."</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Yeah. Kaos Crew lived around where I lived at. Up in the Twos. We called it the Twos. Like 222nd Street, 223rd Street, 213th Street. We called it the Twos. It's not too far from here. And DJ Lil Rock was the one who was doing needle dropping. He was doing that more than 40 years ago!!! Kaos Crew...they ruled Olinville Park. That was their home turf right there. They had a very powerful soundsystem and one of their MCees Geronimo used to always rap lovely." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Who had told you about the Kaos Crew? How did you know about their parties?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Well, my cousin lived in the Twos. My cousin Lisa lived over there. My aunt and them, they lived over there. They lived on 230th Street. Her friends went to Olinville High School and you know that‘s how we used to go over there. We used to run in a pack, man!! We had no cars, we had no vehicles, so we would just troop, we would just walk! Whenever there was people playing music in the park we‘d just go over there and see, witness...“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Would you also go to DJ Basic‘s parties?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Yes!! He used to tag along with DJ Breakout but he was on his own. I found out about Basic because of Boston Road which is not too far from me, too. That‘s where DJ Breakout is from. Basic was playing music, he was down with the crew.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Were there also B-Boys present at those early park jams that you went to?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Oh yes! Oh yes! We was all down with the Zulu Nation. DJ Afrika Bambaataa!!! We used to go to his house constantly.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“So you were also close to all these Zulu Nation DJs like DJ Jazzy Jay and DJ Afrika Islam?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Yep. DJ Afrika Islam and DJ Ed La Rock. Ed La Rock was with Afrika Islam. He took my under his wing. He was the one that gave me the name DJ Pete La Rock cause his name was Ed La Rock. They were known as The Mayberry Crew.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“What made you start DJing?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“I don‘t even know. I just liked the way how it was done. You know, I watched a lot of DJs play and I was like,“Wait a minute! I know I can do this! I know music and I listen to a lot of music.“ I already had some records that I could use. So I just went and bought me some turntables. My friend that lived in the same building with me he built me a mixer. We used to cut school and he used to play the drums and I used to be in another room DJing. He had turntables and he built me a mixer. And I would just go back and forth, back and forth, cutting up beats. And then from there it got to where I was able to get some money and buy some decent turntables...belt drives.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“What‘s the name of your friend who built that mixer for you?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“His name was Tony Rodriguez. Disco T. That was me and him. We formed P. T. Disco.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Was he Puerto Rican?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Yes, half Black, half Puerto Rican.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Where had he learnt how to build a mixer?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“His father was an electrician, I believe. He picked up from his father and he was real nice. It was a knob mixer that he built.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“So it had no crossfader, right?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“No crossfader. Just two knobs.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Please describe how you built up your breakbeat arsenal.“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“ You had to dig, man! You had to go record digging. There was no internet back then where you could look up titles. I would go to different record stores and listen to Jazz cause Jazz has a lot of breakbeats, listen to a lot of Rock cause Rock records have a lot of breakbeats, too. But then when I went to see other DJs play music in the parks I would get to hear what they were playing and I would kinda remember and I would go to the record store the next day or the weekend and I would be like, “Oh, I heard this record.“ So that’s how it starts. You just start picking up vinyl wherever you go record digging.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“So you would actually hum the melody of the breakbeats that you were looking for to the record store owner?</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! (laughs) 'Cause I didn't know no titles or anything so I would just hum it. You know, we didn't have phones then so we couldn't record anything. It was also word of mouth. You'd hear something then you would go to the record store and you would see another DJ digging through some records. You would start talking to each other and he would be like,"Yeah, I know that beat!"And then the record stores picked up on it 'cause they knew that these guys out here are DJing and they're looking for breakbeats. So they would display their records on the wall."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please name some of the record stores that you would go to in order to pick up breakbeats."</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"There was this record store downtown called Downstairs Records. I used to go there a lot. There was a couple of them that we used to go to.....damn, I can't remember their names though. There were a lot of vinyl stores that really didn't sell breakbeats. I mean they sold breakbeats but they didn't advertise it. They didn't cater to Hiphop DJs. They focussed on selling what had just been released. It was a lot of Disco that was out."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You said that you started out on belt drive turntables...."</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Yeah, I had some Sansuis. They were belt drive. Sansui that was the brand name of the turntable."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you recall where you got them from?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Oh, I can't even remember where I got them from. All I remember is that I got two of those bad boys. They was belt driven. 33 and 45 RPM. I took the platter off and put felt on 'em and that's how I started DJing on those. They sounded good, you know, but of course later on I went to direct drive."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How long did it take you to sharpen up your DJ skills until finally you were confident enough to go out and do parties." </b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Oh man, it was days of practicing, man!!! (excited) You know I'd go to school and come home and be in the room just DJing, just cutting up breakbeats for hours, you know! Going to record stores, digging, come back, play the break. Just days of DJing!!! I was DJing every day!!! Like they say,"Practice makes perfect.""</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did you start throwing parties at? Did you start at the Boston Secor Community Center?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"I played at a couple of spots before I played at Boston Secor Community Center. The B-Boy parties they definetely took place at the community centers. Boston Secor, Edenwald.....which is not too far from here......Baychester Projects."</b></p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI3TtzbpbHf7EgMMr7USrvNi9nfoZvsyoKwSXJ0-j8CkYApNtqIdlFsNFD112f2RFkQBeLp_1b0kQ7shEJWG7WyCkqdakro9GBG4D_Xvh9g5x7lZDVn4g5YFp1_TpY2uBpMie5yXFNYQ8mDcW4E9ldFd9HBmmXetlQJR0Tq9kuyLDc1Kmnx6udXw/s1140/PT%20disco.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="1140" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI3TtzbpbHf7EgMMr7USrvNi9nfoZvsyoKwSXJ0-j8CkYApNtqIdlFsNFD112f2RFkQBeLp_1b0kQ7shEJWG7WyCkqdakro9GBG4D_Xvh9g5x7lZDVn4g5YFp1_TpY2uBpMie5yXFNYQ8mDcW4E9ldFd9HBmmXetlQJR0Tq9kuyLDc1Kmnx6udXw/s320/PT%20disco.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>May 26th, 1978: P.T. Disco battles The Superior Force at the Boston Secor Community Center</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Wait a minute....you're saying that you also played at the Edenwald Community Center?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Yes, I had a battle in Edenwald."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Whom did you battle?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"T.N.T. Disco."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who won that battle?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"(laughs) I think we did. We had more people in the crowd that liked us than they had people that liked them." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"DJ Shevy Shev, DJ Timmy Tim and them...They're MCees were the Jazzy 3."</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"We had a battle against them. And that's another thing that was important back then: We had battles."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would these battles go down back then?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Well, you know.....one crew would be on one side and then another crew would be on the other side and they would play, you know? One DJ would play for a length of time and then the other DJ would play for a length of time and that would determine who took who out."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who would judge these battles?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"The crowd was the judge." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was needed in order to win such a DJ/MC battle?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"You needed to have a nice soundsystem, you needed a good DJ cutting it up while your MCees were rapping over your breakbeats."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Was it also important to have a huge arsenal of breakbeats?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Oh sure! Sure!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So which other places did you play at besides Boston Secor, Edenwald and Baychester?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"I played in Olinville High School, I played in the Valley Park........"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was it like to play there? Talking to the Zulu Kings Pow Wow and Cholly Rock I heard that a lot of crazy B-Boy and DJ battles went down there."</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"It was crazy, man. When we went over there they didn't want us to play. Yeah, guys were like, "You can't play over here!" You know? Like you had to show up with a lot of people. But it was incredible...Cholly Rock and Pow Wow..they wasn't lying about those battles!!! It was a lot of battles there!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So how did you convince them to let you play there?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Well, I had a crew...guys from Edenwald and Boston Secor. Like we travelled heavy. You know, they had guns, they had knives...they had everything. And my guys were like, „Nah, we gonna play!“ We played for a little while but then we left because they was talking about shooting up my equipment. Like putting holes in my speakers and all that.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“So playing outside of your neighborhood could lead to some serious problems?“<br /></b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Yeah, you know cause Hiphop was territorial.You can‘t just go into someone’s house and expect to DJ. Like some people wouldn’t like that, you know? But then other parks and territories they would let you play. They wanna hear music. Once you get on and start playing and they like what you‘re playing, they‘re not gonna do nothing. They gonna like you.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Please describe how you met DJ Ed La Rock from the Mayberry Crew.“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“ The guy that we used to play for...Biddy...it was called Biddy Production. He was a real life pimp and he wanted us to play music. I can‘t remember how he knew DJ Ed La Rock but he was like,“Well, I got this crew of DJ Afrika Islam and DJ Ed La Rock and I‘m gonna have you play with them! I‘m gonna have two rooms. Afrika Islam and Ed La Rock are gonna be in the big room and P.T. Disco is gonna be in the small room. He introduced me to Ed La Rock, you know? I used to wear braids, he used to wear braids. So we just hit it off. But Ed La Rock was more advanced than I was. He had more records. He told me a couple of titles and he told me where to go to get music. He was,“You can go here! You can get a lot of breakbeats here!“ And that’s how you start gaining respect from other DJs that know you.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“So you became friends right away?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Right, cause he seen what we was doing in the back. He came back there and he seen everybody back there bumping it out, everybody is dancing. I‘m cutting it up my man is MCing. Ed La Rock introduced me to Afrika Islam. We just hit it off right there and then. We was talking all the time. We was kool. He told me,“Yo, we‘re playing over here I want you to come out here and play!“ I went to see him a couple of times in Bronx River.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“What was it like to be at DJ Afrika Bambaataa‘s apartment in Bronx River with all these crazy crates full of records being there? Did Bam also share titles with you?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Yeah, he shared titles with me but it was so much. He knew so much about beats and he had so much!! It was just impossible to have all this input in one night. He shared a lot of stuff. He also got many beats from Grandmixer D.St and D.St got his stuff from this guy called Kool Aid. Kool Aid had a lot of breakbeats. He was a serious breakbeat collector. Bambaataa had stuff from Africa, Calypso, Spain....It was different cause the breakbeats that we were playing were good but he was playing some off the wall stuff!!! It was just sounding the way it was sounding. Plus when you play it on a nice system......Incredible!!! Incredible!!“</b></p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2TmS8iMRaQ2ARrQo_h-7zgFBLv47ELdSGMqnSi3pg7Dz0V12OLQcDvzWfKmTeCRxtcVXYxavNZ8ar4LzHdwSjGL4v_m9DujWyqhAYUvs0nVOGCzWvpgv3xhgkj7OIxeRszi62L0d5EFl5y26YbSMLQlxZ0x_p2f9ijaWF875eM1vmnoMyzb5p3w/s776/November%2079.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="776" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2TmS8iMRaQ2ARrQo_h-7zgFBLv47ELdSGMqnSi3pg7Dz0V12OLQcDvzWfKmTeCRxtcVXYxavNZ8ar4LzHdwSjGL4v_m9DujWyqhAYUvs0nVOGCzWvpgv3xhgkj7OIxeRszi62L0d5EFl5y26YbSMLQlxZ0x_p2f9ijaWF875eM1vmnoMyzb5p3w/s320/November%2079.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>November 17th, 1979: DJ Pete La Rock rocks at the Bronx River Community Center along with The Dynamite Brothers, The C.B. Crew and DJ Afrika Issac - DJ Pete La Rock is called Uptown's Best</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Did he ask you to join the Zulu Nation? How did you become a member? Did you sign that book of his which included all the Zulu Nation members?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“ Yeah, we were at his apartment and signed it. He said,“You’re official!“ I said,“Aight. Kool!“ </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“So you brought the Zulu Nation to Boston Secor?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“ Yes, I put Boston Secor on the map. If it wasn’t for me playing nobody would even know about Boston Secor. Coop City..they knew about us. People from Tremont Avenue knew us. We had people from Harlem come all the way to Boston Secor to see us play. And there wasn‘t no internet back then, we would just give out flyers. Roll on the train, give out flyers.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“What did P.T. Disco stand for?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Peter and Tony. My name is Peter and my friend that built the mixer his name is Tony. That‘s Disco T. So we just put P.T. Disco.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Did he DJ as well?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Yeah, he DJed a little bit but he was more the sound guy. He took care of our sound.“</b></p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhozobZR-6keO7iju7GFPyUWYS2Ht6WAqrQMlLL8Zwg2jBFlFLzutWjCj9EMW4STKjX9cvaUJnJtRxzMvqQ4rgq-es6II_SnUs3qKx46HFpXSbzC6XOHezqC-TMxQiG_pFMXlj5qv7QZRtWUFgFa4unQno8R93nGDFF5n1z3j9Qtcur1mIXykeAiQ/s747/DJ%20Disco%20T%20(P.T.%20Disco).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="747" data-original-width="747" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhozobZR-6keO7iju7GFPyUWYS2Ht6WAqrQMlLL8Zwg2jBFlFLzutWjCj9EMW4STKjX9cvaUJnJtRxzMvqQ4rgq-es6II_SnUs3qKx46HFpXSbzC6XOHezqC-TMxQiG_pFMXlj5qv7QZRtWUFgFa4unQno8R93nGDFF5n1z3j9Qtcur1mIXykeAiQ/s320/DJ%20Disco%20T%20(P.T.%20Disco).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>DJ Disco T (The P.T. Disco Crew)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“So it was important to have someone in your crew that knew how to wire up the soundsystem?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Sure! Cause I didn’t really know a lot. I learnt from him, you know? Yeah, I know how to put two turntables and a mixer and hook that up into a receiver and have sound. But then there was other stuff that came in to play, too. He was building speakers. He was putting woofers in speakers. He was nice like that.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“At which point were you allowed to play in the Boston Secor Community Center?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Well, you know we had to go there and ask them if we could play. They wanted us to rent the center out but before that we had this guy called Biddy and he would rent it out. He was like,“Yo, you gonna play! I want you to do this party! I‘m gonna give you some money out of what we make.“ He was like a ballplayer / pimp. I‘m talking about a real pimp. He had girls on the stroll and everything.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“How many people fit into the Boston Center Community? What did it look like inside? Where would the parties go down at?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“I think you could fit 200 to 300 people in there. They had a stage there and then they had a lunchroom. It was an actual lunchroom. We used to put the tables up but it was a lunchroom.We made it into a HipHop room.“</b></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2X81JsEblJznmTVNY4TqyvwOykKeJLv9KcebEbxaOG3eOJmyFjmv0JbCp4Mo7O4BK_L3SJAMvgGoJGt8aXk-HADAONzMX8YfjHXTnIEt_N8eyzIVNiTC1II8yNHUvVy26tpDFjJXEiKmWH_pE8xx39ulInjZyzTnL5DzTUMkLMGxevWUVjZwoDQ/s870/324973193_1201962837124545_582806713559717860_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="633" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2X81JsEblJznmTVNY4TqyvwOykKeJLv9KcebEbxaOG3eOJmyFjmv0JbCp4Mo7O4BK_L3SJAMvgGoJGt8aXk-HADAONzMX8YfjHXTnIEt_N8eyzIVNiTC1II8yNHUvVy26tpDFjJXEiKmWH_pE8xx39ulInjZyzTnL5DzTUMkLMGxevWUVjZwoDQ/s320/324973193_1201962837124545_582806713559717860_n.jpg" width="233" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>October 6th, 1979: The P.T. Disco Crew performs at Communnity Center #1 in the Bronx<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Did the Boston Secor Houses also have B-Boys?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Yeah, there were a lot of them! They used to travel where I travelled cause they wanted to hear their B-Boy music.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Who were the best B-Boys out of Boston Secor?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“There was Hassan. He was really good. He lived across the street from where I lived at.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Was he the best B-Boy out of Boston Secor?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“I believe so. There was somebody else. I just can’t remember his name...“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“ Who was Sha Sha Rockwell? It seems to that he was another DJ of P.T. Disco. Is that correct?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Yeah, that was a friend of mine. He lived across the street in the second building. He was like really my older brother‘s friend. He was my of my brother‘s age but he liked to hang out with us because he loved music.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“What was his function within your crew?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“He did what I did. He cut up breakbeats. He was trying to get as good as me.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“So you were competing with each other?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Yeah! We would also practice together.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Please describe how you recruited your three MCees. Stevie Dee, Curious and Mary.“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Well, Mary lived across the street in Sha Sha Rockwell‘s building. I would hang out with her brother. She had a really nice voice. So I was like,“Let me her you rap!“ cause I had seen other crews that had female MCees. Stevie Dee used to live in Edenwald, when I used to hang out in Edenwald. I heard him rap one day and I asked him,“Why don’t you rap with me? Why don‘t you rap for my crew?“ He said,“Aight. Kool.“ I forgot how we met Curious. I know he used to live in the Twos. So we used to all hang out in the Twos. I think that‘s where we met him. They joined me a little bit later because it was just Disco T and me at first. We were doing parties together. When Sha Sha Rockwell and the MCees joined our crew it caused some friction between Disco Tee and them because he had thought that P.T. Disco would be only me and him. I let others join because they were nice. He didn‘t like that.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“ Were you able to solve this problem?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Not really because Disco T started getting heated. They still wanted to be with me, you know? So after a while he didn’t want to participate anymore. I was hanging with them and he didn’t wanna hang with them.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did your MCees do routines and did they harmonize?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"No, they were strictly rapping and then they passed the microphone over to the next MC. They didn't really get into singing." </b></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1mCsL9KzovSa3Q55fzmr6zYVhU2KhrqP1n0GtbakibmQq-44FS6YUv1Zn6XCPMVTyuikt99YfCqDndGwm7rMKLIBn1L_6VCWi5AyNnX7_9vsFJefdJir99q6zKNuFh6CSUT4PNqrCC0g-6zqVlx6cpQlxDUZSRau0L5XrUjZGozd5H0gtNCa0ug/s960/1.%20DJ%20Pete%20La%20Rock%20%20&%20The%20P.T.%20Disco%20Crew%20@%20The%20Webster%20P.A.L.%2024.08.1979.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1mCsL9KzovSa3Q55fzmr6zYVhU2KhrqP1n0GtbakibmQq-44FS6YUv1Zn6XCPMVTyuikt99YfCqDndGwm7rMKLIBn1L_6VCWi5AyNnX7_9vsFJefdJir99q6zKNuFh6CSUT4PNqrCC0g-6zqVlx6cpQlxDUZSRau0L5XrUjZGozd5H0gtNCa0ug/s320/1.%20DJ%20Pete%20La%20Rock%20%20&%20The%20P.T.%20Disco%20Crew%20@%20The%20Webster%20P.A.L.%2024.08.1979.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>August 24th, 1979: The P.T. Disco Crew participates in a DJ/MC Convention at the legendary Webster P.A.L. in the Bronx<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Did you have a record boy?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Nah. I would dig for myself. I would go from the top of my head like,“I‘mma play this now! I‘mma play that!“ But yeah there were times when Sha Sha Rockwell would give me some records. He would be like,“Play this next!““</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“How many crates of breakbeats did you have at the height of your DJ career?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“I think I had about five crates.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Okay, and what were your top three breakbeats to cut up back then?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“(laughs) There were so many. I liked Bob James „Take Me To The Mardi Gras“. „Truck Turner“ by Isaac Hayes. „Indiscreet“ by DC LaRue.“</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:“Where would you play outside during spring and summertime? Was there a park close to your building?“</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:“Oh yeah, we would go to the basketball court. Now the basketball court is located behind my brother’s building. We have a baseball field back there, too. It’s one full court with one rim on the side. So it's like three baskets but we have one full court. Right there by the baseball field. It‘s like behind the projects. They call it behind the projects but it's behind my brother's building. We used to go there, set up our equipment, plug in to the light poles and guys used to be playing tournaments and we would be out there playing music. It used to be nice, man. I loved it. We used to have the whole place packed!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How long did these parties go?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"We would start like during the day.....around 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock and we'd play until the lights went out. It was a time when we didn't have lights until they put lights in the basketball court. Sometimes we would play in the middle of the street."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"A block party."</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Yes, like a block party. We could play at night 'cause the street lights would come on." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was your worst experience with technical difficulties while playing music in the park?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Sometimes a needle broke or a needle turned upside down. I remember one time I had to perform surgery on my needle. I took the needle out to screw it in to the arm and the point of the needle was turned upside down. I had to get a tweezer to turn the point down. It was crazy. I did it though." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give shout outs at the end of this interview?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PETE LA ROCK:"Shout out to you, Norin Rad! Thank you for letting me do this! I really appreciate it. Shout out to all the original Hiphop DJs!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you very much! Shout out to Pdub!!! Shout out to my Intruders Crew! To Princess Teela (RIP)! And to Sureshot La Rock!"<br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> </b><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> </b> <br /></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-16129458873823910992023-01-15T13:23:00.001-08:002023-01-15T13:37:49.595-08:00Interview with MC Joint Ski (Broadway Production / The Diplomat MCees)<p> <b>Interview with MC Joint Ski (Broadway Production / The Diplomat MCees) </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJux4EMb3sA9dgJvrnKqI_ms0dZGoH2qda0e2gLgabs786Jr8FAvc9daxP5WSbli8digUEwCYQeYJ8jBEqyH0Ti-xDZsmAWuEFrpRhAKHvJVigoFyoyofe5Cc6xVVn2RNYhQ3nIKtN8SoN-e7r3Z9Ox61HoYhKSR_JkaNbWrsXDENKUFS1qJOdYg/s1440/MC%20Joint%20Ski%20(The%20Diplomat%20Three).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1064" data-original-width="1440" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJux4EMb3sA9dgJvrnKqI_ms0dZGoH2qda0e2gLgabs786Jr8FAvc9daxP5WSbli8digUEwCYQeYJ8jBEqyH0Ti-xDZsmAWuEFrpRhAKHvJVigoFyoyofe5Cc6xVVn2RNYhQ3nIKtN8SoN-e7r3Z9Ox61HoYhKSR_JkaNbWrsXDENKUFS1qJOdYg/s320/MC%20Joint%20Ski%20(The%20Diplomat%20Three).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <b>MC Joint Ski (Broadway Production / The Diplomat MCees)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly in the Bronx did you grow up at?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"I grew up in the North Bronx, in the Wakefield section. East 219 Street & Olinville Avenue off of White Plains Road up in the North Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, and when were you born?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"I was born in 1964."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where and when did your first encounter with Hiphop take place?"<br /></b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"I went to a party....I believe it was at the P.A.L.....the Police Athletic League Association. It was a rec room, almost like what they call a Boys Club sort of thing and they used to have parties in there and I went there one time and some DJs and MCees were there doing their thing." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD: "Do you recall who they were?"<br /></b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"The L-Brothers......DJ Mean Gene and his crew. I started out as a DJ ....and a lot of MCees then were DJs first because MCing hadn't really taken off yet, you know, being on the mic. Somebody was DJing and then we had the B-Boys...the Break Boys. It was more DJing and dancing, that was the beginning of it. So yeah I was at the P.A.L. on Webster Avenue in the Bronx, not too far from Fordham Road. I might have been fourteen or fifteen years old." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you got into MCing later?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"Yes. MCing advanced and became gradually more popular. When Hiphop started it blossomed from neighbourhood to neighbourhood. Like every neighbourhood had a faction of DJs and MCees and then as it grew it kinda merged at places like the Ecstasy Garage, The T-Connection and the Disco Fever. The spot in my neighbourhood was the T-Connection. I could walk from my house to the T-Connection. It's a walk of maybe ten blocks. So that's kinda where I came up."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I have heard that the T-Connection was one of the most prestigious clubs in Hiphop during the late 1970ies and early 1980ies...."</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"If you got to play at the T-Connection then you knew that you had earned a certain type of reputation. I would say it's the equivalent to the Apollo in Harlem. What the Apollo was to Harlem, the T-Connection was to the North Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe how you felt the first time you were exposed to the sound of breakbeats at a jam."</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"I mean it was incredible!!! When I heard those breaks for the first time it was so loud and so clear! You would feel the beat in your body because of the soundsystem. The DJ kept the same beat, going back and forth, not the whole song just the beat part of it. It was just the concept that made me say,"Oh, my goodness! This is hot! This hot!!!" (excited) So I wanted to be up there as a DJ and that's what I did like I said I became a DJ first."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I think it's important to stress the fact that it took incomparably more to become a DJ back then than it takes today."</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"Yeah, that's true. There was a status symbol back then in the early days of Hiphop. It was how many crates of beats you had. If you only had two crates of records you wasn't considered a DJ. You still had a long way to go. But you know, if you had a dozen or even fifteen crates of records that was a status symbol! <span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j x1jfb8zj">Some Crews would have dummy crates to make it seem like they had more records than they actually had. </span>And you even had to have a soundsystem. The funny thing about is is, many crews were named after soundsystems. So the soundsystems had their own names. Like the Herculoids....that was Kool Herc's soundsytem. I grew up in a neighbourhood where there was a crew called the Kaos Crew. Their soundsystm was called the New Dimension soundsystem. Our soundsystem..the soundsystem of Broadway Production was the Black Shadow."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe the process through which you became a DJ."<br /></b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"Initially, how I first started .....'cause you know I was a teenager.....I think I had a part time job....delivering papers. That's where I got the money from to buy my first mixer and turntables.</b><b> I started out on two different turntables. I think they were called BSRs</b><b> where the arms comes over and the record drops down. So I started mixing on those first....mixing 45s. I got a mixer...I think I got it from a pawn shop. It was a very simple mixer. As far as getting records I raided everybody's record collection. My uncle's, my aunt's, my cousin's. Every time I went to my aunt's house I went through theirs. And here's the thing I don't know if you have noticed it or not. You can take a record, look at the grooves and you can see if there's a break on there." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Alright, so when did you start bringing your equipment outside in order to do parties?"<br /></b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:" I grew up in a home, in a house. So we had a backyard and my equipment was in the backyard in a garage. My garage just happened to be in the back of my house and I had a yard there so it was very private. So what I would do is I would bring the music out on a Saturday and then people from my block would just come in and they would be like,"Hey, I hear music!" They would come there and they would see me mix and then the word just kinda trickled out that I was playing music back there. You know me and my brother Grandwizard KC and my oldest brother T Ski (T Ski Valley) he was out there with us, too. My oldest brother is DJ/MC T-Ski and my youngest brother is Grandwizard KC who was my DJ."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Hold on! You're saying that T Ski Valley who did that famous rap record "Catch The Beat" is your brother?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"Yes, that's my brother, my oldest brother."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I see. So I guess since he was down with the Erotic Disco Brothers as a DJ that also had a huge influence on you, right?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"Well, we kinda had just like different factions, different crews. Erotic Disco Brothers was my brother T Ski and DJ Disco Prince and I don't know if you have heard about DJ Warlock. DJ Warlock lived across the street from us. DJ Warlock was down with us, with Broadway Production and he was also my oldest brother's DJ. He was also down with the Erotic Disco Brothers. So he went between both crews and so he got the best of both worlds. So my brother T Ski was doing his thing with his crew and I was doing my thing with my crew. So then eventually we started to get good and people started to like us. Then when MCing started to grow, me and my youngest brother said, "We have to find some MCees!" So we would hold auditions in our basement. We would jam in our basement all the time, we had all kinds of jams there. I would let everybody know in the neighbourhood, "Hey, I'm looking for MCees. You should come and try this!" So MCees would try out </b><b>and at that time I couldn't really find any good MCees. So I said, "You know, let me be an MCee myself!" So I started MCing and DJing."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What other methods of acquiring breakbeats did you use besides raiding the record collections of your friends and relatives? Did you trade titles with other DJs?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"No, we never traded titles. That was a no-no. What you would try to do is you would sneak and try to take a peek at what the other DJs were playing and then you would try to find it and that's when DJs would take black electrical tape and they would black out the labels on the records so other DJs couldn't see the record that they played. So it was always about finding beats that no one had ever heard! And there was a place down there in Manhattan in the 42nd Street area that was called Downstairs Records and everybody would go to Downstairs Records because there was just records everywhere! There was just rows and rows of records and you would just go through them and see what you could find. So we would go there...any place where there was a record store...no matter if we were hanging out or just walking by..if we saw a record store we would walk in and look around if we could find any gems. And after a while, you know, we started getting money because we were doing shows and we were getting paid. So you know, we started investing that money. Any money that we earned we would go and get more equipment, new microphones, more records...every cent that we earned we would put it right back into the soundsystem and what we tried to do. " </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How many crates of records did the DJ section of Broadway Production have back then? Like when you were at your peak?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"Personally, I had probably about ten crates. I'd say DJ Warlock maybe had about ten and my brother Grandwizard KC...he probably had about fourteen crates of records. So between us three we had crazy crates of records! We wouldn't even bring all the crates out to every jam. We would say, "Okay, let's just take these." We had our favourite crates. We used to line up the records in order so if we was doing a party we knew where to grab the record. So when we was coming out to do a show depending on where we were and how long we was gonna be on...sometimes we would go to a show and we were just part of the show...it wasn't us hosting the show so then we would only bring about six crates, that's all we would probably need. But if we were doing the show...like we rented the place out and we would sell the tickets and it was our show, we would bring all the crates because we wouldn't know which way the party was gonna turn in terms of what we needed to play! There were times when we would bring all of our crates just to show off. Like I said it was a status symbol and we would bring our crates just to let everybody know that we had them even if we didn't need them all."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"DJ Tibbs told me that bringing out all of your crates to a battle in the park was actually part of your strategy to intimidate your opponent before the battle even started. He called it psychological warfare."</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"That's absolutely true and I'll tell you another thing which we would do as psychological warfare: our amplifiers!!!! Like the physical amp.. Some crews had really huge amps. The mere sight of them would intimidate you. The Kaos Crew had its amps on dollies. The dollies came into play because the amplifiers were just too heavy to be carried by hand. It was easier to roll them in. It was interesting, too, to see how everybody had a different soundsystem. It was really unique. Unique in the sense of appearance as well as type of sound and what you could afford. Remember back then crews were just figuring out what speakers sounded well with what amplifiers."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did you get that name Joint Ski from? Was it given to you or did you choose it for yourself?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:" (chuckles) I haven't answered that question in many, many years! When I first started DJing and MCing...since my first name is Kevin ...I called myself Captain C or Cap C and I had a guy with me whose name was Kenny. So we were the K-Crew. That didn't last long though. We were doing a party in the basement one time and there was a crew that wanted to battle us. I let them go first, they said their rhymes. So when I got on the mic I started rocking! I did a pretty good job. You know, the crowd was loving it. There was this phrase that they called, "The Joint Ski". Like, "Oh man, that's the Joint Ski!" It meant something like, "That's cool!" So the crowd was like, "Oh man, that guy is the Joint Ski!!! He's good!" And then it just stuck. They started calling me Joint Ski."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When did that happen?" <br /></b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"That was in 1979."</b></p><p><b>SiR NORIN RAD:"What was the reason why you called yourself The Diplomats?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:" It was a couple of things. We wanted a name that was different. Everybody had a something something crew. So we wasn't gonna do this. We wanted something that sounded more chic because...how can I say this kindly..... we weren't necessarily street guys. All MCees have different backgrounds. Some guys were in the street....scrambling, pimping or whatever. We were from a different kind of background. So we wanted our name to be a little more chic, a little bit more diplomatic. So it just kinda came. So we said, "What about the name The Diplomats?" It was also easy to rhyme to, you could write a lot of rhymes to it. So then we were just The Diplomats. There was another guy that was with us but he left the crew relatively early. So we would take off the number of our name and just leave it at The Diplomats." </b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbGDuwZLnIkHoDdpMqdGmyJ9Vn5JDVA2MuZ3zU3Y_m74bYh8HduCL3jn5YPlJ9qRammWfw3Y_bg8y2ftaPvz8CKW2GngHh5t5oOhTILJFGhQqbD5xxSGHea6JuozkYdMX4KKsM8m0DmAoIBtZ2Dl4d_wMupOEeYd6B3eO92fbx0658ULB-ZykdBg/s709/98180794_653273328560517_5753828946122637312_n.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="709" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbGDuwZLnIkHoDdpMqdGmyJ9Vn5JDVA2MuZ3zU3Y_m74bYh8HduCL3jn5YPlJ9qRammWfw3Y_bg8y2ftaPvz8CKW2GngHh5t5oOhTILJFGhQqbD5xxSGHea6JuozkYdMX4KKsM8m0DmAoIBtZ2Dl4d_wMupOEeYd6B3eO92fbx0658ULB-ZykdBg/s320/98180794_653273328560517_5753828946122637312_n.png" width="289" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>December 29th, 1980: Broadway Production rocks at the Sound Symposion in the Bronx<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So in the very beginning you called yourself The Diplomat Four?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"There was four of us. Myself, Dollar Bill, Jimmy B and another guy, his name was Frankie D. As I said he left us relatively early. So essentially when we started doing shows and getting money it was three of us and then our DJs were Grandwizard KC and DJ Warlock."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, and when did Broadway Production form? Was that also in 1979 or later?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"It was later....there was some kind of maturation period. I would say it was the summer of 1980 when we were really established." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you still DJ at your shows after you had begun MCing? Or did you strictly focus on MCing?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"Oh no I did both. We kinda had a format. I think other crews had that as well.... When we did a show...now I'm speaking of we're hosting a show 'cause there's a always a difference..... sometimes someone else is throwing a party and we're just appearing for a short time but when we were doing a party we always had a structure. So we would all take turns, doing a segment of 15, 20 minutes on the turntables. I would go, Grandwizard KC would go, DJ Warlock would go....each one of us would do a segment to get the crowd pumping. Then once we went on the mic, once we started MCing I would get on to get warmed up, doing solo stuff and then the rest of us would get on the mic as well. Once we all did that, that's when we were rocking with Grandwizard KC as our DJ. Doing routines..we had all kind of routines. That's when the show really started and I would focus on the MCing at that point. But I mean I had been DJing for so long that I could always get on the turntables and rock for like 20 minutes." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You told me that your crew had a band of dancers that were called The Broadway Supremes. What would they do at your parties?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:" <span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j x1jfb8zj">They
had choreographed dance moves and sometimes we would join in with them
and dance. We had a complete show way before everybody was putting
complete shows together. </span><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j x1jfb8zj">Most times they would dance on stage in between our sets. Other times in the crowd.</span><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j x1jfb8zj"> "</span></b></p><p><b><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j x1jfb8zj"></span></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQ89m5LphkaOlh95CwoXdJfR8Au8RgvmN5pMg-KIwZOwZ7kSsXEQEg2GCwYmobzLiTRiJJN0cLFVDfRXqKgtAkUw9jY38XCQlngg76445AvFTvBJoD1rdlsP42xOTLFW-KfBg5UfMSyjdY8auOsMu2h_WPBmCp-fH8hqHyhwk9jy-ivkZ_4V1LQ/s954/Broadway%20Production.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="735" data-original-width="954" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQ89m5LphkaOlh95CwoXdJfR8Au8RgvmN5pMg-KIwZOwZ7kSsXEQEg2GCwYmobzLiTRiJJN0cLFVDfRXqKgtAkUw9jY38XCQlngg76445AvFTvBJoD1rdlsP42xOTLFW-KfBg5UfMSyjdY8auOsMu2h_WPBmCp-fH8hqHyhwk9jy-ivkZ_4V1LQ/s320/Broadway%20Production.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Broadway Production and The Broadway Supremes<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j x1jfb8zj"><br /> </span></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Which were the top DJ/MC crews in your area of the Bronx?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"In my section it was Broadway Prouction, it was my brother T-Ski and The Erotic Disco Brothers, it was The Kaos Crew and there was DJ Basic. He was from our area but he was more towards Boston Road which is kinda close to my area and there were a couple of young crews coming up but they wasn't doing it on the level that we was doing it. We were more out there but they was doing their thing. Those who were really out there out there was us, Erotic Disco Brothers and The Kaos Crew. Those were the top 3 crews from my area but because we lived so close to T-Connection, the T-Connection was like our base and so many MCees would come to the T-Connection from different areas....from Downtown, Harlem....we got to see a lot of different DJs and MCees. We knew the owner so we could always get in. We were very fortunate that we were so close." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you say that you benefitted from the fact that you were constantly able to see all these different DJ/MC crews from all over the Bronx and Harlem perform at the T-Connection?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"Absolutely! You wanted to see what the competition was doing. There wasn't any internet or youtube where you could watch these people. Even when Rap did start getting played on the radio, only very few of those crews had a record out and those Rap records were just recorded songs, not live performances. You got rappers that can perform very well in the studio but they are not that appealing on stage. We were that kind of crew that was into that real MCing. So we always wanted to see other crews live, how they performed on stage and how they interacted with the crowd. That kind of stuff. We wanted to know where the bar was and get the ranking of these MCings. There were different styles. You had crowd pleasers, some guys would do reality rap. We got a taste of all of it."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was the main stomping ground of Broadway Production?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"Our stomping ground was the T-Connection and the Valley. I used to live in the Valley as a young boy. I never lost my connections 'cause I still had friends out there. Even though I moved to the Wakefield section of the Bronx my roots was still in the Valley. The Come Off Crew (a Disco crew) they was out there. They had their system out most nights and we would rock on their system 'cause it was right in their backyard. Valley Park is where it's at! In summer time...Sunday night...it became a ritual, everybody looked forward to Sunday night in the Valley Park." </b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdywIaHbN2kP4fFt1Z_5MVpH4f8vVYmx7ZbZXE7c4h29w9Vvu8W2L1EvvGmwkon02OvTb0O1HE0K2_-TnpORqaw5R1QMQOE0gOeIu9shHvFohrv0sDGiW5EV3ljEzxfSCDIyGv3115B8IAgwEK5JV8CenqjVF2pA-kZ0L9Ux-RPVgPHcuP5mt_A/s350/Broadway%20Productions%20@%20Valley%20Park.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="225" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdywIaHbN2kP4fFt1Z_5MVpH4f8vVYmx7ZbZXE7c4h29w9Vvu8W2L1EvvGmwkon02OvTb0O1HE0K2_-TnpORqaw5R1QMQOE0gOeIu9shHvFohrv0sDGiW5EV3ljEzxfSCDIyGv3115B8IAgwEK5JV8CenqjVF2pA-kZ0L9Ux-RPVgPHcuP5mt_A/s320/Broadway%20Productions%20@%20Valley%20Park.png" width="206" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>August 17th, 1980: Broadway Production rocks at Valley Park along with Kool DJ Herc & The Herculords and Grandwizard Theodore & The Fantastic Five<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How much time did you and your comrades invest into practicing?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"An average practice session would be like three hours. We would come in, we would talk, eat pizza and we would hang out before we started working in terms of practicing. We would be together all day anyway. So we had to say, "No, we're not going to play basketball. We gotta have practice." Everything came out of us being together everyday. We were really, really loving this!! In terms of individual styles...my style was more of an aggressive style. I was rapping more about reality type stuff. Dollar Bill was more of a freestyler and Jimmy B was the crowd pleaser. "Hey, get your hands in the air!!" He would talk to the crowd and get the crowd pumping like Busy Bee Starski. He was more that kind of an MCee. We had three different styles individually but then when we came together and started doing routines we were like a unit. So yeah we had practice sessions, we had to show up on time and we had rhyme books. At the end of the month <span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j x1jfb8zj">I
would go through everybody's rhyme book to ensure that we were keeping
up with writing new rhymes. One of the things that I've always noticed
back in the day a lot of MC groups would use the same material over and
over at every party and I didn't want to be that way for my crew so we
was tasked with constantly coming up with new material, that was just my
way to ensure that we were staying active with writing rhymes</span>. It was so competitive in terms of the MCees who were doing stuff. It was very competitve. The crowd could tell immediately if you wasn't for real because they had seen good MCees and good groups. So if you came up short they would know. So you couln't fake out the crowd, you had to be able to rock the crowd. It definitely took a lot of practice."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did your crew have a leader? Like Grandmaster Caz was the leader of the Cold Crush Four? Or were you equals?" <br /></b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"No, I was the leader of Broadway Production. See, we were all equals because we saw each other as friends. In terms of the crew you had to have someone who would talk to club owners etc. I would go and speak for us if there were any kind of negotiotaions to be held. Getting gigs all of these things. Technically you would say that I'm the crew leader. I would say that every crew has to have a leader." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe the process through which you would come up with new routines."<br /></b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"Typically how we did it was......If a person came up with a concept for a new routine he would have to show us that he had put in some serious effort in order to make that new routine work. Let's say Jimmy B wanted to do something new. He would have come to practice and show us. Like Dollar Bill, he was great! He could sing. Out of all of us he had the best singing voice. I couldn't sing. So he would often come up with routines that were mimicking popular songs...like Stevie Wonder. So he would come to our practice session and he would say,"Look, I got a great idea. I wanna do something with Stevie Wonder." I would say, "Let me hear it!" Then he would go through the most of it, demonstrating it. Then I would say, "You know what? I think we can run with it. Jimmy, what do you think?" Most of the times he would say, "Yeah! Let's do it!"So then we would put our minds together and we would work on the lyrics. We would take all the rough edges, smooth it out and make it come to fruition."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe the relationship between Broadway Production and the Erotic Disco Brothers, your brothers crew. Did you ever battle each other?"<br /></b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"(laughs) We actually battled Erotic Disco Brothers one time. We lived on Olinville Avenue and the street down there was a group home and they had a big open space in the basement. That's where we battled one time. Let's just say it didn't go well for them. We didn't view them as competition. My brother T-Ski he was very fortunate that he had a hit record and that he became very popular but from a technical point of view we didn't see Erotic Disco Brothers as a threat. There was no real rivalry between us. As a matter of fact we did a lot of parties together. Our battle took place very early when we had just started but everybody battled everybody back then. " </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD3u_m5mXpV6Jh8NJLDUFhJ1LLrYgxEc5Bst5DzV6M7kHjrtZz1yRisHjEz7u98N9lK080uPbIRb21FUWifJgHW8a-mCfH-x2ej1m9Q_KlrfLCLT4u26WqowYmGgvlDfQmpJsSWVfox8I2m1TiK7YbSKVP7cKLJ6dKqfOO0-oGBhkiESMGtsyGag/s1620/Grandwizard%20KC%20&%20The%20Diplomat%20MCees.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1620" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD3u_m5mXpV6Jh8NJLDUFhJ1LLrYgxEc5Bst5DzV6M7kHjrtZz1yRisHjEz7u98N9lK080uPbIRb21FUWifJgHW8a-mCfH-x2ej1m9Q_KlrfLCLT4u26WqowYmGgvlDfQmpJsSWVfox8I2m1TiK7YbSKVP7cKLJ6dKqfOO0-oGBhkiESMGtsyGag/s320/Grandwizard%20KC%20&%20The%20Diplomat%20MCees.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Grandwizard KC & The Diplomat MCees<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did Broadway Production also rock at Olinville Park?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"Oh yeah! Olinville Park....like I lived on Olinville Avenue..Olinville Park is maybe a couple of blocks from my house but that was considered the Kaos Crew's stomping ground. That was their home turf."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Was it important to look fresh as an MCee back then and what did looking fresh entail?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"Oh, you had to look fly! It was usually the latest shoes and sneakers....like Adidas shelltoes, British Walkers.....A.J. Lester's pants, Lees, designer jeans like Jordache, Sergio Valente..maybe with the creases. We used to get our jeans painted with graffiti letters down the leg. You had to look fly! Some people would wear the Kangol hats. Style was everything. Having style was part of the whole culture! Your style.....your appearance style and your charisma blended into your MCing style."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"That's deep! Please highlight the way that MC battles went down back then."</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"It was never ever violent. It was never like, "I'mma shoot you down! This and that!" We were just having fun, enjoying the party and we were really having a lot of respect for each other. We appreciated the different styles that everybody had. And if you got defeated it was like,"Okay, you got me this time. I'mma get you next time!" That sort of thing. It was never ever violent." </b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLgBPeejc67dk61S7FgKLptd3_E_bjiWjDsqIcAUto7d1nrM4iIim9IkUE_W8CPjnfKklTR3SiI3l4mLgpYOuwKFsyfoWeClr7ziBzeDG5osThHJe-XPPOI29UYiKRFs67TPMwlQtegAJSMyy7qkVRKXkt2uIySayftuFpe3EPi2lqZzER4Z6RZg/s960/Broadway%20Production%20@%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage,%2024.05.1981.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="960" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLgBPeejc67dk61S7FgKLptd3_E_bjiWjDsqIcAUto7d1nrM4iIim9IkUE_W8CPjnfKklTR3SiI3l4mLgpYOuwKFsyfoWeClr7ziBzeDG5osThHJe-XPPOI29UYiKRFs67TPMwlQtegAJSMyy7qkVRKXkt2uIySayftuFpe3EPi2lqZzER4Z6RZg/s320/Broadway%20Production%20@%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage,%2024.05.1981.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>May 24th,1981: Broadway Production participates in a DJ/MC Convention at the legendary Ecstasy Garage in the Bronx</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What are your top 3 breakbeats to rhyme over?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"Oh man! One of my favourite beats was "Catch A Groove" (by Juice). Another one of my favourite beats was "Funky Penguin" by Rufus Thomas. I loved to rhyme over "Love Rap" ( by Spoonie Gee). I also loved to rhyme over "Get Up And Dance" by Freedom. When we did a Broadway Production and KC put "Funky Penguin" on everybody knew that I was going rock the mic to that. It was a given. That was my jam!!! My style went nice with heavy uptempo beats with heavy bass and heavy kicks."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was it like when you stood on the stage among your crew mates, riding the beat and you had the crowd going wild?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"It's really hard to explain. When you're up on stage and you notice that the people are feeling you because you're doing something that they really enjoy...it's hard to explain....it's very fulfilling!!! The interaction with the crowd, giving them something that they liked....that was very fulfilling. And it was also very fulfilling for me to see my crew rocking the crowd. When I rocked the crowd, when I did my thing I also took pleasure in watching Dollar Bill rocking the crowd. Dollar Bill was smooth now! You know it's a special kind of energy. It transforms and it goes across the room and you can recognize how it affects the crowd!!! Conversely I have been at shows where I said to myself,"What am I doing here?" because the guys who were performing didn't have that energy, they were not bringing the rhythm like that. They were rapping but I didn't feel anything." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Why did you call your sound system the Black Shadow?"</b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"DJ Warlock for the most part took care of our system. He went and bought woofers. Just regular woofers that wasn't in a box. He built our own speakers! Warlock could draw really well...he had really good free hand artistry and he would draw these pictures of guys smoking a joint, with the big hat and the glasses. You know, those graffiti B-Boy characters. He didn't do them on a wall but he could sketch very well. And he would draw these pictures of speakers and we would say, "That's black shadow!!! When we saw that picture we was amazed. It had a mysique to it. It was Broadway Production with the Diplomats and the Black Shadow soundsystem! It just fit together!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give shout outs at the end of this interview?" <br /></b></p><p><b>JOINT SKI:"Yes, I wanna shout out to my crew. To my youngest brother KC (Rest In Peace) and I wanna shout out my fellow Diplomat MCees. Dollar Bill and the original Jimmy B. Those are my boys and we had a great run. Memories, man....beautiful memories that I'll never forget."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you! I wanna give a shout out to my Intruders Crew, to Pluto Seven, Troy L. Smith and to my mellow my man Sureshot La Rock."<br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b><br /></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-44375471992179464222023-01-03T11:16:00.000-08:002023-01-03T11:16:43.135-08:00Interview with DJ Kenny Ken (The Cheeba Crew)<p><b> Interview with DJ Kenny Ken (The Cheeba Crew)</b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjHu5Iek_tgX6fSC4iVdxKQMApKzWkCga5wOAWXl0_gifBlbkHF-ZLuHayyhYgdWq5POSqD7itfwN39B6wfmVg2eOX3Hl04-MgFbHEgifnwP3sXlU0tyFttc3DmG7BYnrWkgxnn51-uckihlj26JikrEcwuOGllDmhmnRwqTuBs9Ic_knBvjSSEg/s654/DJ%20Kenny%20Ken%20(The%20Cheeba%20Crew)%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="483" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjHu5Iek_tgX6fSC4iVdxKQMApKzWkCga5wOAWXl0_gifBlbkHF-ZLuHayyhYgdWq5POSqD7itfwN39B6wfmVg2eOX3Hl04-MgFbHEgifnwP3sXlU0tyFttc3DmG7BYnrWkgxnn51-uckihlj26JikrEcwuOGllDmhmnRwqTuBs9Ic_knBvjSSEg/s320/DJ%20Kenny%20Ken%20(The%20Cheeba%20Crew)%20(2).jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>DJ Kenny Ken (The Cheeba Crew)</b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders /Germany)</b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly were you born and raised at?"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:" Actually I was born in Manhattan, but we moved to the Bronx. So I basically grew up in the Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Could you please elaborate on which area of the Bronx you grew up in?" <br /></b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"Actually I was raised on the edge of the South Bronx. I grew up on 1585 172nd Street which is Bronx River. It's one block up from Bronx River Projects, so that's the area I grew up. Right across from 1585 is James Monroe High School."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Isn't Bronx River also considered to be a part of the East Side of the Bronx?" </b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"Yes, it is considered East Side and then there is the 3rd Avenue Bridge which is a little bit further down south.....maybe two miles and then you're in the South Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When were you born?" </b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN: "I was born in 1961."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you recall to what kind of music you were exposed to as a child?" </b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"As a child I was exposed to all kinds of music. Mostly R&B kind of things of the day. My parents would play music throughout the house....you know, they would play records.. whether it was 5th Dimension, whether it was Bill Withers. My uncle happened to be a musician. My father was a musician as well. He played with the Jimmy Castor Bunch initially and when I was born he had to get a full-time kind of job and he went to work in the post office and then he went to work in the New York City Police Department. My uncle on the other side was working with various people. He is the one that plays the bells in "Take Me To Mardi Gras" by Bob James (a legendary BX breakbeat). So when that Bob James album came out his name was on there. His name is Arthur Jenkins. My last name is Jenkins as well. I'm Kenneth Jenkins. He was into jazz and all kinds of things. He was a percussionist and he also played the clavinet. So yeah, we listened to a bunch of records.....to all that Soul and Funk music that was going on at the time. So we heard all of those things."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe your very first encounter with Hiphop Culture. Were you a B-Boy? Did you bomb the trains back then? Or did your first encounter with Hiphop take place through attending a park jam?"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"It was very interesting 'cause one I was growing up in Bronx River and I was engaged with the precursor of the Zulu Nation which was called actually The Organization. I grew up in that neighbourhood. All that obviously started out with a gang...the Black Spades...before it started to elevate but I was around music and I remember being at Junior High School 123 with DJ Afrika Bambaataa. I saw Breakdancing in the street and there was a touch of gang to that but it was less of that and more of people being in the street and playing music and having a great time. So those were the first things that I started hearing and seeing as far as Hiphop is concerned. Bambaataa and them were in Bronx River and they played music outside in the park but they also played in 123 and I remember when it was like,"The place to be on Friday night is 123!" So I was a young impressionable teenager at that particular time."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Could you please describe what went through your mind and soul when you heard breakbeats for the very first time? You have just mentioned DJ Afrika Bambaataa who was widely known as "Master Of Records" back then since he had such a huge record collection and was also extremely knoweldgeable when it came to breakbeats. I was told that he actually enlarged the original first generation breakbeat canon which had been established by Kool DJ Herc by adding obscure African, Latin, Caribbean and European beats to it that nobody had ever heard before in the BX......"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"Afrika Bambaataa was definitely a rebel when it came to identifying and finding those breaks. I mean we're talking about things like "Planetary Citizen" by The Mahavishnu Orchestra. I heard that beat nowhere else! When Afrika Bambaataa was doing his thing a lot of us would go to Downstairs Records which was at 42nd Street. That's where the record store was...People would go through 45s and albums to find those breakbeats and then the next thing you know the knowledge of those beats started to move around. Bambaataa was able to expand the foundation of Hiphop music. You're talking about records that were Rock records like "Rocket In The Pocket" by Cerrone. DJ Charlie Chase of the Cold Crush Brothers would later speed up that record for his MCees. To be able to look at any piece of music and to listen to the music and to find a beat out of that was a unique skill and Bambaataa had that skill. He also inroduced a lot of Jazz to Hiphop.....like "You And Music" by Donald Byrd. People like me were behind Grandmaster Flash, Grandwizard Theodore and those folks....again those were South Bronx folks. Most of us almost had something like a test record when we were warming up the sound system, you know when we plugged in to a street light or something like that. A lot of us would start with "Rock Creek Park" by The Blackbyrds just to get the people listening and then we went from there. I grew up in the Bronx but then we moved to Mount Vernon. So we moved to Mount Vernon when I was about sixteen years old but I still had all my connections. I mean I was sixteen years old, right? I was in high school already. I was going to Fordham Preparatory School in the Bronx. So I'm up in Mount Vernon but I'm actually driving back down to the Bronx. I would also go to Manhattan to go to Downstairs Records.....We would take the train et cetera. We would be moving around, being in Co-op City. We would do parties there and we would also do parties in The Valley which is right across from Co-op City. The Kaos Crew was there, T Ski Valley and his crew was there.. all of those kind of folks. We would be in parks where shootouts would happen. It's interesting because I think that the people that owned the equipment at that time for people like The Kaos Crew they owned a reggae record store and they had the kick ass boxes in there...you know, the bass boxes... and they would bring them out so that the DJ of The Kaos Crew would be able to play different things. They were actually connected to that reggae record store. So there are a lot of interesting things that happened in that era.We got to know different people, moving around in different areas and building a reputation for music and MCing. I also did a little bit of graffiti stuff with Blade (legendary BX Writer). He was one of my good friend's brothers and we would hang out with him and do some bombing and that kind of stuff on the trains. He's an incomparable, supertalented guy. I continued to be in contact with his little brother. He's a good friend. He was in my wedding." </b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxKoIKsvfjtu5Pj7NJdE-D_yEnlDcNuwjNlZZE8nkyTV4G4yq1k4c9jTDjKUqeHfE9JUHR_cRbiJApta1DZFuSkpVLu-3Ah_jClJ7QPZJxR55F6heLs6teyeIB3Gtxo9Ek_vaZ_tmvnjR2WlcL4c6iYWQWzC7fAdBLtUmWB8k8tUL8P8csgho5Bw/s1110/The%20Cheeba%20Crew%20@%20The%20Edenwald%20Center%2030.11.1979.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="1110" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxKoIKsvfjtu5Pj7NJdE-D_yEnlDcNuwjNlZZE8nkyTV4G4yq1k4c9jTDjKUqeHfE9JUHR_cRbiJApta1DZFuSkpVLu-3Ah_jClJ7QPZJxR55F6heLs6teyeIB3Gtxo9Ek_vaZ_tmvnjR2WlcL4c6iYWQWzC7fAdBLtUmWB8k8tUL8P8csgho5Bw/w337-h204/The%20Cheeba%20Crew%20@%20The%20Edenwald%20Center%2030.11.1979.png" width="337" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>November 30th, 1979: The Cheeba Crew performs at The Edenwald Center in the Bronx</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What exactly made you pick up DJing?"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"You know what? I think it was an ecclectic group of people who inspired me to start DJing. DJ Breakout and DJ Baron were up on the 233rd Street / Gun Hill Road area. They were a major influence as far as making us say,"Oh yeah, we gonna make a crew!!" That we gotta do DJing and MCing. Another guy...Sir Rockwell.....he was a friend of mine at school...we both went to Fordham Preparatory School. He had some things going on as far as MCing was concerned. We were to match things up and we created this group..we created the Cheeba Crew. Him and my brother....Kev Ski... they were more into MCing and I was more of a smooth blending DJ at that particular time. Then there was also MC A.J. Rock who unfortunately passed away at a very early age. He was from Burke Avenue in the Bronx. We had the music in the Bronx. You know, DJ Breakout, DJ Baron... all those folks that were doing their thing. And DJ Chuck Chillout! Chuck Chillout was a friend of ours that was engaged with us before he went to a different level. At that time someone asked us to do a party. That party was supposed to be at a community center that was on 225th Street. You know, we were hanging out on 224th Street 'cause that's where Sir Rockwell lived at that particular time. We had friends in the neighbourhood and some of them asked us, "Could you do a party for us?" They said to us that they would put out flyers and all that but for whatever reason that party didn't happen. The community center didn't let us in. So what we did was we went down the block to the T-Connection and Ritchie Tee let us play there. So we moved the party from this little community center to the T-Connection and now we're connected to Ritchie Tee and now we're with DJ Breakout, DJ Baron and all of these folks. So that's how that elevated. In my mind it wasn't a specific DJ that inspired me but it was more us performing together as a group. One night my MCees who would later call themselves The Awesome Four came up to me and they said to me, "Hey Ken, you need to be a little bit more snazy on the wheels of steel!" They asked me to elevate my style of DJing. So that's when I started doing all that cutting and scratching as opposed to blending beats together. I then also started using different kind of breaks. Going back to my musical background as I said I was exposed to different kinds of music from a very young age because of my father and my uncle. I mean it wasn't breakbeats but through them I certainly got into music. So that's where it started for me and I was able to sit and listen to a full record. That's how I found many breakbeats that other DJs didn't even know about. Many times DJs would just hear the intro of the song and that's where they would pick their beats from. Well, as you know, Norin, a lot of those beats are buried in the middle of the song and if you don't listen to the whole record you might never hear that specific break." </b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSiUy29G6GVP1dddaJBicUG5-vtXIjXvn120f4_qD2tlDCXoNjX1xlNEQahIQwJGioyoEWp1Tcv5b1UGri79wHM64EnsN9RJCJvjOz-RqQcOzb2DBrgtdGBYgqCAxjVyIOmYzf-0Bgct9XnXpjLWknCZkFblIWLTMfrGR33D4vmydDbx25CnNBfA/s1305/The%20Cheeba%20Crew.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1305" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSiUy29G6GVP1dddaJBicUG5-vtXIjXvn120f4_qD2tlDCXoNjX1xlNEQahIQwJGioyoEWp1Tcv5b1UGri79wHM64EnsN9RJCJvjOz-RqQcOzb2DBrgtdGBYgqCAxjVyIOmYzf-0Bgct9XnXpjLWknCZkFblIWLTMfrGR33D4vmydDbx25CnNBfA/s320/The%20Cheeba%20Crew.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Cheeba Crew <br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Having a powerful soundsystem was an integral part of being a DJ back then. Please describe the soundsystem that the Cheeba Crew had!"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"It's really interesting because my dad was a music afficionado, right? So he had a Kenwood amplifier. We would use his amp whenever we played somewhere. One day we went down to Crazy Eddie which was close to Washington Square Park and we bought a Kenwood system. When we bought this system the sales person played "Primal Scream" by Maynard Ferguson and that first trumpet sound in the beginning of that song was what sold us on taking those speakers that day. So my father's Kenwood amp was probably maybe 200 Watt and we would use that as our bass amplifier. So then I started buying equipment. I bought two turntables and we bought microphones. We bought Shure microphones because Sha Rock and them (The Funky Four MCees) had Shure microphones. Most of us came from well-off families so we were able to say, "We can buy all these things." So we bought Shure microphones and mic stands from Sam Ash and all these folks on 47th Street in Manhattan. We went into different guitar stores and bought those kind of things and that's what we started with. We also tried to build a couple of ass-kickers and we would put them in the back of the car and drive them where we needed to go from a park perspective. It was nights with DJ Chuck Chillout and those folks in the Bronx, around Edenwald Projects. So we gradually built that system. My dad asked me one day,"Do you want to be a DJ or do you want to go to college?" I said,"Dad, I'm going to college eventually but I'm having a great time with this stuff!" He asked me this question because I was spending significant amounts of money purchasing all these things. When we played at the T-Connection and the Stardust Ballroom they had a house system. When I was about 19, 20 years old I eventually became the house DJ at this place called Cromwell's Pub which was on White Plains Road." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When was the Cheeba Crew formed?"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:" 1977/78. That's when we formed the Cheeba Crew. Remember I'm a Bronx kid. When we moved from the Bronx to Mount Vernon we lived on that side of Mount Vernon which is closest to Pelham. In 1978/79 my brother Kev Ski was going to Mount Vernon High School, so we started giving parties in Mount Vernon High School and we also played in the Bronx."</b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-sNzU3_n7hgbRdI_PhOftfUtUYhb9MY-VmiZxXf9mH0M8jgnXT0dX4lG3IWTXJIs2oL2OVVCMKjfZ8MpUnssohVpqhP2IH4NqLIucVPctU5UYD5KoseWv22cI1TDO37sXPI4whrSbuNJOP_t71zI2S9WkUuqnNxXe6oQTkvZaXUHcpkhNjcKejQ/s640/The%20Cheeba%20Crew%20@%20Saratoga%20Plaza,%20Mount%20Vernon%2015.06.1979.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="506" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-sNzU3_n7hgbRdI_PhOftfUtUYhb9MY-VmiZxXf9mH0M8jgnXT0dX4lG3IWTXJIs2oL2OVVCMKjfZ8MpUnssohVpqhP2IH4NqLIucVPctU5UYD5KoseWv22cI1TDO37sXPI4whrSbuNJOP_t71zI2S9WkUuqnNxXe6oQTkvZaXUHcpkhNjcKejQ/s320/The%20Cheeba%20Crew%20@%20Saratoga%20Plaza,%20Mount%20Vernon%2015.06.1979.jpg" width="253" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>June 15th, 1979: The Cheeba Crew performs at the Saratoga Plaza in Mount Vernon<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> SIR NORIN RAD:"Why did you choose that name Cheeba Crew? Did that have anything to do with that famous Breakbeat "Smoke Cheeba Cheeba" by George Benson & The Harlem Underground Band?"</b><p></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"Yeah! (laughs) That's probably how it started. We were also doing a little bit of marijuana at the time and I think that's how it started. We were hanging out in the basement. We also had Ghetto Children Production. You'll find that name on a lot of our flyers. And I remember my mother looking at me and saying,"Ghetto Children Production! Really?" (Laughs). There was obviously another Cheeba Crew in Harlem but they had nothing to do with us."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Why is your brother Kev Ski always listed as MC / DJ Kev Ski on your flyers?"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"Because he would DJ as well. At first he was doing it even more than our other DJ Mighty Mike. DJ Mighty Mike lived down on Burke Avenue in the Bronx. At first he didn't have any equipment at all. So he couldn't practice at home. Later on he got himself a pair of turntables. We had the equipment....Kev Ski and I had the equipment in our house. So we had the turntables set up all the time. That's why at first mostly Kev Ski would give me a break at parties and get on the turntables. Then later on DJ Mighty Mike would do that and Kev Ski focussed on MCing. I was the number one DJ of the Cheeba Crew. Basically, I didn't do any MCing at all. The Awesome Four were in charge of that. The original Awesome Four were Kev Ski, Sir Rockwell, A.J. Rock and Junie C. We also had a female MC by the name of Chocolate Chip for a while. She was the across the street neighbour to Sir Rockwell. She was still very young, so sometimes she couldn't go out and perform with us. Then after we had moved to Mount Vernon she wasn't able to come up to our apartment regularly where we had all of our equipment and where we were rehearsing. That's why Chocolate Chip wasn't able to elevate her skill level and we eventually parted ways. She wasn't as powerful as Hi-Cee (legendary female BX MC who rocked for Touch Of Class and Inner City Diso) though. Sir Rockwell and A.J. Rock were from the Bronx. Initially, Sir Rockwell, A.J. Rock, Kev Ski and I we all went to Fordham Preparatory School. Then Kev Ski got kicked out of school and then he went to Mount Vernon High School and that's where he met Junie C. Oh, and there was MC Little Dee. Little Dee was from Mount Vernon as well. He was in and out of the crew."<br /></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvjPzKLwZjVePr8OwQqo7AnWWEz1xRNawPsYOahZPqBbD5cg9JK8sz5xNlnCh2YbsDNhEkPFGRhDEH6cZzzd86mfU1liSnZV2qxOLWO5g_LiGwnwNiosA9TIv9Yo_E10E6ttj071-LWyX-UIGg9vtOvTSehy7fzWehmVQBa9CObtQL1A_se9d5uw/s1303/MC%20%20DJ%20Kev%20Ski%20(The%20Awesome%20Four).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1303" data-original-width="1033" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvjPzKLwZjVePr8OwQqo7AnWWEz1xRNawPsYOahZPqBbD5cg9JK8sz5xNlnCh2YbsDNhEkPFGRhDEH6cZzzd86mfU1liSnZV2qxOLWO5g_LiGwnwNiosA9TIv9Yo_E10E6ttj071-LWyX-UIGg9vtOvTSehy7fzWehmVQBa9CObtQL1A_se9d5uw/s320/MC%20%20DJ%20Kev%20Ski%20(The%20Awesome%20Four).jpg" width="254" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Kev Ski (The Cheeba Crew/ The Awesome Four)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did the Cheeba Crew perform at when it was spring or summertime?"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"When were doing things outside we would be in the driveway in Mount Vernon up where Little Dee lived, right? So we did that kind of thing. Or we would play in the park in Traphagen in Mount Vernon. There was a park there. When we played in the Bronx during the summertime we played in Edenwald. We played in the park there and we played in the school across the street. I cannot remember the number of it but we did parties back there on the basketball court. Many different times we played in The Valley. We would go around to a lot of different places and from time to time we would run into the Touch Of Class folks. We knew each other from playing basketball together and then the DJing and MCing became another occasion where we would see each other."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did the people in Mount Vernon react to your crew when you started playing music over there? Did they already know about that B-Beat Sound or was it totally new to them?"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"We had a great reaction from every crowd there and yes, they were already well familiar with Hiphop in Mount Vernon by the late 1970ies."<br /></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFTQJkIyjWeIOwtxhP5vJ1TfAqAC91mEtSyVo2N2meinfu306Gv9g1ory15_Dq0HI2mmu1DI_lC-k4H04ekgZV_EiOkwZQFJ12vnuxdTff11jEkcTwBfhXVVv9B-b_AHAf4FB5FUD8j8yZ6YbK8lbLul5s9CcQyHkKemdNblGpheptxIeNYHv-jQ/s628/The%20Cheeba%20Crew%20@%20NAACP%2023.11.1979..png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="403" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFTQJkIyjWeIOwtxhP5vJ1TfAqAC91mEtSyVo2N2meinfu306Gv9g1ory15_Dq0HI2mmu1DI_lC-k4H04ekgZV_EiOkwZQFJ12vnuxdTff11jEkcTwBfhXVVv9B-b_AHAf4FB5FUD8j8yZ6YbK8lbLul5s9CcQyHkKemdNblGpheptxIeNYHv-jQ/s320/The%20Cheeba%20Crew%20@%20NAACP%2023.11.1979..png" width="205" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>November 23rd, 1979: The Cheeba Crew performs at The NAACP in the Bronx along with Touch Of Class<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were the differences between playing at a community center like the Edenwald Center and playing at a club like the T-Connection?"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"The biggest difference was when you played at places like Edenwald Center it was more raw because they didn't have a soundsystem. You brought your own soundsystem. So the sound was whatever you brought in contrast to the T-Connection that had a major soundsytem. You never brought your stuff to the T-Connection. We just plugged in our turntables. Most people didn't even bring their own turntables. They just brought their records and their needles. So to me the major difference was the sound. We played in many different community centers. We played in the Boys & Girls Club in New Rochelle. That's where we met the Collins Brothers....DJ Mark Cee and his brother. They had this tremendous speaker system!!! They had a wall of speakers! Actually, we wasn't playing that night when we first met the Collins Brothers. They were but we became really good friends and later on we would play together at places like Rod Benders. "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who was the captain of the Awesome Four MCees?"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"I don't think they actually had a captain. The person that would usually start rocking the microphone was Sir Rockwell and then he would pass the mic over to Kev Ski. Then the rest of the MCees would join in and they would do their routines and all these things that they had going on at that time." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did your MCees also do dance steps on stage?"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"They did not have choreography because MCing wasn't up to that yet. They definetely had a lot of different routines that they had put together. They would sit down together and work through those. I would back them up with the music. Each routine was based on a specific song. For us...."Got To Be Real" by Cheryl Lynn was our main breakbeat that we used for our shows but we also used such breakbeats as "Johnny The Fox" by Thin Lizzy or "I Can't Stop" by John Davis & The Monster Orchestra and many others. My MCees...they got their own thing going on and eventually they got into storytelling. MCing went from saying some raps in between to being the headliner of the show. At one point in time it wasn't about the DJ anymore. That was a drastic change. I mean people didn't go to Kool DJ Herc because of his MCees. They went there to see Kool Herc. In the beginning you had some MCees to let you know what was going on and to throw in some rhymes here and there. I remember the Soul Sonic Force having a whole bunch of different MCees in the 1970ies that didn't make it to recording "Planet Rock"." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe the role of each MC within the Awesome Four. Who was in charge of hyping up the crowd? Which MC had the best lyrics and the best delivery? Who was the one that had the girls screaming because of his looks?"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"You know something? If you asked each one of them they would all tell you, "Hey, I'm the good looking MC!" The hype person would have been Sir Rockwell. Kev Ski was more of the smooth looking guy. Kev Ski and A.J. Rock would have been more of the lyricists. At that time the women came to see all of us but most of us were already in a long-term relationship back then. Kev Ski was the one who kept bouncing around."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Could you please elaborate on how much effort went into putting a show together?"<br /></b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"That really depended on the time of the year.....like when things were happening. So if it was during the school year then our practice sessions would probably go to the weekend. In the summer we would literally practice every day. Some of us had summer jobs and after those summer jobs were over we would come out and we would play ball somewhere and then we got home and started practicing. Those practice sessions could be a couple of hours...especially on the weekend you could do three or four hours of practice. It was work, hard work. You just didn't walk on stage and did your thing. From a group perspective you would make sure that you got together at least once or twice a week.....during the school time....most likely on the weekend." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"For how long did you rock at your parties?" <br /></b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"At both of them ....clubs and community centers.... we..the Cheeba Crew...would perform for a couple of hours unless we were with somebody. Like when we did the Rod Benders with the Collins Brothers...we would go for an hour and then they would go for an hour. But when we were in the park by ourselves or in the club by ourselves the expectation was that we would rock the whole party or maybe bring in some folks like Hi-Cee. Then would take turns but otherwise we would play for three or four hours. The same applied to the clubs. So if we would come to a club.....let's say we got there at 10.30 pm....we would perform till 2 am. That's more than three hours." </b></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIXwCwyK7CahREULx5q0zUwjGfgn6HafTqYzcw4zZqZ50d8nEH3h1UUDwLMbrk3GDLqa4q1XedWbMSxmJypiopbfMkHl1bBdX1_EU9jfxgIYPtuxLsKN5dy1SAOt1B88Zn95fKH4bT5M5lyD-PBttrookTpubw6mV6nVuSgqd3kSmUNovrZI9CKw/s960/Inner%20City%20Disco%20@%20%20The%20T-Connection%2028.03.1980.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIXwCwyK7CahREULx5q0zUwjGfgn6HafTqYzcw4zZqZ50d8nEH3h1UUDwLMbrk3GDLqa4q1XedWbMSxmJypiopbfMkHl1bBdX1_EU9jfxgIYPtuxLsKN5dy1SAOt1B88Zn95fKH4bT5M5lyD-PBttrookTpubw6mV6nVuSgqd3kSmUNovrZI9CKw/s320/Inner%20City%20Disco%20@%20%20The%20T-Connection%2028.03.1980.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>March 28th, 1980: The Cheeba Crew performs at the legendary T-Connection in the Bronx<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSBOaCd6ieea92GEl5QwTq0NsSRFmRK-oEr5g44FBbdPWVgzy_64NOvwhH46HkVIYw5D4Qdl2CpCUQntUjjrC3UjJYRpjgpls-wANrC9Pl1-GOU4gbwwYjlA6y2kKhs-fOHY3Zr-Di1NKlkYCAgW9KfbKW7sXczazCcDNo3OKY_wYUyZncNtidtw/s720/The%20Cheeba%20Crew%20@%20Rod%20Benders%2029.03.1980.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSBOaCd6ieea92GEl5QwTq0NsSRFmRK-oEr5g44FBbdPWVgzy_64NOvwhH46HkVIYw5D4Qdl2CpCUQntUjjrC3UjJYRpjgpls-wANrC9Pl1-GOU4gbwwYjlA6y2kKhs-fOHY3Zr-Di1NKlkYCAgW9KfbKW7sXczazCcDNo3OKY_wYUyZncNtidtw/s320/The%20Cheeba%20Crew%20@%20Rod%20Benders%2029.03.1980.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>March 29th, 1980: The Cheeba Crew performs at Rod Benders in Mount Vernon along with the Collins Brothers</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were your favourite breakbeats to cut up back then?" <br /></b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"You know something....."Apache" (by The Incredible Bongo Band) will always be there. My own personal favourite is "Funky Drummer" (by James Brown) with the count. The thing back then was whether you were able to catch that. I also liked "Down The Avenue" (by Fat Larry's Band) and then of course..... because it was family.....I loved "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" and "Nautilus" by Bob James." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Alright. How many crates of breakbeats did you have back then? Like at the height of your DJ career?"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"(chuckles) I still have some!!! I think we got up to bringing in fifteen crates of beats."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"And one crate could hold about eighty records.....forty doubles, right?"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"Yeah!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Oh man!!!"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"So we're walking into our parties with more than 800 records and out of those 800 records we played only maybe about 30 or 40 beats. But you never know when you wanna go into the bag and pull something out." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to shout somebody out at the end of this interview?"</b></p><p><b>DJ KENNY KEN:"I certainly want to shout out my real good friend MC Hi-Cee linking me up with you and I also want to shout out all the members of the Cheeba Crew. I really appreciate you, Norin Rad."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you! Much love and respect to MC Hi-Cee, my mellow Sureshot La Rock (thanks for all the flyer images), my Intruders Crew, Troy L. Smith and Pluto Seven." <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> </b><br /></p><p></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-57513744595006687352022-08-26T09:34:00.004-07:002022-08-26T10:07:37.898-07:00Interview with DJ/MC Quenny Quen (Inner City Disco)<p> <b> Interview with DJ/MC Quenny Quen (Inner City Disco)</b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCeYr9T874e1N86putrA0sqL6vxIewnta6Cy1kUZZ8OjWSUtjZWnz7Fx0fCSYQz-Hha7PMwaN7vHGbvv8ewKfRincCtSZ7_Cmyk3M6qrIvJzf7Vsp9FTBaxRuXY_ZI1QFN0ff42KsteqCZnI7O__3yQsvbQ5i-tVvACcSAR0G3Oq2SiYm6zs1GQw/s371/DJ%20Quenny%20Quen%20(Inner%20City%20Disco).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="371" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCeYr9T874e1N86putrA0sqL6vxIewnta6Cy1kUZZ8OjWSUtjZWnz7Fx0fCSYQz-Hha7PMwaN7vHGbvv8ewKfRincCtSZ7_Cmyk3M6qrIvJzf7Vsp9FTBaxRuXY_ZI1QFN0ff42KsteqCZnI7O__3yQsvbQ5i-tVvACcSAR0G3Oq2SiYm6zs1GQw/s320/DJ%20Quenny%20Quen%20(Inner%20City%20Disco).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <b>DJ/MC Quenny Quen (Inner City Disco)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /><br /></b><p></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)</b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where were you born and raised?"</b></p><p><b>QUENNY QUEN:"I was born in the Bronx. Anderson Ave is where I was raised. Up the hill from Yankee Stadium."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"May I ask when you were born?"</b></p><p><b>QUENNY QUEN:"1961."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"</b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">To what kind of music were you exposed as a young girl growing up?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"</span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">R&B. James Brown, The Moments, The Supremes.....My parents loved music. There was a lot of music where we lived."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"</span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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?"</span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"</span></span></span></span></b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b>They would play music at birthday parties, family get-togethers.... On weekends music flowed while we cleaned</b> <b>our apartment."</b>.</span></span></p><p><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I</b></span></span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">n which way did your musical upbringing influence your later career as a DJ? Did you play an instrument?"<br /></span></b></span></span></p><p><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:" </span></b></span></span><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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!</span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"> I couldn't really sing but there were great singers in there. It sharpened my ear for good music.</span>"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"When did you move to Lefrak City?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"</span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">It might have been 1976/77. I was about 15, 16."</span></span></b></p><p><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"</b></span></span><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Okay, so when and where did you encounter Hiphop for the first time. Was it at a Park Jam in the Boogie Down?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"</span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">By that time I went to Truman High School. </span></span></span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">There I heard breakbeats being played over and over for the the first time. People were in their little groups ryhming. </span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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.</span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">
</span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">I had a cassette and a record player.</span> 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. </span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">I recorded "Apache", "Groove To Get Down" and a few more jams. </span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">In Lefrak on the elevator I met Kim aka Lady Sweet. I was playing beats from my little cassette player. </span></span></span></span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">She was like,"Is that Apache?" </span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">We hit it off because we both were from the Bronx. </span></span></b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"> <b>From then on we would meet outside, listen to music and rap. </b></span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b>Lady Sweet and I lived in the same building</b>. </span><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">She was a good MC. Me I would just say a little,"Yes, yes ya'll!!! You don't stop!" Stuff like that. </span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">We had our own park over there called Rock Creek Park. </span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">It was a little park across from Lefrak. A couple of guys would bring their equipment out to the little park and play music. </span></span></span></span></span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">It was the equipment of this man named Rich. </span></b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b>He had these guys Lance and Rob playing the music. People got on the mic and started rapping. All guys</b>. <b>So one day </b></span><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Lady Sweet was like,"Come on! Let's get on the mic!"So that's what we did! </span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Lady Sweet was doing her thing. I was okay but the crowd was hyped because females were on the mic.</span> Pop who was the manager of Inner City Disco </span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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. </span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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. </span></span></span></span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Lady Sweet and I would rap and they would DJ. </span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">They hardly ever missed a beat.</span>"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"Who were some of the MCees that you saw rocking in Truman High School?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"</span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">A lot of people would rap. I even seen Rahiem who later got down with the Furious Five rapping with his boys. </span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4">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.</span>"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"Please tell me how you got into DJing?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:" </span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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. </span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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. </span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">The other guys may have been a little reluctant at first but I picked up quick and they were good teachers. </span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4">The guys showed me how to start slow and speed up the pace. </span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4">From blending to cutting,to scratching. </span></span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"></span></span></span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">I did learn how to mix before cutting and scratching.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b>"</span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:“What were your top 3 breakbeats back then to rhyme over or to cut on the wheels of steel?“</span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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."</span></span></span></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVbIRordvJp7CLpYFCr__zDr1jNB4zl_XjVQr0wJ1KXu8v-Hgl-xXzB8jyms-oasam7whfy4SkDcUE-UL25D9Gk3cXYPh1MEyihV2rlHd9SnE2x3w5yHCSAVzvnf-qK7_jajZkxOEA2Wksdjnb7K0MEVf3owjCLQP7KTYJ9hOOWEHDftzkLHG3jg/s604/MC%20DJ%20%20La%20Spank%20(Inner%20City%20Disco).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="338" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVbIRordvJp7CLpYFCr__zDr1jNB4zl_XjVQr0wJ1KXu8v-Hgl-xXzB8jyms-oasam7whfy4SkDcUE-UL25D9Gk3cXYPh1MEyihV2rlHd9SnE2x3w5yHCSAVzvnf-qK7_jajZkxOEA2Wksdjnb7K0MEVf3owjCLQP7KTYJ9hOOWEHDftzkLHG3jg/s320/MC%20DJ%20%20La%20Spank%20(Inner%20City%20Disco).jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>MC/DJ La Spank (Inner City Disco)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><br /></span></span></span></b><p></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"When did MC La Spank join your ranks? How did that go down?"</span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"I think </span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Lady Sweet brought her in. </span></span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">She had a powerful voice and her rap skills were just amazing.</span> Later on </span></span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">La Spank brought in MC Hi-C and Lil Tee.</span> </span></span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">We had our full crew of females!! </span></span>I know you need dates and years but I can't remember when they all came in." </span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"></span></span></span></span></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi67Ykawvx-5BQseJWCRw3QKoI8F-PJGcGdNgiaqalSwxSahkYlg3WUHxKwO8bzKs2n8ZW7V_Mg0_la6VcgFbuK9LDTo-bZ7gAXGujemgCIeCgNRb51f7HRjK44-zWVEazoHppaN0lSg_kaiE-_Roy7qIOJI59-XFPlSntQil0GXUgTyr6nTfjF9w/s1024/MC%20Lady%20Sweet%20(Inner%20City%20Disco).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi67Ykawvx-5BQseJWCRw3QKoI8F-PJGcGdNgiaqalSwxSahkYlg3WUHxKwO8bzKs2n8ZW7V_Mg0_la6VcgFbuK9LDTo-bZ7gAXGujemgCIeCgNRb51f7HRjK44-zWVEazoHppaN0lSg_kaiE-_Roy7qIOJI59-XFPlSntQil0GXUgTyr6nTfjF9w/s320/MC%20Lady%20Sweet%20(Inner%20City%20Disco).jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>MC Lady Sweet (Inner City Disco)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><br /> </span></span></span></b><p></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"</span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Where would the MCees of Inner City Disco rehearse at?"</span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"In Pop's house in Lefrak. </span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">They used to have very nice routines, they always rocked the crowd. </span></span></span></span></span></b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b>The DJs would practice almost every day</b>.</span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b>A couple of hours during the week and all day on the weekends.</b> </span> </span><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">I was there every day. We would also practice in our little park. </span></span></span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">"</span></span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"</span></span></span></span></span></b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"> <b>Who would you say was the strongest MC among your ranks and why do you think so?"</b></span></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"</span></span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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." </span></span></span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHl3gH8oOWLJJM690sphCxgpHGa6AQPZxdqQTxk-2GlDUDlvBh9CPToDxINk8Z5sBoIIPfR-GlMxZ4beI2eI0x_a-C8zglMmGd94m5NMUecQO2JJQtn7vxH7FN2p_WRgc4GVTiuViXZh4vp-vUVK9o0b8qpPjPfSheWR3PnE_vIQ-L2R3F5qGqQ/s1990/MC%20Hi-Cee%20(Inner%20City%20Disco).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1990" data-original-width="1980" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHl3gH8oOWLJJM690sphCxgpHGa6AQPZxdqQTxk-2GlDUDlvBh9CPToDxINk8Z5sBoIIPfR-GlMxZ4beI2eI0x_a-C8zglMmGd94m5NMUecQO2JJQtn7vxH7FN2p_WRgc4GVTiuViXZh4vp-vUVK9o0b8qpPjPfSheWR3PnE_vIQ-L2R3F5qGqQ/s320/MC%20Hi-Cee%20(Inner%20City%20Disco).jpg" width="318" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>MC Hi-Cee (Inner City Disco)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></span></span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe what kind of clothes you and the other female members wore at your parties!"</span></span></span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"W</span></span></span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">e would wear jeans with a sweatshirt with our name and Inner City Disco on it."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of jeans did you wear? Lees?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"We would wear </span></b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b>Gloria</b> <b>Vanderbilt</b>, <b>Jordache</b> <b>or Sassoon. Those were designer jeans back in the day."</b></span></p><p><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b></b></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfN8g4h3nu-6nzBWRxprdIdty-pYXRh-Jlsir0ca_mXr3Hp3E2MSgnKyZFOmU5IBUp7lj7nVHphB7TJu4HZIJn9MynG0K8HTrsBHpecklZYJYhewFKlVP2mp_BnquBbrKJvopwXZSAvA/s240/Gloria+Vanderbild+Jeans.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="163" data-original-width="240" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfN8g4h3nu-6nzBWRxprdIdty-pYXRh-Jlsir0ca_mXr3Hp3E2MSgnKyZFOmU5IBUp7lj7nVHphB7TJu4HZIJn9MynG0K8HTrsBHpecklZYJYhewFKlVP2mp_BnquBbrKJvopwXZSAvA/s0/Gloria+Vanderbild+Jeans.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Gloria Vanderbilt Jeans<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b><br /> </b></span><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"></span></b><p></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"Who was supplying the crew with new beats?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"</span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Roy (DJ Vicious D) was pretty good at finding breaks in the records."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"</span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Do you recall who DJed for the MCs at your shows?"</span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:" </span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">We usually took turns but when we played against the Mercedes Ladies I had to DJ by myself. The guys understood."<br /></span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"How old was Pop back then? Was he older than you guys?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"</span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Yes, back then we were teenagers and he was in his late twenties or early thirties."</span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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."</span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"Most definetely. </span></span></span><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"> 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."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"></span></span></span></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrN7zfQJNxl2ZTpH1H0b4gd_FollQXhY3Ge4I4lh80Vw4hBJdSahPDej1Fl9ci7OQecKUaaCXKYMTPgDW1U7jOewQ-ljO6RUsrXh17IwNr--g7j7ieOAhXntsJ8cDtf472P4kOmniHUrv3RacTzLtZueDtCrIcQucwUTGl-uq6RU1TpZ78It172A/s701/Pop%20(Manager%20Of%20Inner%20City%20Disco).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="526" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrN7zfQJNxl2ZTpH1H0b4gd_FollQXhY3Ge4I4lh80Vw4hBJdSahPDej1Fl9ci7OQecKUaaCXKYMTPgDW1U7jOewQ-ljO6RUsrXh17IwNr--g7j7ieOAhXntsJ8cDtf472P4kOmniHUrv3RacTzLtZueDtCrIcQucwUTGl-uq6RU1TpZ78It172A/s320/Pop%20(Manager%20Of%20Inner%20City%20Disco).jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pop (Manager of the Inner City Disco Crew)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><br /> </span></span></span></b><p></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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?"</span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"At one point </span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">it was time for us to venture out. </span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"> We felt we were good enough to take our talent to the BX. </span></span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">The Bronx was so popular with it because that's where Hiphop started and they had the best DJs and MCees. </span>It was like if you did good there, you got your badge.</span> 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. </span></span></span></span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Someone suggested to go to JHS 82 park, can't remember who. </span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">We got there and we didn't know anybody there. Another</span></span></b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"> <b>crew was already there playing music. </b></span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">So we were setting up and we were nervous
because they were saying,"Be careful or they'll take your equipment!" </span></b></span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">The crowd wanted to hear us though because nobody knew u</span></span></b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b>s there. </b></span></span></span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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 </span></b></span></span></span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">JDL and some other MCees came through and they got on the mics. Then I started playing and it was crazy!!! </span></span></b></span></span></span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">A female cutting, scratching, needle dropping spinning blindfolded!!!! Our DJs Vicious D and Johnny J had the crowd going. </span></span></span></b></span></span></span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Our emcees were rhyming with JDL, Butch Kid and Magic Fly. </span></span></span></span></b></span></span></span><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">We rocked that park.</span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"> By the time we finished they made sure we got our equipment in the truck safely and we was told to come back.</span> Grandwizard Theodore and J-DL would later come out to Lefrak and perform in our little park. </span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Pop was reallly happy when Theodore started playing on them. Needle dropping, backspinning and catching beats. His skills were amazing!! The crowd went wild."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"</span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">How many people would show up there at that park in Lefrak on the regular?"</span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"</span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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.</span>"</span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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?"</span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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."</span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"Is it accurate to say that your crew Inner City Disco brought that BX B-Beat Music to Queens?"</span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"Absolutely! We were doing it since 1977/78. The people used to get crazy when they witnessed us playing in the park." <br /></span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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."</span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"</span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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."</span></span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"></span></span></span></span></span></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsVhMKzPrEoG4D0yp710slFJOjoM--yZcLk2m32Xj1A17ThrjCuOIBgJbNr2H2sge148s8EsaRDc_3xR4GGcPYGn5gUy86v01Y1crHsJ8btfycuVd-LwLj8nDZLdPJrsfF-SY6f8gJyezlTACruVso3xi8LCd8sVkrEmzTuc82HmSgiWzujS1nBA/s960/Inner%20City%20Disco%20@%20%20The%20T-Connection%2028.03.1980.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsVhMKzPrEoG4D0yp710slFJOjoM--yZcLk2m32Xj1A17ThrjCuOIBgJbNr2H2sge148s8EsaRDc_3xR4GGcPYGn5gUy86v01Y1crHsJ8btfycuVd-LwLj8nDZLdPJrsfF-SY6f8gJyezlTACruVso3xi8LCd8sVkrEmzTuc82HmSgiWzujS1nBA/s320/Inner%20City%20Disco%20@%20%20The%20T-Connection%2028.03.1980.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>March 28th, 1980: Inner City Disco performs at the legendary T-Connection in the Bronx <br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"> </span></span></span></b><p></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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?"<br /></span></span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:" </span></span></span></span></span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">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."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"So in your opinion who won that battle?"</span></span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"I think we did." </span></span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"></span></span></span></span></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNQfHiSIhfFC9se0l-UuegdeH4x1WxjDsTnmFbD5YX_qW6Ip45qoCm44UMxqtTotoA2YQ-tDA8Gs6B9j1CRHFQZFiKHfIqlHyzDdvcBT5B7ebYyZQUOwZX-ZR7waKzbcSsY4VUEjFCia4poWiJ-WB1HifYz7dzdbHxPWo2ETpWlIFl3UevRcnd7w/s960/The%20Mercedes%20Ladies%20@%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage%2011.04.1980.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="741" data-original-width="960" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNQfHiSIhfFC9se0l-UuegdeH4x1WxjDsTnmFbD5YX_qW6Ip45qoCm44UMxqtTotoA2YQ-tDA8Gs6B9j1CRHFQZFiKHfIqlHyzDdvcBT5B7ebYyZQUOwZX-ZR7waKzbcSsY4VUEjFCia4poWiJ-WB1HifYz7dzdbHxPWo2ETpWlIFl3UevRcnd7w/s320/The%20Mercedes%20Ladies%20@%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage%2011.04.1980.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>April 11th, 1980: Inner City Disco battles The Mercedes Ladies<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><br /><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><p></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"</span></span></span></span></span><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4">What
was the relationship between Inner City Disco and the Mercedes Ladies
like before and after the battle?"<br /></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">QUENNY QUEN:"To be honest </span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4">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."</span></span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNPgDvXSDy4i-1oQdVQHTSerM4VCwybpZRM-g6ordKS7J9nu3Zlg3G0MrCf9T3BbLTuK6U9CzSNWs7N_JrG2D1EVdiEUei9utsnT71u_jlmnJWj2jYrX8dZpGca2pUP5Z_WK11iMiAhwpb03b4Ies35O4zuOcjG04LjAMYTenz96NEXwFzFTrItw/s960/Inner%20City%20Disco%20@%20%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage%2012.01.1980.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNPgDvXSDy4i-1oQdVQHTSerM4VCwybpZRM-g6ordKS7J9nu3Zlg3G0MrCf9T3BbLTuK6U9CzSNWs7N_JrG2D1EVdiEUei9utsnT71u_jlmnJWj2jYrX8dZpGca2pUP5Z_WK11iMiAhwpb03b4Ies35O4zuOcjG04LjAMYTenz96NEXwFzFTrItw/s320/Inner%20City%20Disco%20@%20%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage%2012.01.1980.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>January 12th, 1980: Inner City Disco performs at the Ecstasy Garage along with The Heavenly 7<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4">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?"</span></span></span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4">QUENNY QUEN:"</span></span></span></span></span><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4">We were very committed and our competitiveness took us over the top. We were there every day....practicing. </span><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4">Everyone brought out the best in each other. We played for fun, not for money. </span><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"></span></b><b><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"> I had no idea that what we did for fun would turn into this big phenomenal global thing.</span>We didn't get paid dragging the equipment from Queens to the Bronx. </span><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4">We just wanted people to see and hear us. </span><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4">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. </span><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"></span></b><b><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"> I wish I had our music from back then. </span></span></b><b><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4">Inner City Disco MCees we're so so good and our DJs were really talented. </span></span>Such an amazing time of my life."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3EfmrhaL3Ds_f5N9YobgFLdY9H0aFYQDazfYW7lZcAmqUyr0Oj5AQ1Jzv8pOJ_YpZoTvayCrVg7V9mx05-89gLozvgpWSg8rvnYahz0Z4t0JU07i04sGLeLnVoWGMKK0Ojka_8BA_Vch8L56BJqzOTxAijIHLuQMdYUiz76u5-5LvbbCM3hO1BQ/s960/Inner%20City%20Disco%20@%20%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage%2029.02.1980.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3EfmrhaL3Ds_f5N9YobgFLdY9H0aFYQDazfYW7lZcAmqUyr0Oj5AQ1Jzv8pOJ_YpZoTvayCrVg7V9mx05-89gLozvgpWSg8rvnYahz0Z4t0JU07i04sGLeLnVoWGMKK0Ojka_8BA_Vch8L56BJqzOTxAijIHLuQMdYUiz76u5-5LvbbCM3hO1BQ/w301-h257/Inner%20City%20Disco%20@%20%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage%2029.02.1980.png" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>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</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></b></p><p><b><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"> </span></b></p><p><b><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGckvC7ZEbcOK27N6M3o_1IZQ2RIORWCjS85-ozq2-CnYq6US7X_Kh6UCBKMchWLGT2-Xh6tCg21lvZa_GBUZObZKrlWmVgd2UDUTuxqLfP8PDZpi8mBFMd3eFbv3naE69z3UKXnBwVp7g3VeHGsZMmLzMWxC9kaWnlRWFuSdlBMnXSMOrs387Yg/s960/Inner%20City%20Disco%20@%20%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage%2022.03.1980.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGckvC7ZEbcOK27N6M3o_1IZQ2RIORWCjS85-ozq2-CnYq6US7X_Kh6UCBKMchWLGT2-Xh6tCg21lvZa_GBUZObZKrlWmVgd2UDUTuxqLfP8PDZpi8mBFMd3eFbv3naE69z3UKXnBwVp7g3VeHGsZMmLzMWxC9kaWnlRWFuSdlBMnXSMOrs387Yg/s320/Inner%20City%20Disco%20@%20%20The%20Ecstasy%20Garage%2022.03.1980.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>March 22nd, 1980: Inner City Disco performs at the Ecstasy Garage along with the Triple A Crew<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></b></p><p><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"</b></span><b>Which qualities did a DJ need to have during the late 1970ies and early 1980ies in order to rock a crowd?"</b></p><p><b>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."</b></p><p><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you're saying that the soundystem was an integral part of DJing back then?"</b></span></p><p><b>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." </b></p><p><b>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?"</b></p><p><b>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."</b></p><p><b>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?"</b></p><p><b>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." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Which advice would you give to young girls / women that are getting into DJing today?"<span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4"> <br /></span></b></p><p><b><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4">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."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="f7rl1if4 adechonz f6oz4yja dahkl6ri axrg9lpx rufpak1n qtovjlwq qbmienfq rfyhaz4c rdmi1yqr ohrdq8us nswx41af fawcizw8 l1aqi3e3 sdu1flz4">SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you! Shout outs to my man Sureshot La Rock and my Intruders Crew." <br /></span></b></p><br />Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-59111417932226578002022-08-10T08:25:00.010-07:002022-08-10T08:53:38.554-07:00Interview with B-Boy Kid (The Disco Kids)<p> <b>Interview with B-Boy Kid (The Disco Kids)</b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-h24sZLrs3CEMQYJm_zqU03uM9Mk8w4c79BKGBsR-5w7TJGd_5AXYbAR4sQN5ls33iPeZYJXllnN5_PKU9CsB_fVnNwAInm0yHshCTa51Ek_3RLeatyXK3W7NFrnWxOmyi2cU0p5OdwAF5vjKZ5tdKbPHcsn0xkvzpxKY7LUnnh6X2SyMy4gVCA/s960/Kid%20(TDK).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-h24sZLrs3CEMQYJm_zqU03uM9Mk8w4c79BKGBsR-5w7TJGd_5AXYbAR4sQN5ls33iPeZYJXllnN5_PKU9CsB_fVnNwAInm0yHshCTa51Ek_3RLeatyXK3W7NFrnWxOmyi2cU0p5OdwAF5vjKZ5tdKbPHcsn0xkvzpxKY7LUnnh6X2SyMy4gVCA/s320/Kid%20(TDK).jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <b>B-Boy Kid (The Disco Kids)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> <br /></b><p></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany) </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did you live when the The Disko Kids Crew was formed?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"I was living in 1800 University Avenue on the west side of the Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Were you also born in the Bronx?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"Yes, I was born in the Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When was the TDK formed and who were the founders of this crew?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"Well, the TDK Crew started in 1977 and lasted up to 1979 and the founders of the crew were me and my cousin."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Your cousin's name is Joey TDK, right?"<br /></b></p><p><b>KID:"Yeah."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Was Joey also from the west side of the Bronx?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"Uh no, Joey was on the east side of the Bronx on Belmont Avenue."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"From what I have heard so far most of the Puerto Ricans in the Bronx did the Latin Hustle and Rocking before they got into Breaking. Were you also doing the Rock Dance before you started Breaking?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"Yeah, I was heavily into that. Toprocking......we called it Toprocking. I used to do a lot of that dancing over at the Blinkie's. It was a club on Washigton Avenue at Tremont. And I used to do a lot of Toprocking with my partner. His name was Bobby." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you recall which year you started Toprocking?"<br /></b></p><p><b>KID:"Yeah, the Toprocking came in about 1975." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"To what kind of music would you do the Toprocking? Could you name some of those songs?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"We danced to songs like "Sex Machine" by James Brown and "It's Just Begun" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch. Basically we danced to the same type of music like "Apache". "Apache" is like the national anthem of the Bronx, you know?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How much of an influence was Salsa music and Salsa Dancing on you? Would you say that it impacted the way Puerto Ricans later on approached Toprocking and Breaking?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"Yeah, because if you look at the old guys doing Salsa back in the 1950ies and all of that, it was like Toprocking. You know, it wasn't all about dancing with a girl. No, there were times when the guy would dance alone. They would even do moves that a lot of guys do now. They would do them back in the 1950ies."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe how the TDK was formed. I have heard that TDK came out of a crew that was called Salsoul. Is that correct?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"I don't know. That part there is a little bit tricky because my TDKs..my crew started originally in University Avenue. Which we were called University TDK Disco Squad. That was my crew. And then I brought that name to the east side when I met Boom and all of them. That's when they told me they wanted to make TDK Zodiacs and all that and I said,"Go ahead, man! Do your thing, bro!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you neither you nor your cousin Joey was down with Salsoul before you started TDK in 1977?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"Nah, we wasn't down with Salsoul."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you for clearing that up. So by the time TDK started in 1977 were you already Breaking? Did you go down on the floor?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"No, we was still a Disco Crew. We used to dance Disco, the Hustle..all of that. Nobody was doing floorwork yet but we were Toprocking, yeah!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Lil Boy Keith from the Little Zulu Kings stated in the interview that I did with him that him and his comrades used to battle TDK B-Boys a lot during the late 1970ies. He gave your crew props for its toprocking abilities and said you would turn abandoned buildings into clubhouses. What's your take on that?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"That's correct. All he's saying is correct. A lot of my guys...a lot of the guys that joined TDK battled the younger Zulus. That happened a couple of times. When they (the young TDK members) came over to me I started to figure out how to do Breaking. I was still Toprocking. They're the ones who showed me how to do floorwork. We started doing our thing in a building that my cousin got. It was an abandoned building and he took it and we smashed the walls down and we put the lights in there and everything. My cousin had a crew that would do construction. We got that building and we started calling it the Dungeon. That's how we got the name and then everybody used to go there. All the high schools...Rosevelt...everybody started going there. It got real crowded after a while. In 1978/79 they tried to shut us down. They cut off the light of the building because so many kids ended up coming to our hooky parties. The principals came to us and they told us, "Look, man! You gotta stop all this!" So they cut us off but that didn't last too long because we had Con Edison guys, too. So the club was still there and everybody was doing their thing. At the end of 78...beginning of 79 somebody took a bad trip and freaked out and burnt the whole building down. Once the building burned down everything fell apart. Everybody broke up. I went to further things. I'm in a bike club now....."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly was the Dungeon located at?"</b></p><p><b>KID:" Belmont Avenue & 174th Street."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"The Dungeon had a booth that was shaped like a coconut..."</b></p><p><b>KID:"Yeah. Yeah. The same booth that they had in the movie "Thank God It's Friday". It looked pretty good." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would people know about your parties? Was it a word of mouth kind of thing?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"Flyers...we used to throw out flyers and index cards."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, and who were the DJs that used to play in the Dungeon?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"Our DJ's name was Jimmy. And then we had another DJ that used to come in once in a while..DJ Traquetero. That guy was related to Big Boom and Lil Boom. Traquetero..It's a Spanish word for someone who tinkers with stuff. " </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Rockwell Association was from that area, too. When I spoke to Willie Wil he said that they would have a lot of battles against TDK and he also said that your crew was notorious for starting fights after the battles were over. What's your take on that?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"(laughs)......Most of my guys didn't want to start fights all the time. Some guys got out of hand once in a while but I used to get on their case and I used to tell them, "Listen, we're all going today but we're not starting nothing!!! Don't start nothing!!" But sometimes some guy might say something that was just too much and then the other guy can't take it..you know, stuff like that! You know, it happens. 'Cause I know Tito (Rockwell Assocation)...he was like that....and I know his brother Macho (Rockwell Association). I knew'em both personally. We used to go to St. Martin's (Catholic church where the Rockwell Association used to throw parties at) a lot and we used to go there because we had a real grudge against each other! (laughs) You know, we really did!! We used to go down on that floor like it was warfare!! But basically most of the time we came out of there without fighting, you know?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When did those battles between TDK and Rockwell Association take place?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"Around 1978/79."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I read that in November 1978 TDK battled Starchild La Rock in the Dungeon. Starchild La Rock got support from Spy and Jojo from the Crazy Commanders and is said to have won that battle. What do you remember about that event?"<br /></b></p><p><b>KID:"Yeah, they did win. But we gave them a real fight. Starchild La Rock......Spy..all of them. You gotta understand Spy was a top dancer, man!!! He was good, he was really good! It was real tensed minute there, you know? The crowd went wild. Everybody was doing things. I would do my special move that they knew me for...the chest dive where I would throw myself up in the air about 6 feet high and then land on my chest and roll out. After that battle we all became real friends."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who were the best B-Boys of TDK back then?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"Let me see.. that's a long time ago. Wizard Wiz.....He was not as good as Spy but Wizard Wiz was good, too. He had a lot of good moves. He became a MC later I believe."</b></p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMlpY0HjUz-pGVDcwliy2iwVDWgPhiS72exNR5eE7OzA0sEBbwkuT95zbD44xRT9YIAXGac8tp5B1KrQkt6mmTaO1KfhYVltQUUUe7ezRcKLElYJ3TEM4PdpZ7C5ikaCQOzHzJnhlNFvzlzjWxUKhcs5EYz7-T-ILqRUsNoXOM2exH4jqE_zbTfg/s1255/wizard%20wiz%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="1255" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMlpY0HjUz-pGVDcwliy2iwVDWgPhiS72exNR5eE7OzA0sEBbwkuT95zbD44xRT9YIAXGac8tp5B1KrQkt6mmTaO1KfhYVltQUUUe7ezRcKLElYJ3TEM4PdpZ7C5ikaCQOzHzJnhlNFvzlzjWxUKhcs5EYz7-T-ILqRUsNoXOM2exH4jqE_zbTfg/s320/wizard%20wiz%20(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <b>B-Boy Wizard Wiz (The Disco Kids)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Yes, he rocked with the Undefeated 3 MCees." </b></p><p><b>KID:"The Undefeated 3. Yeah, I know those guys. They still talk to me. We hang out. But Wizard Wiz after he became an MC he cooled down on the B-Boy stuff. Then we also had Eddie. Eddie was Boom's cousin and unfortunately he passed away. I think he was inside one of the buildings and he fell out a broken glass window and he died. But Eddie was my main man!! How do I explain Eddie? A mindful guy. The way he used to do his moves was swift and smooth.Big Boom was pretty good, too. There was also his brother Lil Boom and Tron. Tron was another one of Boom's cousins."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What about Mongo Rock though?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"Mongo Rock!!! I'm glad that you mention him. I'm 65 and now I don't remember too well. He was the best, man!!! He was one of my TDKs and he had some wild, wild moves! I'd say he was the best out of all my guys. His brother Jesus was also a very good dancer that was down with TDK. He did a lot of headspins." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When did Mongo Rock join TDK?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"I'd say in 1978."</b></p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6qNVxFf7AcYb3OV5sI-un8ZdpVggbo39BWfyKCttdBbaJ-AsOyoSKc_50J6T0Jd6PZrwOxuDWiQ3EapdzAqdGS2nof0EL7YFHEm5v5foIlqLRztQPhpU5XETPNdyJzqeJ0KsaYDyNFe8E9_ZtogOWiH9eaJYGVYwns0moAloiaRZMKM8_LMswsw/s460/Mongo%20&%20Spy%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6qNVxFf7AcYb3OV5sI-un8ZdpVggbo39BWfyKCttdBbaJ-AsOyoSKc_50J6T0Jd6PZrwOxuDWiQ3EapdzAqdGS2nof0EL7YFHEm5v5foIlqLRztQPhpU5XETPNdyJzqeJ0KsaYDyNFe8E9_ZtogOWiH9eaJYGVYwns0moAloiaRZMKM8_LMswsw/s320/Mongo%20&%20Spy%20(2).jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Mongo Rock (TDK)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, and who taught your crew Breaking? I'm asking 'cause you said that you were a Disco Crew first that did the Hustle and Toprocking."</b></p><p><b>KID:"Well, most of the Breaking Mongo and these guys brought to our crew. But when they came to our crew most of our members already knew how to breakdance. The only guy that didn't know how to breakdance was me. When Mongo and them hung around in the Dungeon they taught me a little bit, you know? That's how I learnt and then everyday it was practice, practice, pratice."</b><b> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Let's talk about your cousin Joey for a minute, please. What excatly was his role within TDK?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"His job then was to run the security of the whole club. It was his spot, his building. He was the one who decided who comes, who goes, you know? That's what Joey used to do." </b><br /></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of relationship did TDK have with The Bronx Boys?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"TBB? They were good friends. Batch (legendary B-Boy of The Bronx Boys) ....I know Batch, his sisters. I never had a problem with those guys. Batch's younger brother Green Eyed Aby even lived in the Dungeon for a while. We had a couple apartments there. If somebody came to our club and he needed a place to stay he could stay in those rooms."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you keep the Dungeon warm during winter?"</b></p><p><b>KID:" Lot of people had heaters but the main source of heat there was our funky stove. (chuckles). It would heat up the place like that."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe the relationship between Blacks and Puerto Ricans in the Bronx during the 1970ies. Which changes did you witness? DJ Disco Wiz who was Grandmaster Caz's first DJ partner and who was half Puerto Rican and half Cuban stated in his book that in the beginning there were certain tensions between these groups and that it was kinda hard for him at first because both Blacks and Puerto Ricans oftentimes objected to him being down with Hiphop." <br /></b></p><p><b>KID:"Well, in the 1970ies there was a lot of gangs involved. Puerto Rican Gangs, Black Gangs, White Gangs. There was a place in the Bronx called Little Italy. You walked through there and you got beat down. It was all white people and they didn't wanna hear it. As for the black guys..me personally I never had no problems with Black people. Back then there were guys that were prejudiced..on both sides. But then when the crews formed that was it. Everybody was good. Dancing unified us....." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give shout outs at the end of this interview?"</b></p><p><b>KID:"Yeah, I would like to give a shout out to my son. I would also like to give a shout out to Mongo Rock and to all of my TDKs. If I forgot your name that's probably because I'm getting old. (chuckles)"<br /></b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> </b><br /></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-5590430052427672872022-08-04T14:04:00.002-07:002022-08-05T08:11:14.603-07:00Interview with MC Hutchy Bee (The Mac Dynasty Crew)<p> <b> Interview with MC Hutchy Bee (The Mac Dynasty Crew)</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPB93VfysEijNCo2dPPbtChWkz_OW5u_EdV9TFVsXJfSPj2RZJFro-GZFDp1NWWBopM7e7SdBvbvLJucri36uOa-WUjxYxmf1_hetB2HUTPK_iQqEhD_QeCYPL97obDQu-tesZZ1g2lg/s1600/Hutchy+Bee+%2528The+Mac+Dynasty+Crew%2529+PC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPB93VfysEijNCo2dPPbtChWkz_OW5u_EdV9TFVsXJfSPj2RZJFro-GZFDp1NWWBopM7e7SdBvbvLJucri36uOa-WUjxYxmf1_hetB2HUTPK_iQqEhD_QeCYPL97obDQu-tesZZ1g2lg/s320/Hutchy+Bee+%2528The+Mac+Dynasty+Crew%2529+PC.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> MC Hutchy Bee (The Mac Dynasty Crew)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)<br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly were you born and raised at?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"I was born in Manhattan but we moved to the Bronx maybe a year later but from there it was nothing but the Bronx after that."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You're from Bronx River, right?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"Yeah, I'm from Bronx River. I came there when I was about five years old and I stayed there till like I was 19 or 20 or something like that."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Which year were you born?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"I was born in 1962."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Bronx River is obviously one of the most important places in the history of Hiphop......" <br /></b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"That's a fact!" <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So what are your earliest memories of DJs playing breakbeats in Bronx River and people partying over there? I guess you must have witnessed all the different phases from the Zulu Kings and Shaka Zulus breaking during the mid 1970ies to the Soul Sonic Force rocking the mic after that." </b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"Oh man, first of all.....all those are my brothers! We all lived in Bronx River together! You know, Squirpy (B-Boy Shaka from the Zulu Masters) is my bro bro even to this day. We all didn't hang out together like that but we all came from the same place. We grew up together. My recollections? Come on, man, you know I go farther than that. Before this Zulu thing I was in the 2nd Division of the Baby Spades. I joined them when I was in 4th or 5th grade. It began with that in public school of PS 102. That's actually where a lot of us came from. The gang thing....it was about going against other gangs.....we started out at a young age. From there after that they became The Organization but when they became The Organization I wasn't part of The Organization, you know? Because I chose not to be. So I was basically doing my own thing. When Zulu came I didn't join them neither. Zulu was almost like the Black Spades was, so it was like if you lived in Bronx River even if you wasn't a Spade or you wasn't a Zulu, people damn near they still gonna treat you like you was a Spade or a Zulu because you lived there. So you were looked at as that regardless. So even if you wasn't part of it, you was part of it and that's basically what happened with us....The Mac Dynasty Crew because some of us were Zulus but the majority of us wasn't. When it came to our crew we didn't really wanna be part of anything else. We wanted to be part of us, you know?! So we loved music, my whole crew. We all were people that loved music, all of my crew. We did sports together, we did everything together! All the people in my crew were basically guys that I grew up with. So like when the music came, you know what I mean, with Bambaataa and them and they started to have parties and all of that, this was something that we loved anyway so next thing you know our crew got together. The majority of the crew was from Bronx River and Parkchester. "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please elaborate on your first recollecions of jams taking place in Bronx River!" <br /></b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:" Ok, first of all I come from 1420. That's the first building when you come from across the bridge (the 174th street bridge) and my recollection..you see, the thing with me with music was that my music came from my older brother 'cause my older brother Onnie used to always buy music. All the time! He wasn't a DJ but he was a music fanatic. So like a lot of those breakbeats that we had like "Dance To The Drummer's Beat" and all of these other beats...my brother had these records. So I just loved music, I had no choice. Like with me, Stevie Steve and Jay La Rock...those were my friends since I was seven years old and we always loved music. So we used to do the thing with the tapes (pause button tapes) and that was way before Mr. Magic. So the first time I heard Hiphop being played was being behind the center (Bronx River Center). I mean I used to hear Bam play his music out the window before but my first recollection of a jam was behind the center. I don't know exactly when it was but I remember going behind the center and it was really like amazing. I was like, "These guys is up here playing music and shit like that. What is going on here??" People dancing, having fun.....it was just a great experience!! It wasn't like we knew what this thing would become later on. To us it was like a get-together. People were doing The Hustle 'cause those were more or less the Hustle days to be honest with you. It just started to turn into Hiphop, you know? I remember seeing Mr. Biggs on the mic. I looked up to Mr. Biggs a lot, you know what I mean? So as I said I was going behind the center...I think it was me Stevie Steve and Jay La Rock and we were watching Bambaataa on the stage playing music and stuff like that. It was amazing to see all these people together, you know what I'm saying? And then they kept doing it...the jams...and the more they did it.. the more people would come out ...people we didn't even know!!! At the first party you would mainly see people from our projects (Bronx River) but now you would see people from Bronxdale, from Monroe, you would see people from damn near all over the place!! You would see them do the Hustle...you know, you would hear a gradual change of the music until when the beats came in and then you'd start to see people breakdancing. So I got to see the whole entire thing! We would go to DJ Mario's parties as well and that was a great experience as well for us, you know? 'Cause normally we didn't go to Bronxdale that much 'cause Bronx River was Bronx River and Bronxdale was Bronxdale...you know, all of these projects stayed in their own lane. I mean we kinda socialized with each other, we didn't have like a lot of beef but everybody more or less stayed to themselves but when the music thing came I really believe it made us come together, though it probably started even before that with the gang thing and all of that. We all kinda got together there, you know? Transitioning from the gangs to the music thing. So that's basically how that happenend with that."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Let's talk about the B-Boys of the Zulu Kings for a minute. I suppose you witnessed them all from Zambu, Shaka, Cholly Rock to the younger ones like Beaver?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"Of course, of course!! That was a nice experience watching them. I mean that's my projects!! We got to see the whole evolution of Hiphop. Those are guys.....I got stories for everybody. Like I said we grew up together. They was from one side of the projects and we was from the other side even though it's one projects. Squirpy (Shaka), Artie J (Aziz), Zambu, Beaver...all them guys. I was watching them like,</b><b><b> "That shit is really kool!" Watching them getting it in was amazing!!! Watching them in the big park, watching them like at parties ...it was a beautiful thing! </b>So when that happened it was also a great experience to me because I saw people doing it that I grew up with. We gravitated to that, we felt that we were part of something special that was happening in the projects. I never got into Breaking though." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Whom do you recall on the mic at those early Zulu Nations jams besides Mr. Biggs?" </b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"You have to understand that during those times it wasn't about the MCees. It was more about the DJ, abouth the music that he was playing, about the beats, you know what I mean? It wasn't about what they was saying or what kind of rhymes they had 'cause you really didn't pay too much attention to what they was saying. It was a music thing. When they was out there I didn't know who was out there. I just knew there was voices coming out and there was music. I didn't recognize anybody besides Mr. Biggs and I know Cholly Rock was doing his thing but I can't tell you who else was on the mic saying, "Yes, yes y'all!" and all these other things. I think it was pretty knew to them as well. I think as parties probably went on they started to get their rhyming thing together. The only thing that we were really concerned with at that point was the crowd of the people and the music itself, you know what I'm saying? That was more of an amazing thing to me!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So what do you remember about the Soul Sonic Force? Were they an important influence on you?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"You gotta remember I'm from the beginning....when it all started. So I got to see the whole Soul Sonice Force. I got to see them when it was just Mr. Biggs, Cholly Rock and them. I guess the Soul Sonic Force came when....I'm thinking about the original members.....I think they started out without Pow Wow. Let me make sure I got my stuff together. I remember when Pow Wow came 'cause I think he came with Hutch Hutch. I might be wrong but I know I ain't wrong 'cause Pow Wow came with Hutch when they started adding MCees to the Soul Sonic Force. I remember when Master Bee got down with them and then I remember when they added Lisa Lee. She used to live where I live I now...over there on Lafayette. When they came along we (The Mac Dynasty Crew) were already playing. They kept extending stuff, they kept extending their number of MCees. MC G.L.O.B.E. It was a lot of them, you know what I mean? I didn't think anything of that at that time 'cause at that time we were already playing music. We wasn't into their music, we was into our own music at that time. I remember when they got Hutch Hutch 'cause I already was Hutchy Bee. So I was wondering, "Why the hell is this dude taking my name?" (laughs) I mean, it was great to watch them play because at the end of the day we watched this thing progress. So we went from watching one MC to watching ten MCees. The more the merrier...it was Bronx River as far as I'm concerned. I loved watching them rock. When it got to ten Soul Sonic Force MCees Hiphop had become mainly focussed on the MCees. In the beginning though it wasn't about that. It was about the beats, the breaks....the B-Boys, it was about the party. It wasn't about the MC, it really was about the DJ. It wasn't till years later...to me..that the MCees took form in Hiphop. So we all was together but at the same time we all had our own cliques." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Judging from the Mac Dynasty Crew flyers that Sureshot La Rock gave me it seems that you were already doing it in May 1979 which is really early. Please describe how your crew was formed."<br /></b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"What made us pick up music was just that we liked music and what made us different was that we didn't wanna be like everybody else, you know what I'm saying? We loved the music, we're from Bronx River but we was never like one of them Bronx River type of guys. We had our own little crew. </b><b><b>We didn't follow behind nobody. I'm not saying that they was followers but we definitely wasn't followers.</b> How I wind up picking up a microphone is because of Mr. Magical who was our best MC. He was the best of all our MCees. Lucky Dee was great as well. We was very, very tight. Mr. Magical wanted me to be a part of a routine and so we started rehearsing that routine and from that routine I became a MC."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where was Mr. Magical from?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"Mr. Magical and Lucky Dee was from Freeman Street....Southern Boulevard. We picked them up because we was getting a crew together and we was trying to be serious about this. We met them in James Monroe High School. That brung them to us. That's where I met Lucky Dee and Mr. Magical. We was inseparable from that day. They was already, I guess, rapping. Not with nobody but evidently they was doing their "One, two.." thing. So we all got introduced in James Monroe." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So who were the original members of the MC section of your crew? Was it you, Lucky Dee, Missy Miss and Mr. Magical?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"Okay, this is how it started out...I didn't start out as an original MC (of the Mac Dynasty Crew). We didn't have any MCees at first. At the first parties that we gave which had MCees involved it was those three at first..it was Mr. Magical, Lucky Dee and Missy Miss. That's when we had our first real party. Our first real party happened to be where they lived at.....at Southern Boulevard, right there on Freeman Street. That was the day when all hell broke loose and we almost got killed. They found out that the Zulu Nation was playing in their neighbourhood. We had nothing to do with whatever happened with those incidents. That happened over there. Most of us weren't even Zulus at the time. Like 85 percent of us weren't Zulus at the time. I think the only Zulus that we had at that time was DJ Starchild. So in the beginning it was those three MCees. After that it grew, it was almost like the Soul Sonic Force 'cause we started adding people. They weren't mainstays but we added a couple of people and then it came to where it was the four MCees. We had Kool Dee and Gee Cee...I think that was it as far as the MCees are concerned. That's when we went to Twin Parks where our base would be at. Our major party thing would be on 183rd & Garden Street which is Twin Parks. The other Twin Parks because it's two different Twin Parks. That's where Mac Dynasty really became Mac Dynasty when we played there 'cause that was home for us. Even though we was from Bronx River but like every week we would play there." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please explain the task of each DJ in your crew. Who was in charge of what?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"You see it's like you got a team.....everybody plays his part but nobody has a particular role. You know, it was something that we was learning on the road. As for knowing those beats it was DJ Stevie Steve 'cause Steve knew all the beats! Even till today..if you put a beat on, he'll know that beat. I'm almost like the same way but I'm not a DJ, you know what I'm saying but that was from the love of the game and being with him. So as for the music and the records and all that, it was Stevie Steve who did that. We had other DJs, too. There was DJ Starchild. Then there was DJ Lightning who also was known as DJ Starchild before but we had to change his name 'cause we had two Starchilds. "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, so who would cut up the beats when it was time for the MCees to get on the mic?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"When we got on the mic, right? It didn't matter who it was 'cause everybody got to play. We had multiple DJs. So DJ Mr. Mac might get on for a session, DJ Stevie Steve would get on for a session....as I said we had multiple DJs. I don't wanna sit there and tell you who was the main person because everybody got on. When the party rocked though...to be honest with you...it was Wayne...it was DJ Lightning but all of our DJs played, you know what I mean? Who was the best? I mean, this guy was just as good as Jazzy Jay and anybody else that was out there. I put him up there with the best of 'em. See, I'm telling you this but I don't know how this is gonna come out with my crew because they're not gonna appreciate this too much but I gotta be honest. When we rocked it was DJ Lightning and he was nice!!! When he joined us that's more or less when we really took off. I mean, we took off 'cause we played music. When it came down battles, when we played (against) Kool DJ AJ and Busy Bee Starksi...we battled them and we battled Afrika Isaac & The Crazy 8, we battled The L-Brothers Part 2 and stuff like that....I don't think DJ Lightning was actually at the L-Brothers party but as we started to really get into the game, he more or less was the one that we looked forward to if we really needed somebody to put it on somebody when it came to the turntables. When we got respected...when we played against Crazy 8 and all of these crews we had to get the come up and it was the battle of the next crew up. So basically we had to put our best foot forward and I think that's when DJ Lightning started to shine."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please break down where the name of your crew came from. It had something to do with your DJ Mr. Mac, right?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"Alright.....Mac Dynasty...okay. Mac Dynasty is spelled M-A-C which stood for Brian Mac Leod. The equipment was his family's equipment. The system we had was ridiculous! I put our system in the top 5. Period! Like you know, the Sasquatch shit (the soundsytem of the Brothers Disco) was rocking, Bambaataa's shit was rocking. Herc of course...his joints was rocking...I'd never seen nobody do it like Herc did it that day in the P.A.L. He did what he did with those. As for Mr. Mac..his uncle had a crazy system and so we had to use his uncle's equipment to be able to play. So it was equivalent to you wanna play basketball, right? And you don't have a basketball and the guy in the building that don't know how to play he got the ball....so you gotta let him play 'cause if he don't play you're not gonna be able to play. That's basically what happened with him 'cause he sucked. (both are laughing) It got to a point where he was making our crew look bad. So we put it upon ourselves to change our name to M-C instead of M-A-C." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So was he ejected from your crew?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"No, he never got ejected from the crew. No! He was there. He was part of our crew. Even when we named it Mc Dynasty instead of Mac Dynasty he was still there. It was like you had to deal with it 'cause he had the basketball. There was little frictions inside the crew but nobody would know about these things 'cause we kept in house. We had a lot of things going on within our crew, especially with that right there. You know, he would kinda make us look bad so we would let him have his little time on there and then we would get on and do our thing. But I mean we was Mac Dynasty Crew so....."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What made you pick that jamming spot on 183rd & Garden Street..Twin Parks?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"See, I don't know. I don't know how that came about. It was right after that party where we almost got killed by those guys, right? Over that Zulu beef that had nothing to do with us but they thought it was us that jumped somebody and then there was these grown ass mafia type Spanish guys that came with like ten black cars. They put a gun in my mouth and they stabbed DJ LDC in the back. Yeah, it was bad but after that party..the next week after that we wind up in Twin Parks. I don't know how we wind up in Twin Parks. I just know we went there for the first time, we started playing in the basement and then next thing I know that shit became our fucking home, bro. Like every fucking week we was there. Unless we were playing somewhere else but like when we came home that was our home base. So I actually don't know how that came about. But that's how we got the other two MCees which was Kool Dee and Gee Cee. Gee Cee was from there and Kool Dee was also from Twin Parks. So they're cousins. That was their turf, their real home. Next thing you know we became friends."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of a location was that though? A basement or a park?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"It was a basement but then it was also a park as well because remember in the winter time we gotta be inside. So they had like a community center and they used to charge at the door. 'Cause at first we wasn't getting that money, they was getting that money.And t</b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b>hen next thing you know after we started working the shit out we had part of that door money as well.</b>We
was getting robbed by Mr. Mac. None of us probably saw that original
Twin parks money until later in the game but that’s a whole nother
chapter. </span>"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So it was like two spots in one location?"<br /></b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"See this is what would happen....when you would go down it was a basement, right? A fucking huge ass basement! I guess it was like a community room in the basement. But when we would play..like when it got hot outside we used to play in the basketball court. So there would be like a spot there in middle of Twin Parks where we would play at. Right near the first building across the street from Bronx Zoo. Not Lambert but farther up. So we would play inside and outside." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I remember that you once told me about the crazy look that your crew's soundsystem had back then....."</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"Yeah, those were our ass kickers! That distinguished us from a lot of other crews. I don't know if you remember the colours of the bus of the Partridge Family. The speakers were like the colours of the bus. They was like all different colours! Them shits was ugly as fuck but the system was ridiculous! I think the tweeter box was like 36 tweeters, then there was the midranges..... We used to use speakers for ropes. We didn't need no ropes because the speakers was blocking it, you know what I mean? We had so many! There were times when Bambaataa used to ask us if he could use our speakers and we would let him borrow it. That's when he used to go out to Yonkers and all of that shit. We were known for the crazy ass speakers. Yes! </b><b>We had the Mac Dynasty speakers..we used to call them the Partridges but only because of their colours. It was crazy but as I said the system was ridiculous."</b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm1b5gpp9hxhJKxnAUl-A7skgcx6Bxomsv4uPbbB_2F30v7Qu18wR7LXDNidf5k5pWaljVEZATkV-Usbj7z3VgagY0ZDW7ov6ZrdXeFq8JIlF0TsCdIWoC2aA_qTgOTOFq-metJG_nZpiqR3KXaIPEvGnahMhW8yUHQLaJdxd70U-1ZgDIiYPMkw/s242/Partb.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="208" data-original-width="242" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm1b5gpp9hxhJKxnAUl-A7skgcx6Bxomsv4uPbbB_2F30v7Qu18wR7LXDNidf5k5pWaljVEZATkV-Usbj7z3VgagY0ZDW7ov6ZrdXeFq8JIlF0TsCdIWoC2aA_qTgOTOFq-metJG_nZpiqR3KXaIPEvGnahMhW8yUHQLaJdxd70U-1ZgDIiYPMkw/s1600/Partb.jpg" width="242" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> The bus of the Partridge Family (US TV Series)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, so how strong was your soundsystem? Like 5000 Watt?" </b><p></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"I can't tell you that but whatever it was, it was top notch! That's why like I told you we could rock against anybody and we did. I remember there was one party that we was giving in Bronx River. I think it was the flyer you showed me actually. It might have been that party. And Flash and Bam....they was there that day. They was near the speakers and they was also talking to the owner of the speakers which was DJ Mr. Mac's uncle. I forgot his name but they was talking to him 'cause they're all from the islands (from the Caribean). You know, most of this soundsystem stuff came from Jamaica and all these other places...you know that, right? Those guys got West Indian background....you know, Flash and Bam and so was the guy who owned our speakers. When they got together, they was chopping it up 'cause they really knew about that music and they noticed that our shit was banging. Bam and Flash were like,"Damn!" That's when Bam asked us whether he could borrow our speakers....you know, some of them to go with his. I can't tell you what the wattage of our system was but it was just loud. If we needed to turn it up on somebody, you wouldn't be able to hear nobody else. Actually that's how we wind up getting into the fight with the Crazy 8 Crew that night 'cause we turned it up on them a little too loud. (chuckles)"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was your crew's relationship with the Brick House Crew? From what I have heard this crew came from the same area as Mac Dynasty and was also already performing on the regular by 1979. Did you ever battle them?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"No, we never got to battle them punk asses. (laughs) But you know, the beautiful thing about that is the way we grew up, right? We all knew each other like we was friends. We was friends but at the same time we wasn't friends, you know? We grew up together. What we used to do is we used to play sports against each other when were younger. Most of us. We'd play baseball against them, we'd play basketball against them and we'd play football. Then when Hiphop came we all played music 'cause we all fell in love with this shit. You gotta remember we all went to James Monroe High School together. So I knew Tony Rome and Moe Ski (MCees of the Brick House Crew), I knew all of them. All of us was in the same school. I might be wrong, but I think Brick House was out before us. They started to get their little crew together and then we started to get our crew together but it was all around the same time (late 1970ies). We all were younger crews compared to Bam and them 'cause Bam and Mario was doing what they was doing before us. We were the younger crews starting to get up. So that was like the beginning of the second generation but it wasn't even really the second generation 'cause we were still pretty much part of the first generation 'cause w got to play against a lot of these people. So that was our association..growin' up as kids and getting crews together. We wanted to battle each other but it never happened. We wanted to battle them so bad but it just never happened. Just like with Beaver (legendary B-Boy of the Little Zulu Kings) an his brother Poo Poo (also a B-Boy of the Little Zulu Kings) they had a crew as well that used to DJ and MC....."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please explain the importance of having a soundsystem back then in the era of Original Hiphop. A lot of the younger cats today especially out here in Europe obviously don't know anything about that."</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"Ok.....well it's kinda self explanatory (laughs). I mean it was about the boomin system 'cause when the system got there now you got the music playing, now you're playing for a lot of people. You gotta have a real nice system to be able to reach out. Not to just play in a small area but you had to be able to expand the sound. Herc and them made the soundsystem important. Now you started to see crews battling each other and they would come out with their systems. Shit is loud because like sometimes you would try to drown out the other crew and so you wouldn't hear the other crew because your shit was louder than theirs. You would turn up the shit another notch. That's where that came from..<i>turning it up another notch!!!</i> So it was important that you had a great system because people would do shit like that. Like they would turn it up. But you couldn't turn your system up on us, you know what I'm saying? We did the turning up 'cause our system was ridiculous. Like I said I put it up there with the top five sytems. Our system was up there! You know, without borrowing stuff, getting other people's stuff and adding on from other people's stuff...But yeah, that was very important at that time. It was very important!!! The music and the system was what brung the people. So next thing you know you got mad people coming to your party and so you need a bigger place and you need a really big system. You wanna hear that shit down the block. You wanna hear people go like, "Oh shit, they're jamming!!!" Like you would hear Mario's system from ten blocks away. That's how we went to the jams!! You didn't have to know where it was, you just had to hear it and follow it. It was a beautiful thing and I got to see that!!! (excited) I was influenced more by Mario than by Bam 'cause when Mario played in that park shit was different, you know what I'm saying? And then when we got to do it in our own backyard it got even better. Like I said I was always one of the people that would go to all the parties. I wouldn't just go to one because a lot of people were afraid to go to other places 'cause these parties took place when shit was still territorial and you couldn't just go to other people's projects or would get your fucking system stolen. You got robbed for a lot of things...for your sheepskin, your British Walkers.....all types of shit. But yeah, the soundsystem was everything."<br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf-1vmGIOBaz1c9durlg8S9LscItQIsYFz_CKrW7R6FyjhbxYNIKUvDly4grYLwoQThJWTnHpcUqSVWdSoPXLl4afXPkYnu2F3E6eUqfdkiWcSwVdn8_tTcT1878sSJKgWg3X_65D7QrX6aQla3BnRqmFDINkIFIQz4HdTOIXwva1SWUjw69L55A/s960/Steve%20BX.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf-1vmGIOBaz1c9durlg8S9LscItQIsYFz_CKrW7R6FyjhbxYNIKUvDly4grYLwoQThJWTnHpcUqSVWdSoPXLl4afXPkYnu2F3E6eUqfdkiWcSwVdn8_tTcT1878sSJKgWg3X_65D7QrX6aQla3BnRqmFDINkIFIQz4HdTOIXwva1SWUjw69L55A/s320/Steve%20BX.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <b>DJ Stevie Steve (The Mac Dynasty Crew)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who moved your records and your equipment to the jams? Would you have kids that helped you with that?" <br /></b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"No, no we brung our own shit. You know, 'cause you gotta remember we was deep. We had stuff in different places. So the equipment came from DJ Mr. Mac's uncle's house. The majority of our records probably came from Stevie Steve. But there've been times where I stole records from my brother (laughs). You know what I mean? He might got one but we needed to get another one. Imagine! Then they started going downtown to Downstairs Records and that's when they started to really get into this whole digging thing. I think it was more or less DJ Stevie Steve who got us in tune with the beats."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did your crew wear shirts with their names on them?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"Yeah, hell yeah!! But that's not what we became specifically known for. We started with the MBC shirts, right? We had multiple colour shirts. Everybody had different ones. But that's not what we were known for. We was known for French Stars. French Stars was everything, you know what I'm saying?! You'd get the little script with the name of your crew. If you was a Zulu, you had a French Star. We had "Mac Dynasty" on the right side and we had "Zulu Nation" on the left side. But that's a Bronx River thing. Well, not just Bronx River 'cause Bronxdale did it, too. They had French Stars as well. Their girls, too. Miss Khayan and them... It's like a windbreaker. It was a windbreaker, straight up! It was a windbreaker but it was like a different kind of windbreaker. They came in like four different colours. They came in like red, blue, black, white, gold..... I think those were the colours. They started out with that and then we carried it on but we wore white French Stars. See, we all wore white and blue with blue trimming. And then the name would be in the back like HUTCHY BEE would be on the back of it, in the middle of the back. </b><b><b>It was almost like gang colours. You know like we had colours in the Baby Spades and Spades. We took that and kinda stepped it up. But we all wore French Stars. Like all Bronx River and Bronxdale. It was a kind of a style but then it became part of the culture." </b></b></p><p><b><b></b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidvaf7BpP90euSZHQzbNF4wJc58pz6tupUJ462A5iQgDtA4GsqJfPqu87M8E2AvA1S_DGJeBcdL3mFqXj1j6OgUPtGJNCBf5Q4E5GdMm63Gb4a6TGgdLM6ye47DHSDQKdz7RKN9IaDO2RGWzBvSzl_ZyGGpCU8gIU1zIXtVJC1hKkD2vz51yE9qw/s403/1543716_653420061368654_1315521239_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidvaf7BpP90euSZHQzbNF4wJc58pz6tupUJ462A5iQgDtA4GsqJfPqu87M8E2AvA1S_DGJeBcdL3mFqXj1j6OgUPtGJNCBf5Q4E5GdMm63Gb4a6TGgdLM6ye47DHSDQKdz7RKN9IaDO2RGWzBvSzl_ZyGGpCU8gIU1zIXtVJC1hKkD2vz51yE9qw/s320/1543716_653420061368654_1315521239_n.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>T-Connection-April 18th, 1980: The Mc Dynasty Zulus are being shouted out on a DJ Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force MCs flyer </b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><b><br /> </b></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Nowadays most people are unaware of what it took back then to deliver an intriguing live show that had the crowd go crazy. Please describe how much effort went into the preparation of your shows."</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"I mean that's also kinda self explanatory. You know, you gotta be on the same page especially when you have other MCees in your crew 'cause at one point we started doing routines. So like I said we grew up under real MCees even though cats like Grandmaster Caz aren't that much older than me.....but when you saw how they did that (MCing) that showed you the importance of doing rehearsals in order to put a real show together. My thing was like DJ Breakout, DJ Baron and The Funky Four....to me when they got together and when I went to the T-Connection and I seen them for the first time and watching Keith Keith and Sha Rock and KK Rockwell and Rahiem that's when I knew that's what I wanted to do because the shit was different!! It wasn't like what I seen where I lived at, you know what I'm saying??? Because we didn't have routines like that. Bam and them didn't have routines like that. Nobody had routines like that. Not the way they did.When they did their routines I just fell in love with that. That's what really made me wanna be a part of that. Being part of the Bronx River thing was beautiful 'cause we knew we was part of something big because people from all over was coming to our projecs to be part of what we was doing. But when I expanded that and went to other people's places...like I said I woul go to The T-Connection, I would go to The Valley, I would go to The Nine where the Nine Crew was at.......and when I finally got to see that just changed my whole fucking outlook. To me they changed the whole fucking game. Before them people wasn't giving shows..people would just get on the mic and freestyle...it wasn't like a crew thing. Somebody may say something different but as for routines when you would see them get up and perform...THEY GAVE A SHOW!!!! There's a difference between getting up there like fucking Wu-Tang...you know, just having a thousand ni***s up there.... and somebody actually giving you a show that you really wanna pay money for. They were the first people that I actually seen do that. As of real rehearsed shit and harmonizing and voices and blending in and fucking sound and equipment they're the ones I look up to to this day! Shit sounded professional! That's why to this day Sha Rock is still my favourite MC. To this day! Period! Watching them guys do that together..the way they did it....that's to me what Hiphop brung to the next step. Somebody else might tell you something different but that's my story and I have been to all of these people's parties where most of these people were too scared to go anywhere.The Funky Four were on a whole different level as far as I'm concerned. So when we did our stuff we knew we had to practice 'cause if you know that you'll be going against all of these people you know that you have to come correct 'cause now we're not just playing music for ourselves. So we went like from watching these people and idolizing these people and loving this game to playing in the game where we actually played against our heroes. So now it ain't about just saying a couple of rhymes and then get off the mic and get some Old English and shit, now people are paying too see us, you know what I'm saying? They paid to see us then but now we're about to play in Bronx River. Now we're being noticed now. Now we got people noticing who the fuck we are like, "Those are those cats over there! They be playing like every week!" 'Cause we wasn't no flash in the pan. We did our thing! If you wasn't playing like every week or every two weeks or you had at least ten, fifteen jams you wasn't really doing shit back then. Most of the people didn't have that. I'm talking about actual parties with asskickers....with speakers going all the way around where you gotta rope that shit off, you know? Like that type of shit."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was it like for you when the Mac Dynasty Crew was invited to the Ecstasy Garage? You were even listed in the category of the most promising groups...."</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"With the Mac Dynasty crew, right? I don't think none of us ever really saw ourselves as, you know, like pioneers. We were just doing what we do, you know what I'm saying? And it took me like years later on to really understand what we was doing 'cause we really was part of that foundation. I remember the day when I got that flyer 'cause I was in Twin Parks....I was on the side of Twin Parks and somebody passed it to me and they was like,"Yo, look! Y'all made it!!" And I was like, "Made it? Fuck you mean we made it?" "Look!" They was showing it to me and I was like, "Oh shit! We're on the flyer!" and, "Look who we on the flyer with!" We were supposed to go against DJ Rockin Rob & The Mean Machine and against (DJ Afrika) Islam & The Funk Machine. We felt we deserved to be on there. We wasn't like, "Wow!" but like, "Yo, we made it. They're acknowledging us!" It took to like now for me to understand the magnitude of what we did back then, you know?"</b></p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFKcLsdXII-J2UONjQHk1EHeTGSxIb2CDYrLCiQR00ZtjLwWZx9mn2AdQsX2x7DSMRLSGt5u68udb0WM2b-h8JvUsBdpk5z5CbBkngdoH__QcgQf1hqdVogRDs-6Su6Z63EDmMgjTOBehMujDspL63OZfwxnkh15_ikNFvnsL3R2CoPUl_JgWU9w/s640/ecs%20mac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="401" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFKcLsdXII-J2UONjQHk1EHeTGSxIb2CDYrLCiQR00ZtjLwWZx9mn2AdQsX2x7DSMRLSGt5u68udb0WM2b-h8JvUsBdpk5z5CbBkngdoH__QcgQf1hqdVogRDs-6Su6Z63EDmMgjTOBehMujDspL63OZfwxnkh15_ikNFvnsL3R2CoPUl_JgWU9w/s320/ecs%20mac.jpg" width="201" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>March 1st, 1980: The Mac Dynasty Crew performs at the Ecstasy Garage</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMv38RMdjlSbGJ-JsjT43n4lLc13pnCBU0RdnognB1QT_KUxnS2R8N4ykmltLcKGCD2plSukvGVFY5DJ1a-IDI6-yE-Fh2RBOLagTHoUl6otizZR4CLv4OeUyHIVEVf73b-_Q6siZkVtnjK-tqHOlomoXAqe9xvP69gxHHcYRWbTtc6jSlS2US-Q/s705/ecstasy%20mac%20dynasty.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMv38RMdjlSbGJ-JsjT43n4lLc13pnCBU0RdnognB1QT_KUxnS2R8N4ykmltLcKGCD2plSukvGVFY5DJ1a-IDI6-yE-Fh2RBOLagTHoUl6otizZR4CLv4OeUyHIVEVf73b-_Q6siZkVtnjK-tqHOlomoXAqe9xvP69gxHHcYRWbTtc6jSlS2US-Q/s320/ecstasy%20mac%20dynasty.png" width="218" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Mac Dynasty Crew listed in the legendary Ecstasy Garage's category of the "Most Promising Groups" </b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Let's talk about that infamous battle between the Mac Dynasty Crew and DJ Afrika Isaac & The Crazy 8 which took place at the Bronx River Center. I remember that you once told me that this battle was about determing who was the next big DJ/MC Crew from that part of the BX......"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"Right."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So please walk me trough that night. Ikey Cee told me he was down with the Crazy 8 then and battled you."</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"Yeah, he was there....Well, I can't really walk you through that because it's kinda confusing to me! I just know it was their side and we're from this side of Bronx River. And like Cosmic (Force), Jazzy (Five) and Monroe and Bronxdale and Sack Wern and all them little project buildings..they all to me was like one. So when they got together that night I don't know if it was Cosmic Force or Jazzy Five 'cause they was all there. Ice Ice and Ikey Cee was on....man you couldn't find one without the other. But I don't know who was rocking with them that night 'cause to be honest with you I wasn't even paying them ni**ers no mind. They was on their side and we was on our side."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"But then all of a sudden all hell broke loose.......Cats started brawling. What happened? Kusa didn't want to comment on that when I asked him even though he said he remembered that battle."</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"He didn't wanna comment on it???? (laughs) Well, I think what happened was they got mad at us for turning the music up and I think it was on that record, on "Catch A Groove". They didn't like that shit because like first of all we already had a chip on our shoulder. We were doing our thing without help from others. See, Mac Dynasty is Mac Dynasty. We was never the type of kids that were followers. We ain't Mac Dynasty Zulus, we're Mac Dynasty Crew and we are Zulus, too. But it ain't Zulu first it's Mac Dynasty. We asked nobody for nothing, we did our own thing. We just did what we did and it worked. To where now we got people from Bronx River hanging out with us. Now everybody started to realize that we were doing our thing. The Mac Dynasty house became the Zulu house. Shit, I mean everybody be in there. Motherfucking Smitty be in there, Bambaataa may stop by and shit. Not many times but he would come as well. So we was like the new wave. The Crazy 8 were also part of that new movement. I guess Bam wanted them to be the ones who had the keys. That's why a lot of Bam's MCees helped Crazy 8 that night. They were the crew that was supposed to take Bam's place and I guess we were supposed to be the sacrificial lamb but it didn't happen that way." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did that battle take place at?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"Inside of Bronx River (center)."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So how did things escalate?" </b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"(laughs) Flip knocked our speaker over. I guess they got tired of our bullshit and so they came over and they knocked one of our fucking speakers over. All hell broke loose after that. I just remember I was pulling out things...we pulled out a couple of things. I remember chasing Flip and Lil Bam after they had knocked the speakers over. To be honest I don't remember what happened next 'cause I just lost it after that shit. People was being disrespectful. You know, them ni***rs knocked our fucking speakers over. Come on, that's like smacking you in your face! It got crazy...the next thing I know we were trying to go for them and then the next thing I know we're getting jumped by our own projects. They don't even live there and my crew is getting jumped. It was a ugly night. It wasn't Crazy 8 who we're fighting, we were fighting with our own projects. Shit happens. That's a part of Hiphop. It wasn't something that we didn't expect either because like I told you we were always on our own."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvvuzwFl4LUF2wQcyTK4eMN3u0drMiCmoOOFgOZZvHpPKJmuQGLk1oiCKZUPwR8TQDVbsex0wDOhjAby_ndrYc6zy0rxLlaKFTQaPOSWLKBZLGGm5fgmtCJBs3rPLTgccj0Dz1068vIwxx6L6CX6k7xXpKh1Cqcst4Kd2zYmS97V518HeFkpFWbw/s960/Mac%20D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvvuzwFl4LUF2wQcyTK4eMN3u0drMiCmoOOFgOZZvHpPKJmuQGLk1oiCKZUPwR8TQDVbsex0wDOhjAby_ndrYc6zy0rxLlaKFTQaPOSWLKBZLGGm5fgmtCJBs3rPLTgccj0Dz1068vIwxx6L6CX6k7xXpKh1Cqcst4Kd2zYmS97V518HeFkpFWbw/s320/Mac%20D.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>November 8th, 1980: The Mac Dynasty Crew gets shout outs from DJ Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You also mentioned a battle between the Mac Dynasty Crew and the L-Brothers Part 2? How did that go down?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"Put it this way. This happened right after the L-Brothers had that problem at the Galaxy 2000. They went underground for a while 'cause I think they took their shit. When they came back from the underground they became the L-Brothers Part 2. When they became the L-Brothers Part 2 that's when they started to play with us. So they played in the basement with us. It was DJ Mean Gene, J Cordie-O was there but we wanted to see Grandwizard Theodore. We were like,"We're about to play against big time!" Robbie Rob was there, Kevie Kev was there and Rubie Dee was there. Now Rubie Dee wasn't down with the original ones but he was the first Puerto Rican MC. They played on the right side, we played on the left side. We just played our music but it was like they went, we went. To be honest with you it was like being on a baseball field with Derek Jeter and shit. You tried to be part of the game and you're like a fan of the game and I'm sitting here watching Theodore cutting up fucking "Mambo #5". He wore that shit out!!! But we held our own. It wasn't like a battle battle but it was a battle. Two crews in there..they went, we went. I think they were just trying to get their feet wet again, you know what I mean? They didn't have the same exact crew that they had before they went underground. That's why they called themselves the L-Brothers Part 2. I think Rubie Dee had just got down with them. We played music against these guys that we idolized and it went pretty well. Did we win? I don't think we would have been nice enough to win. They was better than we was. Later on I got drunk with Mean Gene (laughs). We might have even played more than once with them, I don't remember but those were good times!" <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were your favourite breakbeats to rhyme over?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"Oh man.....I liked "Catch A Groove". I liked "I Can't Stop" and the remix of "Dance To The Drummer's Beat"."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What did it take to be fresh MC back then?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"For me personally? From my perspective you got to have charisma and style. Back then there was no internet, no videos. You had to earn your stripes."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"And you said Mr. Magical was your best MC, correct?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE: Right, right he was what I would consider our main MC . You know you have this one person in your crew who is probably the best out of everybody </b><b><b>and he was that guy</b>. All of our MCees were nice. Like I said out of the four I was the weak link. </b><b>As for being special Mr. Magical was special." </b><b></b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfeFpo1Fnp0cjWy4Gl4_6JmywBqo7kONhn1BqXobsd98rSMaH9pQz-7-g6tf6sNRPeTeDdQP0uTfRJmVtQ9KDUIIxCH-wJ2m99XmECWhSRqthE6s98wGSEyrekMxjNx8Jsd1Le407a_PTF4RTZBQwhsLXOgNVIto5nkdhgXtLSp8Te_8SrTU5iKg/s755/The%20Mac%20Dynasty%20Crew%20@%20The%20Bronx%20River%20Center%2025.05.1979.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfeFpo1Fnp0cjWy4Gl4_6JmywBqo7kONhn1BqXobsd98rSMaH9pQz-7-g6tf6sNRPeTeDdQP0uTfRJmVtQ9KDUIIxCH-wJ2m99XmECWhSRqthE6s98wGSEyrekMxjNx8Jsd1Le407a_PTF4RTZBQwhsLXOgNVIto5nkdhgXtLSp8Te_8SrTU5iKg/s320/The%20Mac%20Dynasty%20Crew%20@%20The%20Bronx%20River%20Center%2025.05.1979.jpg" width="203" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>May 25th, 1979: The Mac Dynasty Crew performs at the Bronx River Center<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who was in charge of hyping up the crowd? Which MC had the role of making the crowd go crazy? Who was your hype man?"</b><p></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"We didn't have one. That would be all of us. You know what I mean? 'Cause in the party the crowd was already hyped. Beats was pumping....We'd say, "Throw your arms in the air!" But everybody said that in their rhymes. As for the guy that got that shit pumping that would be like all of us because when were rhyming we were jumping around. We were like a hype crew. It was a crew thing. "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What about harmonies? Would you harmonize like Stevie D and Mercury of The Force MCees from Staten Island?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"We had a couple of routines but we didn't do harmonies because we couldn't sing. None of us could sing. (laughs). Lucky Dee had a nice voice that came across like harmonizing type of voice but no we never harmonized." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you know that the legendary Bronx Style Writer Wen from the COD Crew stated in an interview that he was heavily inspired by you as a young kid growing up in the late 1970ies? He even said that you're the one who sparked the flame of love for Hiphop in him and that he called himself Lil Hutchy Bee in the beginning. He tagged that name in 1979/80. Moreover he told me that you were like an older brother who looked out for him."</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"What's his real name?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"He wouln't say but he told me to tell you that he's that Puerto Rican kid from Wheeler Ave that hung with Carol."</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"Oh shit!!!! Oh shit!!! That ni***er is teling the truth!!!! I know him!!! I know that guy. That's crazy. So wait...he's like a legend in writing on the trains? You gotta help me with that 'cause with graffiti I'm not that familiar......you know what I'm saying? " </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"As far as I know he's a well respected Writer who paid his dues back then in the early to mid 1980ies and he is known for his fresh lettering style."</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"He's telling the tuth! He is Lil Hutchy Bee. <span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">That
was waaaaay in the beginning. We didn’t even play Twin Parks. Yes he’s
from the very beginning because Carol became DJ Starchild' girlfriend after
that. That’s how I know he know me because only a few people and I
say a few can tell you about me being with Carol. It became a very sore
subject within our crew it almost broke us up.</span> <span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">I remember these two young kids that used to hang around us when I would
hang out with Carol on Wheeler Avenue and we all would sit on her stoop. I just
couldn’t remember their names. Yes, I looked out for him. </span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">I did that with a lot of the younger kids in our area. Especially the kids that didn’t live in the Projects.</span>"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:</span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">"</span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">How do you feel about Wen's aka Lil Hutchy Bee's success in graffiti? Does it make you feel proud of him?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">HUTCHY BEE:"</span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">I am ecstatic and speechless.... I’m so happy for him. I guess sharing the love really kind of paid off in so many ways. </span><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">We
never did it for the money because there wasn’t any. We did it for the
love. I always say if I inspired just one person then I did my job. So there you go! Mission accomplished! I’m so proud of him."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"></span></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizUEnooViEWizl9v95lqLJIkVfsogRRBGH55gN4R_qQSTZYeP6GqUHLfOEtAoPVRdKcI1galqKso1jACGZQau3R2YjisKmhOHhHEAgjRwBVnvGUuqVUdE9jX51QxCN1JEotx5-gvEdMPUVSQGbM6ykOQye2lTobvd9fGLKU0nLy-gDxtAf8u9GSA/s579/Wen%20(COD)%20II.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="579" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizUEnooViEWizl9v95lqLJIkVfsogRRBGH55gN4R_qQSTZYeP6GqUHLfOEtAoPVRdKcI1galqKso1jACGZQau3R2YjisKmhOHhHEAgjRwBVnvGUuqVUdE9jX51QxCN1JEotx5-gvEdMPUVSQGbM6ykOQye2lTobvd9fGLKU0nLy-gDxtAf8u9GSA/s320/Wen%20(COD)%20II.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <b>Wen (COD)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><br /> </span></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give some shout outs at the end of this interview?"</b></p><p><b>HUTCHY BEE:"Of course I wanna give a shout out (laughs).First of all I wanna give a shout out to you! Shout out to you because you keep us fresh! You keep us relevant and we need that! I wanna shout out my crew! Shout out to DJ LDC! I wanna shout out DJ Starchild! I also wanna give a shout out to Mr. Magical, Lucky Dee, Missy Miss, Kool Dee, Gee Cee, DJ Stevie Steve, DJ Lightning...I know it's a lot but I got to say these names. Dee Cee, </b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Jay-La Rock, Brian B, DJ Shasta and Barry B</span>. Shout out to my BX Old School fam! Shout out to all the equipment carriers and to all the record boys. We all put a brick in this! Shout out to Wen COD." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you! Shout outs to my crew and to Sureshot La Rock who hooked me up with all these incredible flyers!"<br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-90067671711806363712021-12-20T11:26:00.007-08:002021-12-20T12:13:02.672-08:00Interview with B-Girl Duesy (The Herculoids)<p> <b>Interview with the original B-Girl Duesy (from Kool DJ Herc's parties)</b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyVyT_8MWmTPF-wGSgMjTAjN8nmYjrhtSHbCL24Zg7NT3xLu2j1JjvvXlAlMxdbXqm81W1ONCaETQc7h5Z36e85Tp6xyjwZ8UvpSwd1TK2xfzHDi6uwbJrBk0rafBUjGbvffBBJVHphwvsVFHkNH9Ir9Cp3DNLh_yddwl9nWX0X8lsb10zW3WgJw=s510" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="330" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyVyT_8MWmTPF-wGSgMjTAjN8nmYjrhtSHbCL24Zg7NT3xLu2j1JjvvXlAlMxdbXqm81W1ONCaETQc7h5Z36e85Tp6xyjwZ8UvpSwd1TK2xfzHDi6uwbJrBk0rafBUjGbvffBBJVHphwvsVFHkNH9Ir9Cp3DNLh_yddwl9nWX0X8lsb10zW3WgJw=s320" width="207" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> Original B-Girl Duesy<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)<br /></b><p></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly were you born and raised?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Okay, I was born and raised in the Bronx. I was raised up on University Avenue. 1610 University Avenue & 174th Street." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"That's on the Westside of the Bronx, right?" </b></p><p><b>DUESY:"That's the Westside of the Bronx. Absolutely!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay. To what kind of music were you exposed in your parents' house as a young girl growing up?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"I have been dancing actually since I was 5 years old. I grew up with my mother listening to everything. My mother used to have us in the living room doing James Brown. Get up, get on down! We used to do James Brown, Aretha Franklin. We used to do the Jackson Five, The Four Tops....We were The Supremes. She made us do groups and we used to just dance in our living room. So we listened to Sly & The Family Stone...Oh my God, like I could just go on for days. We grew up on that." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you basically grew up on that classic Soul and Funk music?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Exactly! Exactly!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I have been told that you have a sister called Nooney..."</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Exactly! And me and Nooney we both used to dance, we both were B-Girls. Nooney didn't go as far as I went but she was definitely there! Keith & Kevin, Sasa, Trixie, Wallace Dee, Dancin' Doug...these were the names of the best dancers in our era and we knew them all. That girl named Gloria..... We just used to go to the parties and go off!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"By how many years are you and Nooney apart? Who's the older one?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"I'm the older sister. I'm older than Nooney by two years."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did you find out about Kool DJ Herc and his parties?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Okay, this is how we heard about Herc: We all lived in the same neighbourhood. Herc lived in 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, I lived at the hill on University Avenue, Coke La Rock lived on Shakespeare Avenue. We all went to the same schools..82, 104, Taft! Kool Herc used to eat out of my mother's kitchen. My mother used to make big hamburgers. She used to call them Mammy-Jammy Sandwiches. My mother used to feed him. My mother was the first one to give waistline parties for a quarter and your waist measured it. You know how it takes a village to raise a child? This is what was going on. Our parents were much more involved in this thing than most people could even imagine, you know what I'm saying?? Like if you mention Dottie (Duesy's mother) Kool Herc would just break down and cry, you know what I mean?</b><b><b> We had a unity there!</b> And Kool Herc's parties...everybody knew when Kool Herc was giving a party. He used to give out those... remember the little index cards? He used to pass them out! That's how the word got around in 82. We all used to go to 82's after school center, the recration center at night. So we all used to be in there. That's where the hang-out was....two nights a week, three night a week. Everybody was always together in 82 down the block. As I said they lived down the hill on Sedgwick Avenue, I lived on University Avenue. So we were all connected and Kool Herc's parties were like, "Kool Herc is giving a party today!" He started in his building, in his community center and it just went crazy!!!!! I started going to Kool Herc's parties when I was 14, 15."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I see. How long did you have to walk in order to reach Kool DJ Herc's building? 10 minutes?"<br /></b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Yeah, ten minutes. It wasn't no walk at all because on our side of the Bronx you had a lot of steps that lead down to Herc's block because it was off the Major Deegan. The Major Deegan Expressway is one of our major highways. Kool Herc's building ran along the Major Deegan. North, coming up. There were steps that lead down and so all we had to do was go across University Avenue, go down the steps and walk down the block. It wasn't that far. </b><b>Even if we went down Tremont Avenue and went around.....Sedgwick Avenue is right on the bottom of the hill."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Oh, so those are the steps that Trixie was telling me about in our interview!"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Yep, those are the steps! Walking down those steps would take you right in front of Kool Herc's building, right off the side of it!"<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you obviously attended those very early Kool DJ Herc parties which took place in that recreation room in 1520?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Yes!!! Yes!!! (excited) Listen, those were the parties that made us!!! That's were it all began. It didn't begin in no clubs after he ( Herc) started running out. It became phenomenal there....in that rec room....and you only paid a quarter to get in. It was a lot of quarters that he was getting. Think about it.....a Frank and a soda. I mean the whole night would cost you maybe 1.50$ at that time."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe the atmosphere at those early Kool Herc parties!"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Okay, let me just say this....going to Kool Herc parties....you couldn't wait, you couldn't sleep 'cause you knew everybody would be there 'cause that's where the meeting ground was. Everybody was there!!! The rush.....going to the party you'd scout out who's in there, you know what I'm saying? 'Cause that's when people from Manhattan started coming, trying to challenge us. </b><b><b>Let me tell you it was amazing!!! </b>People were like, "<i>You going to Kool Herc's?" "Yeah." "Ok, I'll be there by 9." </i>The parties lasted from maybe 8 to 12:30, 1 o'clock.. in the rec center. It was....let me try to put it in words....when I came home from a Herc party I couldn't wait for the next one 'CAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE LIVED FOR!!!! Going to a Kool Herc party??? Listen, it got so phenomenal people were coming from everywhere!!! And we as party people and dancers we forced Herc to go bigger! We forced Herc to go bigger because he couldn't hold everybody. And the records Herc was playing were just so........(Duesy starts singing James Brown's <i>"Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved!!!!"</i>) When certain records were played, certain dancers were called out 'cause Herc and them knew that they would tear that record up!!!! Like Trixie was good with that record!! Oh my God!!!!!! It was certain records like, <i>"Oh Duesy, that's you!!!" </i>I got busy! That drop that mic thing before it came up......I was dropping it.... taking it to their face...BOOOM!!!!....and I'd be walking away. I'd leave them standing there. They wouldn't know what had just happened to them. They're waiting and I'm gone already. With me it was always a sharp beginning and a smooth ending. That was my style! We used to go to different parties. Trixie, Wallace Dee, Dancin' Doug....all of us...and there was always a circle around us. We always drew a circle!" <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"It seems to me that you were very self-confident, utterly fearless. Like you would always jump into the circle and go off. Is that a correct assertion to make?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"No, that's something very true to say because I went in there ready to challenge other dancers. I went in there! After a while you got tired of always challenging the same person so you'd always scout out somebody. And you know once you'd start dancing then you would see where they was going and how they tried to do it and you would just go in and you'd just end it. See, you gotta pick your prey. You gotta know who you're dancing with and you gotta know what you're doing and you gotta know how to stop it, bring it back and turn it around! And listen we used to go to church parties because Kool Herc started to give church parties on Featherbed Lane. Like I said we forced Herc to go bigger 'cause he couldn't hold nobody else in that community center."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Hold up! You're saying that Herc also did parties on Featherbed Lane?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Yes. Featherbed Lane......there was a church and they used to have a room where Herc was throwing church parties there. Block parties! Right down the block from his house there was a park there and we used to do block parties right there! Absolutely!"</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhe_WXtmgsQzOEdshfG_3mH4WCckeCIwi9cPWuH45SxQVFm9JbBmJmRO2xs5xjXItD3SINCfngyd1jlWQr57ygFwnoz04kdorQZMQdtipEYiTTLoE4n6EdcZHaN0LUvPB3noFdkTgVp8F24LmqJeijlUhNe9NYLxgHKHew1RvRz-eM5utgjvFj4_g=s256" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="256" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhe_WXtmgsQzOEdshfG_3mH4WCckeCIwi9cPWuH45SxQVFm9JbBmJmRO2xs5xjXItD3SINCfngyd1jlWQr57ygFwnoz04kdorQZMQdtipEYiTTLoE4n6EdcZHaN0LUvPB3noFdkTgVp8F24LmqJeijlUhNe9NYLxgHKHew1RvRz-eM5utgjvFj4_g" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Presbyterian Church Featherbed Lane<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was it like to hear Coke La Rock on the microphone back then?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Oh, let me tell you something! It started there. (Duesy starts to imitate Coke La Herc), <i>"Herc! Herc! Herc!! Rock!!!! Rock!!!! Rock!!! Let's go!!!"</i> And sometimes you would think they were the record and it was just them speaking on the mic! And that's what made it phenomenal. Yeah!! Yeah!!! Yeah!! And that's what kept us hyped. They were like our hype men and they were from our neighbourhood and they were with us, you know what I'm saying? They would always hype us up and call us out,"<i>Go Trixie!!!</i>" Let me tell you something, to have lived those days is to appreciate those days!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Listening to you talking about those days really makes me smile."</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"I'm telling you! And I was there from the beginning, from the very beginning 'cause I am actually older than Keith and Kevin and a lot of them....believe it or not."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you must have also witnessed those legendary battles between Trixie and his cousin Wallace Dee (RIP)......"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"What?!??? What???? (starts laughing) I gotta laugh. Of course I was there. All you had to do was play one of those records.....one of those James Brown records and Trixie would go bananas on it!!! He used to jump up, hit it.....BAM!!! That's what made it so phenomenal for us 'cause Herc and Coke....they always knew which records would make us move. They knew which record to put on to make us react!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I once heard Kool Herc stating in an interview that he would always tell his crowd to make sure that they dressed splivvy when they intended to come to his parties...."</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Getting dressed up...yeah." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"</b><b>What do you remember about that whole dressing game at Herc's parties?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Like you had to come in there cute, you know what I'm saying? And that was called splivvy. Okay, let's be clear when Herc did get out of the rec center....in the rec center we would wear sneakers....when he got to the club you couldn't wear sneakers when he was playing. There you had to come dressed, you had to come cute. Like when he first started in 1520....no, we was wearing dungarees and sneakers and this, that and the other...'cause that's when we was truly breakdancing.....posing, jumping on the floor, spinning, jumping back up. When we forced him to go out of there to go bigger 'cause now more people were coming it changed a little bit of the venue but not that much. We would still get on the floor and tear it up." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When I interviewed Trixie, Wallace Dee, Dancing Doug, Sasa, James Bond etc. they all told me what it meant to dress up splivvy from a man's perspective. Like wearing Italian Knits, Alpaca Sweaters, Mocknecks, Cortefiels and all that good shit......"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Yeah, the Suede Fronts, the Playboys.......and the hats, oh yeah!!! They used to come clean like that, yeah. After we got out of 1520 everybody was coming cute." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So what did the B-Girls wear back then? You already mentioned sneakers and dungarees. What kind sneakers did you wear? Pro-Keds?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Pro-Keds, Cons.....those were like the real sneakers. Adidas was out at that time but not Shelltops. That Shelltop thing came out after. I keep trying to explain that to somebody. But it was basically Pro-Keds and Converse. Stuff like that.....That's when we used to wear bellbottom Lees. Yes! And we always used to have on nice blouses, nice pants."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Some of the blouses that were worn back then had these large collars, right?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Yeah, some of them had the large collars. And then we would be waring hot pants to boots."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I was told that during the early 70s Marshmellow shoes were quite popular in the Bronx and Harlem. Do you recall them?" </b></p><p><b>DUESY:"I had a pair!!! (excited) I had pair of lightblue Marshmellows with the white bottoms. You had the Marshmellows back then, you had the Espadrilles. Everybody started going to Fred Barnes. It was called Fred Barnes, it was a store. At that time if you wore a 50$ pair of shoes, you were kicking!!!"</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEkeZz5Nz7IaKY6-83oIwDfs0S5VJ8vWqFBwQA9Zn0_qfZc1mZPiUcwHjqnZDNXMTZ1bivplj3ptwxJN60vKo_bxAl1eo4QFQw7uKP0fyO0SmBIXrYB51VrpmFRJqdYKySHcixSkc7riNkGLqPJtp0uy_O2HgtP6o-xOr_ZBQ6LK4zChdQCeGutw=s1919" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="696" data-original-width="1919" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEkeZz5Nz7IaKY6-83oIwDfs0S5VJ8vWqFBwQA9Zn0_qfZc1mZPiUcwHjqnZDNXMTZ1bivplj3ptwxJN60vKo_bxAl1eo4QFQw7uKP0fyO0SmBIXrYB51VrpmFRJqdYKySHcixSkc7riNkGLqPJtp0uy_O2HgtP6o-xOr_ZBQ6LK4zChdQCeGutw=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Espadrilles</b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Is it true that it was important to you back to then to wear clothes that had matching colors?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Yes, because what they are wearing today would not fly back then. If you got a blue shirt on, you'd wear a blue pair of shoes. Okay, and if you had on like a striped shirt, the only thing striped on there is your shirt. And then we used to do the uhm....we used to wear...what were those boots called? Lil Abner's!!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Were those construction work boots?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"No, they wasn't construction work boots. Lil Abner's was the boots that we would wear. Everybody wore Lil Abner's out in the streets, you know what I'm saying? Like regular boots. Those were worn by men and women." </b></p><p><b> <br /><br /></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmJCRvI_GEpTIA2aYUqXl7sXsRv49co8XbBan1i1VNx0vKR0WzidLWOtb7nPmqOENCn3BvtoiUDnMRIsfiXcjqLDWakhF5u84Cesq6JQqhAIXEjgROEb2NreAiFZFRCnpUUJwrKQVsbnesueJqDVbI8w4Adism0UQvQzmAeQ5r6O99qF-2-c8hFQ=s274" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="184" data-original-width="274" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmJCRvI_GEpTIA2aYUqXl7sXsRv49co8XbBan1i1VNx0vKR0WzidLWOtb7nPmqOENCn3BvtoiUDnMRIsfiXcjqLDWakhF5u84Cesq6JQqhAIXEjgROEb2NreAiFZFRCnpUUJwrKQVsbnesueJqDVbI8w4Adism0UQvQzmAeQ5r6O99qF-2-c8hFQ" width="274" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <b>Lil Abner Boots<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you also do the Hustle back then?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Oh, I used to hustle my butt off. Absolutely! Oh, I could hustle!! Oh, I could still hustle today! Yes! The Hustle became very popular when we used to go to 371 (DJ Hollywood's club). That's when the Hustle started really swinging. I also remember doing the Hustle at Herc's parties. He would play "Dominoes" (by Donald Byrd), "Do What You What You Gotta Do" (by Eddie Drennon). Let me tell you something, the Hustle songs had the heavy beat 'cause they gave you time to bring it back, put you down, come up, twirl, twirl, twirl....Those were the great Hustle records. Those records you don't sit down.....Yeah, I used to hustle also."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were your favourite breakbeats back then?" <br /></b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Wow! Okay, I had "Rock Creek Park" (by The Blackbyrds).....Kool & The Gang...."The Mexican" (by Babe Ruth). Okay? Those were my records. Those records had beats that I knew I can get in and they're not even expecting what's gonna happen, you know what I'm saying!!! Like I said Trixie was more the James Brown. I could also do James Brown but I could do that better to my style of dancing, how I ripped the floor. See everybody had their own style of ripping the floor but we all ripped it!!! They was never ready for us! Every weekend we tried to bring something different and mix it with what we had."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you also go up against guys or would you only battle girls?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"No, boys, girls.....we didn't care who we challenged. Listen, I danced against so many guys and bust 'em down....it was crazy!!!! Girls, too! A lot of girls didn't wanna challenge us though. Like we wasn't the ones to be challenged!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe the relationship you had with Trixie's younger sister Kim who was also a B-Girl!"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Oh, we grew up together! Me and Kim we used to fight like cats and dogs! Listen, we used to eat in their house like they used to eat in our house. Every day! Yes, they lived on Nelson Avenue, right around the corner from Featherbed Lane. That's truly one of my friends from school. Me and Kim we were in the 2nd and 3rd grade together."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Nowadays you got a lot of so-called B-Boys and B-Girls who object to slow joints being played at parties, claiming that this violated the principles of true Hiphop. What's your take on that? Was it strictly breakbeats all night at Kool Herc's parties?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"They really don't know anything about our culture. No! Herc used to play slow joints. We used to do grinding and all that. All that went on! (Duesy starts singing, "<i>For the love I gave to you" </i>by The Delfonics). Herc played The Delfonics, The Temptations, Blue Magic, The Dramatics.....oh no, he played all these slow songs in 1973/74. It was some babymaking sounds in there, trust me! A lot of people got made in them days. You had to be there to understand what was going on. It was a beautiful era!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I got a question regarding the evolution of dance. Is it accurate to say that in those early days of the artform dancing on top was of very high importance? Like you had to have exquisite footwork (not to be confused with the 6 step or 3 step which are done on the floor)?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Oh yeah! Let me tell you something! Back then not everybody got down on the floor. You had people that danced standing up that killed it!!! I was a stand up dancer but I also got down on you but I never swept the floor." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, so that obviously means that such things as hand gestures and facial expressions were very important then?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Yeah, yeah....that's what I was saying....before they started dropping the mic I used to just drop my hand....BOW!!!!! That's what I'm saying...the hand gestures. Exactly! Calling them out, intimidate them with your hands....like, <i>"Come on get it! Yeah, you!! Let me see what you're doing! Aha, mmhm.....Now watch this!</i><i>" </i>And then you would get busy on 'em."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Is it correct that during that era B-Boys and B-Girls would still mostly dance to the whole record?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Everybody danced to the whole record unless somebody else jumped in like,"<i>Let me do this!"</i> Then we'd stop but not because we were afraid or tired it's because the next person tries to show off because we were whipping our opponent's butt...."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Damn!!"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"So now more people are jumping in and everybody is battling now! Everybody's dancing. That's how that went!!! Trixie could dance two records!!!! Front to back!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How important was originality back then?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Everybody had their own style. It was about style and technique."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORiN RAD:"What did you call the dance back then? Did you call it Rocking"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"I called it Breakdance 'cause that's what we did. We was breakdancing."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"The first I time I heard about you was through the Twins...Keith and Kevin. They mentioned you as being one of the baddest B-Girls from the Herc days along with Sister Boo and Janet Rock." <br /></b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Those are my friends, yeah! (laughs).We used to tear it up! I sure appreciate them for putting my name out there! Sister Boo was good, too! She was from the projects. Yeah, Sister Boo. Damn, that's a name from the past! I don't even know if she's still around. I haven't heard that name in over 40 years."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you also go to other DJs' parties? There was an early rival of Herc who threw parties in his apartment on Grant Avenue and other places which in turn were also attended by James Bond, Keith & Kevin and Clark Kent...... "</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"DJ Smoke....yeah, I went there, too."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Damn! You even know the name that he used to call himself. Most people only know him by DJ Smokey." <br /></b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Listen, after Herc there came a lot of people, you know what I mean? Like Hollywood...but you have to understand he had a different technique when it came to that DJing at that time. I'm not saying that Hollywood wasn't as good but his following was totally different from Herc's."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I was told by many original B-Boys that the music which Hollywood played was also completely different from Herc and them as he didn't play that raw B-Boy sound but instead focussed on Disco and he dissed B-Boys and B-Girls and their dance."</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"That's what I'm saying. Herc and Coke's records.......their style was totally different from everybody else, you know what I'm saying? That's why they're phenomenal. Let me tell you something! I was there in the beginning. We'd go to other parties but no one was killing it like Herc and Coke. I'm sorry! We even went to parties on the Eastside....they were not bringing the noise like Herc. No, they wasn't!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What went through your head when you came home from a Herc party?"<br /></b></p><p><b>DUESY:"You're going home like," Damn!!!! Where the party gonna be at next Saturday??" Yeah, yeah...you're already pulling out clothes. You ain't even went to school yet but you're trying to get dressed for Saturday...... you just left!!! </b><b><b>You're kidding me? You lived for those days! </b>That's what you saved your best outfit for! Walk in there cute, standing on the wall for a little while, see what's going on....All the hustling guys......everybody coming in with their Cortefiels and their little jewelry on. Guys standing on the wall. What?? It was like in one of those gangster movies. And all we wanted to do is dance. It was a beautiful era, let me tell you!!! Herc and Coke was different. Like I said he had to relocate because it got too big. His block parties were four blocks deep!!!!! You don't even understand! You couldn't even get in there. It was crazy!!! Cars double parked, people coming from all over!!! So he had to move to bigger and better. The Hevalo....I remember parties there....wall to wall people...when they didn't let nobody else in. It was like, "<i>Get in early or you won't come in!</i>"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What are the biggest differences between your approach to the dance back then and what you see B-Girls doing today?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"They don't dance like we did. Everything is rehearsed now. See, we didn't rehearse. We went in there with a style of our own and we didn't try to look and dance like the guys 'cause we're girls. What we did was natural, we made up our own steps. We didn't take no steps from youtube or tiktok. We had none of that! You had to use your own creativity. You had to master your own style. Nobody danced like Trixie or Dancing Doug. We did it for the enjoyment, for the love of it. Those were the days and these are the times, you know what I'm saying? And some of the stuff they're doing right now, they're trying to act like they invented it. We done that already, yo!!"<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give shoutouts at the end of this interview?"</b></p><p><b>DUESY:"Yeah, I wanna give a shoutout to Kool Herc, Coke La Rock, Dancing Doug, Trixie, Sasa, The Twins and to my sister Nooney!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Shout outs to Dancing Doug for putting me in contact with the legendary Duesy. Watch out for his documentary!!!" <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> </b><br /></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-2450065015250833432021-08-15T08:30:00.002-07:002021-08-15T15:02:48.177-07:00Interview with Kool 131 (The Death Squad)<p> <b>Interview with Kool 131 (The Death Squad)</b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVp3nExKc20jpFXmKc3X4BSVM1I7Bb9P1eslX4jhm0WzcxE5AjseXRlTV7jf4L2Kb9SwyXtrzUkmj2IpbJNPnnPEl373ire_l9SfhoMv2IMQFiIpItj8ykLJpyEr8KIUkReQomEhXVqg/s636/Kool+131+%2528TDS%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="618" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVp3nExKc20jpFXmKc3X4BSVM1I7Bb9P1eslX4jhm0WzcxE5AjseXRlTV7jf4L2Kb9SwyXtrzUkmj2IpbJNPnnPEl373ire_l9SfhoMv2IMQFiIpItj8ykLJpyEr8KIUkReQomEhXVqg/s320/Kool+131+%2528TDS%2529.jpg" width="311" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> Kool 131 (The Death Squad)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b> <br /></b><p></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany) </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:" Where were you born and raised?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"New York City. I'm from the westside of Harlem. 131st Street & Amsterdam Avenue. Manhattanville Projects." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When were you born?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"I was born in 1961." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How old were you when you started noticing the work done by Writers and where would you see it? I guess it must have been tags during the early days of Writing prior to the advent of Masterpieces." <br /></b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"1970. My family...we moved from Brooklyn...from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn to Harlem, to Manhattan...in the Manhattanville Projects. Our apartment was on the 15th floor and the view from the window was the IRT Broadway coming up out of 137th Street. We had that view and of course the Hudson River, New Jersey, the George Washington Washington Bridge but that was 1970. As a matter of fact that was the winter of 1970. That's when I was seeing a lot of the old guys.....you know, T-Rex 131, The Soul Artists, BYB. You know, a lot of tags like you said. You're right, they were skinny tags and stuff like that. Yeah, 1970. The tags really caught my attention, the graffiti caught my attention because I had been drawing since I was six years old. So I was still drawing on notebook papers, stuff like that. Yeah, that really caught me. I was like,"Wow, look at that! What is that?" You know?" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So which Writers stood out to you at that time?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"First of all T-Rex 131 lived right around the hall from me. They lived in a larger apartment. Yeah, and so of course I met him. I was just a kid. At that time T-Rex 131 was in his late twenties.....and then we had Top Cat 126. He lived in the building right down from my building. Top Cat lived in 545 West 126th Street. Our building was 1430 West 131st Street. And then my cousin....don't forget my cousin....Peso 131. He lived in 1470. We all lived right there in Manhattanville Projects together. So that's what hit us together...Peso and me 'cause my cousin is just like two years older than me. Those were the names that hit me: T-Rex 131, Top Cat 126, Moses 147, Ali (The Soul Artists), Spade 130. We're talking about Broadway 'cause that was the main line....Broadway Number 1 Local."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So what caused you to put up your name as a Writer?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"As I got with T-Rex 131...'cause I would always go around the hall,you know, I found out that he was an artist. My mom and his mom became close friends. So it was like, "Welcome to the neighbourhood! Welcome to the building!" And so I would go around his house 'cause his mom would tell me,"My son's an artist. Go in there and talk to him! You'll like what he does." And sure enough when I would go around to visit him he was a member of NOGA which stood for the Nation Of Graffiti Artists. That was under Hugo Martinez. A lot of these older Writers were members of NOGA. He would do these canvases and he would do them within like 15 minutes with Uni-Wide Markers. He would tag his name, you know, T-Rex 131. It was explosive at that time as a kid! I said,"Hey, can I do that, too?" He said, "Yeah, you can do this!" "Yeah, I saw your name on those trains!" So he was like, "Yeah, yeah!" That's how I got into it. And then my cousin Peso, he was pushed by Spade 130. I was still a child. I was probably about 14 at that time. I started tagging in the staircases. He would give me markers....Mini-Wide and Uni-Wide Markers. He'd fill'em for me with the ink and all of that. Pilots..... He introduced me to all the tools of trade as kid and I tagged the staircases with him. We went to the staircases and just tagged the walls, you know? That's kinda how I got into it before I actually had the heart to go to the tunnel." <br /></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80xlusTzYPQ2gSKd78ymtoAhSVwGPEaBqxt2puclPYSnV7zJDAlm-L4f1jbVA92G8cMmWh1VNB4krSnLXXO_WI-Q42haraenmWxByZt___x9CYKa3vfAiArZlLFdzD51RZYTT9GRD6w/s1366/T-Rex+131.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80xlusTzYPQ2gSKd78ymtoAhSVwGPEaBqxt2puclPYSnV7zJDAlm-L4f1jbVA92G8cMmWh1VNB4krSnLXXO_WI-Q42haraenmWxByZt___x9CYKa3vfAiArZlLFdzD51RZYTT9GRD6w/s320/T-Rex+131.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>T-Rex 131 (legendary early Harlem Writer)</b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><b></b></p><p><b></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAGj4T7DfgLgzuGjat2hrGQM19JFs_ynX7R3KBjruogeJxiWxIFV7wzSLhPOMn57ywLXtVfrebamifuQ2gDdJacVcdNBoPJgjtl93HY2zXSMiR7SrlZzr2repmTDxtqJCA-wR9yz7Ckg/s2048/Topcat+126.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAGj4T7DfgLgzuGjat2hrGQM19JFs_ynX7R3KBjruogeJxiWxIFV7wzSLhPOMn57ywLXtVfrebamifuQ2gDdJacVcdNBoPJgjtl93HY2zXSMiR7SrlZzr2repmTDxtqJCA-wR9yz7Ckg/s320/Topcat+126.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Tag by Top Cat 126</b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><b> </b><p></p><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was the first name that you wrote?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"Kool 131. That was always my name. That was given to me by a cousin down in Florida. We used to go there and visit family, you know? There used to be a Kool Aid (famous powder drink) commercial which I loved. It went,"<i>Kool Aid! Kool Aid! Tastes Great!"</i> and I would just stand in front of the TV and sing it when I was a kid. My cousin kept teasin' me about it and then he started calling me that, "I'mma call you Kool Aid!" It got stuck with me." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So how did you transition into hitting the trains? Did you start by doing insides?"<br /></b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"Both. There was a kid CD...Cool Diesel 130..he </b><b><b>lived in the building right across from mine</b> and there was another kid....Erb. Him and I got together. They were also street taggers, you know? They would do tags in the building and on the walls outside. So the three of us got together, you know? They asked me,"Hey, Moe!" Cause they used to call me Moe. "Hey, Moe! You wanna go to the tunnel? We can get some paint." So I was like, "Okay. Let's go give it a shot!" And we did and that was in 1975, you know? We went into the Broadway Tunnel there because it's right there. It's just two blocks off the street from us on Broadway...137th Street. So that was our first piece on a train. The first piece was a Boe ....'cause that was my boy Boe 131......Kool 131 and CE 3. I wanna say that was one of the first spider clouds that had been done in graffiti history." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Could you describe the feeling that you had when you entered the tunnel to do your first piece? Were you excited?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"Yeah, we were excited and we smoked weed. Those were the weed days. We smoked some weed, drank some beer and we was feeling good. We were kids, we were feeling good. Not worrying about the inevitable....you know, like death and you gonna get killed in there...you gonna get electrocuted or ran over by a train. We never thought about those things. We never gave those things heavy thought. It was more like, "Let's do a piece, man, so everybody can see it!" That was pretty much our mind frame back in those times."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So I guess after having done your first piece you had caught the bug and wanted to do more pieces on the trains?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131: "Yes, Boe and me did. CD 130 and Erb they kinda went off on their own. They went into another direction. Boe 130 and myself we continued going because he was really excited and enthusiastic and he'd always come get me,"Yo, Moe! Yo, Moe! We're going to the tunnel, man! I got like 15 cans!!!!" And I would be like, "Yeah, bet! Let's go!" Yeah, Boe and me we did a couple of pieces for a minute there!!! He was pretty much like my first learning partner back then."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You are being praised by many legendary Style Writers as one of the best Writers ever. Which influence did those Style Masters that came before you like Phase 2, Riff 170, Pel and Tracy 168 have on you and on your approach to Style Writing?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"Okay, Phase 2, Riff 170, Pel......the Bronx boys......I call them the Bronx boys 'cause they were all Bronx Writers.....they all had a huge influence on me. Boe faded off the scene a bit. He went into the job market. I kept going on by myself. You know, doing pieces on Broadway and that's how I ran into Dean (BYB) in the 1 tunnel. He said,"Hey, hey, shortie Who you with???!" I said, "By myself." He said, "You are? For real, shortie?? You got balls!!! I like you!" So I started hanging out with him. He was like a big brother to me....Dean.That's who put me down in BYB. Just as Phase 2 put me in INDs through T-Rex 131. Right, I was just a kid and I met Phase 2 and I asked him, "Hey, can I tag your crew?" He said, "Yeah, little man! I like your little work! You're gonna be good when you grow up! Yeah, go ahead!" That's how I became a member of The Independents (Phase 2's crew). Stan 153 was another mentor to me as far as being a fantasy artist. Stan 153 was a big mentor to me, loved him dearly and that's who put me in 3YB.....the 3 Yard Boys. So that's how I got into those crews respectfully. When I got tired of Broadway...'cause I kinda got tired Broadway, you know.....I asked my cousin Peso 131 'cause he knew so many Bronx Writers like Riff 170 and them....he knew them personally 'cause he hung out around alot of them...I asked him, "Hey cuz, take me to meet some of those guys 'cause I'd like to meet them!" And so he took me to the Writer's Bench on Grand Concourse &149th Street. Back in the days it used to be so crowded. There I met Kindo 2, Butch (2) and Case (2) and by this time I had a lot of pieces out there. You know, I had pieces on the 5s....by myself! I was doing a lot of pieces by myself and they saw what I was doing. And also by that time my cousin Peso 131 and me had done a couple pieces together. So they was familiar with me. Peso would tell'em,"This is my cousin Kool 131!" They said, "What? Yeah, from Broadway, right?" They was kinda excited to meet me but obviously I was more excited to meet them. I used to go to the Writer's Bench everyday by myself from that time and watch pieces. Hang out with them and watch pieces 'cause that's what they did. Riff's style.... his style was magnificent!!! It was magnificent! But also so was AMRL who was a Soul Artists member! Back then he was rated the baddest Style Writer in America and he was, he really was,you know?! So I saw his style and r</b><b>ight along with him was of course Phase 2. So those guys' style
influenced me big time, you know? How to do lettering, how to flow and
that helped me to go into my own zone of it. There are some Writers who are saying, "Yeah, Kool 131....he copied Riff's style!" That's a lie! Of course that's a lie! Now Riff and me became pretty close. He would come by my apartment. He loved my mom's cooking and baked goods, he loved that. But he would come by my house. He was older than me, he was a lot older than me. Remember I was a kid under these guys! He came by and he showed me a Pale 2 outline he did on a piece of paper and it was in skinny letters. You know, the skinny computer style letters? And he said, "Kool, man, I like your style!" Now if this is a man who my pieces are supposed to mirror why would he say something like that? Am I right?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I hear you. It seems to me that you were heavily influenced by him but you didn't just bite his style but instead you took it to another level."</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"Word! You know it, Norin. You know it backwards and forwards. Riff showed me that outline and from that outline he said, "Hey Maurice (Kool 131's government name), you should skinny up your letters instead of continuing with the wide letter concept!" And I said, "Nah, I'm good with the wide lettering. I like this style that I do." He said, "I hear you." 2 Bad was one of his names..."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"But isn't that also a name that you wrote? I think I have seen a couple of 2 Bad pieces done by you." <br /></b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"I got the permission to do them from him."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So that's official."</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"Right, right. I got it 'cause he was the first 2 Bad. That was his name. And then there was Warm 2 (another name that Kool 131 used to write) which I believe was Bot 707's name (legendary Writer of The Fantastic Partners). He didn't have a problem with that. So Riff told me from that day,"You could piece any of my names, man! I don't care. You're the only one I would prefer to piece any of my names because I like your style! " And that's the way he was, you kow? As far as Lonnie...Phase 2... he had the soft, smooth style, you know what I mean? His style was beautiful, it was brilliant!! Those guys...that was style back there, that was lettering at its best and we're talking about the early 1970ies. So that's were my influences came from. Those were our mentors and our big brothers. That's the way it was for me back in those days."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTklA-1ujAJ69hQshYcQ3TyBf4WECRPfyHF69_xM-92qedePWr0UQcjMZ1Hco4poF8wd1V2joV_cIZKJvilRnx5O7BjHdNfw7VF0WbBpJOtOnVzkohWSTD_dnXWozvHDFNQawFpqzFdQ/s1080/2+Bad+aka+Kool+131+%2528TDS%2529+1978.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTklA-1ujAJ69hQshYcQ3TyBf4WECRPfyHF69_xM-92qedePWr0UQcjMZ1Hco4poF8wd1V2joV_cIZKJvilRnx5O7BjHdNfw7VF0WbBpJOtOnVzkohWSTD_dnXWozvHDFNQawFpqzFdQ/s320/2+Bad+aka+Kool+131+%2528TDS%2529+1978.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <b>2 Bad aka Kool 131 (The Death Squad)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidJUf_omQgWp-Nzsd9papPhWqibjbapC8f8UtkMAspcTpUxUEZK9FaaR6Ehi4gS9Fv6fuWxZhis9BDo56pV1YQI5NZqnCvk4jRaJtTEj_qlY2x_GAv-Ku19IL2mcvhDsgA5LLWNCnXzQ/s960/2+Bad+aka+Kool+131+%2528TDS%2529+II.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="960" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidJUf_omQgWp-Nzsd9papPhWqibjbapC8f8UtkMAspcTpUxUEZK9FaaR6Ehi4gS9Fv6fuWxZhis9BDo56pV1YQI5NZqnCvk4jRaJtTEj_qlY2x_GAv-Ku19IL2mcvhDsgA5LLWNCnXzQ/s320/2+Bad+aka+Kool+131+%2528TDS%2529+II.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>2 Bad aka Kool 131 (The Death Squad)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb6DRHawOMDJIx6Ywro6je4k329F6qQLJKUTrFZ22iL4zJ75QEKMeMhTlJmVarFWJUY47Xxg-ctJh8inOR5OzD-IIoLLDzENgc67CP2AGwJmuKMUcyTyQQkT0yTVzslvss0VKvOMC_GA/s640/2Bad.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb6DRHawOMDJIx6Ywro6je4k329F6qQLJKUTrFZ22iL4zJ75QEKMeMhTlJmVarFWJUY47Xxg-ctJh8inOR5OzD-IIoLLDzENgc67CP2AGwJmuKMUcyTyQQkT0yTVzslvss0VKvOMC_GA/s320/2Bad.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>2 Bad aka Kool 131 (The Death Squad)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you have a secret spot where you would refine your lettering style?"<br /></b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"Yeah, we did walls on Riverside Drive 'cause Riverside Drive was just three blocks down from us towards the (Hudson) River. It's called Riverside Drive. It runs all the way downtown and it also runs all the way uptown. There was a lot of parks down there, you know? Basketball courts, handball courts and that's where we would go. We would go down there and practice on those handball court walls. And Part 1 (The Death Squad) and me would get together and we would practice on some handball court walls in his neighbourhood. Him, Peso and myself, you know? That's what we did. We loved the walls, too. We did a lot of walls."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I guess you also spent a lot of time sketching in your blackbook..."<br /></b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"Yes, I did a couple of blackbooks. Many blackbooks got lost in the mix 'cause passing blackbooks around that's what we did. You'd hit it then pass it to Case (2), he would pass it to Bear 167 (TDS) and then Bear 167 would pass it to Noc 167......you know, it would get passed around. Sometimes it would get into some Writer's hands and you would never see it again. (chuckles)"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe your approach to sketching! What would you do in order to get yourself into that creative zone? Would you smoke some weed and listen to music?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"You said it, man! (laughs) Yeah, smoking weed....back when I was doing that we was rolling up joints in bamboo papers, you know? I'm talking about regular joints. Part 1 (TDS) would come over everyday, Case (2) would come over by my apartment where I lived with my mom. My mom allowed us to smoke weed in my room. Case 2 and Part 1 would come over. There were times when Chain 3 (TDS/TMT) would come over. Bear 167 would come over a couple of times. Noc 167 and them would come over. Panic (TDS)........ Panic (TDS) of course....he would come over with Part 1 (TDS). But yeah, when I was by myself I would smoke me a joint. I got some Barry White playing. You know, I loved Barry White. I was into the Jackson Five, Marvin Gaye, Earth Wind & Fire, Al Green. A lot of the good R&B that was back there. Jazz......I love Jazz. I came up in Harlem so that was the environment I grew up in. That would get me in the mood and I'm just drawing, you know?"</b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjj4bIqjOF7foysdH_plO1HBufcd8Gl3yHJo8vnc46VLn2f_fXsEfR_vy7Vn6bdQLUKzbCwoOhl_ZOh9ytiRvS64zI7SrMxTm3PxuPS2YGLWaGcfdMZtHnztX4icxOVmWUa5jB_xA94w/s440/Panic+%2528The+Death+Squad%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="440" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjj4bIqjOF7foysdH_plO1HBufcd8Gl3yHJo8vnc46VLn2f_fXsEfR_vy7Vn6bdQLUKzbCwoOhl_ZOh9ytiRvS64zI7SrMxTm3PxuPS2YGLWaGcfdMZtHnztX4icxOVmWUa5jB_xA94w/s320/Panic+%2528The+Death+Squad%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Panic (The Death Squad)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"As a true style master you didn't limit yourself to writing just name but instead you had a huge variety of names that you put up just like the style masters who came before you. Which other names did you write besides Kool 131?"</b><p></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"I already mentioned 2 Bad, Warm 2 and Pale 2. Other names that I wrote were Vega 2, Dobra 2......."</b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9r8g3Qn8Z5qxzY2klMX84v4f4O-N2xoBcY-5y7E4lAjUQ3QM7XRgyq0rNCcDXgTZyq6ynZ8Q1wgtZy-wjUiCKuB_mecXYPKsAVck2uw7PZWyE64jj0fJd8_MreV7XnuRTPnpSaTSYig/s1080/Dobra+2+aka+Kool+131+%2528TDS%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9r8g3Qn8Z5qxzY2klMX84v4f4O-N2xoBcY-5y7E4lAjUQ3QM7XRgyq0rNCcDXgTZyq6ynZ8Q1wgtZy-wjUiCKuB_mecXYPKsAVck2uw7PZWyE64jj0fJd8_MreV7XnuRTPnpSaTSYig/s320/Dobra+2+aka+Kool+131+%2528TDS%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Dobra 2 aka Kool 131 (The Death Squad)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I have been told that cats from Harlem were always known for dressing up fly. Did this also apply to you? Did you also wear Cortefiels, Italian Knits, Overlaps....all that good shit from A.J. Lester's?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"That was my dressing game! That was my first summer job! See, I liked to dress as a kid 'cause we watched the older guys. Two of my cosuins were members of the Council with Nicky Barnes. Those guys that I looked up to, they wore nice suits. They either wore suits..not with ties....but you know with like mocknecks shirts. And you know a nice blazer with matching slacks, matching shoes..I liked that ensemble of clothing. </b><b>There was a dear childhood brother of mine.....he lived in my building on the 17th floor and he came to me...</b><b>Nathaniel Boykins...we called him Nate. He said, "Hey, Moe! You're looking for a summer job, right?" I said, "Yeah, Nate! I'm looking for a summer job! My mom wants me to go to work. I'm getting in too much trouble over here." He said,"Alright, alright! My uncle Paul..he works in A.J. Lester's. I'm gonna talk to him for you!" Yeah, yeah!! And so I got my first summer job at A.J.Lester's after I got my working papers. I was doing the inventory. When the trucks brought in the clothing and whatever else I unloaded the truck and took all the stuff downstairs, shelved it. That was my first summer job and that's how I got to meet a lot of the gangsters 'cause they was coming in there shopping! (laughs). And that was my style of dressing!"</b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgufc45m7hJUL0IbLCwhXS7CpVPVcZE50X-H1XTurVpUtdiZghkxxXanZNV7M7DvlWcjkPaMRt9JHLVf2FYPgDQc6ahqmzRupLwWzjiMIe1vgzvb1-cbGSf7fs6THI3lZzltwYlPU_3jg/s548/Kool+131+%2528TDS%2529+III.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="548" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgufc45m7hJUL0IbLCwhXS7CpVPVcZE50X-H1XTurVpUtdiZghkxxXanZNV7M7DvlWcjkPaMRt9JHLVf2FYPgDQc6ahqmzRupLwWzjiMIe1vgzvb1-cbGSf7fs6THI3lZzltwYlPU_3jg/s320/Kool+131+%2528TDS%2529+III.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Kool 131 (The Death Squad)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p></p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyyuJa3RmHPnXpoHzr4UApqq2Cbn2P4PncO_pAA-VCVafiXzH53OzI76YOtOUh4DrxQ0jfe_FDmIorzEKHiq2_Xo9xxw6KaD_mXLyqNA2WHa28w5Tnuu55jRycA6lTcGk3nYyYxIRn_w/s640/Kool+131+%2528The+Death+Squad%2529+IV.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="640" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyyuJa3RmHPnXpoHzr4UApqq2Cbn2P4PncO_pAA-VCVafiXzH53OzI76YOtOUh4DrxQ0jfe_FDmIorzEKHiq2_Xo9xxw6KaD_mXLyqNA2WHa28w5Tnuu55jRycA6lTcGk3nYyYxIRn_w/s320/Kool+131+%2528The+Death+Squad%2529+IV.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Kool 131 (The Death Squad)<br /><br /></b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Let us talk about your crew, about The Death Squad! You started it along with Mr. Jinx 174 and Chain 3 in 1976, correct?"</b><p><b>KOOL 131:"Yes, sir!! Yes, sir!! We were hanging out on 149th Street..on the Grand Concourse.....Writer's Bench. We were the only three there on this particular day. It was during the summer time, right? Right at the Writer's Bench there is those steps that'll take you up over the pedestrian walkway to the other platform, to the other side. You know, from the Uptown Side to the Downtown Side..... So Mr. Jinx 174 was sitting on the stairs smoking a cigarette and Chain 3 and me, we were pretty much there at the platform. We were just watching pieces go by, you know, talking, planning things. Chain 3 said,"All these crews, man! Let's come up with our own crew!" So Allen...Chain 3.....said, "Let's call it The Squad!" I said, "Yeah, that sounds good!" I said, "But even better...let's call it The Death Squad!!!!!" You know, 'cause in my block we see all the gangsters coming up with their cars. They met up in a bar that was right there on the corner across the street from the projects. That's where the Council met up. They would have drinks and all of that. You know, socializing with each other. We saw their cars and we were like, "Yo, that's death! Check out that Lincoln!" "Yo, that Lincoln is death!" Or we would say, "That's poison!" So I said, "Let's call it The Death Squad 'cause that describes the way of our pieces!" Mr. Jinx 174 said, "Yeah, yeah, Kool! I like that! The Death Squad!" So that's where that name came in. Chain 3 and me were like, "Who's gonna be the president?"So I pretty much looked at Chain 3 and I said, "You can. You'll be the president if you want and I'll be the vice president." He said, "We'll see. We'll see what's up." A little time after that...I'd say some months after that he hooked up with Kade 198 and Tean 5....you know, the brothers from TMT. So then TMT came on the scene. We found out about that a little later and I think he thought we was mad with him like,"Yo, TDS they mad at me! I jumped ship. I left them hanging and I'm with this other crew." We wasn't mad at him! He said,"You know what? I just wanna share my style, help others." Do that man! Do that! That's what we're about! Meanwhile I was running around recruiting people, you know? That's what I was doing and my first member was Part 1. Right, 'cause he went to school with my older brother. Printing High School. My brother told me about him. He said,"Yo Moe, yo Moe!! There is this kid in my school! He's a Writer, man! A Puerto Rican kid."I said, "Who're you talking about, man?" He said, "He writes Part 1." And I was seeing Part's pieces. His pieces were bad, he was a bad boy back then!!! He was an awesome artist, man! And I also was seeing his pieces on the 6 line. I loved going and watching other writers' pieces. I loved their work, you know? I used to hang out in East Tremont, the Grand Concourse, Mos</b><b>hulu Parkway...</b><b>I used to go to different areas in the Bronx, different train stations......just hang out by myself. So Chain 3 went his way. Who became the president of The Death Squad? I did and I made Part 1 the vice president, you know? Bear 167...he was pretty much like the enforcer and he did just that. Bear wasn't no joke. He was a big guy. He pretty much went around to guys talking about they was TDS and they wasn't and he kinda did what he did, you know? (laughs) He would be like, "If Kool 131 didn't put you in TDS, you ain't in TDS!!!" Stuff like that, you know? But yeah, we did TDS and TDS ran from there. So I went up to Printing High School and I met Part 1, we sat, we talked , we smoked some weed, you know? We kinda walked around, it was him, me.....Noc 167 was with us, Panic was with us. We hung out."</b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAqppCVwejDmQUJlcdCpNBkNgWzstOWGAfkHEVLjgIvPAUlTnN6nIQ4fev0u1O57W0qCX9vKAdgQ5FG-qm8GXTW6mt9MMYll9weMcY9t1FO-X9IF5PNG9bMiVRr0FNPTTz8VQntf7iZQ/s640/Part+1+%2528The+Death+Squad%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAqppCVwejDmQUJlcdCpNBkNgWzstOWGAfkHEVLjgIvPAUlTnN6nIQ4fev0u1O57W0qCX9vKAdgQ5FG-qm8GXTW6mt9MMYll9weMcY9t1FO-X9IF5PNG9bMiVRr0FNPTTz8VQntf7iZQ/s320/Part+1+%2528The+Death+Squad%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Part 1 (The Death Squad)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGm95rhNzoU7RPZO2hk9HTZJZ7ZUAC5Dfirtdhyphenhyphen20xxZhLhQX3Inkpu2yY-8JPpJ6TVlYBEUKzxdfsAXraH1W6bqGZ4xAbSER7hrNdNWcZfWxcSB-b9VI-f7ROu2ilj-vMeCMvfCeYuw/s1080/Kool+131+and+Part+1+%2528TDS%2529+1978.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1080" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGm95rhNzoU7RPZO2hk9HTZJZ7ZUAC5Dfirtdhyphenhyphen20xxZhLhQX3Inkpu2yY-8JPpJ6TVlYBEUKzxdfsAXraH1W6bqGZ4xAbSER7hrNdNWcZfWxcSB-b9VI-f7ROu2ilj-vMeCMvfCeYuw/s320/Kool+131+and+Part+1+%2528TDS%2529+1978.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Kool 131 and Part 1 (The Death Squad)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /><br /></b><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhToxzOIVGYamqD6ZGSxlvjYOgMNCjdZYmr-ql3ALIqhdxYito6AmaYaQcIDQEiwRq3JeErDy7I65lnedfUoTUkYNG8lStTGuS23oXBivNs-llR0ofEkielfOgUFneJWSeRKVKe7Mg_DA/s464/Bear+167+%2528TDS%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="192" data-original-width="464" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhToxzOIVGYamqD6ZGSxlvjYOgMNCjdZYmr-ql3ALIqhdxYito6AmaYaQcIDQEiwRq3JeErDy7I65lnedfUoTUkYNG8lStTGuS23oXBivNs-llR0ofEkielfOgUFneJWSeRKVKe7Mg_DA/s320/Bear+167+%2528TDS%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bear 167 (The Death Squad)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where was Mr. Jinx 174 from? Did he also do pieces or just tags?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"No he did pieces! We did pieces together! He was the first 2 Pac. When he was writing Pac 2, we hadn't heard of the rapper. We're talking about the 1970ies! We were young. For me Mr. Jinx 174 was the first 2 Pac 'cause that's what he wrote. We did a Pac 2 and 2 Bad and I did a cat character at the end of the car. You know, it was a pretty nice car. I got pictures of it. And he did a Mr. Jinx 174 with Bear 167 and he had a couple of other pieces back there. But yeah, Denis Crabbs...That's his name. He was a Bronx kid. Once I went to the Bronx,right......'cause see Part 1 came over from the 6 line. He was a 6 line guy and he was a part of the 6 Yard Boys (6YB) with Hindu 2 and them. He was a big part of their family and so he came from over there, from the 6 line over to Broadway......back in that era. Like around.....I'd say around 1975 he was showing up on Broadway. So I saw his pieces, you know? And I was really anxious to meet him and it was an honour to meet such an illustrious Writer like himself. I always gave other Writers their proper respect and honour 'cause they were artists like I was. So me and Part 1 we stuck together and we ran TDS. We took it as far as we could back in that time. In 1978 I went to the military. I got called to arms. I stayed in Aschaffenburg, Germany for almost three years and then I came home."</b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZaI9bMIo24tGRYVdXeA8qoEMcm04ZMwHJ-tR1EDZEke-YthSdDPdtqyWGVu-chZvFx4NyYir_qdYtLsOBrg0MAg0MgL0lpeo7NhpUGCd0V7CR1qXEimUJTTQdnazDAFpOPR5qJi6oKw/s1024/Pac+2+aka+Mr.+Jinx+174+%2528TDS%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="696" data-original-width="1024" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZaI9bMIo24tGRYVdXeA8qoEMcm04ZMwHJ-tR1EDZEke-YthSdDPdtqyWGVu-chZvFx4NyYir_qdYtLsOBrg0MAg0MgL0lpeo7NhpUGCd0V7CR1qXEimUJTTQdnazDAFpOPR5qJi6oKw/s320/Pac+2+aka+Mr.+Jinx+174+%2528TDS%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pac 2 aka Mr. Jinx 174 (The Death Squad)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Could you please shed some light on Padre 2 (TDS)?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:" Yeah, Jesus.......my boy, man...he passed away..he was my boy! Padre Dos....he was a real mellow kid. Real mellow, quiet, laid back......I loved him like a brother. Him and Dek (TDS). Now you're talking original TDS members from the beginning! There was also Magoo 2 (TDS).</b><b> He did pieces with us, too.</b><b> Now that's when we were going to the Utica lay-up. We did a lot of pieces in the Utica Lay-up. That was the 5 lay-up. He was also Puerto Rican. We did a Dek-Magoo 2- Vega 2. I did a Vega...V-E-G-A with the wizard on the first part of the car."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"If you were to rate Padre 2's piecing abilities on a scale from 1 to 10 where would you place him?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"Oh man, he'd be above 10 for me. He was awesome!!! Padre...he was awesome, man! I loved his style and I loved his work!"</b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8VH2hTbqczVS9cdpB8_sESNRUkMzIHQeI07pTKmj_O9uTngGCR1YR7jC0I9-FGVFh97NW33VO1rWUv8GvxMWrG3Vr2o06ClvBx5J0C1X40l-M-W7MTopC3JjbnqzX7CZ8O2SKyfEGiA/s720/Padre+2+%2528TDS%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8VH2hTbqczVS9cdpB8_sESNRUkMzIHQeI07pTKmj_O9uTngGCR1YR7jC0I9-FGVFh97NW33VO1rWUv8GvxMWrG3Vr2o06ClvBx5J0C1X40l-M-W7MTopC3JjbnqzX7CZ8O2SKyfEGiA/s320/Padre+2+%2528TDS%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Padre 2 (The Death Squad)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj0TKVrao6-A4CYhcNpPR-v-dq4TbiJ6ViUSVeEz_pVJjNtbQKV4oVnVNb6vj4paqA6EvtJ97DcbBkjD6yORQE5MbaxYYhpjGJAdMZHHR_9Sq2BSddDb82zuLB-4BcjaORuqMd55gqPA/s601/Padre+2+%2528TDS%2529+II.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="601" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj0TKVrao6-A4CYhcNpPR-v-dq4TbiJ6ViUSVeEz_pVJjNtbQKV4oVnVNb6vj4paqA6EvtJ97DcbBkjD6yORQE5MbaxYYhpjGJAdMZHHR_9Sq2BSddDb82zuLB-4BcjaORuqMd55gqPA/s320/Padre+2+%2528TDS%2529+II.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>Padre 2 (The Death Squad)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you recall how Padre 2 was recruited for The Death Squad?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"Part 1 knew him. He knew him and Dek and I believe Part 1 recruited him. He knew them and then I got to know them. That was somewhere in the Bronx. Those guys were awesome. We did a Shampoo-Padre-Pale. Chain 3 did the Shampoo piece and I did the Pale. The Padre was before mine. That came out nice! Other pieces...we also attempted to do a whole train. That was the great Utica lay-up raid on TDS! (laughs) Slave (TF5) was with us. He hung out a lot with us, too. He was a dear brother to me. Just like Case 2 (TFP). Case 2 was like an older brother to me. We were tight, we were like family! All of my graffiti brothers I used to walk to their homes to hang out with them. I used to walk from Manhattanville Projects to Taft Projects everyday to hang out with Part 1 as much as he used to come over where I lived! I used to walk from my projects to Case 2's projects in the Bronx to hang out with him. Walk .....on foot! That's a long walk! You know? Yeah, to hang out with him and I'd spend the whole day, two days just hanging out with Case 2 before I went back home. Case 2 would be like,"Yo Moe, man! It's late!!"'Cause you know he had his little room with the bunk bed......"Yo man, sleep down on the bed, I sleep on the floor. Watch TV, we out!" </b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpROQXZSi2frtGBICeWcGW458hbqpCOgX-FPKrm_hLGwhuuKyiyO9B4R2MtKtXRzGIyp_b2MLsGi-NjcUpKb3r2AcZA_KXq3rbSVr0ppK1lZNVZsP1goCzvEopSumYwWsuQyxB_CM-DA/s800/Kase+2+aka+Case+2+%2528TFP%2529+and+Kool+131+%2528TDS%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="800" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpROQXZSi2frtGBICeWcGW458hbqpCOgX-FPKrm_hLGwhuuKyiyO9B4R2MtKtXRzGIyp_b2MLsGi-NjcUpKb3r2AcZA_KXq3rbSVr0ppK1lZNVZsP1goCzvEopSumYwWsuQyxB_CM-DA/s320/Kase+2+aka+Case+2+%2528TFP%2529+and+Kool+131+%2528TDS%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Kase 2 aka Case 2 (The Fantastic Partners) and Kool 131 (The Death Squad)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />SIR NORIN RAD:"What did you think about Case 2's style?"</b><p></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"It was awesome! Remember as long as I was hanging out at his apartment all we was doing through the afternoon we was drawing, we was in the kitchen at the table drawing. You know, doing new outlines. Coming up with new outlines. Case 2 would be like,"Yo Moe, check out this Kase outline!"His style was outstanding!! And Butch! Butch 2 and him were major partners. Butch came by.....Outstanding, they were outstanding!!!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe how Noc 167 got down with The Death Squad. It amazes me to see how much incredible talent was down with TDS: you, Part 1, Chain 3, Noc 167, Padre 2 etc. Style Masters gallore.... "</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"He's one of the original members. Noc 167 was hanging out with Stan 153 (3YB) at his house and we was going over there to hang out with Stan 153....Part 1 and me. So we was hanging out with Stan 153. He was living with his grandmother over there on 8th Avenue in a tenement building. Stan 153 was a fantasy artist. He was doing a lot of Vaughn Bode work, a lot of it. So Melvin (Noc 167) was right there. I was familiar with Noc 167 at that time and of course when he met me he was like, "Wow! Kool 131!!!! What's up!? I'm Noc 167. I heard about you. Can I be down?" I said, "Yeah, you're down. No problem! Of course! By law!!!!" As I said he's one of the main original members of TDS."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When did Noc 167 join you?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"1976 going into 1977."</b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiapxT6KNj_wpSKTjIErR0fKJsjDiKQrGbdjyqG82ZAiich71gGkKlsE-EtE4SxkmLIuK6_EoaY07hyphenhyphen9A4seEU4e72uVQja5jRmyZ1iqp9iXMAR6JOE450zlhhIsBg2hN47Y30lhOi17Q/s640/Noc+167+%2528TDS%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiapxT6KNj_wpSKTjIErR0fKJsjDiKQrGbdjyqG82ZAiich71gGkKlsE-EtE4SxkmLIuK6_EoaY07hyphenhyphen9A4seEU4e72uVQja5jRmyZ1iqp9iXMAR6JOE450zlhhIsBg2hN47Y30lhOi17Q/s320/Noc+167+%2528TDS%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Noc 167 (The Death Squad / Out To Bomb)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did TDS have a specific location where all its members would meet at?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"No....various places. Sometimes a couple of us would meet at my house. Sometimes we would meet at Part's block and a lot of times we met at the Concourse (the Writer's Bench)."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How do you define a dope piece?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"Well-proportioned letters, nice color coordinations...you know, nice balanced color coordinations....things like that. That makes a beautiful piece for me." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please explain the importance of the tag in Style Writing! I have observed that quite many Writers of today do not consider it to be necesssary to have a nice tag anymore. For you Style Writers it was the contrary, wasn't it? "</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"You're right, Norin. The tag, right? That's the grandfather! That's what started it all! Taki 183..he was a Tag King. Tags...that's what started the game, you know?! So yeah, when fancy tags came in back there that caught people's eyes. That's what caught my eyes! These guys' tags! Top Cat's tags??? Oh boy!!!! I still can do'em today! Stay High 149.....he had an unstoppable tag style. "Voice of the ghetto" (one of Stay High 149's legendary tags)......what have you. A lot of those guys that tagged the insides with those opaque Uni-Wides, Mini-Wides and Pilots.......Nic 707 (OTB). I loved those guys' tags. Yeah, it was some own respect to have awesome tags."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORINRAD:"Did you attend those block parties and park jams in Harlem where DJs would cut up breakbeats and MCs got busy on the mic? I mean your legendary cousin Peso 131 was obviously part of the Fearless Four MCs........"</b></p><p><b> KOOL 131:"I did, I sure did! Back in them days that's what we did, you know? Besides being a Writer......that's what we did."</b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDkotYCx-1mofnic3lGO2AskkYd5BnjynMr85ESYeUMh7b22l7d-T6PLwSfgT9YijXQMgg8J-wx8CUqwWxxX2MuPJt7gkNUmtwWw4AKPM9IqgEnJU7D8AC9prcI_kgd8TRgsrYxDXSug/s364/Peso+131+%2528The+Death+Squad%2529+I.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="208" data-original-width="364" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDkotYCx-1mofnic3lGO2AskkYd5BnjynMr85ESYeUMh7b22l7d-T6PLwSfgT9YijXQMgg8J-wx8CUqwWxxX2MuPJt7gkNUmtwWw4AKPM9IqgEnJU7D8AC9prcI_kgd8TRgsrYxDXSug/s320/Peso+131+%2528The+Death+Squad%2529+I.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Peso 131 (The Death Squad)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fo0ySRiugNqPA6IimhTm4ILd9q6S5gcsbrFXK0VqWRgwd9hRPKbP6JaQNjtl0b1AIqkhtWoSBQ9jrrLUSmtUBkIEaD-rlN2_xtVyx51AJHTjJwm8pCkVngJ5PW6n_oCuM1Fpi1DhTg/s640/2+Nasty+aka+Peso+131+%2528TDS%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="640" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fo0ySRiugNqPA6IimhTm4ILd9q6S5gcsbrFXK0VqWRgwd9hRPKbP6JaQNjtl0b1AIqkhtWoSBQ9jrrLUSmtUBkIEaD-rlN2_xtVyx51AJHTjJwm8pCkVngJ5PW6n_oCuM1Fpi1DhTg/s320/2+Nasty+aka+Peso+131+%2528TDS%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>2 Nasty aka Peso 131 (The Death Squad)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give some shoutouts at the end of this interview?"</b></p><p><b>KOOL 131:"A special shoutout to Part 1 and Flite 1. I give a shoutout to all my fellow TDS brothers. A shoutout to the TMT crew! You know, to Kade 198 and Tean 5. To Chain 3! To m</b><b>y long-time brother Skeme...you're always my brother! No matter what! A shoutout to Fed 2! To all the brothers at Tuff City! My boy Butch 2 (TFP), we just connected back together. To </b><b>Checker 170. He's the guy that hosts many of those events there in the Bronx. We go way back. To Chris Pape! And a big shoutout to my brother Norin Rad!!!! Brothers for life, Norin!"</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><br /></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-18475253179925318082021-07-09T07:58:00.004-07:002021-07-09T12:01:58.315-07:00Interview with DJ Disco Pee & DJ Pernellio (The P-Brothers Disko)<p> <b> Interview with DJ Disco Pee & DJ Pernellio (The P-Brothers Disko) <br /><br /></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieR4bbYACUN5qMrX8t6KlMmGAEsLVt0ilgwM6pXEsw4b9SxmtLXjlgVwq75SXTBSe_uXKqnTkggLt6NJAgCkM32Iku-Vr89kQ7cN29v8bEluSgA6p-YVRBjn7DnKc8EhyZeDnMtM-lGw/s280/The+P-Brothers+Disko+II+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="246" data-original-width="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieR4bbYACUN5qMrX8t6KlMmGAEsLVt0ilgwM6pXEsw4b9SxmtLXjlgVwq75SXTBSe_uXKqnTkggLt6NJAgCkM32Iku-Vr89kQ7cN29v8bEluSgA6p-YVRBjn7DnKc8EhyZeDnMtM-lGw/s0/The+P-Brothers+Disko+II+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>DJ Disco Pee & DJ Pernellio (The P-Brothers Disko)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders/Germany)</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where were you born and raised?"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"I was born in 1962. I was born in Harlem....at Harlem Hospital on 135th Street & Lenox Avenue. That's where I was born and raised! St. Nick......St. Nicholas Projects!"</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Disco Pee is the oldest, I'm next in line. I was born in 1963....Harlem Hospital. St.Nicholas Projects! Straight outta St. Nick's! Born and raised!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly in Harlem are the St. Nicholas Projects to be found?"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Alright, our neighbourhood....Nicholas Projects.... it runs from between 7th and 8th Avenue.... that's where the Apollo is at...on 125th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue...but our projects starts two blocks away from Apollo Theater on 127th Street between 7th and 8th (Avenue) and it runs all the way to 131th Street between 7th and 8th (Avenue). You know, that's five blocks and 14 projects in one block." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of music were you exposed to in your home when you were growing up?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:" We was exposed to R&B. You know, 70ies R&B. We really wasn't into Rap then, that didn't come out yet. We listened to The Stylistics, The O' Jays....all the popular old school R&B groups. Slave......My family wasn't really into James Brown even though we knew about him. It was a host of all kind of different Black Music, you know?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe how you fell in love with that Bronx breakbeat music. I think you told me once that you attended the same high school as Rahiem (The Funky Four / The Furious Five), Shahiem (The Infinity Four) and DJ Pete La Rock (The P.T. Disco Crew) and became good friends with them. Please elaborate on that!"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"When we was growing up, we lived in Manhattan......in Harlem..in St.Nicholas Projects but we went to school up in Truman High School up in the Boogie Down Bronx, up in Co-op City. That's where we met Rahiem, Shahiem and Peter Crawford aka DJ Pete La Rock from P.T. Disco. We also met Aaron & Leo from Co-op City, Section 5. So we had got a lot of exposure to the music up there when we was in Truman from The Valley, Boston Secor, Edenwald, Co-op City and all that. We had a lot of exposure to Afrika Bambaataa. DJ Breakout & The Funky Four....they was up there, playing in The Valley! The Kaos Crew!! A whole lot of people was up in The Valley and we just got hooked to the beats and the breaks and we was in high school up there, man, we told each other, "We gonna do this!" </b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"I wanna give a shoutout to the Bronx but my experience was back in Harlem. I was a nerd, I liked being in the house with my black light, my posters, you know, smoke a joint and listen to music. My brother kept harassing me about going to the Renaissance (Ballroom)...so we went and DJ Donald D from The Sapphire Crew.....the whole crew and all of them was on stage....and he just played those breaks! It was the first time I heard the breaks and the atmosphere was ridiculous!!! I'm just watching him cutting and scratching and the reaction from the crowd..... You know, it just blew my mind! After the party I went home and I said to myself, "Yo, that's what I wanna do right there!" So I definetely wanna give a shoutout to the Sapphire Crew and DJ Donald D (Rest In Peace)!!! From Harlem to the Bronx Disco Pee filled all that in so that's how that worked for me!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You were especially thrilled with the way DJ Donald D cut up "Funky Man" by Kool & The Gang, right?</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Yo, how you know about that??? I'm glad you're asking that question. The first record that DJ Donald-D played that just took me crazy was "Star Wars" (by Dave Matthews). That was the first time that I heard breakbeats, you know? When I heard this beat and he just kept bringing it back and mixing it, it just took me away and then came that "Funkyman" by Kool & The Gang. Ahhhhh, it was crazy!!!!!!! (excited) To not only hear the record but to hear the record coming out their system because they had a system!!! And to hear that I was like, "Wow, man!!!!!" It was ridiculous!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When did you run into Rahiem and them at Truman? Was that around 1978?"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Right, right."<br /></b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Well, I'm 58. I think we were like 15, 16 when that started going on." <br /></b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Yo Norin, you wouldn't believe where we got our first pair of turntables from! Our first pair of turntables that we got when we broke into the scene was SL-210s that we brought from The Untouchables, from my man DJ Mike D and Andre...DJ Andre!"</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"That's right!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did you get to know Shahiem and Rahiem at Truman?"<br /></b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"I hope my moms don't hear this but there were days that we would cut certain classes and so we would go the back of the school, drinking 40s and they would then gather in a circle. Rahiem, Shahiem from the Infinity Four...all of them would be rhyming, you know? We would just listen and that's how we started to know each other....just by that. You know, we never rocked together at a party or anything or never been to their house or anything but it was through school. The thing about it is that Disco Pee had bought this suitcase. It looked like a suitcase for school but it was really a box. A box with a cassette deck, a radio and a turntable in a suitcase. We started getting breakbeats off of Gun Hill Road, right off the 5 train. Big ups to that little store! I forgot the name of it....."</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Word up! Word up!" <br /></b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"With our allowance we would get breakbeats, take'em home. Pause button....get a fresh tape and pause button the breakbeat, you know? Big ups to to the Pause Button King! No one can say there was no DJ that started on pause button tapes! Let's get that straight! From there Disco Pee would have a fresh tape with the beats and we would walk into class and Disco Pee would rock the breakbeats through the radio, through the suitcase. That's how we got rec (recognition), you know? Just being kool. Everybody just came together as friends. But again like I said everybody had their own crew. It was a pleasure to meet the brothers. When we hung out it was all good."</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"We went to Boston Secor, we went to see P.T. Disco in Boston Secor. They was breakdancing all up in there. We seen DJ Breakout in The Valley ......"<br /></b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"We seen Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five rock Truman High School!!"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Oh yeah, they rocked that school! Definetely rocked that school!"</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"I wanna tell you this, Rad, check this out! We was in Section 1 (Co-op City). DJ Breakout and them was playing in the community center. DJ Baron was with them. The community center was so packed...... I'll never forget this. Baron is a awesome mixer where when I say mix I mean one record into another. DJ Baron was more of a blender and mixer than a scratcher. He had the show at this time, he had the floor. The place...all you saw was everybody was going up and down to T-Connection.... "Do What You Wanna Do" and then all of a sudden this shit changed over and that came with a chill in my body. In the background I heard this record with a lot of squeeshing coming on blending in with "Do What You Wanna Do"....there's a break in there. That record was "Indiscreet" by D.C. La Rue and he had a 12 inch version and this record came on and when he took out the T-Connection and it was just "Indiscreet" playing....this shit blew on my mind, yo!!!!! You saw people going up and down to this beat and I said to my brother,"Yo Parrish, you hear this???? You hear this???" Oh my God, man!!! Big ups to DJ Baron!!!!</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You said that you got your first pair of turntables from Mixmaster Andre..."</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Yeah, we went to Douglass (Projects) to get the turntables from Andre."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, so please describe how you built up your record collection and your soundsystem!"</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"We had a weekly allowance, so we would go out to Brooklyn and other different places and we spent hours going through rows and rows of records to find breakbeats. You know, you gotta do your homework! You gotta get it in! You can get it just as long as you got a nice system and you're not scared to bring it out.....and you got electricity. Bro, you went for it! That's the only way you earn your respect and get known!" <br /></b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Yeah, 'cause when we started, we made our speakers! We made our speakers by hand! My brother built big ass speakers in school...in shop class!"</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Yeah!"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"We was putting speakers together, man! We wasn't buying no Cerwin Vegas and all that shit they had. We had our own shit, Rad! When we went out, we didn't give a fuck! We took our sytem and our records and we went out there!"</b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC3Nglo2sa5tzxl1ZluTHbAswFv9fIvaIGD4iPQ0orHtyOQlXHKrkgoLqYCOg9wTDjyTLw55lv9c0L6ZIXz721GOXKxpjD3J2ai2WLZAiLH_b51UTjfA23_vrW8eX_9q-j6qG21O6WPQ/s960/St.+Nick+Block+Party.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC3Nglo2sa5tzxl1ZluTHbAswFv9fIvaIGD4iPQ0orHtyOQlXHKrkgoLqYCOg9wTDjyTLw55lv9c0L6ZIXz721GOXKxpjD3J2ai2WLZAiLH_b51UTjfA23_vrW8eX_9q-j6qG21O6WPQ/s320/St.+Nick+Block+Party.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The P-Brothers Disko do a block party in the St. Nicholas Projects, Harlem</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"That's right! And we had bad MCs so it was just putting it together and stop being shy and let's get it 'cause you couldn't be scared, you know? Big ups to the ECs....the equipment carriers. They would meet you at the house and help you bring your stuff out in the park.....let's get it up and let's get it in!" </b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"That's right 'cause we had about 20 crates of records!"</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Yo, we went to Downstairs Records. Big ups to all the record stores! I remember we paid 15$ a copy for "Apache"!"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Yeah....and 15$ for "Catch A Groove......"</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"On the 12 inch..."</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Right, on the 12 inch. Big ups to my man Elroy for sticking out the records for us....."</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"That's right! That's right!"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"'Cause only the VIPs got to know the real records, the breaks that come out."</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"That's right! Hey, big ups to DJ Darryl Cee from the Crash Crew! We'd hop on the A train and go to Brooklyn and go upstairs in this warehouse where they had tons and tons of records and we'd come home with shopping bags of records!"</b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfe4b0aoRsrAR40k1Zv2jF7P5ylEKtSPmKtR9Nof5o7T9kLpON8GQUKW4XF6kBSt6pT19JulyuYP84BSUPCEqPcaou2lY8bIOOqmIl_-wLMBj0_ZMBr3Fk92wwf94ENoYwo8rHhVKkHg/s600/DJ+Darryll+Cee+%2528The+Crash+Crew%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfe4b0aoRsrAR40k1Zv2jF7P5ylEKtSPmKtR9Nof5o7T9kLpON8GQUKW4XF6kBSt6pT19JulyuYP84BSUPCEqPcaou2lY8bIOOqmIl_-wLMBj0_ZMBr3Fk92wwf94ENoYwo8rHhVKkHg/s320/DJ+Darryll+Cee+%2528The+Crash+Crew%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> DJ Darryl Cee (The Crash Crew) - Digging partner of the P-Brothers<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /><br /></b><p></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Church Avenue....We took the B Train to Church Avenue. Man, you're talking about digging in the crates......these records were so old and dusty!!!</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Yeah, man! They were breakbeats and you got them at an excellent price like 3.99$ to 5.99$. That's why like I said we came home with shopping bags of records!" </b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Man, Darryl Cee.....together we got some records, boy!!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I must say that to me it's absolutely mind-blowing to hear about what it took back then to get started as a DJ. It wasn't as easy as today where everybody is just downloading their beats from the internet."</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"That's right! It ain't like going to the internet trying to pull something out. This is searching! This is digging in the crates, man! This is searching!"</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Yeah man, we did a lot of footwork to get breakbeats!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I still remember that Drum Drops album you told me about, Pernellio. I think you said something to the effect that it was one of DJ Darryl Cee's secret waepons."</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"It's called Drum Drops Volume 4 and Darryl Cee had it. That record is dangerous, man! It's dangerous! It's a step off from Sesso Matto. The beat is just ridiculous on that, you know?"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"And you know that record is for drum lessons!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of amps did you use in the beginning?" (both start laughing)</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"You know, we wasn't rich, man. We didn't have people behind us, believing in us. So thank God like Disco Pee said I made speakers in my shop class. Our amps weren't amps. they were receivers."</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"We took our mother's receivers from out the living room."</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"That's right! That's how we had to roll! That's how it went.</b><b><b> Later on Disco Pee got some money and that's when he got our first turntables from the Untouchables</b>. We would also get a mixer and all that but we never had a spectacular system. I would have loved to have Cerwin Vegas. You know who had a nice system? DJ Master Don & The Death Committee!!! His system was nice and compact: We never had that luxury. You turn that receiver up too loud that whole thing gonna blow!" </b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibmZKs3AJ8cDtle4s8_PiciHaFwKp-6M6oiGgAcoaGRoqplVc1sU2cwl9ZcjVjihgTbUp6AzZT222ZCjaNl93wk4oBDO4rbO9QzFRgfjsqnUXsmiV4RhiRzIXMTxNpEn84s1yXlxigeQ/s960/The+Crash+Crew%252C+Dr.Jekyll+%2526+Mr.+Hyde%252C+The+Magnificent+Seven%252C+The+P-Brothers+Disko+%2540+IS+201%252C+7.+Dezember+1979.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="594" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibmZKs3AJ8cDtle4s8_PiciHaFwKp-6M6oiGgAcoaGRoqplVc1sU2cwl9ZcjVjihgTbUp6AzZT222ZCjaNl93wk4oBDO4rbO9QzFRgfjsqnUXsmiV4RhiRzIXMTxNpEn84s1yXlxigeQ/s320/The+Crash+Crew%252C+Dr.Jekyll+%2526+Mr.+Hyde%252C+The+Magnificent+Seven%252C+The+P-Brothers+Disko+%2540+IS+201%252C+7.+Dezember+1979.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>December 7th, 1979: DJ Pernellio & DJ Disco Pee are rocking at I.S. 201 in Harlem</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b><br /> SIR NORIN RAD:"From where did you know Mixmaster Andre & The Untouchables?"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"We were already friends from their parties. When we did parties in the park they used to come through. We had thrown a birthday party for my brother. My moms had put a birthday party in the park...for my brother and she had done a big ass cake that looked like a record album. So we had a big party and the Treacherous Three showed up and performed, the Crash Crew showed up and performed, Master Don & The Death Commitee showed up and performed. I mean G-Brothers performed, The Super Three performed. I mean we had so many people performing, if I forgot somebody I'm sorry. That was one the meanest jams! We performed at I.S. 201 together. We did many parties in Manhattan, man. We did parties with Afrika Islam and Afrika Bambaataa at the P.A.L....on 123rd Street (in Harlem)."</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Yeah, we had a battle with the Jazzy Five and them at the P.A.L. on 123rd Street. It was nice! Every projects in Harlem had their DJ, you know? St. Nick had The P-Brothers, Drew Hamilton had The Sapphire Crew..."</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Lincoln had The Crash Crew, Schomburg had The Magnificent Seven, Douglass had The Untouchables."</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"That's right!"<br /></b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Everybody had their own DJ representing their projects." </b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"If you were a real DJ back then and you had your projects rocking you were already on the map."</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"That's right! And God bless the president of our projects who passed. He used to have block parties every year and we used to DJ at these block parties and everybody came!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was the main stomping ground of the P-Brothers Disko?"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"The big park, man. We always rocked the big park on our side. It was the North Side Park. We had two big parks in our projects, man but we always stayed on our side."</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Everybody had their park in their projects. So even if we heard that another project was out we would walk and represent for them. You know, The Fearless Four in Grant and Manhattanville...wherever they were DJing we felt safe. But you know at that time you just couldn't go in anybody's project. That was a no no. "</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"You had to have respect, you know?" <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX3lmlZ8irOARjPcCN6ZeXQNgmm1gpMJJB_ueqyY4isN6Nmx9VxF0yVPJc52i-4ajE5JQGRVhKH4OrSYJF-lA7EO4teWccIefULyUAMTVnO4WFOClKYHW-XCNhQfuE7qvFeQcgoTSuVQ/s750/Amsterdam+Jam+The+P-Brothers+Disko%252C+DJ+Master+Don+%2526+The+Death+Committee%252C+The+Untouchables++%2540+Amsterdam+Projects+Center+2.+Oktober+1980.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="578" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX3lmlZ8irOARjPcCN6ZeXQNgmm1gpMJJB_ueqyY4isN6Nmx9VxF0yVPJc52i-4ajE5JQGRVhKH4OrSYJF-lA7EO4teWccIefULyUAMTVnO4WFOClKYHW-XCNhQfuE7qvFeQcgoTSuVQ/s320/Amsterdam+Jam+The+P-Brothers+Disko%252C+DJ+Master+Don+%2526+The+Death+Committee%252C+The+Untouchables++%2540+Amsterdam+Projects+Center+2.+Oktober+1980.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>October 12th, 1980: DJ Pernellio & DJ Disco Pee perform at The Amsterdam Projects Center along with Mixmaster Andre & The Untouchables and DJ Master Don & The Death Committee</b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> </b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where would you play at during fall and winter."</b><p></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"When we first started the president of our projects would let us use the community center. We had a lot of people come over and party with us but all good things come to an end when it comes down to the financial part of things. But mainly in fall Mike & Dave would invite us to their parties."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Which beats took you some time back then until you were able to catch them?"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:" You know that Captain Sky record....(sings) <i>Do that right! Do that right! </i>That beat was at the end so it was hard to catch that shit 'cause it ran off on you.</b><b><b> Also the short version of "Indiscreet</b> ". <br /></b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"For me it was Mario Van Peebles "Come On Write Me!" I could not get that shit for nothing, man! (laughs) <i>Come on write meeeeeeeee!!!!!!</i> And the "Fruit Song" (by Jeanie Rynolds) that took me a while to get that going."</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"The "Fruit Song" and "Charleston Hustle"(by The Starlings & The MFM Orchestra)."</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"The Charleston Hustle!! Big ups to the Charleston Hustle!!"<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you have a friendly competition going on between you guys?"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"I think my brother was much better than me, man. He knew how to backspin real fucking good, man!!"</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"I liked the needle dropping."</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Yeah, he knew how to do the needle dropping. My hands were too shaky for that shit."<br /></b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Yeah, I was a needle man like Grandwizard Theodore. I got into needle action after I got tired of backspinning. Grandwizard Theodore is a professor and I'm a student." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How much time did you spend perfecting your skills on the turntables?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"For me it wasn't that much. We was always out in the streets. When we was in the mood to cut and scratch we'll do it. Now my other brother and his little crew, you know, when we're not home....he loved to play with it. My brother Shawnie B! Music was attached to me, you know? I could hear the breakbeat... just as long as I get the record when I'm ready to do the damn thing I do it but other than that I was outside."</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"I was outside getting too much ass, man."</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Word!" (everybody is laughing) My brother was a player, a lady's man, you know?"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Yeah, I tried to tell Norin when we did our parties we looked like him. We dressed up, man. We was the flyest motherfuckers in dressing when we did our thing. When we came through they split like the Red Sea for us."</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"T-Boy was our barber. We got our haircuts right in our house, got dressed. we always came to the party sharp. Ready to go!" </b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"British Walkers, Ballys, Mocknecks, Kangols, Sheepskins..all that." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You said your little brother Shawnie B was also DJing and had a crew. Please elaborate on that!"</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Yeah, my little brother Shawnie B. His crew was....What was the name of his crew?"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Outlaws!"</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"The Outlaws!"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Ey yo, my brother was the youngest DJ! He was only five years old!! We took him with us to a battle at the Old Terrace Ballroom and he tore up everybody there! We won that battle!"</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"My mom and my aunt came with us to the party. They had to let him in."<br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGOEVM_V3h-DSvWVmfXoB9I1695DeQdUc1k7Pgl2ul567_eF_Tk5HyzNm_yQNRtz8E7GPBqGnRs7WaA6K0o6HBuZ6Npi-Hnzi5OiTg8ZExfbhUSwyvbzKoDBwbjQdLWjYtEqminOtX4w/s597/Battle+Of+The+Project+DJs+with+The+P-Brothers+Disko%252C+The+Crash+Crew.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGOEVM_V3h-DSvWVmfXoB9I1695DeQdUc1k7Pgl2ul567_eF_Tk5HyzNm_yQNRtz8E7GPBqGnRs7WaA6K0o6HBuZ6Npi-Hnzi5OiTg8ZExfbhUSwyvbzKoDBwbjQdLWjYtEqminOtX4w/s320/Battle+Of+The+Project+DJs+with+The+P-Brothers+Disko%252C+The+Crash+Crew.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>June 6th, 1980: DJ Pernellio & The P-Brothers Disko compete in the Battle Of The Project DJs at I.S. 201 in Harlem</b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br />DJ DISCO PEE:"I wanna give a shoutout to my MCees....to Jazzy Gee, Kid Finesse (RIP) and Prince Divine."</b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"That's exactly what I wanted to ask you about. How did you recruit your MC Squad....The Prince Of Time MCees?"</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"The Prince Of Time Mcees!! That's right! Big ups to you, Norin! Prince Divine lived on the same floor as we did. So once we got to know Prince Divine he would come over to our house and he started MCing for us. He was down by law, no matter what. Jazzy Gee also had family in St. Nick...."</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"That lived right in our building on the second floor."<br /></b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Right. So we found out that he rapped and all of that. He came down. Kid Finesse he's from our projects, too.</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"He lived right the next building."</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Yeah. I mentioned that we needed to have another MC. Two was good but three MCees woul be nice. So we got Kid Finesse...God bless him! That was our three MCees! That's how we came about."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe where and how the rehearsals with your MCees would go down."</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"We practiced a lot in our house, in our room. We did a lot of things there."</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Especially, we had a big JVC box. You hold it to the speakers so when they did rap we would tape it and they would remember the routines."</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Right.We also practiced down in front of the building, around the back where we smoked our blunts."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who was in charge of cutting up the beats for the MCs? Did you take turns?"<br /></b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"It depended on our mood because we would do this so much that we knew which breakbeat went with the routine. It really didn't matter.<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were some of the clubs where you performed at?"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Harlem World, Celebrity Club, Randy's Place, B&B Disco...."</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"C&C Disco."</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Audubon Ballroom."</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"We didn't really do nothing in the Bronx. Harlem was our area......"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you have people that had your back while your were jamming in the parks, community centers etc.?"</b></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"We had people that supported us. We had a bunch of crews in St. Nick that was down with us. The P-Brothers was taking no shorts from nobody. People knew who we was. Everybody gave us mad respect so we had no problems really."</b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:" That's right! People from other projects came to our projects and we would go to their projects. That's how that pretty much worked out. We didn't need no security."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you have reacted back then if somebody from outside of your crew had tried to go through your crates in order to find out what beats you had? My crew went through this kind of situation a couple of times. People accused us of violating the rules of true Hiphop since we didn't allow them to touch our stuff and told them to back up. They maintained that in Hiphop you have to share everything with everyone. Talking about each one teach one....." (both DJ Disco Pee and DJ Pernellio burst out laughing) </b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"That's straight bullcrap! Those cats are just trying to get information. They're the ones that are violating. Back then when we had breakbeats we covered them up." <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbgpA-T469rFsCux3rg-hT8sH8fjG-gvfbIXzfJFTR7OIxL-SotefvEODhB3ImmYiypyrrerv5OpO-3mlNhhRXEbtRVTeILBZs2LaXV7Qhspeihh2dHCBUC9pcTeGc-ySsMgUmQZoJGg/s480/The+P-Brothers+Disko.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbgpA-T469rFsCux3rg-hT8sH8fjG-gvfbIXzfJFTR7OIxL-SotefvEODhB3ImmYiypyrrerv5OpO-3mlNhhRXEbtRVTeILBZs2LaXV7Qhspeihh2dHCBUC9pcTeGc-ySsMgUmQZoJGg/s320/The+P-Brothers+Disko.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The P-Brothers Disko and some of their friends. Top left to right: DJ Pernellio, MC Kid Finesse, MC Prince Divine, CB, Anthony, DJ Disco Pee, Jazzy Gee. Bottom row: Larry Nickins, T-Boy, Derrick<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b> <br /></b><p></p><p><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"We'd erase the lables and titles with a black marker." </b></p><p><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Or we'd get a knife and scrape the whole thing out<b>. That's for you. If they wanna know, they gotta do the knowledge to find out what's the name of that record. They just can't go through your crate." </b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"In which way did the music at your parties differ from the music that DJ Hollywood (legendary Harlem Disco DJ) would play?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Well, DJ Hollywood and Eddie Cheeba and them they were a one-man-band. They played a totally different variety of music."</b></b></p><p><b><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Mostly R&B.....they didn't play breaks and stuff like that. They played for an older crowd." </b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What do you recall about DJ Youngblood & The Crusaders? I was told they were a very early crew from your side of Harlem. They disbanded in 1978 and Youngblood became a musician along with some of his relatives."</b></b></p><p><b><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"He came outside a couple of times and he was good! Yeah, he was good. I was at his house a couple of times when I didn't even have a system and he would let me cut. And I couldn't even cut. I remember him laughing at me. That's when it all started coming together, you know?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please name your top five breakbeats of all time!"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"Mmh. Disco Pee?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Oh man, I got "Shack Up" (by Banbarra), "Indiscreet" (by D.C La Rue), "Groove To Get Down"(by T-Connection)......it's just too many, man!!"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"My top five would be "Phenomena Theme" (by In Search Of..Orchestra , "Doin' The Do" ("Mandamentos Black by Gersson King Combo), "Well, Have A Nice Day" (by King Erisson), my fourth one would be "I Can't Stop" (by John Davis & The Monster Orchestra). Passport would be my fifth one..."Juju Man". <br /></b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give some shoutouts at the end of this interview?" <br /></b></b></p><p><b><b>DJ DISCO PEE:"Shout outs to my man Prince Divine, Jazzy Gee, Kid Finesse....Rest In Peace!! To my mom! Thank God! To my man Norin Rad, the Silver Surfer! Thank you my brother for this interview!"<br /></b></b></p><p><b><b>DJ PERNELLIO:"I wanna shout out all the equipment carriers. Each DJ from each project! Big ups to Mike & Dave! They played a big role in our career. Big ups to St. Nick!!!" </b></b></p><p><b><b> </b></b></p><p><b><b></b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGjMn-QtOF7IRG9SRb8-mq6lmrbHRxtXbsj7MWrD4T0gkSKY10l3Q9tKDRHzr5r6eFIk-bTQwTtjFKg70ZJ4T-rqQOtsKTbBInRnw5CX3VWVocZ_eWHew4HLwtzsb7Ctih9z-9ngn7xg/s960/The+P-Brothers+Disko+Vs.+DJ+Spivey+%2526+Kid+Delight+and+Kool+Ski+%2540+I.S.+201+1981.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="540" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGjMn-QtOF7IRG9SRb8-mq6lmrbHRxtXbsj7MWrD4T0gkSKY10l3Q9tKDRHzr5r6eFIk-bTQwTtjFKg70ZJ4T-rqQOtsKTbBInRnw5CX3VWVocZ_eWHew4HLwtzsb7Ctih9z-9ngn7xg/s320/The+P-Brothers+Disko+Vs.+DJ+Spivey+%2526+Kid+Delight+and+Kool+Ski+%2540+I.S.+201+1981.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>January 31st, 1981: DJ Pernellio & The P-Brothers Disko battle DJ Spivey & Kid Delight + Kool Ski at I.S. 201 in Harlem</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><b><br /> </b><br /></b><p></p><p><b><br /></b></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-5375676637277986392021-06-21T11:15:00.003-07:002021-06-21T11:38:35.008-07:00Interview with B-Boy Teenie Rock (Dancin' Doug's partner)<p><b><br /> Interview with B-Boy Teenie Rock</b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjw7lPgcqj2zGD5l879Ma8_hJp3uc835BuV3Zge62fYfl3-3WzAdRbfGGwWMVyCOW01_B2VTPXPp63JE9nW7eQ8NTwIndVU9z-NHWiY5KcTim_UW5wBU4tuX2VTu-kjx95Dm2y3sssPQ/s2048/Teenie+Rock.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjw7lPgcqj2zGD5l879Ma8_hJp3uc835BuV3Zge62fYfl3-3WzAdRbfGGwWMVyCOW01_B2VTPXPp63JE9nW7eQ8NTwIndVU9z-NHWiY5KcTim_UW5wBU4tuX2VTu-kjx95Dm2y3sssPQ/s320/Teenie+Rock.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <b>B-Boy Teenie Rock</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b> </b><p></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany) </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where are you from originally?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"I was born and raised in the Bronx. Right there on 183rd Street....West Bronx. Between 183rd & University Avenue...... Andrews Avenue. I went to preschool in the Bronx and junior high school in the Bronx. When I was thirteen I moved to Harlem where my grandmother and my mother was raised. So I got a lot of background from the Bronx. All my dancing materials come from the Bronx. Coming into Harlem I just took what I knew and I ran into some friend... Dancin' Doug...my partner. I lived on 154th Street......between 8th Avenue & Bradhurst Avenue...one block away from the Polo Grounds." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When were you born?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"I was born in 1959." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you moved to Harlem in 1972, right?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Yeah."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What exactly is your name as a dancer? I have come across both Ma Teenie and Teenie Rock but which one is it?" </b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Well, my mother's name.....we used to call her Teenie. Friends used to come around all the time to my house and I always used to call my mother<i> </i>Mama Teenie or Ma Teenie. That name stuck with me through basketball and dancing. So Teenie Rock is the dancing name and the basketball name. Ma Teenie comes from the song that's behind me and Dancin' Doug. The Song is called "New Bell" (by Manu Dibango)...<i>.</i>(sings to the melody of "New Bell")..<i>Ma Teenie.....Dancin' Doug!!! Ma Teenie....Dancin' Doug!!!! </i>That's where Ma Teenie comes from!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of music where you exposed to when you were a child growing up?"<i> </i></b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"It was all Soul music. My mother was a dancer and a singer and she played every kind of artist but it was all Soul music. Our favourites growing up was definetely James Brown...... because James Brown played a lot of music in the 1960's<i>. </i>Almost every month it looked like a new song was coming out......and Michael Jackson. Those were the two that were really deep in our heart."<i> </i></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I guess you had already been dancing prior to attending Kool DJ Herc's parties. Please describe how you developed your dancing skills at an early age? What were your main influences?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"When we were little kids our family had a lot of gatherings. My grandmother always used to have her grandkids on the floor and they would throw quarters on the floor... 25 cents....they would throw quarters out for us to dance. So whoever would dance the best would get the quarter. My brother..Carl Wright... is who I looked up to. Me and Doug looked up to him because he was the better dancer than both of us, he just never came out to dance. He went to the Apollo and won amateur night dancing. His name is Carl Wright, he doesn't have a nickname. I was influenced by him and also by James Brown...his dancing....The Jacksons... we got a lot of moves from there but we weren't even knowing that we were doing B-Boy moves, we were just having fun dancing."</b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFnwKyk24ZmbnFLtKwhXaGtXTYp7mept6xC7851HhU3M8q1Uwsqh4He5T79kBil3BOM4ZFc6QlPajVaGMq_MzYL7Z4lfCRORVzVAU0wa2aMnnP6T5B6hHV2DcPNVj-mNMBwo6xTOhJBQ/s2048/Teenie.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFnwKyk24ZmbnFLtKwhXaGtXTYp7mept6xC7851HhU3M8q1Uwsqh4He5T79kBil3BOM4ZFc6QlPajVaGMq_MzYL7Z4lfCRORVzVAU0wa2aMnnP6T5B6hHV2DcPNVj-mNMBwo6xTOhJBQ/s320/Teenie.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> B-Boy Teenie Rock<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did you find out about Kool DJ Herc's parties and when did you start going there?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"1973/74.......we all used to hang out and go to parties locally but Dancing Doug...he went to Cardinal Hayes (High School)...which was in the Bronx opposite our high school which was John F. Kennedy.......Doug would always come back with flyers because I guess the guys at his school they knew a lot about parties. He would come back with flyers and we always used to go to parties so we said,"Okay, we gonna go up there to this Kool Herc party!"It was like,"We gotta go up there 'cause they got some good dancers. Let's go get it in!" So we started to practice and then we just started going up there until finally we just threw ourselves in it. You know, they had their crew already. We just went up there and they didn't know us, they didn't accept us, so we had to jump in and do our thing! That's how we got on."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you recall where your very first Kool Herc party took place at?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"It was the Hevalo. That was the first one that we went to. Starlight.....there was a couple of them (clubs) but the Hevalo was the main one we went to."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe the atmosphere at those Kool Herc parties in the Hevalo."</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Well, like the first time we used to go up there we basically had to stand in line. It was always kinda dark and gloomy. Everybody was out there. It wasn't like the movies where you got all these fancy cars and everybody out there with diamonds and pearls and stuff like that. No! I t was a lot of boys and girls just waiting in line, just wanting to have fun..go dance and have a good time. The music you could hear it down the block. As soon as you got out the cab you could hear the music because every time they opened the door to let people in, the music was blasting out. So it took us about an hour and a half, two hours to get in and you know we never went early because we knew right around 12 o'clock is when Kool Herc always went into his break music. We knew we had to get there around 11.30 at night because that's when everybody was getting ready to do their thing. So maybe from 8 o'clock to 12 people were having a good time but all the B-Boys, all the dancers knew at 12 o'clock it was on." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did you get to the Hevalo? You mentioned something about cabs?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Yeah, our crew...it was a lot of us...so we would just get cabs from Harlem. We'd jump in cabs, it would be about four or five cabs full of us and we'd just ride up to the Bronx. Back then it costed no more than 2, 3, 4 dollars....back in those days. You know, we'd get a cab. Coming home it'd be hard to catch cabs. The place was really near the train station, so basically we would just walk down the street and get on the 4 Train and take it back to Harlem. But most of the time we just jumped in them cabs and we was ready to go up there to have a good time. There was no fighting, it was no really nothing going on. Nobody getting mugged or anything, it was just </b><b><b>a lot of fun, a lot of good dancing, meeting girls, meeting guys...we were forming friendships with people that we didn't even know we would have friendships with. The music was loud, it was different.</b> The music was completely different from Harlem. Kool Herc was playing the beats and from there that just was the staple. We was already in love with music but now we were in love with music even more. We used to stand right next to the big speakers and wait till 12 o'clock and then the next day our ears would be ringing for a week." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you dress for a Kool Herc party? I mean your partner Dancing Doug was known for always dressing very fly, so what was your approach to dressing?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Well, we went to Delancey Street a lot. Everyone went to Delancey Street from different parts of the city. You could get everything there! Leather coats, Cortefiel coats, everything you can name. You would get some tailor-made pants, plaid pants. You'd get them hemmed, you'd get them customized. I always had on a cashmere sweater with a t-shirt under it. I had a fisherman Kangol, I didn't wear any glasses or anything like that just a little hat to throw it over my head. We didn't really dress too much, we didn't get too flashy 'cause me and Doug had a lot of moves. We didn't wanna overdress."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"In which way did the music at parties in Harlem differ from the music that Kool DJ Herc played at his jams in the Bronx?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Well, the thing about the music with DJ Hollywood (famous Disco DJ from Harlem) and the music for Kool Herc is that when we were in Harlem we really went to a lot of parties away (in the Bronx) 'cause nobody was dancing like that in Harlem. Remember we were in Harlem but we came back. People was hearing about us in Harlem, so then we started getting challenges. Then we had to start to go off on people in the Battlegrounds (legendary park in Harlem), the community centers but most of our damage....we took our dance to the Bronx 'cause that music up there was different. Kool Herc was cutting different breakbeats, they wasn't doing that in Harlem.</b><b><b> He was bringing music that we hadn't heard before. Those beats were turning our bodies into a different person. We had to get ready. A lot of the music that we was hearing... we started buying little cassette tapes, we'd record the music at the parties and </b>we'd take it back and we'd play it. We started throwing moves, we started just practicing things 'cause we had to be at our A game. Every weekend we had to bring our A game 'cause the guys in the Bronx were really, really good. They really were but me and Doug murdered them! We murdered them all and they know it (laughs)!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"All of the B-Boys from Kool DJ Herc's parties that I have spoken to so far stated that the music literally coerced them to dance and put them in a zone. Like they felt those beats in their soul...."</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"That's what I was just telling you a little while ago when that music came on it did something to us!! It was like being at a concert 'cause the music was so loud and you could hear every instrument and you knew when to move, what beat to look for and when you was on point...the music is really what turned you into a B-Boy!! Every one of your moves was with the beat, on the sound. Whenever he changed it over we knew exactly when to come in on. James Brown "Give It Up Or Turn It Loose"...... we waited for certain parts of it and we had it all down pat. And "The Mexican" came on...we was waiting for different parts of it. Like I said we had so many songs that we didn't know but we already knew 'em 'cause we heard them over and over again. Our body reacted to every beat that Herc put on because like I said it touched your soul and it just brought out so much in you. That was our national championship as young men! Going to Kool Herc's parties and dancing!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you also agree with the notion that Kool DJ Herc's parties were like the most prestigious arena for B-Boys to go off at back then? That it was like playing basketball at Rucker Park?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Yeah, and that's where I'm at 'cause I did both. I had my name from the Rucker. You know, that's how I went to college because I was an All-City basketball player. So all of that intwined because that's how my name reacted with basketball because my dancing name took over in the streets, in the parks. They found out, "Oh, that's Teenie Rock! Yo, Teenie Rock do your thing!" And that's how we did it! But Ma Teenie was a song that my crew would sing and the guys in the Bronx they heard it. When that song came on ("New Bell" by Manu Dibangu) almost everybody would march to the circle. We just drew a crowd.....everybody was like, "Yo, they're here!!! They're getting ready!" We was ready, we walked in ready. "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please elaborate on how you met Dancin' Doug!"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Well, I used to go down to my grandmother's house...for the weekend.... She lived in the projects right next to Polo Grounds....that's the Colonial Projects. When we moved down to Harlem we already knew some people in building 1 in the Polo Grounds so we met Doug and his crew. His friends were just friends, we just hung out, played basketball across the street a lot. We danced, did different things a lot. I met Doug probably my first month when I moved to Harlem and from there we just connected, you know? We liked the same things and we supported each other. There was like thirty of us as a crew. There was many of us. Me and Doug we lived two lives, when we were in Harlem we were one way but on the weekends we'd leave with our crew and go dance and the people in Harlem didn't know about us until later on in the years because they wasn't doing what we were doing. Doug was always the promoter. He knew where to go, "Let's go here! Let's go there!" We went wherever he took us. We used to skip school and go to college parties, down in City College on Thursdays at 2 o'clock. We used to skip school and go down there. That was for the mature, so we went down there to see if we could hang out with the mature people, too. We would just dance, do the Hustle and all that. There we didn't do the breakdancing...I mean, I never called it breakdancing. We could be just nice there and dance and people would still gather round. You know, we went to different types of parties, we was well rounded. We could go to Disco which we didn't do a lot but we could Hustle and hang out with the Disco people. We definetely was grimey in the street, dancing up in the Bronx and then we was mellow, too with it."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vRQhUABKtPGifNFdKYnZfWy1lcZw68AKsBNrmJ1MieQgPRtFj-ZiINzpGN3QhUB0tJA0X5VkuwECcy2YGxEM93pR_RSq0Uloo4Ryy0smTK-u1R8eCRe1G_72ljBJXmsySwO76bTDrg/s960/doug+playhouse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vRQhUABKtPGifNFdKYnZfWy1lcZw68AKsBNrmJ1MieQgPRtFj-ZiINzpGN3QhUB0tJA0X5VkuwECcy2YGxEM93pR_RSq0Uloo4Ryy0smTK-u1R8eCRe1G_72ljBJXmsySwO76bTDrg/s320/doug+playhouse.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> Dancin' Doug at the legendary Executive Playhouse (one of the clubs where Kool DJ Herc used to rock at) <br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I was told that there were also a lot of battles of B-Boy duos at Herc's parties and I heard that you and Dancing Doug had some fierce battles against Trixie and his cousin Wallace Dee (RIP). Please describe how these battles went down from your point of view."</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Well, me and Doug we basically always danced together. Like we'd dance together.... if you wanna go, I'll be right here....tag team.... you dou your thing, I do my thing but when it was time to go against guys, we always had to dance against two. I remember the first time that we danced against Wallace and Trixie. We was dancing, man, and they went first! I think it was Trixie....he threw out......can I say this? He was dancing and he threw out a dildo on the floor! Oh my God!!! The crowd went crazy, man!!!! Me and Doug were like, "What is this, man???" They would dance and they would really be moving fast when they danced. Me and Doug came back 'cause we always had a bunch of stuff but what we killed them with was we got these moves where we slapped each other's hands, turn around...then I threw Doug under my leg and then he'd come back, falling back through..... Then I threw him up on my shoulders and then we turned to Mr. Jekyll & Dr. Hyde. It was over! The crowd went crazy!!! But, man, that battle in particular was hard. The Bronx cats was on our head when Wallace and Trixie threw that dildo out. I was like, "Oh, my God!" Yes, the battles was intense but the Bronx accepted us, man, 'cause we wasn't no lame ducks. We were going against their best and their best was really, really good, so me and Doug were ready. It wasn't easy but we finally got to the point where they respected us. You know, because we was there and we was getting it in. And then when the other cats came we was just giving them the battle! Goin' off on everybody!! Every week we'd come back with something different and they just couldn't understand. You know, Doug had the motorcycle (routine)......We started the drop! Me and Doug! The drop people are using now where you go down on one foot and you put your leg behind your back, spinning, then you come back up We started that drop!" <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"That corkscrew type of drop...."</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Yeah!! Exactly!!! We started that! We was doing that and then Doug was doing his little motorcycle thing. I would come under men and then I would do my </b><b><b> thing </b>and then I'd take the guy's shirt and flip it up and put my head under him and then just come back under. Like I was touching people's bodies. I made up a move where I would act like I was falling, man, and I'd just fall on the guy, break my stuff, catch his shoulders and pop back up! Man, it was.... It was great, man!! We was doing acrobatic stuff but it was kinda not at a high level. It was dancing acrobatics. We wasn't doing all that jumping around, doing flips behind our back. Nah, we was keeping our feet on the ground and we was dancing."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were your favourite beats to go off to?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Number one is definetely "Give It Up Or Turn It Loose"....James Brown! That's number one! Always! "The Mexican"..I like that one because when they hit that beat after they come out of that chorus and it comes right into that guitar beat......oh my God!!!! That one! There's so many of those beats! Anything James Brown I can come back to. "Listen To Me"...I put that in there. That was always good 'cause when he hit that beat when my man be screaming. (hums the melody of "Listen To Me") Boy, I'm telling you, that's that Bronx music right there!!!! Them cats come at you when you play "Listen To Me". For some reason they come at you after that one. "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was the dance called when you were doing it?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Matter of fact we were just burning people......going off!!! We didn't call it B-Boying, people would later call us B-Boys."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who were the most outstanding B-Boys in your era to you besides Dancing Doug and you?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Wallace Dee, Trixie, Sasa. I think Clark Kent, The Twins ( Keith & Kevin), Rossy they were young. They were watching us, they came after us. It was some other cats' names but the outstanding guys those were the ones that I just named. Oh, and Bosco Rock was in there, too! I forgot. He was doing his thing, too! " <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What do you remember about the Chuck Center? Did you ever dance there?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Okay, if you really wanna go at it NOTHING is gonna compare to Kool Herc's parties. Now the Chuck Center was kool, we went down there a couple of times, did our thing. The Battlegrounds was good, up on Amsterdam Avenue, on The Hill. But our name was made in the Bronx. We had already had our names when Chuck Center was going on, you know? We'd go to Chuck Center every now and then but there was much stronger competition in the Bronx. The guys in the Bronx was nice with it. I mean me and Doug, we're probably the first out of Harlem. I can't see nobody else 'cause nobody else stepped to the plate. When we came home guys tried to come at us but it was over! It was over before it got started. We were just practicing on those guys 'cause they wasn't into that."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, and what do you recall about The Promenade in Marble Hill?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:" We beat everybody in The Promenade, me and Doug. Matter of fact, we went to school right next to The Promenade...John F. Kennedy High School. You could walk to the school, that's how close The Promenade is. We used to go up there, they had some cat there named Charlie Rock...another Charlie Rock (not Cholly Rock) and some other kids from Marble Hill Projects that thought they was nice with it.. Same thing with Dyckman Houses. All them guys up there thought they was nice with it. We went up there 'cause we went to school there and we destroyed them, man. I'm not trying to brag but me and Doug we went up there and we got our footprint in Promenade, we got our footprint in Marble Hill. We had great parties up there!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When did those B-Boy parties at The Promenade take place?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"1975/76.....that's when we danced at The Promenade. The Promenade used to have great parties, man!!! It was everybody coming from that part of the Bronx. Then you had some guys coming from across and down from Harlem and up from New Rochelle and Mount Vernon. It was a good mixture of people dancing in those days. Lot of pretty girls, lot of pretty girls, man. Everybody was going there. The Promenade is one huge building and it was very very nice 'cause you had security doormen and stuff like that. You probably had to have some money to live in that building. Those people looked like they were middle class people that lived there. They had a big center downstairs and for whatever reason they'd let the kids have parties there. But yeah, we took care of that Marble Hill crew, trust me! They came through, they thought they was nice with it and they all went to John F. Kennedy High School, yeah. We took care of them. We also destroyed a couple of guys that came from the Bronx...they was in the Black Spades...they came over from Stevenson High School and they tried to dance against us. We got them, too. So we had a lot of respect in the Bronx and Harlem, everywhere we went dancing. Later on after we had left in the 1980s here come these guys talking about they're B-Boys, they're original.......Wait a minute! Where's the time table at? You gotta be kidding me!!! (laughs) Wait a minute! They just scratched out five years of us dancing out of the whole equation."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"From what I have heard The People's Choice Crew was the first DJ Crew in that part of Harlem that played that Bronx Breakbeat Sound, followed later on by The G-Force Crew. What was it like to dance in the Battlegrounds?"<br /></b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Well, then everybody knew that the dance was burning each other. By that time everybody knew that if you went parties you would have to burn somebody. We went to the Battlegrounds. Everybody knew us, they thought we was okay. We let these cats go off first. They started going off....the crowd was so thick in there that night that we only had a tight spot to dance in. They kept getting closer and closer. Man, we probably just had six feet to dance that night. These cats was coming so me and Doug did our thing. We went off! When we went we didn't just go and play around. No, we practiced our moves. Every week we'd throw in new moves and we practiced. We had good moves, we were natural with it but I'm not gonna say we were anywhere without practice. No! We were already good but we always had creative minds. We had to make sure it worked. We didn't have every beat that Kool Herc played with us while we were practicing. So the thing is we were practicing without the music!!! So when we went to Kool Herc's parties whatever he threw on we'd put our routines in it and we just did it. It just was so amazing that what we put in without listening to the music worked so well...it was almost like being in the studio, laying the tracks. We made hits!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"That's very interesting as other original B-Boys have told me the same thing about their approach to practicing."</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Yeah, and we didn't do it like (counts), "<i>1,2,3,4.....1,2,3,4." </i>A lot of times we didn't even know which routine we were doing! We just went out there and we did it. It wasn't like, "Yo Doug, when this song comes on we gonna throw this move on." Nah! It was just like we kinda vibed off each other. When he was ready, he started getting it in.....I was getting it in and we had so much stuff, man that when I saw what he was doing, I was right on top of it. When he saw what I was doing, he was right on top of it. You know, it was instinct."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"It seems as if almost all the B-Boys from Kool DJ Herc's parties used to do certain characters as part of their dance. Like James Bond would do the Get Smart..... Did you do something similar back then?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Yeah, I think all of our dance was characters because what we did was we took a lot of stuff like from The Wizard Of Oz. You know when the scarecrow and them jumped on top their shoulders.... That was our routine! When I threw Doug on my shoulders we would go into our Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde move. That was a couple of our routines. Like The Wizard Of Oz, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein. We kinda combined a lot of that into some of our routines. Especially when I threw Doug up my shoulders....nobody did that! Nobody ever in those B-Boy days when they did those team tandems. Then we went back to the old days of the 1930s when they used to do the Lindy Hop. We took moves from there. Like when I threw Doug under my legs and he'd come back and I'd swing him back up through my legs. I mean we had so many different routines I wish I could remember them all. We did a lot of the Three Stooges moves, too." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You and Dancin' Doug also used to have a B-Girl from Drew Hamilton with you that was called Dancin' Doll. What do you recall about her and her style of dancing?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Yeah Darlene Rivers....Dancin' Doll...she was the female version of us. She was part of our crew. She danced solo but she came in with a couple of routines with us, too. She could go down on the ground and do the corkscrew, she could go down and do her own thing because she had her own style. The thing about her is Dancin' Doll would dance against boys.... there wasn't too many girls trying to go at her 'cause she was nice with hers, too."<br /></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguFuU4MeDiTXVZOoJ3NE93OJ1aPQwMNAYopePjDCyvLxw5CpyGzEPA_ZSsfWim_adxJ-pNhHj2RWFheb0XPuvU0_wXFPG0Cbl0lCca87IrCjcmkO2mCGxvG8hGUbF-J7xcN4oS-4MveA/s899/Dancin%2527+Doug+%2526+Dancin+Doll.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="659" data-original-width="899" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguFuU4MeDiTXVZOoJ3NE93OJ1aPQwMNAYopePjDCyvLxw5CpyGzEPA_ZSsfWim_adxJ-pNhHj2RWFheb0XPuvU0_wXFPG0Cbl0lCca87IrCjcmkO2mCGxvG8hGUbF-J7xcN4oS-4MveA/s320/Dancin%2527+Doug+%2526+Dancin+Doll.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Dancin' Doug and Dancin' Doll goin' off<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> <br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of effect did Coke La Rock shouting your name out on the microphone have on you when you were going off back then?"</b></p><p><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Okay, Coke La Rock he had that echo chamber going on. So when he'd say your name, the echo would go, "<i>Teenie Rock Rock Rock!!!!!!</i>" </b><b><b>And he just knew how to do it. That's like your name up in lights. Like once he say that...yo, you gotta go!! You gotta go!! You gotta throw everything you got, man!!! Because for that minute, man, you're on cloud nine. For that minute you're the best in the world 'cause Coke La Rock is saying your name! Oh my God! It really gives you character 'cause it gives you the personality to not be afraid, to be fearless.....to go out there and be successful. It was packed, everybody in there was screaming. You felt like a superstar, all eyes on you. It was nobody screaming, "<i>Whack!"</i> or nothin' like that or, "<i>Boo!" </i>None of that stuff. I never heard that at any of those parties. Everybody was cheering for everybody. We had to come correct 'cause at first they didn't even tell people that we was from Harlem. Everybody was just going at each other. They just had to find out we was from Harlem and they went at us even harder!"</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So is it accurate to say that in order to gain recognition as a B-Boy back then you had to be able to entertain the crowd with your dancing?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Yeah, you had to and really we wasn't doing no talking. Everything was dancing, it wasn't like staring at people, in their face, "<i>Yo, you suck, you whack!!!" </i>We wasn't grabbing our genitals and all that stuff. No, not at all. I mean that's just one move and if you get a rise out of grabbing your nuts........That's not dancing. That's just one move. It is over, you know what I'm saying?? I'm like, "That's really all you got?" You spin down and then you put your hand over your legs and you put your other hand over your head....freezing, looking at somebody. That's over! You had to bring more. You had to have showmanship, dancemanship......You had to keep the party going! Your dancing had to be like Herc's breakbeats. Herc kept the party going, you had to keep the dance moves going to keep the crowd going. It was no stopping. <br /></b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you very much! Would you like to give some shout outs at the end of this interview?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>TEENIE ROCK:"Oh yeah, I'm shouting out everybody from Herc and his crew. Everybody that was there....Trixie, Sasa, Wallace Dee, Bosco Rock, The Twins, Chip, Rossy, Dancin' Doug...my crew, everybody!!! Coke La Rock......if I forgot your name it's so many people.......and shout out to you Norin Rad 'cause it's been fun!"<br /></b></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> <br /> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p> <br /></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-618961115960700562021-04-27T03:35:00.006-07:002022-04-09T11:47:15.216-07:00Interview with B-Boy / DJ Bosco Rock<p><b> Interview with B-Boy / DJ Bosco Rock <br /></b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjysldkVlS7CoyhuImqyq9TuzouNL3y7L6dWN2Jf54RH1P_AD8CMzOOZqj3Qd2tM3iyDZa-Kp696pDY-qNglcv6N4lgtceITvvKJZ8OZA4CbudvmP8szOajEskK4NeEQixX3WBcxmvUTA/w251-h360/Bosco.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="251" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>B-Boy / DJ Bosco Rock </b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"></div><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany) </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly in the Bronx did you live at when you started going to Kool DJ Herc's parties?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"I lived on Morris Avenue between 170th & 169th Street in the Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"That's right by Taft High School, correct?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Yes, Taft High School is right up the block. It's in walking distance, you can see it. I attended Taft High School during that time when I was going to Kool Herc's parties."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Which year were you born in?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"56. 1956. My brother Wallace Dee (legendary B-Boy from Herc's parties ) was two years younger than I. He was born in 1958." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe how you met Herc and what made you go to his parties!"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Well, at the time we used to play a lot of basketball. All over, you know? There was a park....Harlem State Park....it's now called Roberto Clemente State Park. Kool Herc has a sister named Cindy. Me and my brother we used to talk to her 'cause you know it was one of those places where everybody could go to and hang out. This was a beautiful place....Harlem State Park. We would be over there and she mentioned something about her birthday coming up. She told us that they would have a "Back to school" party and so I was like, "Really?" So my brother said that we would go there. 'Cause we were always together, there wasn't a time where we wasn't together. So we decided that we was gonna go to this first first party (August 11th, 1973), right? We did not know that it was gonna be so jam-packed and that the music was gonna be the way it's gonna be. It was crowded on the inside and it was crowded on the outside at the center! It was beautiful!! Kool Herc started off different though...He started off playing Jamaican music at first. I remember he didn't get a big response from that, then he went to something else and when he went to something else....I think the first song that I heard him play that got a response was by The New Birth "I Can Understand It", okay? So when he played that he got a response from people, people started dancing. That first party my brother Wallace Dee and I danced, right? But we didn't dance with the level of B-Boy as we did at the Herc parties after that. We kept it simple." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What do you mean by that?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"See it wasn't excactly roomy roomy in the center. It was so crowded, you know? And it wasn't a battle at that point....at the first first party. What it was was people getting to know each other through dancing and we did that because it was mostly about seeing who is gonna show up, you know? See what type of persons is gonna be there. What type of people. Those type of things."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Was there also a large number of females at that very first Kool DJ Herc party?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Oh, it was!!!! (excited) It was some of the most beautiful women from all around the Bronx. They came there from all different parts. You had a large numer of females 'cause women would be mainly travelling in packs, you know? There would be a lot of them. You had different groups.....nicely dressed...things like that. We was young, we were all teenagers. It was always about dressing nice and impressing the people. Stuff like that. One of those things. Me and my brother had a history of dressing real nice, so this was no surprise to us. It was one of those things.......we were always dressing nice! This was just a step up for us." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who inspired you to start dancing when you were still a young kid?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Well, my family is big, okay? Cousins and everything....so I had a aunt.....aunt Nell... she used to give a little party here and there and we used to go to her house.....and you know...in her living room...we used to dance over there and we used to see who danced the best. It was like, "Watch such and such dance!" or "Watch this person dance!". But it was always about, "Watch Bosco dance! Watch Wallace dance! They can dance!" So it was one of those things, we would dance at those little things. It was just us doing that. But the person that I was impressed by was James Brown......the way he danced, the way he moved. Then in the late 1960s, 1970 I started to notice how Michael Jackson danced....the way he would dance to certain beats. So I started paying attention to music and the way it made me feel. I literally have to feel the music completely in my whole entire body in order to move the way I move and because of that it gave me the rhythm that I needed to become the dancer that I became and I used that."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where would you see James Brown dance at?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"It would be on like the Ed Sullivan Show.....you know, these types of shows on television 'cause that's the only way you could see somebody like that. But I'mma tell you something. There's another person that used to emulate James Brown so well and his name was Stoney. He was a older guy, right? He used to emulate James Brown and it was pretty good 'cause he was a good dancer and I seen that. My mother and father used to say,"Oh, he dances just like James Brown!" I said, "Reallly?!" 'cause I had already seen James Brown on TV and that's where my first inspiration came from. So what I did was...I seen Stoney outside.....just dancing, just fooling around......no music, no nothing...just dancing. So I said, "Oh! Now that's something!" Dance without the music and see what happens and then when the music comes and you're able to feel the music....you know body and soul.....you're basically unstoppable because you're losing no beat at all. I mean every piece of the record you gotta move for it. You don't get stuck. You know some people they get stuck but you don't get stuck because you're listening constantly." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Let's turn back to Herc's first party. You're saying he was playing Jamaican music at first and then started to put on the B-Boy joints?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"He played some good reggae music, right? But you know it's not B-Boy music it was just regular reggae music, you know? People was dancing. The reaction I'm talking about is the reaction that when people started to show what type of dance style they had. That was starting to come, that was starting to show up 'cause people that were standing outside started coming inside. Then you would see all of that...the B-Boy dancing and all of that. His music was great, it was great from the beginning." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were some of the B-Boy joints that Kool DJ Herc played at his very early parties in 1973/74 besides "I Can Understand It" by The New Birth?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Okay, he played a series of songs. What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna break down some of the songs that I liked and everybody else liked for that matter. Okay, let's start off with...you want fast or slow (songs)?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please start with the B-Boy songs!"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Alright, let's go with the B-Boy songs! Let's go with my all-time-favourite..."Give It Up Or Turn It Loose" by James Brown...the live version! My brother's (Wallace Dee) favourite...."Listen To Me" by Baby Huey. The Jackson Five....."Hum Along And Dance". "Scorpio" by Dennis Coffey. "Bongo Rock" and "Apache" by The Incredible Bongo Band. "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Is it true that Herc also played "Get Ready" by The Rare Earth?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Yeah, he played "Get Ready". That's one of the songs he would play. He would also play "Ride Sally Ride" by Dennis Coffey and "It's Just Begun" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch. Then you had "The Mexican" by Babe Ruth. That was right at the top of the list! He would play "The Mexican" right after "Listen To Me" most of the times. Also he had songs like "Yellow Sunshine" by Yelllow Sunshine, "Get Into Something" by The Isley Brothers, "Think" by Lyn Collins. He would also play "E-Man Boogie" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch and "Rock Steady" by Aretha Franklin. One of Coke's (Coke La Rock) favourites was "Put The Music Where Your Mouth Is" by The Olympic Runners. It's an instrumental. That was one record right there! I really liked that record! Let me also mention that song "Skin Tight" by The Ohio Players. That was one of the favourites over there at The Hevalo."<br /></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_UtNaadPjV1PwLBKnPjtXy33URefPaSopVa1sIZbrG0OPKEhPmputSnOzIXF__X_UsCVIZhtl5eKdPAXKOern3wSDx-xNUPKO9Cc_n8PcDfaD_ig4osBe88wcloxFxKw4bKDoqzqXA/s960/1973+Jackson+Five+-+Hum+Along+And+Dance.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_UtNaadPjV1PwLBKnPjtXy33URefPaSopVa1sIZbrG0OPKEhPmputSnOzIXF__X_UsCVIZhtl5eKdPAXKOern3wSDx-xNUPKO9Cc_n8PcDfaD_ig4osBe88wcloxFxKw4bKDoqzqXA/s320/1973+Jackson+Five+-+Hum+Along+And+Dance.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> "Hum Along And Dance" by The Jackson Five (Album: "Get It Together" 1973)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> <br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What about the slow songs that Kool DJ Herc and Coke La Rock would play at their early parties?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Okay, let me run down the slow songs for you. You're ready?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Yesssss!"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"He played "Dedicated To The One I Love" by The Temprees. He would play New Birth "Wildflower". He played New Birth "Stop, Look, Listen To Your Heart". You gotta hear that one! Then "It's Been Such A Long Time" by The New Birth, that's pretty good, too! There's a song by The O'Jays called "Sunshine" from the album that's also nice. And then The Originals "Baby I'm For Real!" You got "Distant Lover" by Marvin Gaye, "Tell Me This Is A Dream" by The Delfonics. You also got "For The Love I Gave To You" and "Hey Love" by The Delfonics. "Seven Days" and "The Lovely Way She Loves" by The Moments. Those are all beautiful songs man! "The Love We Had Stays On My Mind" by The Dells, "I Wanna Know Your Name" by The Intruders. "Hypnotized" by Linda Jones...those kinda songs."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Amazing!!! Thank you! Did they play these songs at the end of their parties?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"No, not necessarily. Sometimes it would be to give dancers a break, you know what I mean? 'Cause you know, nobody can dance constantly for hours without rest periods, so you know you gotta have a little rest period here and there. So he might mix it in there. You know, he might be playing fast music for maybe an hour or two...something like that. Then he might go into a couple of slow songs...back and forth. That's what he was doing and those were the things that were pretty decent about his parties 'cause he knew how to blend in the music here and there. But these are the early parties when we were still going to the center. He had a few block parties but we were still going to the center. When we was going to the center and everything nobody knew who was on the microphone to tell you that honestly. Nobody knew who was on the microphone. We would hear the person on the microphone but we wouldn't see the person on the microphone 'cause Kool Herc was high up and you couldn't see behind him to see who was there. You wouldn't pay a lot attention to that 'cause the music was so good and the MC was good. You know, stuff like that. Then...I guess it was maybe after five or six parties....around there he came out and said, "Coke La Rock!"And everybody smiled and said, "That's Coke!" 'Cause you know he had so many different names before he was Coke La Rock. So when he stuck on that one, that one stuck and the people kinda liked it and they gravitated towards it, you know? This guy (Coke La Rock) he was the DJ and he was the MC and he was the person that would rock the party for real!!!! When Coke got on the turntables you knew it was time to dance! That's for sure! And they both had their roles but them two together.....outstanding!!!!! Both of them!!! That was a perfect match, man! Perfect match! He couldn't have a better friend to work on the music that he had. "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did those early Kool Herc block parties take place?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"The block parties was right there on Sedgwick Avenue. We had these really long stairs that a person would come down if you didn't drive and ended up on Sedgwick by driving but your shortcut was going down the stairs. These really long stairs that you would hear the music way before you even got to the party. That's how powerful Herc's system had gotten after a while. We got there and you know it would be so crowded and we would be like, "Oh man! Look at this! This is beautiful!" People were dancing and moving around until Coke La Rock would announce a dance contest. Everybody would come together and form this huge circle and then we waited for the challenges! Whatever challenge that may be. Later on Herc would do block parties in Echo Park, Arthur Park, Cedar Park......these were the popular spots."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Coke La Rock was also the person that added "Rock" to your name, right?" </b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Yes, he was. One day he was like, "Wallace Dee...." and the beat kept going on and on and then he said, "and Bosco Rock!!!!" Then everytime I walked into the party he would do that. He would say my name this way. Everytime I walked into the party it would be me and Wallace Dee at first and then later on Tex would walk in with us. Tex joined us later down the line after we had started going to the clubs. That's where that came from." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did you get the name Bosco from?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Okay, that came from my mother. My mother gave me that. We lived on 141st Street & Cypress Avenue. I was just a kid in public school during that time. One day I guess she just said it and then it just kinda stuck and I kept that name. She was also the first person that taught me how to speak Spanish. That's another thing. So that's where the second language comes from."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Had you already developed a style of dancing which included burning opponents by the time you began attending Herc's parties?" </b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"What I did was I added on what I already did as a dancer 'cause we was already dancing but now we found a home base for the music that we really liked. That would allow us to elevate our style and that's what me and my brother did. The better the music, the more we danced to it. So what we had to do was we had to literally buy the records so we could listen to them in our house and practice and dance and stay up late nights and just perfect what we had in mind. That's where it came from. It was mostly Herc extending the beat of each song, right? Because you see the break didn't last long, you really had to know what you was doing in order to keep it going and he knew what he was doing so he extended it. That allowed you to put more moves into the dance that you wanted to do. So since you knew he was probably gonna extend the breakbeat you prepared yourself to add a little bit more craft to that movement." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would B-Boy battles go down at Kool DJ Herc's early parties? Is it true that back then you and your opponent were dancing at the same time exchanging moves?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Yes, we were and people would look and see who was doing the better moves because you were dancing against a person, he's right there in front of you,you know? He's doing what he's doing and you're doing what you're doing. You had to make it work. That was key right there!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I see. Please describe what went through your mind when you were battling another B-Boy in the circle!"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:" I would think about which move I would do for each tune. I wouldn't think about my opponent, okay? Because I knew he was doing whatever he was doing and I had to do whatever I had in mind already 'cause I practiced this so much, so long. So I'm doing things like the split... I'm spinning around in one spot, dropping down coming back up. Freezing....all of these different things, all these different moves, these tactics. These tactics me and my brother Wallace Dee would practice all the time and this is what worked for us." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you and your brother also do routines together?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Yes, we had some of the best routines that we could come up with. I'm talking about routines that made us say, "This is gonna be something that's gonna shock the crowd! This is what we gotta do!" My brother, you know, he would freeze, stop and he would fall back like as if he's gonna fall on the floor but I'm right there to catch him and I'd catch him by his shoulders. He would come all the way down and then I'd push him all the way back up. When I pushed him all the way up, he would jump up, go down on the ground and then he would spin around come back up and that was it and the crowd would just go crazy! Or I would jump over and stoop down and he would jump right over me and then just start dancing. Then we just had our routine down pat 'cause this is something that we really, really practiced!"</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimbPM6k6CPwQu-OlZJWB0raK-axcjt_z409dDWbjS7gx4L7gMG6spThm56gUoG-IqaBelSqImqVJvr50q0D4qvilJZfdCA1IrT7AJcnZfR6CvalSrYIe3Q_EtXwDXCZPzFhPIgHZRTXw/s853/wallace+%2526+Bosco.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimbPM6k6CPwQu-OlZJWB0raK-axcjt_z409dDWbjS7gx4L7gMG6spThm56gUoG-IqaBelSqImqVJvr50q0D4qvilJZfdCA1IrT7AJcnZfR6CvalSrYIe3Q_EtXwDXCZPzFhPIgHZRTXw/s320/wallace+%2526+Bosco.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>From left to right: Wallace Dee, his mother and his brother Bosco Rock<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you do these routines to specific songs?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Yeah, because see he had his favourite songs and I could dance to his favourite songs. I had my favourite songs and he could dance to my favourite songs. So a lot of times Coke La Rock would say, "What you wanna hear?" So Wallace might say,"Listen To Me!". I might say, "Give It Up Or Turn It Loose". It could be a whole slew of things." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who were the most outstanding B-Boys at Kool DJ Herc's early parties?" </b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Alright....you had Trixie... which is my cousin. You had Dancin' Doug.....Dancin' Doug was very good..and it was another with him that also came from Harlem (he is referring to Teenie Rock). But these are the type of people that did stand out but you gotta remember it wasn't a whole lot of us that were top notch B-Boy dancers at the time. You had a lot of people that was training to become good dancers and eventually they did become good dancers but that was later on. So at the early on parties you mainly came to the party to see my brother Wallace, I, Trixie, Dancin' Doug. You came to see people like us each time you came to a Kool Herc party, you know? That was a highlight! That was a highlight of a lot of peoples' evening 'cause you wanted to see these people battle, these people dance and the thing about it is we as inviduals were all friends! We'd just do this because we loved to dance! That's what it is! Keith and Kevin (The Ni**er Twins) used to watch us all the time and they was good friends of ours, too!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What do you remember about all those legendary early clubs that Kool DJ Herc and Coke La Rock used to rock at? Like the Twilight Zone, the Hevalo and the Executive Playhouse?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Okay, at the Twilight Zone, right? I think at the Twilight Zone was one of the first big dance contests. That's when Coke would get on the microphone and he would give out all these different shoutouts to everybody and he was just talking and he would say,"We gonna have a dance contest!" and, "The dancers from Sedgwick Avenue!!" You know, he was letting the people know that we was from there. So we would come up and we was ready. He said we would be dancing and he said the winner would get a little bit of money...50 $ to the winner....</b><b><b>you know, stuff like that. </b>That was the first big dance contest and we started doing that. We was going to the Twilight Zone for a minute. By the time we got to the Hevalo it was more about the giant crowds and when the song came on you started dancing but it was so crowded! People had to make room!! The Hevalo was really really a nice club. It was crowded all over the place. There you couldn't even wear sneakers! So you had to have shoes on that you was able to dance in. That was the key to have shoes that you can dance in if your record came up and you was gonna dance. we started doing that there."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of shoes are you referring to? Playboys?"<br /></b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"It was different types of shoes. I mean the Playboys and all that...that was good because they had the gummy bottoms and they gave you the ability to bounce and move around and they was comfortable. That was just one set of shoes but it was different types of shoes. Now let me tell you a little secret...at times we would wear sneakers and we would put black socks over the sneakers and it would look like shoes!!! Like you had shoes on!! You know, you're coming in and the light is not as clear and we would walk in and stuff like that and that's how we got in...so we already had our sneaker on to dance, see what I mean?? That was at the Hevalo. We only did that at the Hevalo because they were strict on you gotta wear shoes....those kinda things. Now by the time we got to the Executive Playhouse that's when it really turned up! That's when you got all these other people that wanted to be dancers and stuff like that! We had all this room and we would walk into there and everybody would like almost cheer that was there 'cause Coke La Rock would be on the microphone or Herc would get on the microphone and say our names and he would use the reverb and it would echo throughout the club. It was beautiful!!!! It was something just to see...the atmosphere and the vibe was so great that, you know, you felt comfortable. If you ever went to a Kool Herc party you did not want that party to end!!!! You would wish it was more hours in the night!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Damn!!!! How long did such a party last?" </b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"9....10 o'clock....it lasted till four in the morning."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you also get involved with the Hustle Dance at Herc's parties like Chip or Eldorado Mike?"<br /></b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"I really did like the Hustle. There was a song by B.T. Express called "Express".."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"With the train sound in the beginning of it....."</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Right! With the train sound.....Herc used to play that and that was my cue to dance with the person that I danced with. Cookie was basically the one that was my dance partner....that I did the Hustle with..stuff like that. She was a really good dancer. She was at all the parties. She would meet me at the parties, dance and everything like that. It was real kool, we was good friends."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where was she from?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"She was from Lafayette Projects on Story Avenue. That's where she's from."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How many times did your brother Wallace Dee go against Trixie?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Numerous times! Numerous times! This was constant because it appeared that everybody always wanted to see them dance. It was just fun to watch them two dance, you know when they was battling each other. 'Cause you know their style was just something." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Were you there at the Twilight Zone when Sasa defeated your cousin Trixie and thus took the number one spot from him? What do you remember about this legendary battle? I was told that Trixie tried to clown Sasa by putting a plastic penis in his face but Sasa repelled that attack by acting like he took out scissors and cutting that dildo." </b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Yeah, I don't think Trixie was too happy about this one. You know what I think? I can't be positive but it appeared that Sasa brung a lot of people from his neighbourhood that was there. He was very a good dancer so he was already well-known in his area and he had become well-known in Kool Herc's parties as well. So when the crowd gotta vote for you, the crowd gotta vote for you. But I mean Sasa won. I mean certain times you might do one move that allows you to win that particular battle and that's all it takes.....that one move.That's what Sasa did. Sasa came up with a move that they hadn't seen before and that's all you needed to do. Come up with something that they're not familiar with. So that's where that's at. I think Sasa was more in the age bracket of Keith and Kevin. He was a few years younger than us. You know, when you got up-and-coming dancers they always bring something new to the table."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Which I guess helps to elevate the dance......"<br /></b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"It sure does."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What did you call the dance back then? Did you call it Rocking?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"No, I never called it that. Me and my brother we always used to look at it like, "Let's go off!" </b><b><b>I didn't consider it as Burning either 'cause I always thought that
burning somebody was.....I don't know...a bit disrespectful, something
like that. Our dance was always a friendly dance because we was always
gonna be friends no matter what. Even after we finished dancing, no
matter who won. We had a lot of respect for people. So we used to just go off and it was not so much goin' off on a person, it was goin' off because you heard the record. That's what it was all about. You heard the record, you heard the sound, you heard the music and so you went off to dance on that. So it wasn't the individual because a lot of times like I said I used to focus on just dancing and the music. If my opponent was in front of me I would dance to the music,not to him or her, you see?</b>" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please tell me about the night in which you battled One Eyed Andre from Lambert!"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Now this is the thing...I had heard about Andre, but I hadn't seen him. Then one night we went to Chuck Center in Harlem. We was there, we was all there and stuff like that and then they said, "That's that dude Andre over there!" I said, "Really?" So Wallace is talking to me...we was in a discussion, "I wonder who is to battle him?" Then Wallace said, "You should battle him!" He said, "Even if it's not a battle per se. You could dance and he can see your style and you can see his style." And that's what we did. It wasn't like the DJ there was doing a battle contest or anything like that. We would just dance but it so happened that we danced to that song "Soul Makossa" by Manu Dibango. I think that was one of his favourite songs 'cause the DJs there already knew him. That was me and Wallace first time going to that club right there but they already knew him so I guess he was already famous in that spot but I was coming down there to show my respect and to dance and to let them see where I'm at."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So who won that battle?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Remember I said it wasn't a battle per se. Everybody liked that record when it came out and everybody liked to dance it. The crowd....it consisted of the crowd that was around him and of the crowd that was around me. So you didn't have one big crowd around two people, you had two big crowds around two different people. If you're to say, "Well, who had the bigger crowd?" That's kinda hard to determine. I was the new guy in that center. I guess he had been going there 'cause everybody knew him, more than they knew me. But there was a lot of people from Kool Herc's parties that did know me and they knew my brother. So it was like, "We gotta watch these two dance!" So I can't really determine if we would have went one on one who would have won but I can say he had some pretty good, fancy footwork! That's for sure! One thing about us dancers, we can definetely emulate anybody else's footwork which you normally don't wanna do that. If you do that, you have to add to it. You have to add your own spin on it, no matter what!!"<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Now besides being one of the original B-Boys at Kool Herc's parties along with your late brother Wallace Dee you were also DJ Mario's first DJ partner. Please describe how you met Mario."</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Oh, I met Mario when I was in 7th grade. Somewhere around there.....I was going to Junior High School Herman Ridder......98. It was on Boston Road & 172nd Street. That's where that was at. Mario lived across the bridge, he lived in Bronxdale. I kinda met him and Afrika Bambaataa around the same time. Bambaataa lived in Bronx River during that time. I lived on Bryant Avenue & 174th Street during that time and that's how I met them. We was just kool and everything like that. They were into a lot of group stuff (Black Spades)....regular people...there was no music or nuttin' like that at that time 'cause we was young. But then years later...you know, I kinda kept close contact with him...more so in passing or I would see him 'cause he was kool with me, we was friends. So one day I'm going down Rosedale (Avenue) and this is in summertime and I hear music, right? So I asked, "Who is playing over here?" They said,"It's Mario playing music." I said, "He's playing music? Really?" This was in Bronxdale. So I hear the music and everything like that and so I go over there and talk to him. So he's telling me that he's a DJ now, that he's playing music and stuff like that I started telling him that I had mainly all the songs from back in the days.....the beats and everything 'cause during that time I had already been playing music at parties. Small parties....you know like birthday parties, graduation parties. I was doing little small stuff like that here and there. Nothing major, but that's what I was doing 'cause I had all the songs. And so he said, "Bring your records!" So I brought my milkcrates with the records in them and stuff like that and said,"This is what I got. This is what I can do." He said,"Okay, so let's play music together!" So then we started playing music together. It was us...him and I...and the Chuck City Crew which would kinda like put the equipment together if we would go some place to play and they would dance! These guys could dance! They could dance really well, too!" </b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsa1VgbFhq3mp4Lfv59JdOMkgj9o-v0KYXbOuBHaR29e_Um7PY75BPswiql-0Uakzc5Fk8s4KvRz34naskFkhjzKty05_wdOIak-BEIR5CMnEtjy6otbj8dfsLdLjVbn2pkHLxHj-dJA/s960/DJ+Disco+King+Mario+%2528The+Chuck+Chuck+City+Crew%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="930" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsa1VgbFhq3mp4Lfv59JdOMkgj9o-v0KYXbOuBHaR29e_Um7PY75BPswiql-0Uakzc5Fk8s4KvRz34naskFkhjzKty05_wdOIak-BEIR5CMnEtjy6otbj8dfsLdLjVbn2pkHLxHj-dJA/s320/DJ+Disco+King+Mario+%2528The+Chuck+Chuck+City+Crew%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>DJ Mario (The Chuck City Crew)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When exactly did you join DJ Mario?"<br /></b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"That was 1975. 1975 we got together, 1976 is when we really took off!,you know? Yeah, that's when things really got good. "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, so all that took place after you had already been to Kool DJ Herc's parties?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"You know what? That's the thing....I didn't see Mario at Kool Herc's parties but somehow he became a DJ. This was later on. Still and all Kool Herc influenced a lot of people to do a lot of stuff. What he did, it spread so fast. They began to know what he was able to do....him and Coke La Rock."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I guess you're talking about his Merry-Go-Round technique?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"He is the one that invented the Merry-Go-Round 100 percent!! He started playing the beat again and extending it. Nobody had done that before him. He's the only one that had done that and you would think that he had a test pressing or a copy of something that had the extended beat on it....no it was him doing that, extending the beat just like that."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of person was Mario?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"I'm telling you that's a good-hearted person right there! He already had the equipment, all he needed me to do was play the music and I played the music!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were your main spots to play music at back then?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"100 Park, JHS 123....we could draw some huge crowds in these places! Some huge crowds 'cause see you gotta remember this a tremendous area and you got thousands of people that live all around and it's thick! So everybody is coming...they hear the music and see what's going on and stuff like that. I mean we had everybody coming from everywhere. If it wasn't us doing something it was Afrika Bambaataa doing something in Bronx River. But the Soundview area and all of that, that was all us."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I see. Let's talk about the other DJs that were down with the Chuck City Crew in the mid-1970ies. When did Tex DJ Hollywood join your ranks? I heard he was one of the first Puerto Rican DJs in Hiphop....."</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Oh yeah, Tex DJ Hollywood........(laughs) Yeah, that was one of our DJs right there. He came into effect close to 1977. I think it was still 1976, towards the end of that year he came around and stuff like that. That was another Chuck City DJ....he was alright. There was a couple of people that was down with Chuck City. There was one person that put together the soundsytem and stuff like that. He was in the Black Spades also, his name was Sinbad."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Sinbad joined Afrika Bambaataa later on......"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Yeah, that's right! That's right! But he's the one that would tweak up the soundsytem.... like he would make the kickers louder......and more bass. He was the one who did that 'cause he was really good with mechanics. His name was Sinbad, I remember how he used to do stuff. Ronnie Ron was also in there."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What about DJ Nicky Dee? I think you told me that he took your spot when you left the Chuck City Crew in 1977. Did he come up under you?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Yeah! (laughs) He was from the Soundview area and he was already doing his thing a little bit. He was still young and when you're at that age you practice a lot and you're getting good. He also watched me and studied what kind of music I would play and how I played. That's what kinda elevated everything for him also because it's not easy to step into my shoes but he paid attention and he was a smart guy so that was good. I was pretty proud of him." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you say that having been to all those Kool DJ Herc parties and thus having learnt about all those original beats was something that you benefitted from when you started DJing with Mario?" <br /></b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Being involved in the original birthplace of Hiphop allowed me to have a little bit of advantage 'cause I kinda knew the blueprint Kool Herc was going by and I followed that. I would educate a lot of people, I would show them....Mario benefitted from that 'cause I had songs that he never heard of. I had beats that nobody knew what the name of it was 'cause I didn't tell nobody and I would black out the label. I had a store that I used to go to, that I used to buy a lot of my records from. They kept it real private and they gave me all of their best things. These people were real professionals when it came to music. They knew music as well. It was a record store called Downstairs Records. It's on 32nd Street & 7th Avenue...across the street from Madison Square Garden. You had to go down the stairs, it was in the train station. They had everything!!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you still attend Kool DJ Herc's parties after you had begun DJing with Mario?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"Yes, I was attending his parties 'cause I was still dancing. I was DJing and I was dancing. You gotta remember...at that time...not a lot of people played the B-Boy music that I wanted them to play for me to dance to. And then I don't think that me and my brother ever really missed a Kool Herc party." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"In 1976 Grandmaster Flash came up with a technique which enabled him to extend the break seamlessly. How long did it take you to adapt this technique?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"I would go back as far as 1975 when you would try to cue in on the exact beat...what they call catch up the beat......The dark grooves of the record that's where you would find the beat part, so I would put a little small light on the record so I knew exactly where that part was at. I was using that as my guide. It was basically a little night light. That's what I was doing, right? Then in 1976 Flash started doing things a little bit different. He started going to Herc's parties first. Just like myself he was influenced by the DJ thing that Herc was doing. Me I was more of a dancer than a DJ so when I would play the music of the records it was to that extent. So I used.....as far as dancing is concerned....the breakbeats that I had because I couldn't play the record and dance at the same time. So I would play the record and practice and just that little beat part I had to find a way of, "Okay, if I do this and this in my dance I would have to extend my dance if the DJ extends the record!" And that DJ would be Coke La Rock or Kool Herc. Now Flash like I said was a little bit different. He had advanced a little bit. It's like when a person just grows in a beautiful direction and that's what he did. For me to adapt what he did that was too difficult for me. Plus I had already been studying the grooves of the records and that was a beautiful thing when I found out how to extend the beat in my own way. Just like Kool Herc Flash started playing in parks and he did really well." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Your late brother Wallace Dee told me that he moved from Morris Avenue to Bronx River along with your mother and that they lived in building 1609. If I'm not mistaken some of the original five Zulu Kings (in the beginning they referred to themselves as Zulu Masters) lived there, too......"<br /></b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"I know who you're talking about. You're talking about Zambu. He also lived in 1609 as did Kusa and Ahmed. Kusa.......he was a friend of mine. I knew all of them........Shaka. I used to hang out in Bronx River, visiting my mother, going there back and forth....things like that. I played basketball in Bronx River and I got a lot of friends in Bronx River. The Zulu Kings would come to our parties all the time!!! All the time!!! See, one person would give a party...whether it was Bam or us...me and Mario.....and they was coming! Everybody was coming. You know, you had people from all over. From Castle Hill, Lafayette, Monroe......you got Bronxdale, you got Bronx River....you got all these different places where everybody is coming from everywhere. You got people coming from different avenues....from Boynton Avenue, from Watson Avenue, you got them coming from Story Avenue...from a lot of different areas." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who were some of the best B-Boys that would dance at Mario's parties besides the Zulu Kings?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"I would say Danny, Joe and them...Sterl, Cleamont. They was pretty good and then you also had and Rita and Dee Dee, they were girls. Let me mention one more person! Cholly Rock!!!!! I have to mention him 'cause he was nasty and he was over there with us! He was also a Zulu King, you know?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was your task as a DJ of the Chuck City Crew?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"I was exactly their B-Boy DJ.....100 percent! That's for sure! Because I knew what they liked to dance to and I knew what I liked to dance to." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Cholly Rock (The Zulu Kings) told me that he still vividly remembers the farewell party that Mario gave for you in 1977. Why did you leave?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"What it was....me and my brother had already enlisted for the National Guards, so we was going away. You know, you gotta do training and this and that. So that's what that Going-away party was initially about."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What do you remember about that particular party?"</b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"One day... in the late summer... Bambaataa, Mario and I got together for a conversation about giving a going away party for me. It would be at 123 school gym. It was not a battle, however it would seem that way in the eyes of the people...the bottom line is it was a party and a very big one. I spun my records for most of the night while I got on the microphone with the reverb machine making my voice echo all over the gym. It was such a great feeling to see that gym full of people dancing. By the middle of the night it was time for me to turn it up, meaning B-Boy music and so I began with my playlist of music that I called "Dancefloor Dynamite". I laid down the first wave of breakbeat music dating back to the very beginning. The crowd of dancers and B-Boy dancers like The Chuck City Crew and The Zulu King...they all was dancing. At that going away party I played a record that no one there had ever heard before called "Trans Europe Express"by Kraftwerk. It was something new to the Soundview area and they were feeling the beat of that record. It was Afrika Bambaataa who asked me," What is the name of that record and who made it?" I smiled and waited a few moments before I told him about the information that he found interest in. The gym had a divider where Bam was on one side and I was one the other DJing. People were able to walk from one side to the other and listen or dance to the music. It was a wonderful night!" <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give any shoutouts at the end of this interview?" <br /></b></p><p><b>BOSCO ROCK:"I would like to take this moment in time to thank my loving family and thank God for blessing me with each of them. Shoutouts to my cousin Trixie and my friend Chip. A super thanks to all the B-Boys and B-Girls in Europe, Asia, Africa....thank you for keeping the dance style of the B-Boy moves going! Feel free to contact me any time: </b></p><p><b>Elijah Williams-02152-748</b></p><p><b>USP-Victorville</b></p><p><b>P.O. Box 3900</b></p><p><b>Adelanto CA 92301</b></p><p><b> or at<br /></b></p><p><b>ewilliams2748@emailinterface.org"</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b> <br /></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-56592157963055052902021-03-27T04:03:00.004-07:002021-03-27T11:36:21.343-07:00Interview with Ban 2 (OTB)<p> <b>Interview with Ban 2 (OTB)</b></p><p><b> </b></p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqwsy-Kg0gbxi67SLjzIuISsgQp1WudsOgP51rPopGHP-ae3mmsWh_YMc1Ls-OoUK7EguWlIBJqEaMfE4UzpsJAUegh70b7eRD8E_cCPezAKKPNRW_kx15-5m2KY3DjLJo0Bd4NvvVA/s2048/Ban+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqwsy-Kg0gbxi67SLjzIuISsgQp1WudsOgP51rPopGHP-ae3mmsWh_YMc1Ls-OoUK7EguWlIBJqEaMfE4UzpsJAUegh70b7eRD8E_cCPezAKKPNRW_kx15-5m2KY3DjLJo0Bd4NvvVA/s320/Ban+2.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <b>Ban 2 (OTB)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b></b><p></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders/Germany) </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Which part of the Bronx are you from?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Well, I'm originally from Harlem and not the Bronx. My family moved to the Bronx in 1975 due to we had a fire in our apartment dwelling. The fire didn't really start in my apartment, it started like under us but it spreaded to my apartment dwelling. We moved to the Grand Concourse...174th Street. Lewis Morris building in the South Bronx. This was 1975." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Which year were you born in?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"I was born in 1962, August 15th at Harlem hospital at approximately 6:43 p.m.."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How old were you when you started noticing pieces."</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Okay, I'd like to point out I was fascinated with the trains at an early age....probably 8 or 9...when my mother used to take us to my grandmother's house on 164th Street on the Third Avenue El.</b><b> So I'm talking 1971 to my earliest knowledge. So when I was sitting in there I became fascinated with the graffiti on the trains at an early age....I was at least 8 or 9 years old. I saw graff but it was simple names." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What exactly was the Third Avenue El? Was it an elevated railway?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Yes, it was an elevated line. It started on 149th Street & 3rd Avenue and went all the way up to Gun Hill Road...if I'm not mistaken. It was torn down in the early 1970ies...I'd say about 1972 or 1973.....it was demolished. So they had a subway line that ran parallel to Norwood and I guess once they took that down they ran it with busses. Even back then they had graffiti. I'm talking 1971, 1972." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"That was like the first era of Writing....the signature era...before there were any pieces, right? When Writers like Lee 163rd! or Charmin 65 were doing tags on the trains with certain embellishments....." </b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Yeah, you're right, you're right. I used to see Hulk 62 tags, Eva 62, Staff 161. The thing is this... I used to just read the names whatever...."Oh, look at the names!" It really fascinated me and I wondered how the hell people did actually put their names on running trains and so forth. </b><b><b>I was way too young to find out </b>due to the fact that I was still very young. I played outside. We couldn't leave the block, we stayed in the street. We played tag, skelly whatever and we virtually didn't leave the block. </b><b>" </b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-F4j23EEFhqlkDWWlOohl1fsKtGbT1HtYz8v_oruE6n7QSXBJ8qqDrYP1Vww2CXZXqB05mgM55I49sEmE3ydzUrJ0gOiZ-fz0XBOhb3SzjuSI42twciYOkvzaiaU8xxOjN0iRd4jSLA/s2048/dELI.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-F4j23EEFhqlkDWWlOohl1fsKtGbT1HtYz8v_oruE6n7QSXBJ8qqDrYP1Vww2CXZXqB05mgM55I49sEmE3ydzUrJ0gOiZ-fz0XBOhb3SzjuSI42twciYOkvzaiaU8xxOjN0iRd4jSLA/s320/dELI.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Deli 167 aka Ban 2 (OTB)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What caused you to pick up Writing?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"When I moved to the Bronx I became friends with Melvin which is Noc 167. I had seen his tags up and down the block but I didn't know he wrote. We used to play</b><b> stick-ball and off the point..basketball....but I never knew he wrote
until I went to his house in the next building from where I lived. There I saw the writing on his bedroom walls and stuff and I was like,"Oh, you write?" He was like, "Yeah, I write!" I guess after that I just blew off." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Is it accurate to say that you started Writing by hitting the insides first?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Yeah, I went to buy a Magic Marker from a hardware store which was an El Marko. I probably paid 99 cent back then. It could have even been cheaper......so when I bought the marker I said, "Oh, it's time for me to really start with my name!" But Ban 2 actually was not my original name. A lot of people don't know this. In 1976 t</b><b>hat record called "Dazz" by Brick came out."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Disco Jazz....Dazz!!"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Yes, so when I pulled that record to go play it in my mother's apartment, the record label said Bang. B-A-N-G. So then I said,"Oh, this sounds like a good name!" So I started writing Bang 2 but when I would write the name I would mess up on the G. Yeah, 'cause you know I mean back then I had just started tagging whatever....So I said, "Why do I always mess up on the G?" So I said, "You know, I don't think this is a name for me. Let me think of another angle." So then one day I was actually home watching TV and a commercial came on...like Ban Roll-On. Remember the Ban Roll-On commercial? It was a deoderant called Ban Roll-On. I remember when I was going to school I would look at the tags whatever...look at the trains..... so I figured, "I think nobody writes this name so let me start writing Ban 2!" Then after that I guess the name Ban 2 was born and the rest is history."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK3RXqbsKh147R7HpkLaHZYCEAC8TZB-U9waLD66dZLsZ_pt0qara31HnaGr6FnXwHf4N2XViDMF4S5YZq3DOiQxxoSSV5Ab5WX7qcY_WE-uIkL-qau12H5kBd2XGzOg_MXS8pmXL9Qw/s1080/Ban+2+Tag.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="813" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK3RXqbsKh147R7HpkLaHZYCEAC8TZB-U9waLD66dZLsZ_pt0qara31HnaGr6FnXwHf4N2XViDMF4S5YZq3DOiQxxoSSV5Ab5WX7qcY_WE-uIkL-qau12H5kBd2XGzOg_MXS8pmXL9Qw/s320/Ban+2+Tag.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <b>Ban Two Tag<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So the year of 1976 marks the beginning of your Writing career?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Yes, you can truly say that."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you invest a lot of time into developing your tag?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Yes, I did 'cause whenever my mother would tell me, "Sign this!" Like say a report card for instance...where you had to sign your report card.... or she would bring me a document to sign and so I would write it like I was writing graffiti. So then she would smack me on the side of my head,"Boy, sign your name right! Stop writing it like you're writing graffiti!" So then I just started drawing on it, letting it go....whatever. Then word got around the building that I was writing my name all over the building and so forth. So I said,"Oh my gosh, she gonna put me on punishment!" So I said, "I gotta come up with another name! I gotta choose a name that nobody don't know me by 'cause everybody knows me as Ban 2 now." So I just came up with the name Deli 167. But Deli is another story also...Deli came from......when I was in 7th grade I used to work as a messenger after school. So one day the supervisor told me to go to the store but he didn't mention the word "store"..he'd just say, "Go to the Deli and buy me a hamburger!" So he gave me the money and I went to the store, I waited for the hamburger to be made and so forth but back then it wasn't really called the Deli...it was called Delicatessen. So then I figured, "Since I'm hanging out with Noc 167 a lot, I'm just gonna write Deli 167." That's where the name derived from. So I just started writing that name...kept putting it up and I guess it took off from there. And then I came up with a few other aliases that people probably didn't know I wrote. I wrote Bravo 2. Remember Bravos potato chips? Then I started writing Deen. D-E-E-N. Then I was also writing S 127 which meant Snoop 127. But that was just an alias that I didn't really put in 100 percent, you know? It was my cross out tag. Whoever went over me, I used that. So altogether I was dancing around five names."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOpEXLjw2tVAYxF-2ZuKPCLvPjIRuuWFGdtPLTVAdOSXpH8NtyYYfcVjX5LPlHp6DvV8sbibb5XClV4rLiGCKLUmTeV-HyztuBg71XC2OszHUyd0S26jCo_dU0fV5OAlQ55n9GTeWeg/s1993/Deen.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1903" data-original-width="1993" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOpEXLjw2tVAYxF-2ZuKPCLvPjIRuuWFGdtPLTVAdOSXpH8NtyYYfcVjX5LPlHp6DvV8sbibb5XClV4rLiGCKLUmTeV-HyztuBg71XC2OszHUyd0S26jCo_dU0fV5OAlQ55n9GTeWeg/s320/Deen.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Deen aka Ban 2 (OTB)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you also use Deli 167 for doing insides or did you exclusively use Ban 2 for that purpose?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Well, I was sorta like mixing it up. But you know it's like this....if you go to do a tag and then you do another tag evidently people gonna think that it's the same person. So they're not gonna think, "Oh, this is two different people who are walking around with the same marker!" No, it's the same guy. So evidently sometimes I would tag both names in the same spot. That was also to confuse the cops who were looking for you or the vandal squad and so forth. I mean it was just a mystique. I guess it's a mindset thing. I did accomplish a great feat with both names. I can truly say that. "</b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5JobI7aGJ2PT-8yH78uq6F7DcG9-Fr5FeO8htFgW_SVjgbCM1jZd5CIurQFosl7LxYYZamXZKRaxvNfUZ4uDoPXLoeYvFgTI5qe5r170kpyFm2ZaAXCDIFEksGKxMEFPzcH7Zybg_PQ/s1440/deli+167+tag.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="955" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5JobI7aGJ2PT-8yH78uq6F7DcG9-Fr5FeO8htFgW_SVjgbCM1jZd5CIurQFosl7LxYYZamXZKRaxvNfUZ4uDoPXLoeYvFgTI5qe5r170kpyFm2ZaAXCDIFEksGKxMEFPzcH7Zybg_PQ/s320/deli+167+tag.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Deli 167 Tag</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> <br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I find that whole aspect of tagging up your name with a marker to be extremely fascinating. What was the most popular ink back then? Was it Flo-Master?" </b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Yes, Flo-Master was I guess by far the best ink and I still don't know to this day why they stopped selling it. Maybe the manufacturers found out that, "Oh, this is a graffiti product!" but it wasn't really a graffiti product. It was mainly made for the store stamps. You know, when you go to a store and they're using a stamp machine to put the price on a can and so forth? </b><b><b>Flo-Master was really used for that. </b>So then it derived into the graffiti which was....first of all it's hard to buff off, it's hard to take off. You gonna have to go through all these detergents just to scrubb it off your hands, your clothes and sneakers and so forth. (chuckles) Yeah, I mean if you got ink on your clothes you might as well throw them away. Like when you came home with ink spots on your shirt your mother would be like,"I just bought that shirt!" You know, you come home and your mom was shopping for you....you have brand new school clothes on and stuff. (She'd be like),"Oh, you got ink all over your clothes! That gotta come off!"</b><br /><b><br /></b></p><p></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeH5C-d6CHJLfFp8GZfgTmvHrDXgzLwLNGfAg82N6EgS6S3NWNtZur5x6nNkLcHdvp0wdfEQOR6h0s4ycvFBPo-AYPSwVRpc34kBoG1XUcCgaFlRf3cGZ5bM1VEb3AqY5W8FfqxJcpUA/s458/Flomaster+Ink.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeH5C-d6CHJLfFp8GZfgTmvHrDXgzLwLNGfAg82N6EgS6S3NWNtZur5x6nNkLcHdvp0wdfEQOR6h0s4ycvFBPo-AYPSwVRpc34kBoG1XUcCgaFlRf3cGZ5bM1VEb3AqY5W8FfqxJcpUA/s320/Flomaster+Ink.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Flo-master ink</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, and what was your favourite marker back then?"</b><p></p><p><b>BAN 2:"My go-to-marker was the Pilot Super Wide.......other nice ones were the Magnum 44, the Niji, Uni-Wide, Mini-Wide. I didn't really like Uni-Wide and Mini-wide because once you filled them up with ink and if you had them in your pocket sometimes the cap wouldn't be on one hundred percent so what you got is... you have leakage. So you look down in your pocket, next thing you know you got ink all in your pocket, you got ink coming through your pants and you're walking around with 40 $ jeans on with ink stains. So that wasn't a good look especially when you went to see a girl. That was really an error that I went through a lot. Keeping markers in my pocket and stuff. Even if you're keeping a marker in your inside pocket. You know sometimes jackets have an inside pocket? You keep a marker over there...next thing you know you got a ink stain showing through your brand-new jacket or whatever. So after a while I stopped walking around with a marker and if I did I made sure I kept it in a plastic bag but I wouldn't just keep it loose."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did Writers back then manipulate the tip of their markers in order to alter the way in which their tags would come out?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Yeah and also we would take like a needle and then we would pick the marker. You probably picked it for five minutes, ten minutes and so forth. What that do it softens up the tip of the marker because if you buy a brand-new marker and you take the cap off you'll see the tip is hard. So when you tag the tag is not gonna come out juicy. So you soften it up, in and out and then you flood it with the ink. So when you tag you can take your time, you don't have to be so agressive. The tag will come out nice and clean and thick. So that was a technique that I learnt from Fuzz One. Fuzz One taught me that. "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Is it true that Writers back then also used to build their own markers?" <br /></b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Yeah, that trick derived from people who couldn't afford to buy markers or who couldn't rack markers or whatever. There are some household things that you can make a home-made marker. For instance, you can get a little deoderant roll-on bottle and if you go to school you can take the eraser of the blackboard and you can use that. </b><b><b>That's the way I used to do it </b>but I never really did it 'cause I kept markers. I kept boxes of Uni-Wide markers, I had boxes of Pilots, Magnum 44s, Nijis...you name it, I had it." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So how big was your arsenal of markers and ink bottles back then? I guess your room must have been full of those things."</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Well, that was never a problem that I had at home. I really couldn't keep that stuff at home, especially the ink and the markers I couldn't keep that at home. But I did have little stashes at places in my bedroom. I kept them in shoeboxes, I kept them under my mattress, I kept them inside my boots. You know, I kept some paint and stuff at Noc's house 'cause Noc lived in the next building from me and plus he was always home. So one time I went to go bombing by myself. I had left up stuff in his house so I went to his house, his mother answered the door....I said, "I left something in his room." She said, "He's not here. I can't let you in." So I said, "Damn! I can't leave stuff at this guy's house no more!" I had left about 100 cans at his house. I got most of it back and I just started keeping my own stuff. I didn't want to rely on nobody. I just wanted to rely on myself. I used to stash paint...I used to come back from racking, hide some paint, come back and it's gone! You stash twenty cans in a garbage bin then you go to hit another rack, then you come back and you're ready to go home and all the cans are gone! You don't wanna know that feeling! (laugh) Yeah, cause somebody somebody seen you stash it. I went through that a couple of times. That's no laughing matter. That hurts you!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When did you start doing pieces?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"I'd say about 1977, 1978. I started doing the Delis and stuff like that. I would go to the Moshulu lay-up in broad daylight and do Top-to-Bottoms. I would go to the 1 Tunnel with Fuzz. First I had a phobia.....I used to have a phobia of even entering the tracks. So then I said to myself, "If you want to be a full-fledged Writer you gotta get used to going to the yards, going to the lay-ups." And then there was a technique of, "Oh, what if you get chased?" I got chased a few times. Back then I was a tall, lanky kid so what I would do is I would slide down the pole. Fuzz told me how to walk up the pole and to slide down the pole. The piecing aspect is totally different from the tagging aspect. The tagging aspect was easy. It's the piecing aspect that you got to be aware of. There is more pitfalls, there is more hazards. You gotta watch your footing 'cause you could be piecing.. you're walking on a catwalk then next thing you know you're falling to the street! I don't know if it ever happened but one time I did lose my footing. Thank God I didn't fall down to the street below! You also gotta watch out for the third rail....Remember I used to go piecing by myself so I didn't have a third eye, fourth eye. I mean I rolled with some dudes but the majority of the pieces I done I was by myself. I really had to be on alert. I had to listen out for anybody coming. I mean it's a lot to it. Trust me! Even when you go to the yard by yourself, you really gotta be cautious. You really have to be on your guard because, you know, when you leave home to go piecing or whatever you wanna make it back home. Your mom don't wanna get that phone call from the cops, "We apprehended your son! He was caught doing graffiti! You gotta come down to the precinct! His bail is such and such."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDxN5Cuv77j6toKWrtya-fbobsG1CfYBTReGXdkzFmnhklQjTpOMj9o7alw7vG68XCgqQP8caFa0dMs9qYR_GYL7rrEpeyJ948RhjHtLq_hQeCrU_jUlGjAMyU19Hz3i5NHiaR4-BYlw/s526/Deli+167+aka+Ban+2%2528OTB%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="526" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDxN5Cuv77j6toKWrtya-fbobsG1CfYBTReGXdkzFmnhklQjTpOMj9o7alw7vG68XCgqQP8caFa0dMs9qYR_GYL7rrEpeyJ948RhjHtLq_hQeCrU_jUlGjAMyU19Hz3i5NHiaR4-BYlw/s320/Deli+167+aka+Ban+2%2528OTB%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> Deli 167 aka Ban 2 (OTB)<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What I have noticed about your particular piecing style is that you kept your letters simple and perfectly legible. What was the reason for this? I mean your crew mate Noc 167 obviously tended to use the opposite approach for his lettering style."</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Well, you see I just wanted to stick to my childhood. I wanted to bring that same concept from the graffiti that I saw when I was growing up. I used to see something that was plain, simple, legible....I can't spend five, six, seven hours on a piece and you can't read it....nobody knows what it says. So I was keeping it seventies. That's me! That's me! Look at Seen (UA), look Lee (TF5)..look at Comet and Blade. These guys kept it simple. Their pieces were colorful, they had meaning, they had energy! You know, it's more of the energy that you put into those pieces. That's what I call simple and plain graffiti. I mean if you really do your research and you see all these guys who did the whole cars and stuff like that, they kept it clean, they kept it neat, they had energy and it never really left that 70ies era. The 70ies era to me to this day...2021.....I just really contest that those were the best days of my life and I'm 58 years old, pushing into 59. I'd do anything to bring back the seventies. Even the way people dressed in the seventies! (laughs)." </b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4QlbcVxaRE4dwfzDpn9rGVAGyymsd9RaVz_USC3EysybLW2DveoqLkOCVSsTLuDig3dDPOUksKo7Fx_EgGCS2NnjAq47Wi1RCUHZaNhvrQkXbBZghyphenhyphenSpcAmCkgDQtbTMpoV-ff1j8ZQ/s612/Deli+167.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="612" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4QlbcVxaRE4dwfzDpn9rGVAGyymsd9RaVz_USC3EysybLW2DveoqLkOCVSsTLuDig3dDPOUksKo7Fx_EgGCS2NnjAq47Wi1RCUHZaNhvrQkXbBZghyphenhyphenSpcAmCkgDQtbTMpoV-ff1j8ZQ/s320/Deli+167.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Deli 167 aka Ban 2 (OTB)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who put you down with the OTB Crew?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"</b><b>Noc 167 put me in OTB right off the start...OUT TO BOMB!!! That's what OTB stands for. Like I said we been boys way before I even started writing graffiti."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Could you please describe the process through which
you became King of the 4 Line? What made you choose this particular
line and who were your main competitors? "</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Well, that line was one of the lines that I rode to school. I used to transfer at 125th Street and take the 6. So I said, "You know what? Since I can look out my back window and see the 4 Train.... " 'cause you know I lived on the Grand Concourse...and my bedroom had the back window and I could see Jerome Avenue. So I was just looking at the 4 Line like that. So I said, "Since this is my home line just let me start on this line! Let me focus on this line!" That line was very competitive! Not only that Mitch 77 was on it. You had Tracy 168, you had Stay High 149, you had Mark 198, you had Schick, you had Wasp One, you had Boo 2 and mind you that Mitch 77 had two other different names! He also wrote Tue and 7 Up! He was just killing it with all three names!!! So I said, "How can I compete with this guy?" The guy was really putting in work at the time I met him. So I mean to today I can still contest that he was the biggest competitor that I had to contend with. I still to this day don't think that I ever surpassed him. Once he died out I moved up in rank. I moved up in rank after he left. I had a solid three year reign on that line."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How long were you King of the 4 Line?"<br /></b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"From '82 to '85."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of a feeling was it for you when you realized that you had become the King of the 4 Line?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Well, I'd like to say that it was like, "Mission accomplished!" Because there was nothing else to prove.....first of all. I mean, come on! When you ride the train.....especially that line....like every day and you actually get on the train.....once you get on the train and start from the front and walk all the way to the back.....your name is in every car!! So need I say more? The majority of pictures that people took on the 4 Line you gonna see a Ban 2 tag! Remember the picture I sent you with Mayor Koch?? You see Mayor Koch, Senator D'Amato....the other guy...and what do you see over their heads?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"A Ban 2 OTB tag."</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"That's an iconic picture! You cannot beat that!"</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2yjY8rQpqAjt4M5_lnzFeDclrT5EN85Teyh1OVVnLrqTJieeZ8mOv4kZ0kHRSF_paOYLOE5La7ZV-TsLbs7ofE1BLtoz5G54EGgM9ImGdtwfVY2sehDWveXNLUrHhK_3WPgd6FFtsaQ/s1241/Koch+ban.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1214" data-original-width="1241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2yjY8rQpqAjt4M5_lnzFeDclrT5EN85Teyh1OVVnLrqTJieeZ8mOv4kZ0kHRSF_paOYLOE5La7ZV-TsLbs7ofE1BLtoz5G54EGgM9ImGdtwfVY2sehDWveXNLUrHhK_3WPgd6FFtsaQ/s320/Koch+ban.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>A Ban 2 OTB tag over Mayor Koch and Senator D'Amatos </b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b> <br />SIR NORIN RAD:"What was it like when you met Mitch 77 for the first time?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:" </b><b>I didn't meet Mitch 77 until I went to the 4 lay-up at 183rd Street
& Jerome Avenue one night by myself. He was with five other dudes..I knew they was
writers. He told me,"Yo, what you write?" and I responded,"Ban 2!" Then he
said, "Oh, so you're Ban 2???" That's when I knew that I was really starting to get
recognition! When a made dude like that gives you props..you know you
are opening eyes!</b><b> He was with Tex183, Max183, Rex 183 and another dude. I didn't meet Disco / Med 167 (Mitch 77s legendary partner from the Latin Artists Crew) until later." </b></p><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Out here in Europe many people hold Dondi (RIP) in very high esteem because of his exceptional style writing prowess. What many fail to understand is the fact that his style was heavily influenced by several Bronx Style Masters, Noc 167 being one of them. This fact becomes obvious when one compares the style of Dondi's early Naco pieces which were done on the BMTs to that of his later work. Dondi himself stated in that book "Dondi - Style Master General" that he looked up to Noc 167. Since you were very close to Noc 167 back then, what can you say about his Style Writing abilities and his general approach to the artform?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Well, you can really say that he was before his time... as far as drawing, doing outlines, doing cartoon characters and stuff like that. He was really my most influential Writer of all time. He was really gifted! He was more gifted than people realize but here's what's really strange: He never kinged a line. Even though he was gifted with all that talent he never took King of a line and I don't understand that. I do not understand that to this day. And Naco...Dondi.....was one the first Writers that I met when I first started. I met Dondi, I met Fuzz One, I met Nic 707, I met all these guys at Noc's house."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_C-vlxcxfzZrX9OaM6vcy7lz5-cKz9Bh-5tqaPsgmezH861I6SpfPmgylImgpcixZ5HQT973N-vfKQ1P5mY4Wm5YjGmbGhOtY0W6BrsnErAeKlqvn4QbQ8yqTNteWL5Mfw2dUOeHsQ/s640/Noc+167+OTB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_C-vlxcxfzZrX9OaM6vcy7lz5-cKz9Bh-5tqaPsgmezH861I6SpfPmgylImgpcixZ5HQT973N-vfKQ1P5mY4Wm5YjGmbGhOtY0W6BrsnErAeKlqvn4QbQ8yqTNteWL5Mfw2dUOeHsQ/s320/Noc+167+OTB.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> Noc 167 (OTB)</b><br /><b></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were they doing at his house? Were they drawing together and talking about style?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Oh, oh these guys....we were all cramped up into Noc's room. He had a small room, not so big. He had a lamp with no shade. He had a light bulb, you know? He had a little brown dog running around barking at us and stuff. The room was all packed up and I thought that was cool. These guys in there were smoking weed. They'd be drawing, sketching, doing outlines..listening to the radio. He had no TV in his room, all he had was a radio. It was nothing that I could be around much because I didn't smoke. To this day I never smoke weed or whatever. It really gave me headaches so I would excuse myself, go home and so forth. I met all these guys in his apartment and to this day I cherish meeting all these guys when I first came up because these guys had names! They already had status! So I couldn't really put myself in the same category. These guys were already made men. So that's another reason why I had the drive to put in the work that I put in through years. I wanted to get the same status as these guys! These guys were really icons back then. So you really gotta see whee I'm coming from....It' like the new kid in class. If you're the new kid you gotta get used to the people that run the class, you gotta get good with them and so you really gotta test yourself and prove yourself and push yourself. That's why I was accepted into OTB because evidently Noc seen something in me...the passion, the drive to really make something out of my name. If you wanna be a good writer, you gotta motivate yourself."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"</b><b>What exactly comes to your mind when you think of the Writer's Bench at 149 Street & Grand Concourse?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:" </b><b>I would love to go there before going to school and after school. I
really didn't have much on the 2s and 5s (these two lines along with the 4 line serve the 149th Street - Grand Concourse train station) but after a while they started
switching the cars around on the IRTs. You could go to the 6 line and do
something and the next week it would be running on the 3, 4 or 5 Line..or you could do
something in the 3 yard and then it would be running on the 1 Line or 2 Line. Or
you can catch something at the Ghost Yard. So I started branching
out..going to Gun Hill layup, 225th Street, Baychester, Esplanade, to the 1 tunnel, to the 3-yard, D-yard. I would also go to Queens
and hit the E'S and F'S. </b><b>I had a set of original keys and I aquired them one day when I was on the train
and I went scouting. So I rode to the last stop.Woodlawn Avenue..then when they told
everybody off, I sat down on the bench and then a conductor sat next to
me with his carry-on bag between me and him. Then to my awe I saw his
keys dangeling on a little hook. So I unhooked them from his bag and
got on the next train. I had all 4-keys...even the keys for the lights..and
the IND-BMT key..It was really on then."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you listen to a certain type of music when you were sketching in your room at home? Did music have an influence on your art?" <br /></b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Yeah, I was into Parliament and Bootsy's Rubber Band...stuff like this. I used to read the album covers..... I used to have a lot of albums at my mother's house, too. Albums that she bought or albums that I racked, you know? I used to go to Alexander's on Fordham Road and rack up albums and stuff like this. I used to go to Fordham Road...Crazy Eddie...I used to go downtown to Downstairs Records. I really hung out in the Village in the early 1980s. As far as inspiration is concerned I used to just get ideas off of watching TV, reading comic books and so forth. I read a lot of comic books back in the days, too. I'd get the magazine Heavy Metal. Remember the magazine Heavy Metal? I would go to a smoke shop and act like I wanted to read the magazine, as soon as the guy turned around the magazine was gone! (laughs) Also Vaughn Bode...I had all the Bodes....Remember the Cheech Wizard Magazine? That was very influential back then. I used to rack that a lot. Basically, I would just go into my my mode.....I could be walking somewhere or be on a train or a bus and I would just get ideas into my head. What I would do is as soon as I got an idea in my head I would write it down immediately because later on when I wanted to remember it I might not remember it. So I always had a little pad and a pen with me whenever I went around and stuff. So if I had an idea I would just tear out a piece of paper and write the idea down. So later on when I wanna go back to it I know what I was thinking about." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you're saying that you could be walking somewhere and all of a sudden certain images of certain letter patterns or color combinations would pop up in your head?"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Yeah!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Damn!!!"</b></p><p><b>BAN 2:"Yeah !!! (laughs). You gotta remember the wheel is turning all the time!!" </b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdbuFxSUXf7NSL0FjHYI1Or3iaN-0pzU848xuwIm8yoA90rGieAAA8Nzo56JpV9zdAd50NLDSfTwXGfyB-I9iDJSB83YzqA_xWTmybTG78sRBQ24Kq4Czlh6yw-q7dyweKjWZEpfgL2w/s2048/Cheech+Wizard.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdbuFxSUXf7NSL0FjHYI1Or3iaN-0pzU848xuwIm8yoA90rGieAAA8Nzo56JpV9zdAd50NLDSfTwXGfyB-I9iDJSB83YzqA_xWTmybTG78sRBQ24Kq4Czlh6yw-q7dyweKjWZEpfgL2w/s320/Cheech+Wizard.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Cheech Wizard by Vaughn Bode</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You told me that before you got into Writing you were a B-Boy for a brief time. Please elaborate on that! When exactly was that and where did you dance at?"<br /></b></p><p><b>BAN 2: "I'm going back as far as 75. Back in 1975 I used to go to the jams that my cousin used to throw. My cousin was a DJ. We was on 140th Street between Willis & Brook Avenue. We used to go to the church because the church used to give parties down in the basement. I remember going to Flash's parties at St. Mary's Park. Kool Herc could be on 169th Street & Washington Avenue. Bambaataa would be in Bronx River. I went to school with J-DL from the Cold Crush Brothers. He was in my home room class at Taft High School along with T La Rock. T La Rock is Special K's brother. He 'd come in with Cazals, Kangol, he'd have on British Walkers, double knit pants, a mockneck and stuff like that. He was a little cool brother. But back in the Lewis Morris....back in 1975 and 1976 I was actually a B-Boy! I used to breakdance with a guy named Chesley, a guy named Lucius.....Steven, Mark. My brothers and stuff.... Frank, Wordell.......We used to practice down in the laundry room in W4 in the Lewis Morris. We were Breaking due to fact that we wanted to get girls and notoriety. We had a little clique back then. But my claim to fame was graffiti." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give some shoutouts at the end of this interview?"<br /></b></p><p><b>BAN 2:" </b><b>I would like to thank all the pioneers who paved the way! God bless!"</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1lI7May0Eblqz1kFu69cHn9PKyVszmKdFXpMzzpkQDKJVj96kT4IAD-X6J6Y5Irmfjw_2G_DvVD34S-jhJIn3agciF3kAMwvijqg69pk-_FJDZfuSiEL6JRgAdzffnm9Svnv8Bk2lA/s1650/CASTLES+IN+THE+SKY.BLUE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1275" data-original-width="1650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1lI7May0Eblqz1kFu69cHn9PKyVszmKdFXpMzzpkQDKJVj96kT4IAD-X6J6Y5Irmfjw_2G_DvVD34S-jhJIn3agciF3kAMwvijqg69pk-_FJDZfuSiEL6JRgAdzffnm9Svnv8Bk2lA/s320/CASTLES+IN+THE+SKY.BLUE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><br /></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><br />Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-407555608423670072021-02-16T08:08:00.004-08:002021-02-16T08:14:15.406-08:00Interview with B-Boy / DJ Mean Gene (The L-Brothers)<p> <b>Interview with B-Boy / DJ Mean Gene (The L-Brothers)</b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPl0Z6u0lhhUPLJ-s-_3108mvIpX0KtaKAz7DvXQlJB08EDPcm6LuN_4OYA1VGJVjwtpXHyrSf5Jb-Z6H5H_LbxXJHEQPnC7ty_gWMJLNkyCSgl9hQCs0d6Zwiwpfnt4qeF1cOS7K-4A/s900/DJ+Mean+Gene.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPl0Z6u0lhhUPLJ-s-_3108mvIpX0KtaKAz7DvXQlJB08EDPcm6LuN_4OYA1VGJVjwtpXHyrSf5Jb-Z6H5H_LbxXJHEQPnC7ty_gWMJLNkyCSgl9hQCs0d6Zwiwpfnt4qeF1cOS7K-4A/s320/DJ+Mean+Gene.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>B-Boy /DJ Mean Gene (The L-Brothers)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly in the Boogie Down Bronx are you from?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"I grew up in Manhattan a little bit and then I came to the Bronx and I was on Tiffany Street. As I was on Tiffany Street & 167th </b><b><b>my building number was 1047. </b>I went to PS 150 which was right across the street from me." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Tiffany Street is located in the South Bronx, right?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"South Bronx!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who is the oldest brother in the L-Brothers?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"It's me, Cordie-O then Grandwizard Theodore."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When were you born?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"January 11th, 1956." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, let's talk about Hiphop. Is it accurate to say that you started out as a B-Boy?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Okay, me, Grandmaster Flash, EZ Mike.......there's another brother named Dwayne.... we started off going around to parties....like Kool Herc parties and all that......breakdancing, you know? 'Cause we wanted some type of clientele as we call it out here. Getting clientele gets you a lot of things, so that's what we did at first." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did you and Flash meet each other for the first time?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Good question....good question. Now me, Grandmaster Flash, EZ Mike and Dwayne we met on Aldus Street which is by Southern Boulevard in the Bronx. Like I said we was all there, breakdancing, going to the parties, having a good time..... checkin' out the girls and all that, you know? So after a while EZ Mike had left the crew, Dwayne had left crew. So it was me and Flash. As me and Flash stayed together I moved from Tiffany Street to Boston Road. Once I got to Boston Road that's when me and Flash started the DJing and everything."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I saw an interview with the Furious Five conducted by Jay Quan in which Mr. Ness states that him and Mele Mel battled you and Flash at their school and took you out. That B-Boy battle took place long before they started MCing and actually was their very first encounter with Flash. What do you remember about that battle?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Yeah, I mean we were all having fun at the time. We was breakdancing against each other, you know? See who can burn who 'cause that's what we called it back then....Burning. We all got together like that." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I have been told that in the early 1970ies the dance that later became known as Breaking was done mainly on top and involved a lot of hand gestures and exquisite footwork. There was no spinning on the floor....."</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Exactly!!!! (excited) That was our way of breakdancing! We would use our hands to breakdance (hand gestures), do footwork and then drop on the floor. Flash had a unique way of breakdancing. He would always drop to his knees. I don't know if he had sore knees later on but that was his thing. Everybody had the drop..... falling to the ground. I had the fast movement. In our crew it was mostly me and Flash that did the dancing 'cause we was into this heavy!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, so at which venues would you dance when you were still a B-Boy?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Soundview, Bronx River.....The Hevalo with Kool Herc. We mostly went to Kool Herc parties in the Hevalo on Jerome Avenue. The Sparkle....these were the breakdance places...The Sparkle......We were also dancing at the school jams. Then there was little clubs. Before I met Flash I used to breakdance in a place called The Psychedelic Shack which was located right up on Prospect Avenue & 167th Street. I also danced at The Tunnel which was located on Westchester Avenue by Interval. These were the main places that we went to because we wasn't allowed to go too far because we was too young." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, so during which years were you active as a B-Boy? I guess this must have been in the early 1970s?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Well, with the breakdancing...we started in 1970, 1971. Then me and Flash got into DJing in 1972 going into 1973. Me and Flash now, I didn't say the L-Brothers. I just said me and Flash."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I think you also told me that you would go off at house parties during those years. Please describe how these kind of parties went down back then! Were there any DJs involved at that point or would you just play music from an 8-track-player?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Well, we went to good house parties. They would play records sometimes or they would play 8-track or they would put a cassette on. You know, the record that was always playing was James Brown "Sex Machine" ("Give It Up Or Turn It Aloose"). That's what made us get up there and B-Boy and all that against each other. As I said we didn't call it B-Boying back then we called it Burning. It was about dissing each other. It wasn't Burning like they do it now. We were mostly using our hands. We had a guy there that used to hang out with us...we called him Profile. Profile was a guy that knew how to move his hands around you....to diss you with your body without even touching you."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Like he would do certain gestures to embarass and intimidate you while staying on beat?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Exactly!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, so people would gather at a house party and someone would put a James Brown record on a record player and you would get busy?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Garrard record player!!! Remember the old Garrard record players from back in the days? That's what they was playing on! One record at a time! All James Brown records was being played for us to be Burning and then when the slow records came on we would all grab a girl and we danced to slow records." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What did you call that slow dancing back then?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Grinding."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I see. Please name some of those slow jams that were played at these house parties back then in the early to mid 1970ies?" </b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Stay In My Corner (by The Dells), "I Found Love On A Two Way Street" (by The Moments)....and The Delfonics..."For The Love I Gave You"......Stylistics. Those kind of records."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Speaking to the legendary B-Boys from Kool Herc's parties I found out that in the early days of the dance B-Boy battles would go down in a completely different way from how they are being done today. I was told that the competing B-Boys were facing each other and dancing at the same time, trying to burn each other......"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"That's exactly right! We was dancing together! It wasn't one person dancing and then the other person dancing. No!! We was dancing together!!! He would dance on his side and I would dance on my side and the person with the better moves would win. The crowd would tell us like,"Oh yeaaah! Look what he did!" Things like that! That's how we did it!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"And at time (the early 1970ies) you would dance to the whole record and then showcase your best moves during the break part, correct?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Yeah, that's right. We played the whole record, we didn't play parts and parts. Me and Flash started playing parts and parts. Well, Herc and Smokey was playing it but they wasn't keeping it on beat. Me and Flash discovered playing two records ( of the same kind to extend the break part) and keeping it on beat."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You mentioned that all B-Boys would drop to the floor in one way or another. What did B-Boys do after they had dropped to the floor?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"We would drop and we would probably do Rowing-The-Boat. You know what Rowing The Boat is? Your legs straightened out and you're moving your arms to move back and forth. That's Rowing The Boat. I was mostly doing The Shiver. That was my thing.....the Shivering!! (excited) And I would do it with Profile. Then we would do dances together. We always had a group and we were doing dances together. We would do the same moves at the same time, you know?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you would do routines together?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Routines. exactly!"<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When I spoke to Lucky and Smokey..."</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"You spoke to Lucky and Smokey?!?!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Yes, I did....."<br /></b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"</b><b><b>I forgot all about Lucky's spot!! </b>Lucky's true spot was in a basement on Garrison Avenue over here in Hunts Point where I live now. I forgot all about Lucky's spot!! Well, that's where we really mainly started breakdancing at. You are correct!" <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:" Smokey told me that you and Flash also used to come to his house on Grant Avenue regularly where he would be playing music. What do you recall about that?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:" Smokey's house......we went there to hang out and listen to him playing music. Smokey was a brother that played music EVERY SINGLE DAY outside in front of his building. We always went over there for the block parties. We were breakdancing over there, had a good time, did our thing and we left. Smokey's spot and also Lucky's spot were our main stomping grounds for doing our dancing. You are correct about that!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What about DJ Mario's parties? Did you also go there in order to burn other B-Boys?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Yeah, see somebody is good over there in Soundview, so we're going over there to check him out, to see what he's working with. So we would go over there and battle him. Me, Flash, Dwayne we would go over there as a group and the first person that got on the floor that we were supposed to battle, we battled him! We would see who would win...... I'm sorry to say this but Flash always won 'cause he used that Drop-To-The-Knees thing. His knees would go, "CLONK!!!!" and everybody would go, "Oh!!!! Oh!!!!!" Hollering and screaming! That's how he made his clientele! From battling......He had...what you call it.......the Rubberband Dance!! (excited) It was really good! We did our thing! Everywhere was B-Boys. B-Boys and Hustling."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What did that Rubberband dancing style look like?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"I mean his legs was all bent up and he would do it like he was retarded, you know what I'm saying???? It was crazy!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"By which name did you and Flash go when you were still B-Boys?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Mean Gene and Flash! I was just Mean Gene. That's all. It wasn't Grandmaster Flash until later when he started DJing. Then I changed my name when I started The L-Brothers. I became the Amazing Mean Gene. Theodore was the Grandwizard. Cordie-O was the Incredible DJ Cordie-O."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What do you remember about DJ Mario?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Mario got famous because he had those Eliminators! That's what he got. He used to stack his equipment up. He would stack them up almost to the second floor sometimes. He had four sets on each side. That's why Mario got famous."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did attending Kool Herc's parties affect you?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"(laughs) Okay, we weren't too impressed 'cause when me and Flash went to Kool Herc's parties.... after we did our studies in my house or his house.... with his baby mother.....Herc didn't keep the music in rhythm. Herc just put the records on. Me and Flash....I'm not gonna say it wasn't him.....we would buy two records and we made sure the beats would go in good. But at the time I was trying to get bookings for me and Flash so I really didn't get the pinpoint of doing the backspin, the scratching and all that. Once I saw my brother (Grandwizard Theodore) doing it I left it all up to him."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So is it accurate to say that you were intrigued by the music that Herc played but you didn't like the way he played it because he didn't cut the beats seamlessly?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Exactly! Yeah, he didn't keep the beat going properly. He didn't listen to us, we told him to get two alike turntables but Herc didn't have two alike turntables. He had one turntable that was big and another one that was little. So sometimes the beat would be high and sometimes the beat would be low. We actually told him what to do but he ignored us because to him we were just two guys from the crowd. But later after he had seen what was going on.. after he had seen what Flash and us was doing...he decided to pick it up."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did DJ Smokey have an influence on your approach to DJing?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Yeah, Flash was over there at his house, he was learning. He was learning what was going on with Smokey so we could copy some of his joints. </b><b><b>Smokey was doing the same thing of not putting in the beat correctly but Flash used his wisdom and understanding and everything</b> and he came back and he did it a little better than what Smokey and everybody was doing. My brother (Grandwizard Theodore) caught on...Flash never taught my brother.. he caught on because when we used to go out of my room or go somewhere my equipment was there and my brother was practicing and that's how he became the Grandwizard. Smokey was a good influence because as I said he brought music out every single day, you understand? When you bring out music every single day everybody gonna catch what's going on. We liked him for that!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Were you already living on Boston Road when you attended DJ Smokey's parties?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Yeah, Boston Road...Flash was living with me 'cause his mother had a problem with him and everything. We lived together. We slept here and there in my house. We stayed together and that's how we learnt. The equipment stayed in my house and we practiced and practiced until we got knowledge (of DJing)."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you get to Smokey's house from Boston Road back then? Would you walk there or would you take a cab or a bus?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"We walked down the hill! We would walk right down the hill to Smokey's house. It's within walking distance. We got there, got some beers or whatever and listened to the music that Smokey was playing so we could broaden our repertoire. At that time everybody was trying to get better music than the next person but me and Flash were also concentrating on keeping the music going while the people were dancing."</b></p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So what exactly caused the split between you and Flash?"</b><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Me and Flash went everywhere together. Everywhere! But he did something to me on Mount Eden...there was a club called Parkside Plaza... it was on Mount Eden & Jerome Avenue around the corner from The Sparkle and The Hevalo. There's a big dance hall that you can rent. We played there, we brought our speakers and everything.....and we were supposed to get....I think it was a 500$ deal....Flash gave me 50$!! I said, "Yo!!" I went back inside and I asked the guy, "Yo, my man! You didn't give Flash the money???" He said, "Yeah, I gave Flash his money." Flash would not give me my money so I broke up with him. I took my records, the ones that I bought. It was in the rain...we was in the rain arguing and fussing and fighting. If me and Flash had stayed together and had kept our promises with each other we would have been the baddest crew out there!! Nobody would have been able to touch us!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was your relationship with the Casanovas back then?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Flash had moved over here to Alexander Avenue which we had a little spot in his house...in the basement. We would go down in the basement where we kept the equipment. We would practice a little bit and then I would leave because I had to go to work. I still lived on Boston Road and Flash had moved in there with his girlfriend. We used to do parties down there....but when I wasn't there he was doing parties and the Casanovas was like security at first. But then I seen something that I didn't like.....that's before me and Flash broke up.....and I left. I went to become a (Black) Spade but I have always been a (Black) Spade." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What made you quit B-Boying and pick up DJing instead?" <br /></b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Ok, dancing was part of getting into the DJing, you understand? That's what you do first. If you wanna draw a good crowd, you gotta get known and getting known is by dancing against others. People would say,"Hey, that's Mean Gene and Flash!! Look at them doing these moves!!!" After that we were getting a little older so we wanted to DJ. You had to get clientele before you could get into DJing. You must dance or do something to draw a crowd. After that you bring turntables out and the whole nine yards.....in those days....nowadays you don't have to do that. " </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who was your main audience when you were still DJing together?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"We was really playing music for the B-Boys, you understand!? So they can breakdance......like "Yellow Sunshine", "Get Into Something", "Listen To Me"..........all these records, you know?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What do you remember about Bumpy Face Melvin and Black Avery? From what I have heard so far they must have been two very skilled B-Boys back then."</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Yeah, Bumpy Face Melvin and Black Avery. We were all friends. They was with me after I had left Flash. They would come to the L-Brothers parties and also to Flash's parties. Nobody liked it that we broke up. They would step to us talking about, "Yo Gene, you need to go back to Flash." Bumpy Face Melvin was from Forest Playground. Avery wasn't down with my crew or nothing like that. He came around. Sometimes he would carry a crate or two. He was a very good B-Boy. He did a couple of moves that we liked and so he would get in the party for free because we needed him to excite the place, to get the party rocking. At our parties he was one of the party rockers!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So on your side of the Bronx the B-Boys also played a very important role as far as drawing a crowd was concerned because the people wanted to see them go off in the circle?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Exactly! B-Boys was the main object to the thing and the Hustlers!!! Those that did that Hustle dance with the girls. That was part of it, too!!!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When I spoke to Coke La Rock and to those legendary B-Boys from Kool DJ Herc's parties like Trixie, Wallace Dee, Dancing Doug, Sasa, Clark Kent, The Twins, James Bond etc. they all told me that Hustle songs such as "Body Talk" by Eddie Kendricks or "Do What You Gotta Do!" by Eddie Drennon were being played at Herc's jams on the regular. Can the same thing be said about your jams?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Yeah, that's the Cool Out! All those records was being played so you can go over there....maybe they was smoking a joint or drink some liquor to get clubbed up,to start doing something."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So what kind of Hustle songs would you play at your parties?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"You're talking about Hustle records..... "Put The Music Where Your Mouth Is" (by The Olympic Runners), "Jungle Boogie", "Hollywood Swinging", "Open Sesame" (all by Kool & The Gang). Those records was like Hustle records. That means once they heard those records we're getting ready to put the Rock on, you know what I mean? That would be "Bongo Rock", "Give It Up Or Turn It Aloose", "Yellow Sunshine". Things like that!"</b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7VJWJxtJmKe-ztTK0o0Cq-bYzmQv07Z1spCW5eBBYijSxDS5fte_7iPj8gjy1MHOtP3aGD-qhgWQ2oG5TiONqXGHYzm5AuMEveTGzd9bBjEHxjUs0m8OZjBxQMeg2ZmnieKndPhhoIw/s588/L-Bros+%2540+Sparkle.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7VJWJxtJmKe-ztTK0o0Cq-bYzmQv07Z1spCW5eBBYijSxDS5fte_7iPj8gjy1MHOtP3aGD-qhgWQ2oG5TiONqXGHYzm5AuMEveTGzd9bBjEHxjUs0m8OZjBxQMeg2ZmnieKndPhhoIw/s320/L-Bros+%2540+Sparkle.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>August 10th & 11th 1978: The L-Brothers perform at The Sparkle in the Bronx</b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7zbLxh6dtn9YdlBFQ8wT9OySQkLBOdc0S0fsajr8TfZCTcuJxwAv6FgjBejL0c5hA8HKOqp2Ra0dn94FJx67wNht7cyacXL8fiC22taiEQlQ0rV92TAJn9sj3E1nDTE41d74w7nblsg/s607/L-Bros+vs.+Islam.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7zbLxh6dtn9YdlBFQ8wT9OySQkLBOdc0S0fsajr8TfZCTcuJxwAv6FgjBejL0c5hA8HKOqp2Ra0dn94FJx67wNht7cyacXL8fiC22taiEQlQ0rV92TAJn9sj3E1nDTE41d74w7nblsg/s320/L-Bros+vs.+Islam.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>September 3rd, 1978: The L-Brothers battle DJ Afrika Islam and DJ Afrika Zambu at The Sparkle <br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you and Flash ever consider to end your beef and to work together again?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Mele Mel tried to bring us back together but I wasn't trying to hear it. I was done with Flash. And once he got the Casanovas then I wasn't trying to have nobody telling me what to do. That was just security. They overtook Flash and they told him if he didn't do what he's supposed to do things would happen. I wasn't scared or a punk I just didn't wanna do that. I wanted to have my own crew and let him do what he had to do."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"At which parks would you and Flash play those beats for the B-Boys?"<br /></b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Oh, okay. That's a very, very good question. Now we was not at parks when we first got down. We played on Prospect Avenue & 167th Street. We played there all the time! That's when we did block parties. Block parties is a place where you take your music and they close the street up and we play music. Then we said, "Nah, this is not getting us anywhere!" So we started going to parks. Me and Flash played in </b><b><b>23 Park. That's when me and Flash first started without the L-Brothers. Our headquarters was 23 Park. Forest Playground.....those were some of our main parks. Forest Playground </b>that's the Blue Courts. We tried to play together at 63 Park but we had already broken up. That's when I left Flash and got the L-Brothers. He tried to come there...I think he did it once or twice there. After that he mostly stayed downtown by Mitchell Gym. " <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I see. So when were the The L-Brothers established? 1975?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"No. 1974. See, I left Flash in 1973. Then I decided to get the L-Brothers. Me and my brother we had a big meeting. So then it was me and my brother. Theodore was always practicing on my equipment when I wasn't there and I didn't know so when I did find out we just all got together. Later on Theodore went and got some MCs which was Kevin (Kevie Keve) and Rob (Master Rob)."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjtZsvTcByJ_zLa9QrLz7J7iAoGrakzryW5AZDjl2YfE_4K2FZVQidxcBaDUdCaNaKMkzs6og3gcw3spnFkebUmQq-8VpoUZRQZGvO8uwMAfKjyv5Ri_dZFMAPMnEEBhtia8VUyFQFQ/s960/The+L-Brothers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjtZsvTcByJ_zLa9QrLz7J7iAoGrakzryW5AZDjl2YfE_4K2FZVQidxcBaDUdCaNaKMkzs6og3gcw3spnFkebUmQq-8VpoUZRQZGvO8uwMAfKjyv5Ri_dZFMAPMnEEBhtia8VUyFQFQ/s320/The+L-Brothers.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>DJ Grandwizard Theodore, DJ Cordie-O and DJ Mean Gene (The L-Brothers)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How many people would attend your parties in 23 Park and then later on in 63 Park back in the 1970ies?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Oh, boy....23 Park.... it's always been crowded. 63 Park we packed that on the regular as well 'cause that was our main headquarters</b><b><b> for The L-Brothers.</b>We kept rocking that, kept rocking that!! I played in there exactly twenty to twenty-two times....in the park. I had fights in there. I fought people but all I really wanted to do was play music." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did the L-Brothers play at during winter? Did you rock at a specific club or a community center?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Well, one club was The Sparkle. Before the Sparkle we had Davidson Center. That's over there on Prospect Avenue & Home Street where Busy Bee lived at. That was our main spot, that's where we always played at. It was a community center but after that we played at the Sparkle. First it was The Executive Playhouse but then it became The Sparkle. Rock City was another one of our main clubs. Those were the three main ones that we mostly used."</b><br /><b><br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Could you please describe the way that a L-Brothers party would go down back then? I guess there must have been a lot of fly girls as well as stick-up kids...."</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Stick-up Kids was in the back. They knew not to mess with me 'cause I'm not trying to take no shorts. I had a gun, everybody had a gun. The girls were in the front watching us....especially my brother Grandwizard Theodore...... it was L-Brothers time!! The MCs would get on there when Theodore played 'cause Theodore was the best cutter. My brother Cordie-O started it off, he was also always on the records....picking the records out, passing us the records correctly when we played outside and as we practiced in my house. Then after Cordie-O I played a few jams 'cause you know I was the hook-up man. I had to make sure the equipment was shining like something. That's how that went down." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"From where did you know Master Rob and Kevie Kev?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Theodore brought them to me. At first I didn't want no MCees 'cause I wanted to keep my group together, my brothers and all that but then once I heard them rocking I said, "Yo Theodore, let's put them down!" Master Rob....he 's the one that had all the poetry.....his brother Kev he was the one that made sure things went right. Then after a while I felt Master Rob and Kevie Keve wasn't enough that's when I went and got Busy Bee Starski."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I read that Kevie Kev felt a certain type of way about Busy Bee also rocking for other DJs while he was still with you. What do you remember about that situation?"<br /></b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Yeah, he was doing too much floating so everybody was saying, "Oh, he's rocking over there!" But Busy is gonna be Busy Bee. I let him do as he wants 'cause Busy Bee is gonna be Busy Bee, you know. I didn't feel we was gonna stay together 'cause the way everybody was acting. I knew..unfortunately...sooner or later we gonna break up. They didn't like Busy Bee but I needed Chief Rocker (title of Busy Bee) to have the crowd go crazy. I had my plans and everything together but it seemed like Kev wouldn't let me do what I had to do."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you can attest to the fact that Busy Bee Starski was in fact a master at rocking the crowd?"<br /></b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"That's the man! That's the man! He's the Chief Rocker. He would get up there and everybody went, "Aaaah!!" Hollering, screaming...so once I heard him for the first time I said, "Oh, he gotta be with my crew!" He was with Mario and a few others but he would always show me love and come rock with me and I loved that! That's why I love this boy to this day!"</b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UqRgNaEaIA-_zUqYq8uQihMneizsR0K0dsJRjdWsvoAvx86RWthUinXLO4wFK1NaqGZouxns2v0CpVhc45HgOuORmLoiXSY5eAXBnuul6SE4LkdGow9wQ1e0s1R-o444Ni8dKSellw/s960/The+L-Brothers%252C+The+Brothers+Disco%252C+The+Herculords%252C+The+Mighty+Force+Crew+%2540+The+Audobon%252C+October+6th%252C+1978.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UqRgNaEaIA-_zUqYq8uQihMneizsR0K0dsJRjdWsvoAvx86RWthUinXLO4wFK1NaqGZouxns2v0CpVhc45HgOuORmLoiXSY5eAXBnuul6SE4LkdGow9wQ1e0s1R-o444Ni8dKSellw/s320/The+L-Brothers%252C+The+Brothers+Disco%252C+The+Herculords%252C+The+Mighty+Force+Crew+%2540+The+Audobon%252C+October+6th%252C+1978.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>October 6th, 1978: The L-Brothers perform at The Audubon Ballroom in Harlem<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> <br /></b><p></p><p><b></b></p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3c6vE0mZsNhwvVb4VUIpk7EXr0pzn3TIReBFwCt1zQ3bZThZRUMbuYMf7teSFR2iyFJnvveByZM55R_KhwFUnxH8GEKVgHJxy68L0054v9FjxeBjQsoo4Xmt4PWuPOxQ7v6JfmUrSHQ/s600/The+L-Brothers+%2540+YMCA+Crotona%252C+4.+November+1978.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="465" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3c6vE0mZsNhwvVb4VUIpk7EXr0pzn3TIReBFwCt1zQ3bZThZRUMbuYMf7teSFR2iyFJnvveByZM55R_KhwFUnxH8GEKVgHJxy68L0054v9FjxeBjQsoo4Xmt4PWuPOxQ7v6JfmUrSHQ/s320/The+L-Brothers+%2540+YMCA+Crotona%252C+4.+November+1978.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>November 4th, 1978: The L-Brothers perform at The YMCA Crotona</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I have seen a couple of pictures from the 1970s showing girls that wore "L-Sisters"shirts. What was that about?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"The L-Sisters started when I had a meeting with all of us. There was a lot of girls around us at the time... so this idea popped in my head," I have seen it in basketball. If they can have cheerleaders, why we can't have cheerleaders?" So I got seven or eight girls. Every time we were DJing they would chant, "L-Brothers is number one!" They're hollering and screaming in the front, boosting up the crowd. So I said, "Yeah!" I'm not gonna lie I paid them a little bit to cheer for us and it worked for a little while until things started getting bad. We wasn't making a whole lot of money but everybody wanted something. It was too many pockets and we wasn't making enough money. So the L-Sisters continued to do what they did which I love them for it. That's how became The L-Brothers with the L-Sisters."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Could you name each member of The L-Sister please?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Yvette and Joyce and there were a few that I can't remember right now. Maybe Theodore can remember their names. Yvette and Joyce were our two main girls and a girl named Deborah. Those were our main three because we only wanted five but then it picked up, they brought in other girls. "I wanna be a L-Sister!" Girls wanted to become L-Sisters because they wanted to get in free. Then I also had a group that would carry our crates of records. They get in free. They was from Busy Bee projects....Davidson Projects. I mean I had it lined up but I couldn't watch them and hook up the equipment so I eventually I didn't DJ anymore. I let Theodore do the DJing and let Cordie-O do what he had to do. I would make sure.....me and this brother called Trevor...we would hook up the equipment."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who came up with the name "The L-Brothers" and what did it stand for initially?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Well, I came up with everything. At first we was The L-Brothers...The Livingston Brothers because it was three brothers until we got Kevie Kev and Master Rob. When we got Kev and Rob we said, "Wait a minute. Let's make this the Love Brothers!" Because we were all brothers...Kev and Rob was brothers and me, Cordie-O and Theodore were brothers. I named them The Love Brothers so nobody would get hysterical or mad." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe the process through which you got your soundsystem together when you first started. From what I have gathered so far it really seems that it was absolutely mandatory for a DJ to have a soundsystem back then....."</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"You gotta have that soundsystem!" <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So what was your very step when you had to start from nothing?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"You know that's a good question. I like that question! You ain't gonna believe what I'mma tell you. Now the object of me...because of my knowledge of electricity...I used to go around to the garbage to find an amp here, an amp there. I rebuilt those amps, put them together and made them working. Find a speaker...make sure that speaker works or get some columns or borrow some columns and then after I had borrowed the columns I would buy them as we started to play and made some money. That's how I build my soundsystem 'cause my family was real poor. We had no money to buy things like that. I found this equipment and built it on my own. But then one day it got stolen from me 'cause I left it at the 3rd Avenue Ballroom. Somebody broke in there and took my equipment which I cried like a baby but I don't know why I'm crying over something I didn't pay for. I was worried more about my records more than anything. They took a little bit of my records. So then I built my soundsystem again and started again. The principle is.....don't stop! Keep going! That's the main thing! If you stop you gonna lose everything."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So your records were like your weapons I guess?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"That's our goldmine!!! Without our records.......if you ain't got no records what is your soundsystem for? The records were our most prized possession!! We used to carry our records around! Carry our records and if anybody would be like,"Yo, let me see! What's that?!" (We'd tell them),"Noooooo!" I used to get mine from Downstairs Records and from Jersey and from 169th Street & Boston Road. We would get the records and run upstairs, erase the labels off them and start rocking!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How many doubles fit in one crate? 50, 60?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"The doubles? I'd say about 30 to 40 doubles would fit in a crate. Then we got a suitcase and we would put all the breakbeats in there. So we used the crates mainly for Disco and all the slow records. That main big suitcase is what we used for The Rock. That went everywhere with us."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How much of the money that you made through throwing parties would you reinvest into building up your soundsystem and buying beats?" </b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"I had a job. That's what you bought your equipment with......your job money. The money that we made in the parties was our spending money to spend on the girls, you understand? This is the way we did it, so we would always have a few dollars in our pocket. You always gotta keep a job! I always kept a job.</b><b><b> The money that we worked for was to pay our rent and to buy records and parts of the equipment</b> but as I said I used to find equipment and build it up myself. That's what me and Flash did. We would find equipment 'cause that's how good we was in building our equipment up."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I read that a party which took place at the Galaxy 2000 in late 1978 early / 1979 and which got stuck up was a huge blow to the The L-Brothers Crew and stopped you for a while. What do you remember about that incident?"<br /></b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Okay, that was the end of the L-Brothers at the time because everybody was frightened.....because at the party they came for my little brother (Grandwizard Theodore). I had got my brother outta there by him jumping out the window. That's what they came for. Who (those people were) or why I don't know. We was moving up. That's when we was battling Kool Herc at the time. They took a few sheepskins, gold. Two people got hurt, one got killed. I mean that was crazy. Everybody had got scared 'cause we was still young. After that we wasn't really together like before anymore. I got a club and they later on became the Fantastic Five. You know, things like that.."</b></p><p><b><br /> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Ykm4AnAH2HwB-bI8eA_wLR7gO5ycNGR5zJa4Ti8ZzGxGav5VjdSgNqZjCGCadmDTtI3-bbsghj8-p2Qzr0YaoXxwsE4pGtJtnbuQ94ua1fzIbQkRQ0jJXUzx2qLXigtXYifuUFCyyA/s522/L-Bros+vs.+Herculords.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="374" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Ykm4AnAH2HwB-bI8eA_wLR7gO5ycNGR5zJa4Ti8ZzGxGav5VjdSgNqZjCGCadmDTtI3-bbsghj8-p2Qzr0YaoXxwsE4pGtJtnbuQ94ua1fzIbQkRQ0jJXUzx2qLXigtXYifuUFCyyA/s320/L-Bros+vs.+Herculords.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>December 29th, 1978: The L-Brothers battle The Herculords at The Galaxy 2000<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"If I'm not mistaken you would later on get together with a MC crew called The Tantalizing Three with Lovebee Tipski, Tricky Vick and them..."</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"The Tantalizing Three was considered as Tipski, Tricky Vick, Tony Rome and two more brothers which I can't remember their names. They was from Moore Houses. We would practice in my house......I got married and at that time I used to live on Davdison Avenue We were getting that group together but kids gonna be kids. They got in trouble, so after a while they couldn't come around for the practice. I bought new equipment at that time but they couldn't come around for practice and so they fell off. The Tantalizing Three... they would change into The Tantalizing Five. That was my last group, then now I'm back with my L-Brothers."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What are your all time favourite breakbeats?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"Okay, my favourite breakbeats are "Yellow Sunshine", "Get Into Something"....James Brown "Give It Up Or Turn It Aloose", "The Mexican"...... <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give shoutouts at the end of this interview?"</b></p><p><b>MEAN GENE:"</b><b><b>I wanna give a shoutout to my mother, Grandwizard Theodore, Cordie-O, DJ Quick, DJ Smokey, Tiny and Big Man from The Casanovas, Pumpkin. Now I wanna sing my L-Brothers anthem, "<i>DJ Cordie is incredible, Mean Gene is on the scene and Theodore cuts twice as nice that's why this boy's so mean! Kevie Kev has all the women and I'm sure that you'll agree he has the golden voice of the people's choice and so does Busy Bee. Robbie Rob is slick and bad and kool and you gotta notice, too, that Trevor was our manager and we're down with the L-Brothers Crew!"</i></b></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I wanna give a shoutout to Nicolas Big Man Fernandez for making this interview possible and to my man Sureshot La Rock for the incredible L-Brothers flyers that he allowed me to use." <b><i> </i><br /></b></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-75627574957229082592021-01-21T08:30:00.002-08:002021-01-21T09:04:59.714-08:00Interview with MC Ducky Dee (The G-Force)<p> <b> Interview with MC Ducky Dee (The G-Force)</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYZLRH8HXzSNZOH3IuEfBG2qt3nBZ_qk2zGLkuHZ4_TMO8g7DyhF_6Bc7EvTdQCPI8UZUPwRbRyMKCcxsyBUd4kdDUCrlmSTde5bX4vJN5l0iEiVOW3kpdKYChhJQS_8xPzCi5tL99g/s2048/Ducky+D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYZLRH8HXzSNZOH3IuEfBG2qt3nBZ_qk2zGLkuHZ4_TMO8g7DyhF_6Bc7EvTdQCPI8UZUPwRbRyMKCcxsyBUd4kdDUCrlmSTde5bX4vJN5l0iEiVOW3kpdKYChhJQS_8xPzCi5tL99g/s320/Ducky+D.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>MC Ducky Dee (The G-Force)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /><br /></b><p></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where were you born and raised?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"Harlem, New York.....born and raised. Born in Harlem Hospital, raised in the streets of Harlem, New York. Sugar Hill!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly in Harlem is the Sugar Hill section located?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"Actually, if I'm correct it might be like the end of Harlem. It might be actually where Harlem ends. I'm not 110 percent sure but I believe it's like the upper part of Harlem where it ends. You know, just before Washington Heights begins."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, and could you please tell me in which year were you born?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"1963."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"In which year did you notice DJs setting up their equipment in the parks and playing that breakbeat sound for the very first time? How old were you when that happened?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"I was probably around 15. You know, there was a group called The Aquarius Sounds and those were like the first guys that I remember bringing out music but they weren't really like playing these breakbeats. It was just before Hiphop had hit the part of Harlem where I was living at. I believe it was a group called TPC.....The People's Choice....they were like the first ones to kinda bring out that music (the breakbeats) in the parks in our neighbourhood in Harlem...The Battlegrounds. The Bronx of course is where it originated and everything like that. I used to go to a place when I was 15.....in 1978....but it wasn't in the parks, it was actually a place in the Bronx called the Galaxy 2000. DJ Kool Herc used to play up there. So he actually was the first one to open my and my peoples' eyes up to that real Hiphop. It was in the Galaxy 2000....they said that club used to be called the Stafford's Place but by the time I got there it was called the Galaxy 2000. I was actually too young to be getting in there but my stepsister used to date one of the DJs and so she used to get me and my people up in there. Herc used to battle different Bronx DJs there like The L-Brothers, DJ Casanova Fly...... It was a beautiful time then."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Wasn't the Galaxy 2000 close to University Avenue?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"Yes, sir! It was right on University Avenue."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did you find out about the Galaxy 2000 and Kool Herc? Did your stepsister tell you about these things?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"Right. So my pops was dating her moms. So I used to go over there on the weekends. I used to go from Harlem to the Bronx every weekend and my stepsister used to date one of Kool Herc's DJs named Black Jack. So I went there with her once and I never stopped going so even if I wasn't gonna go over to the Bronx that weekend I had to go anyway because I had to get up into the Galaxy 2000 to see who Kool Herc was battling or you know just to hear him because I was actually real cool with one of his MCs.....MC Labrue...that was my man! He was a good brother because you know I was just a young cat that loved Hiphop, that used to just come in there to listen to the music and he embraced me. He used to let me sit in there with him while he rocked the mic and everything 'cause they used to kinda rock in this room. They would set the speakers outside the room in the club but they would actually sit like in a room. So when you was coming up in New York at that time word of mouth was everything. So people would tell you like, "Yo! I heard so and so is gonna be jamming over here! I heard so and so is gonna be jamming over there!" So you would make your way around Harlem or the Bronx to see it. Maybe you might even have a boombox where you could record the joint. You know get close to the speaker and record the jam, you know? So when you went back to the block you not only had proof that you was there but now you got a tape that everybody wants and you can make copies and sell them for 5$ a pop, you know? So it was a beautiful time but you also had to have some balls about you because you never knew what would happen when you stepped outside your neighbourhood or stepped outside your borough. But I loved Hiphop so much, you know what I'm saying, that I had to have it and the people I was with also had to have it so yeah! " </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of impression did attending Kool DJ Herc's parties leave upon you? Was Imperial JC already with him at that time?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"I don't remember Imperial JC. I remember Clark Kent, Black Jack and Herc and I believe the MCs was Labrue and Pebblee Poo and I'm not sure if they had anybody else but I remember those two. So anyway me and my brother who started the crew G-Force.....Supreme Master Wayne Gee...I took him up there with me one weekend and we went up there and partied. We had a good time and he caught that bug like me. Now we all had the bug already but that's when he caught the bug that made him say, "I wanna do this! We're going to do this!" So we ended up going back to Harlem and it was like, "Okay, we're gonna do our own thing!" And that's how we started G-Force but that's what gave Supreme Master Wayne Gee the idea, "Yo, I wanna start a crew! I wanna play music! This is what I wanna do!" And he was my big brother so I always followed what he did. He took care of me."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Was DJ Wayne Gee your blood brother?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"No, actually he's not blood related but he's my real brother. Something that I learnt growing up is that you gonna have people that are blood but don't treat you like blood but you gonna have people that's not blood that are closer to you than your own blood. We've known each other since we were little kids. We grew up together and at one point his people took me in and adopted me. He's not my blood brother but that's my real brother." </b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQ9pBerrYizLyvFes_hfIXlr50OVKEMdxQFWji7NKUNZlXAUlL-oyNxPhUmVZc99iBOA36Wm4Wr8xqcSOTlvUhtJgifIavvfIQuA_O_Aft09MnwlyB6hqaIF1D3udorhgrUxYhoV1MQ/s960/Wayne+Gee.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQ9pBerrYizLyvFes_hfIXlr50OVKEMdxQFWji7NKUNZlXAUlL-oyNxPhUmVZc99iBOA36Wm4Wr8xqcSOTlvUhtJgifIavvfIQuA_O_Aft09MnwlyB6hqaIF1D3udorhgrUxYhoV1MQ/s320/Wayne+Gee.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>DJ Wayne Gee - Founder of the G-Force Crew<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of dances were done at those Herc parties back in 1978?"</b><p></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"That's a good question! (laughs) I believe the Freak might have been the first Hiphop dance that I can remember and then the Spank followed and all that stuff but I definitely remember the Freak and the Spank being the first two dances at Hiphop Jams."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What did the music there make you feel like ?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"Like I said we had people that brought music out in the park just before Hiphop had exploded. So of course you know they had the big speakers and everything like that but when you went to the Galaxy 2000 and you heard Kool Herc....and I remember this like it was yesterday....he would get on the mic and the first thing he would say before every jam was, <i>"All systems go!!!!" </i>on the echo chamber. So when he said that it would sound like, <i>"All systems go go go go!"</i> And then he would play just a regular record, you know what I'm saying? Not even a beat or anything like that, just a regular record to get the party started but them speakers would be bumping!!! Yeah man, it was something!! It was something!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did DJ Black Jack assist you and your brother in any way to get your crew started? Like telling you which speakers and amps to get?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"Nah!!!! (laughs) Actually, me and dude ain't really clicked. I can't tell you too much about dude it's just that he was the DJ and he used to rock with my sister but me and him ain't really.....I mean me and him we didn't have no beef or nothing like that but I can't sit here and tell you that we was kool. Like I said Labrue was the one who embraced me. That was my man. Whatever we did as far as getting that crew together, we did that! It was Supreme Master Wayne Gee, it was a guy that we went to school with....G-Man. He got Wayne Gee started out on the turntables. Actually, where the name G-Force came from was G-Man because one of the cats that used to rock with us....Rock City Ram.......we was at a house party, not even like a jam...we was at a house party and Rock City Ram was there and he just said, "Yo G-Man and the Mighty G-Force!" and when he said that, that name G-Force just stuck. So that's actually where we got the name from...from G-Man. We basically didn't have any equipment but we built it over the years like I remember doing somebody's house party with two stereos.....you know, not even like a real mixer or nothing like that...just turn it down on this one here and then turn it down on this one here (laughs..). Like that! That's how bad we wanted to do it until we came into our own. You know, building equipment, getting our own stuff and becoming somebody that was known."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Is it accurate to say that MC Labrue inspired you to become an MC?"<br /></b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"You know what? Yeah, because he's like the first one that I remember and everything like that... so yeah. At that time everybody wanted to be.... in some part, form, fashion..a part of Hiphop. Whether you wanted to be an MC, whether you wanted to be a DJ or whatever, whatever. So yeah I would say MC Labrue was a big reason why I wanted to be an MC."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Judging from the various G-Force flyers I have come across so far it seems to me that your crew went through several different phases. Like you obviously had different MC line-ups over the time and even different DJs. Do you recall DJ Money Gee?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"Yeah, man! Money Gee is one of the original members! When we was doing our thing..you know, when we started blowing up with the music and everything like that...we used to rock at a spot called The Show Place right down the block from where we grew up. So we had three DJs: G-Man, Wayne Gee and Money Gee. We started out with The Shining Star MCs, then we went to The Galaxy Four and then we went to the Jazzy Two which became like the permanent MCs for the G-Force. That was me and my brother the Love Sweet Vee."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMBNHZudTxK2x4WYTEt1vCWis-7Mi3wsJK7UuqFUFuK5M8k6fNbuRqLdpbNtnqaQNFwOr4K2hDK6f6j6aqehl41L7Zy0qguwiR0LdlmcSzh7om8bsRC_TAnjyrlOuhv1oCDejl6bUpg/s750/The+G-+Force++%2540+The+Show+Place+15.9.1979.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="591" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMBNHZudTxK2x4WYTEt1vCWis-7Mi3wsJK7UuqFUFuK5M8k6fNbuRqLdpbNtnqaQNFwOr4K2hDK6f6j6aqehl41L7Zy0qguwiR0LdlmcSzh7om8bsRC_TAnjyrlOuhv1oCDejl6bUpg/s320/The+G-+Force++%2540+The+Show+Place+15.9.1979.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>September 15th, 1979: The G-Force performs at the Show Place in Harlem along with DJ Master Don & The Death Committee</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Apparently, one of your MCs that rocked with you when you were still the Shining Star MCs later on jumped ship and joined DJ Master Don & The Death Committee. I'm talking about MC Boo Ski. How did that come about and how did you feel about that move at the time?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"Boo Ski was from the neighbourhood. He didn't grow up with us but he was somebody who's moved to the neighbourhood. Now understand Boo Ski has a lot of brothers. So one of those brothers is Gangster Gee who ended up being one of Master Don's MCs. That's actually Boo Ski's little brother. But anyway getting back to Boo Ski.....when he left no we didn't take it good because it wasn't done with good taste. It wasn't done like, "Hey, I wanna get down with them." It was like all of a sudden we're getting word that one of our best MCs is jumping ship. So nah that didn't go good So we kinda chased him outta there behind that."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Yes, I have heard that the G-Force was also notorius for beating up cats. What's your take on that?"<br /></b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"As far as G-Force being like that....so what happens is back in New York you could play music out in the parks but you also had to enforce what you were doing because you might have people come out there who wanna start fights or whatever, whatever or just disrespect what you're doing or disrespect your crew. So what happened was, we did both! We did both and eventually we left the music side to go to that side. When we were just on some crew stuff, you know?? Going around, busting up heads and all that.....So we started out with the music but ended up with the ass whipping."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So when did the ass whipping become your priority? In the 1980s?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"Yeah, I would say in the early 1980s."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who came up with the name "The Shining Star MCs"?</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"I believe that's a name that my man Rob Gee (another original G-Force MC) came up with. The Shining Star!!! It was me, Rob Gee, Boo Ski and Tony Dee. Rob Gee left us also and he ended up rocking with RC La Rock. He took that name Shining Stars MCs with him when he left us. Big shoutouts to RC La Rock! One of the greatest MCs ever!! Rob Gee got down with him and another guy. Damn, I can't remember his name..."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"DJ Chevy Chev." <br /></b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:" DJ Chevy Chev!! My man, you are correct! Rob Gee and RC La Rock ended up rocking with DJ Chevy Chev who had a pretty good name for himself back then. I think the Galaxy Four..if I'm correct... was something that I came up with because I was trying to keep the format of the G-Force, you know what I'm saying? The guy who used to do our flyers which was this cat named Mike....Mike used to do our flyers and I used to tell him the ideas of how I wanted them done and everything like that and he would hook them up like that." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe how the Shining Star MCs were formed!"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"I can tell you nine times out of ten it was Wayne Gee. Wayne Gee was always the one that put everything together and he was the one that would always... like if I would bring somebody around and tell him,"Yo, my man can rock!" he would be like,"Let me hear him. I might put him down." So Tony Dee lived on the other end of the block. So Tony Dee was down. Boo Ski as well. Rob Gee was somebody I brought from JFK....from my school...that everybody was like, "Yo, that dude is nice!!" Rob was that dude on the mic, you know? So Rob got down. So that's how that goes."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did you find out about Rob Gee's exceptional MCing skills? Were there rhyming sessions in the cafeteria of JFK High School back then where you you would see him rocking on the mic?"<br /></b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"I don't remember doing that. I saw that being done in Martin Luther King (a high school in Harlem) with the Fearless Four. I saw them rocking in the cafeteria in Martin Luther King. So with Rob Gee..that's just the thing that somebody might say, "Ey, yo! You MC, right? Yo, my man knows how to MC, too." So you'd be like, "Word? Let me hear him!" So that's how that used to go. It wasn't like the cafeteria thing, it was just word of mouth. Like you could be in the back of the train, you could be anywhere, you know what I'm saying? If you are who you say you are....nah, do that right here right now!! You'd be on the corner, "Word? You rap? Let me hear it!" Or MC 'cause it wasn't about no rap, it was MC." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you had basically heard about his reputation as an MC, got to check out his skills and found them good enough to ask Rob Gee to join your crew?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"Yeah, something like that." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Is it accurate to say that the Shining Star MCs lasted from 1978 till early 1980 when Boo Ski left you for DJ Master Don & The Death Committee Crew?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:" Probably so because I would say that Rob Gee and Boo Ski almost left at the same time."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So how did your crew receive the news that Rob Gee wanted to leave you and join DJ Chevy Chev and RC La Rock? Did you feel as disrespected as you did when Boo Ski left for Master Don or was there a difference?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"It was disappointment but it was done right. It wasn't done like we gotta hear it from somebody else. Everybody knew how we got down. You didn't wanna cross us. So both of them were like family but at the same time one thing that you don't accept is disrespect. Boo Ski left us in a disrespectful way and that's why it went down like it went down. Rob Gee did it like it was supposed to be done. He came to us like a man and he told us that that's what he wanted to do. So he got Wayne Gee's blessings. </b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">I have to provide some clarification though about Boo Ski leaving. Him and Master Don eventually got Wayne Gee's blessings to join the Death Committee but certain crew members didn't know and stepped to him.</span> </b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Master Don wouldn't have dared to bring Boo Ski into his crew without Wayne's ok because we protected Don many times.</span> "<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did the Shining Star MCs meet in order to rehearse? At Wayne Gee's house?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"Yeah, at Wayne Gee's house. Nine times out of ten at Wayne Gee's house."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1FToiIJX0As78VaJj2MaXcWvY-Xa-b0u6N7nsASt7LgMKW4tvg9Z6p9xGNxE6Ur2xR1TmJxG7Fdu5t_o314z0A8r6t9jBgE8V1V2a77QG2Y0688L2xGKPOD3Myw1wjtKOVZCx-U-fg/s750/The+G-Force+%2540+The+Show+Place%252C+22.12.19.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="587" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1FToiIJX0As78VaJj2MaXcWvY-Xa-b0u6N7nsASt7LgMKW4tvg9Z6p9xGNxE6Ur2xR1TmJxG7Fdu5t_o314z0A8r6t9jBgE8V1V2a77QG2Y0688L2xGKPOD3Myw1wjtKOVZCx-U-fg/s320/The+G-Force+%2540+The+Show+Place%252C+22.12.19.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>December 22nd,1979: The G-Force performs at the Show Place in Harlem along with DJ Master Don & The Death Committee</b><br /><b><br /></b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You mentioned that Kool Herc's MCs didn't do routines when you saw them performing at the Galaxy 2000...."</b><p></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"No, they just had their slot times."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Ok, so what about the Shining Star MCs? Did you do any routines?"</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:"No, we didn't have routines. Nah, I don't even know if MCs was really doing routines that early in the game. I remember like maybe a year or so later you started hearing like The Furious Five or the Cold Crush Brothers. No, you just passed the mic. You just said your rhyme, you know? And then you'd be like, "<i>Tony Dee it's on you! So what you gonna do?!" </i>You know, you just passed the mic off." That's the way it was done back then. I didn't start doing routines until we was the Jazzy Two. Me and the Love Sweet Vee."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Out here in Germany many cats wonder what that phrase "passing the mic" really referred to. Some have asked me whether crews initially had just one microphone when they were rocking in the parks back then which therefore had to be shared by all of the crew's members."</b></p><p><b>DUCKY DEE:" (laughs) No, no.....</b><b><b>(laughs). You had several mics! I mean maybe sometimes you did have a night where the mic wasn't working or you didn't have enough mics but even when everybody had their own mics passing the mic just meant, "Okay, I have finished my rhyme. I'm passing it off to you." So you would say something like, "<i>I'm finished on the mic...go ahead Rob Gee to the ladies's delight!"</i> That was passing the mic."<i> </i></b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Like Mele Mel would say to Rahiem, <i>"A 7-6-5-4-3-2-1....Come on, Rahiem! Come and get some!" </i></b></b><b><b><i> </i></b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Yeah....That group is the greatest MC group of all time!!! I knew Grandmaster Caz, I knew J-DL from the Cold Crush Brothers and I knew Prince Whippper Whip from The Fantastic Five, right? So when you talk to them.... because those are the top groups.....The Furious Five, The Cold Crush Brothers and The Fantastic Romantic Five MCs. Those are the top groups. So whenever you ask somebody of The Fantastic Five or The Cold Crush Brothers, "Who was the number one group?" They'll say, "The Furious Five!" So everybody had that respect for Mele Mel and them." </b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"The legendary MC Barry Bee of the Mean Machine Crew told me that before he had even started MCing he used to chill outside with his friends drinking Grape Soda and eating pumpkin seeds while listening to the tapes of the Funky Four with Sha Rock. Did you also get your hands on these tapes back in the days? <br /></b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Oh yeah!! Oh yeah!! (excited) We got our hands on tapes like that all the time! That was a big thing back then, you know? Back then when you had tapes like that of the Cold Crush Brothers vs. The Fantastic Five......you would get some weed and everybody would sit around and listen to them joints there. That was the thing back then. You would have people bothering you that wanted to hear those tapes. You'd be like, "Yo man, go get us some weed, man, and I let you listen to that Cold Crush Brothers tape." (They'd be like)"Word?" "Yeah, man!""</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Were those tapes something that inspired to improve your rhyming skills as an MC?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Yeah, because you gotta be a real special MC to not borrow from other people. Coming up....when I started MCing I used to go to the Bronx and get rhymes from up there and bring them back to Harlem 'cause I had no rhymes of my own back then. So as long as I knew that wouldn't bite me in the ass ....because not everybody was going up to the Bronx to them jams to hear that... I would go there and add rhymes to my repertoire. Shit, I might even have gotten some Labrue joints! You know, until I started writing (ryhmes) and really getting into my own." </b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe the process through which you would come up with new rhymes! Would you write your rhymes in your crib alone or would you be doing that along with the other MCs of the G-Force at DJ Wayne Gee's house?"<br /></b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"So when this all started I was staying with Wayne Gee. His moms had took me in, right? So I was staying with Wayne Gee so he could be practicing DJing and I'm on the side writing rhymes and the more I wrote the better I got. You know, you sit there and rhymes pop up in your head out of somewhere. So you'd be like,"Hold on! Let me write that down!"Or you would hear something and you'd be like, "That's a fly word! Let me see if I can make that into a rhyme!" So there's a whole bunch of things that inspire you to write something. To me rhymes could come from anywhere."</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would also take measures to enlarge your vocabulary?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Nah. I'm not saying that that's not a good idea but I just didn't. You know, you're getting motivated by hearing somebody that's just awesome. Like, "Yo!!! Oh my God! This guy is a beast on the mic and I gotta step my game up!" If you got any type of dignity or pride about yourself yeah you'll hear somebody that makes you say,"Damn!! Nah, I ain't ready yet. I need to get back to the drawing board." And then to be perfectly honest when Rob Gee and Boo Ski were down with us they were my motivation to get better because those cats were really that good. They were really that good! So knowing that we got a party to do Friday night and I gotta be on stage with these cats??? So I was like, "Yeah, I gotta get my shit together!" </b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Is it accurate to say that the Battlegrounds was like your main stomping ground as far as rocking parties outside is concerned?" <br /></b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Oh yeah! Most definitely!"</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Which other outdoor spots did you rock at?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"We did the Battlegrounds and we did 28 Park which was like a few blocks up....a schoolyard. The Battlegrounds is just a regular park, you know, where we all came up playing basketball in. It's up the block from up where we grew up. 28 was the elementary school we all went to so we would also jam in there. So those were our two places.....including the Show Place which was the club we used to rock in." </b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of location was the Show Place?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"That was a night spot up the block from us but they had this big open space on the top that they let us use to play Hiphop in. So the Show Place was like our spot and they actually used to have nude dancing in there, so sometimes I used to sneak down there in the middle of a party to go sneak a peak (laughs)."</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was your relationship with DJ Master Don & The Death Committee like? Were they from the same area as you guys? "</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"No, they're from Harlem but they're from a place we call "The Valley" and they called us "The Hill" because they was downhill and we was up the hill. So they called us "Hillbillies" and we called them "The Valley Boys." Not particularly the Death Committee and not particularly the G-Force but just people from those areas. So Wayne Gee used to date one of Master Don's sisters. That's how we got down with Master Don....I mean not really getting down with him but doing parties together but then we actually made it possible for a lot of people to survive out there. We protected Master Don because....God bless the dead....he wasn't really liked. You know, Master Don was a hell of a DJ! Oh my God, he was a beast! He was a beast but he was also.....I don't wanna use the word conceited but he was very confident."</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Yes, I read about that in many of Troy L. Smith's interviews....."</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"See, here's the problem with that...you can't do that and not be about that life. Now you can be the nicest DJ and all that but there's a lot of people in New York that's gonna come to you and gonna say to you,"How good is your knuckle game? Yeah, you can DJ and all that but what's your knuckle game about? Cause I don't like the way you carry yourself..." That's the honest to God truth! In New York.... if you carry yourself like that then you better be about that life." </b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I hear you."</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"So, here's a true story.....he was having a battle in a gym and tearing the other DJ out the frame but the other DJ still robbed him and took all his stuff!"</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Damn!"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"See, the other DJ...he's my man, too...but I'm not gonna put his name out like that...(laughs)....I still keep in touch with him....his people took all of Don's shit and walked up out of there. The moral of the story is...yeah, you won the battle but you lost the war!"</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What truly fascinates me about the DJing and MCing of the late 1970s and early 1980s is the fact that it focussed on live shows and you therefore had to present the crowd with an outstanding performance or they would let you know that you sucked right away. No chance to redo anything unlike today where it's all about recording songs and you got ample time at your disposal in the studio."</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Yeah, you got booed out your own park if your shit ain't correct! So let me tell you a funny story...when I first started MCing I was very shy. So I actually rocked with my back to the crowd. So I'm rocking and all the girls are going like, "Tell him to turn around!" And Wayne Gee was like"Yo kid, turn around! They wanna see you!" So I had to get over that because I had never been in that condition! I didn't know I was shy and all of that until I'm like,"Oh shit! All these people are looking at me!" You had to come correct!! So luckily I came correct and was able to turn around and face the crowd 'cause they liked what they heard but they also wanted to see me rocking as well." <br /></b></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvn7LbM6Ih8ZUxHex0IDBbMyZV5MtnR5ghWOZru6Sboj-5phJSqpqlVYl9O1XqXDprHAD38HzC8QIArUSjEtj7EQMKEy1brcCeLdqBSbCQQ706j_HgAO2vFbIW-Osi2IY2IkVHmNIaQ/s387/The+G-Force+%2540+The+Audobon+Ballroom+31.12.1979.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvn7LbM6Ih8ZUxHex0IDBbMyZV5MtnR5ghWOZru6Sboj-5phJSqpqlVYl9O1XqXDprHAD38HzC8QIArUSjEtj7EQMKEy1brcCeLdqBSbCQQ706j_HgAO2vFbIW-Osi2IY2IkVHmNIaQ/s320/The+G-Force+%2540+The+Audobon+Ballroom+31.12.1979.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>December 31st, 1979: The G-Force performs at the Audobon Ballroom in Harlem <br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /><b></b></b><p></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So MCing was also about impressing and rocking the crowd visually? Like doing choreographies and stuff like that?"<br /></b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:" Yeah, but that came down the road. Down the road you put on a full-blown show. In the very beginning you just wanted to hear some fly shit. That's all. It wasn't rocket science, it wasn't that serious...it was like, "Yo, I just wanna hear some fly shit!" But then as time went on people started taking the game to a new level. You know, them Furious Five, them Cold Crush Brothers, them Fantastic Five. They were really putting on a show!"<br /></b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I heard the same thing about DJ Master Don & The Death Committee.....like that there are tapes of them performing at Harlem World where they would stop rapping for a moment and do something on stage that had the crowd going crazy."</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"They would go, "Ooooooooooh!" Right! You'd be like, "I can't see it but they must have did something outside of that rhyming." Yeah, because what it is .....somebody always gonna set the bar higher and you gotta meet it. You can't just keep doing the same old shit, the bar's been set higher." So all of a sudden you go to a show and these MCs are singing and dancing, you know what I'm saying???!!! Oh boy, here we go! (excited) Now we gotta get some steps in and so forth and so on."</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What made you add Scotty Dee and Love Sweet Vee to your crew roster after Boo Ski and Rob Gee had left?"<br /></b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Well, Scotty Dee was from the neighbourhood. He was from up the block. Sweet Vee was somebody who started running with us and we found out he could rhyme and what's crazy about that is that when it was all said and done Wayne Gee was like, "Yo, I want it to be you and Sweet Vee!" And I wasn't crazy about the idea at the time that me and this guy was about to become a duet. But then later on we would give a lot of guys the bussiness back then. We were all that but we also became brothers and that's my brother to this day. Wayne Gee always had this eye even when everybody else was like, "Yo, what is he doing?" Like he gave Rob Base and E-Z Rock time in Trinity Church for them to get exposure. We used to go to outside jams in the parks and everything like that and Doug E Fresh would be down there and nobody would let him rock. Like he wasn't with a crew or anything like that, he would just go and ask, "Hey, can I rock?" And people used to not want him to rock because he was so good. Once you let Doug E on, people don't want him to get off. Now you carried all your heavy equipment to this park for you and your people to shine, now all of a sudden the park is telling you, "We just wanna hear Doug E. Fresh!" So we made it possible for a lot of cats to rock." </b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Were Scotty Dee and Sweet Vee able to fill in the gap left by Rob Gee and Boo Ski?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Yeah, because even though those guys were good but we had chemistry, you know what I'm saying? When we had Rob Gee and Boo Ski...they were great but it was like every man for himself. There was no chemistry. When Scotty Dee and Sweet Vee joined us it was chemistry and that's what Wayne Gee saw,"Oh, these guys are more together!" When it was the Shining Star MCs it was every man for himself. Plain and simple! Rob Gee and Boo Ski knew they were the alpha males...so it was more like a competition or maybe even an interview for somebody else to see them and say, "I want you to get down with me!"<br /></b></b></p><p><b><b><br /></b></b></p><p><b><b></b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnT6OeJdragZEmeTUWkFvmj3yXf4d5z9J7KSrcG4YC7W9-xuTe5vDxazDr1m-sLitinErT4nuxIBF7VZQ5nnqarpRX4PdRm-yomKDDyGkCtWdJQd718syaHqTMkAFvyzZTqlNGsI-nUA/s750/The+G-Force+%2540+The+Show+Place+19.04.1980.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnT6OeJdragZEmeTUWkFvmj3yXf4d5z9J7KSrcG4YC7W9-xuTe5vDxazDr1m-sLitinErT4nuxIBF7VZQ5nnqarpRX4PdRm-yomKDDyGkCtWdJQd718syaHqTMkAFvyzZTqlNGsI-nUA/s320/The+G-Force+%2540+The+Show+Place+19.04.1980.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>April 19th, 1980: The G-Force performs at the Show Place</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><b></b></b></div><b><b><br /> </b></b><p></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of advice would you give to the young cats of today that may want to resurrect the original live MCing as it was done in the parks back then? You know, forming a MC crew and rocking with a DJ that spins breakbeats..... "</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"If you're trying to build up a crew it's about chemistry and when I say that I mean you gotta want the same thing. It's got to be about the crew more than anything. It can't be about you and what you wanna do. It's like a great company, you know what I'm saying? It's about the company. Not only do you have to know your rhymes and your style but you got to know your peoples' style and rhymes just like they're your own. You gotta know everybody even your DJ like second nature. I'll never forget we had a battle</b></b><b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"> at a place called the Ponderosa which was on 8th Avenue.... between 145th and 146th street</span> .....an MC battle...100$ prize. So now we're talking about the early 1980s. 100$ was a lot of money back then. I would usually write the routines for Sweet Vee and me, right? So we practiced the routine, we got it down pat. We got this mean routine that we gonna put on these cats at this battle!! Written just for the battle! Written just for the battle! We didn't have any equipment at the time because we had had a run in with the Ballbusters and had lost our equipment." </b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Damn!"" <br /></b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Yup, got into a big joint with them and had to leave our equipment. So Wayne Gee came up to the house and said to us,"Let me hear what y'all got!" And we did it. So we were like, "Yo, what you gonna play?" He said, "Don't worry about it! I got it!" So we were like,"Okay!" because we trusted him. So anyway....jam comes. We have no idea what Wayne is gonna play and I kid you not we told him how our intro was gonna go and when he would come in with the music. And he played The Honey Drippers.......<i>Ladies and Gentlemen.....</i>you know what I'm saying?" </b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Impeach The President!"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Yeah, and when he put that on the crowd went crazy!!! Now to me it was a nice beat but I would never think that it would get that type of response! If he would have told me that he was gonna play that I might even have been like, "Aaaah....Really?!?! That's what you gonna play? Aight." But when he put that on, the crowd went crazy like it was the best Hiphop beat they ever heard. And I was like, "Wow!! Okay...", you know?? And we rocked and we won that battle. So the advice is that you gotta know each other and you gotta practice. It's gotta be like a second job. When it's time to practice you gotta practice! No bullshit!!! Ain't no, "Oh man I was supposed to hang out with my girl! " Or this that and the other. Nah!!!! It's time to practice, you know what I'm saying? So back then it was all about being the best. Even if you knew you wasn't the best but you know what? I wanna be right! I wanna be right up there with them! I want when they come through and look, I want them to say,"I like them, man! They tight!" You want them to acknowledge you." </b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Since you're stressing the importance of practicing I would like to ask you how often you did you meet up back then in order to rehearse?" </b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"I think it was more than once a week. I don't remember exactly but I know it was more than once a week. Once we got our equipment together and we had a place to practice we practiced. We never had no problems of being there for practice. So it was just mandatory. It was mandatory! There was no ifs ands or buts about it because it took place at a time to not inconvenience anyone. You know, you talk it out, "This is good for me!" "Okay, so we're having practice at such and such!" And that's the way we did it. I would like to say we practiced at least twice a week. At least!! Especially when were getting ready to have a jam or a battle. That takes precedence over everything."</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did MCs dress in your era?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Well, we did have the sweatshirts with our crew name on it. That was big. And you know when it first came out...I think Pumas were the big shoes back then. You had your Clyde Pumas on with your sweatshirt with your crew on it. You had your Lee Dungaree on....so yeah you was fly. It wasn't like you was pimped out or nothing like that because, you know, you was kinda rugged. You had your jeans on, you had your sneakers on, you might have your name belt on and stuff like that. You might even have a Kangol with some Cazals on. So those were like the big things back then as far as clothes....you know B-Boy clothes."</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe the role which Tony Dee had within your squad when he was MCing with you as a part of The Shining Star MCs and then later of the Galaxy Four!"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"He was....and I'm not trying to be funny...he was like sexual chocolate. He was like that fly dark skin brother when light skin brothers was getting all the play. And his style...he kinda had a Bronx style to him. So when Wayne Gee heard him he fell in love with the way Tony Dee rocked. So Tony had that fly guy rap which was real good back then. He was a hell of a MC, he was like the ladies delight, you know what I'm saying? Sexual chocolate!"</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What about your man Sweet Vee. What kind of an MC was he?"<br /></b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Sweet Vee was another ladies' MC. He was the most compatible MC with me, you know what I'm saying? And he was also a real good MC. He was the Love Sweet Vee and the ladies loved him. He had nice rhymes and he could back it up. You know, it's always good when you can rhyme and you can throw them hands, too. You gotta understand if there's a lot of ladies in the crowd and they say, "Oh my god! He's cute!" "Oh my god! He can rhyme!" There's always gonna be haters. So if you're not about that life you wil have somebody saying, "Yo fuck that punk! I punch him in the face!!" You know what I'm saying? So it's always good to let people know that you can rap and throw them hands, too."</b></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECHIUwBzAoTt6iWHIh7Dx8UoCKfz1Qz8Og8tMp5jJ9ImEIyuEmZ64dN8HkZKUzv4XwLfJN0u98rFW2HkU14hul-e6BBkpnqttNmQw-S3dXNrpsYB7IJSklCTGIdkR7OZWKThg4nZp9Q/s328/Love+Sweet+Vee.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="328" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECHIUwBzAoTt6iWHIh7Dx8UoCKfz1Qz8Og8tMp5jJ9ImEIyuEmZ64dN8HkZKUzv4XwLfJN0u98rFW2HkU14hul-e6BBkpnqttNmQw-S3dXNrpsYB7IJSklCTGIdkR7OZWKThg4nZp9Q/s320/Love+Sweet+Vee.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>MC Love Sweet Vee (The G-Force)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So why did Tony Dee an Scotty Dee eventually have to leave you?"</b></b><p></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"I don't know, I think that was just Wayne Gee 'cause you know what? I just remember one night we was going to practice and Wayne Gee was telling me like,"Yo, I want you to rock with Sweet Vee!" Now we had rocked together and all that but as a group. For some reason Wayne Gee was like, "I just want you two!"And I was kinda like, "Where you getting this idea from?" I wasn't crazy about it... to be honest. You know, but Wayne Gee had that eye for that! And sure enough this shit turned out to be great!"</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When did that transition from the Galaxy Four to the Jazzy Two take place? Was that in 1981 or 1982?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"It probably was around that time. I'm perfectly honest I don't remember to be sure but I would say around that time."</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was the role of DJ G-Man and DJ Money G within your crew? Like when would they be playing and what kind of music did they play?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Let me tell you how it went down and I'm glad you brought that up.....So when we did parties G-Man would start off the parties by playing Disco 'cause this was the Disco era back then, right? G-Man would get the party going...like I'll never forget I heard G-Man one day and he was playing Prince and the joint came on at the beginning and he was like, "Yo, I want everybody in here to go to the bar 'cause I gonna buy everybody a drink but check this out! Before you get to the bar there's just one thing I need you to know before you get there...." And then Prince would go,"<i>I ain't got no money!!!!" </i>(The name of track is "I Wanna Be Your Lover". It came out in 1979) and the crowd was like, "Oooooh!" I'll never forget that and I tell him about this joint to this day!! So that's the kind of DJ G-Man was. G-Man was the one who played that type of music to get the crowd going. Wayne Gee came on and he played music for us, the MCs. He was cutting for the MCs. Money Gee was like the exhibitionist like how Master Don could cut with one hand backwards on the up and down fader and all that. That was Money Gee!!!! Money Gee was the cat that if somebody was like, "Yo, you know I got this DJ, he can do XYZ!" That was Money Gee's job....."Yo take him out!" You know what I'm saying? "Oh, that's what y'all got? We got somebody for that!" Money Gee could do all the tricks on the turntables and Money Gee was a baby by the way back then. Money Gee used to go to sleep at the jams and we would have to wake him up at the end to do his thing! Yeah, he was a baby! I mean we were all young but even though he was bigger than probably all of us, he was the youngest, he was a baby." </b></b></p><p><b><b></b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8y7oF-H5uLeuJWxqwyx29ykY_5lC5fa7rJpViLFT63K2YydzYPDTi7U6MRTZrblG_GXKnrkz-X36ndT01qbTu-8-HHPQ2DtmMZAP-LO_632sG3CsqbXg1uif4lOJeoxLe53agIQaO4A/s960/G-Man.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8y7oF-H5uLeuJWxqwyx29ykY_5lC5fa7rJpViLFT63K2YydzYPDTi7U6MRTZrblG_GXKnrkz-X36ndT01qbTu-8-HHPQ2DtmMZAP-LO_632sG3CsqbXg1uif4lOJeoxLe53agIQaO4A/s320/G-Man.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>DJ G-Man (The G-Force)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><b> </b></b><p></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were your top 5 beats to rock to back then when you were jamming in the parks, the gyms, the clubs etc.?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Okay, definitely T-Ski Valley "Catch The Beat"................................ "</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What about "Funky Drummer" by James Brown?" </b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"That was alright but you had to rhyme real fast. I'm just talking about joints that I ain't gotta rush and you could hear what I'm saying. So like "Outstanding" by The Gap Band, you know what I'm saying? Yeah! What else? It's been so long........"Take Me To The Mardi Gras" by Bob James and "The Son Of Scorpio" by Dennis Coffey." Those joints were good, too, but....you know...back then it was primarily about what we were saying on the mic, not about that beat that you're hearing. Today it's like totally the opposite. It's like, "Oh, that's a great beat and this guy can fucking just say about anything!" Back then....yeah beats were tight but motherfuckers wanted to really know what you're saying. You couldn't hide behind a beat back then!! YOU COULDN'T HIDE BEHIND A BEAT!!!!"<br /></b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"It seems to me that the beats back then also posed a much bigger challenge to the MCs as their sound was much rougher and they weren't taylor made like today. "</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Right. Yeah, I remember like putting a whole bunch of change on top of the needle, you know what I'm saying? I remember marking up the record with a marker or a tape to help you find where the beat was. I remember all those tricks even though I wasn't a DJ but you know that stuff when you're around it so long. So like you said things were much more complicated, it wasn't as easy. Everything took like real skill. They call it Rap now and that's pretty much the truth because I'm from the Hiphop Era. Things were totally different back then."<br /></b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was your relationship with the other crews from the Sugar Hill section like The People's Choice and The Mighty Gestapo Crew?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Yeah, we're all from the same area. So like I said TPC was the first Hiphop group to come out in the Battlegrounds. Now the Gestapo Crew....now we're from St. Nicholas....TPC was from right up the block from us on 152nd Street...right the same block as The Battlegrounds and The Gestapo Crew was further down by Riverside. Count Dee and them. God bless the Dead....Count Dee passed away a couple of years ago. He was a real good brother. Shout outs to the Gestapo Crew! They also had connections with Whipper Whip and Dot-A-Rock. So we're all from the same area and everything like that but I will go on the record saying G-Force has always been number one and always will be! (laughs)."</b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you ever battle TPC or The Gestapo Crew?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"I don't really remember us ever battling them. I know we were supposed to, I know a lot of shit was talked and everything like that but we didn't get to battle TPC or Gestapo. I know Gestapo and TPC battled each other and to be perfectly honest, I thought the Gestapo Crew cheated because they had Whipper Whip and Dot-A-Rock who were Fantastic Five, they weren't Gestapo Crew. To me it was like you're playing Peewee Football and you bring in two grown men to play. Because at that point none of us was in the realm of Whipper Whip and Dot-A-Rock. These cats were on Mount Rushmore back then!" </b></b></p><p><b><b></b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAe8HtaiJwa_979JZZOYu1BA9UQkdpEUi-humHS6CTY_jWUZ0Hy0Oagl1RuY8gVqlTPE25PBBYepc4019KyXWfT2VzKl58ci4sc5iiUebc1Bk9g5scIEIKAdqqQc9CoL8sxso0POltJA/s826/G-Force+Pac.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="718" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAe8HtaiJwa_979JZZOYu1BA9UQkdpEUi-humHS6CTY_jWUZ0Hy0Oagl1RuY8gVqlTPE25PBBYepc4019KyXWfT2VzKl58ci4sc5iiUebc1Bk9g5scIEIKAdqqQc9CoL8sxso0POltJA/s320/G-Force+Pac.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>September 18th, 1982: The G-Force performs at the Pac Jam Throwdown in Harlem along with Doug E. Fresh and others<br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><b> </b></b><p></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"In closing I would like to ask you about two individuals and their specific ties to the Almighty G-Force namely DJ Jazz E aka DJ Jazzemoto (RIP) and MC Missy Dee. How were they related to you?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Missy Dee is from the neighbourhood. She is our little sister and she's the official female MC of the G-Force Crew. DJ Jazzemoto was one of Wayne Gee's proteges, he was also from the neighbourhood. Let me tell you something about Jazzemoto.......one, let me just start off by saying, "God bless him!" but Jazzemoto might be the most talented person musically that I ever met. He could DJ, he could sing and he could rap!!! Jazzemoto...Eric Williams.....big ups to him. Rest in Peace!" </b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give any shoutouts at the end of this interview?"</b></b></p><p><b><b>DUCKY DEE:"Yes, I would. I'd like to give a shoutout to Supreme Master Wayne Gee! I'd love to give a shoutout to Love Sweet Vee! Shoutouts to our warlord Bambu and Mr. Strong....may they rest peacefully! Shout outs to the rest of the Almighty G-Force Crew! I'd love to give a shout out to my man Sugar Ray and Big Stan! Place Players in the place to be! And to my brothers from St. Nicholas Place the Jamie-O Crew and the Beeferoni Crew and last but not least I'd like to give a shoutout to someone very special to me out there in Düsseldorf, Germany...Martine Eugene.... That is the woman that forever will have my heart!"<br /></b></b></p><p><b><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you! I want to give a shoutout to the Flybrarian Sureshot La Rock for all the crazy G-Force flyers he allowed me to use (good looking!) and to the greatest Hiphop Historian of all times, Troy L. Smith, for inspiring me to start searching for The G-Force through his incredible interview with Boo Ski and Keith KC!" <br /></b></b></p><p></p><p><b><b><br /></b></b></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-5046428719188063582020-12-29T11:43:00.005-08:002020-12-29T12:19:25.388-08:00Interview with B-Boy Jojo (The Rock Steady Crew)<p><b> Interview with B-Boy Jojo ( The Crazy Commanders / The Rock Steady Crew)</b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7BQ0qXyrzQvw4LmnNFMrPNsgYLwkCW0B7olC6q8CB-guOyltCd9B-vSscArrlTd1gmWsOePAAhCvmfUTw7r5iEbNMGyhcBuPy2qDQ8JfjpCto_3qWQbKO1DWDIp0fHOhFfYTDQlB3gw/s376/Jojo2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="302" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7BQ0qXyrzQvw4LmnNFMrPNsgYLwkCW0B7olC6q8CB-guOyltCd9B-vSscArrlTd1gmWsOePAAhCvmfUTw7r5iEbNMGyhcBuPy2qDQ8JfjpCto_3qWQbKO1DWDIp0fHOhFfYTDQlB3gw/s320/Jojo2.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>B-Boy Jojo (The Crazy Commanders / The Rock Steady Crew)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /><br /></b><p></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"From which part of the Boogie Down Bronx are you originally?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"I grew up on the West Side of the Bronx which was on Tremont Avenue.......Tremont & Grand which where I lived at was upper Grand Avenue 'cause Grand Avenue and Davidson Avenue cut right through Tremont Avenue and they had a lower Grand Avenue and a upper Grand Avenue and I was living on the upper Grand Avenue. So it was on the West Side of the Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Were you also born in the Bronx?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"No, I was born in Manhattan.....Metropolitan Hospital...on 3rd Avenue there and I lived in Manhattan until 1970, that's when I moved up to the Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Which year were you born?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"1964."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where and when did you witness B-Boying for the first time?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"Okay, well let me just start off by starting how I even got into dancing and it will lead to that, okay?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Yes." </b></p><p><b>JOJO:"It started when I was very young. My mother and my father got married and my father went to job corps. He became a welder and he came back to get his family which we were little kids at the time and he took us up to Boston, Massachusetts. We had a house and we lived there for about a year and then he died in a car accident. So my moms couldn't afford to keep the house so we had to move back to New York City. So when we moved back to New York City we really was out of a place. You know, we needed a place fast, we didn't know where.....and there was this Black lady....her name was Miss Vern Tucker.....she was a good friend of my grandmother for years and she offered to take us in and we lived with her for a few years until we got back on our feet and she became my grandmother. So her family had parties and I can truly say that my flavour and my dance spirit and all that came from being at these house parties that they used to throw and we were a part of it.We were there at these parties that they used to throw at Christmas, Thanksgiving......we were also there at their birthday parties. And slowly but surely Miss Vern Tucker became my grandma, you know what I'm saying? And her family became my cousins and that's where my flavour came from when I lived in Manhattan. I used to just dance, I used to just do steps on top and they'd be like, "Go, Jojo! Go, Jojo!!" and actually she is the one that came up with the name Jojo. So that's where that came from. So finally we found a place in the Bronx and we moved up to the Bronx and that's where it all started for me. I lived there from 1970 till 1984. So while I lived there, there was a kid that lived in my building on Grand Avenue, his name was Mark. Black kid, he lived upstairs and I lived on the first floor. So one day I was at a jam... a DJ Whitehead jam (DJ of The Triple A Crew) at 82 Park...so I'm just chilling, hanging out and all of a sudden I see Mark and Mark is Breaking!!! And that was the first time I seen somebody do footwork, so I was like, "Holy crap!" You know, he was pretty good and I just looked at it and I went and I approached him. I said, "That's kinda nice! I like that!" And he's like, "Do you get down?" 'Cause that's what we called it back then.....we called it getting down. He said, "Do you get down?" I said, "Yeah, I get down!" He said, "Can you show me?" So I did some stuff that I just knew but he said, "That's not getting down! This is getting down!!" and so he went down and did these moves. I was flabbergasted when I first seen it, I was like, "Wow! I'm gonna really learn that!" So I went home and I practiced so the next time he would see me I actually had my footwork already. It was something for me to catch it and I caught it quick and it went from there. I just kept on practicing and practicing Then I started noticing more B-Boys and witnessing more circles and that's when I was in Public School 26 on Burnside Avenue. After I left there I wasn't really dancing like in a crew or nothing like that. Then I moved to JHS 115 in the Bronx and that's when I really started exhibiting my style of dancing and all that because I got actually kinda good at it and then I used to come out at lunch time and there was always some B-Boys breaking. Like a circle and people would come out for lunch and watch and then everybody would go back in. So I ate B-Boys for lunch and that's how I met Aby (The Bronx Boys). You know, he used to come around and he always used to have somebody with him and there was always somebody dancing. DJ Cisco (Power Sounds) used to show up with his box and everybody used to be out there and that's probably when Aby witnessed me for the first time. So I remember one time he approached me and asked me.....this is what leads to that battle in the South Bronx in the Dungeon between Starchild La Rock and TDK (late 1978)....he asked me do I want to help TDK. So I was like, "Yeah, I'm down. Pick me up! I'll be waiting for you!" So I waited and waited and waited but he never showed up. At the time I was waiting I had gotten hold of Spy and Spy used to always like a challenge. I said, "Come on, we can go over there and get busy!" He said, "Alright!" I said,"Look, Aby never got a hold of me. I'm gonna walk, I'm pissed off. I'm gonna make my way out there." He said, "Alright, I'm gonna meet you out there! I'm gonna hitch the bus." That's what he did. So he hitched the bus over while I was walking.</b><b><b> I walked down Arthur Avenue and I ran into Trac 2. I didn't know he was Trac 2 at the time. He was dressed like a B-Boy so I asked him, "Yo, you know where there's a B-Boy battle?" and he told me, "Yeah!" and then he asked me, "Why?" So I told him who I was and why I was going there and he said, "Yo, can I speak to you for a minute?" I was like, "Yeah." So he explained to me that it was just his group (Starchild La Rock) that was going against three other groups (TDK, TBB and Rockwell Association) and then he explained some more to me how they all wanted to take his crew out. So I said,"You know what? I'm kinda upset that this guy never picked me up." You know, I had nothing bad to say about Aby or nothing like that, that's just the way it was. Unfortunately, he told me to meet him and he just left me hanging. That kinda got me mad, so I went on my own. That lead to me meeting Trac 2 and I told Trac 2, "You know what, I'm gonna help you out instead." He was like, "Really?" I said, "Yeah, and I got my boy Spy coming." </b>None of these guys knew Spy until I brought him there. We were the only two CC Crew B-Boys there at that battle. We got there, as we were walking people wanted to know where that battle was.....actually we had a little crowd following us up on Tremont Avenue. We got to Belmont Avenue... made that right on to Belmont Avenue. Walked down the block, on the left hand side was the Dungeon. We got to the Dungeon, we got inside, you know, all of a sudden I saw Spy, so we met up with Spy. So we were all there, talking. Next thing you know I saw Aby and Batch on the other side. They were getting their guys together. All of a sudden Batch saw me, he stopped and said,"Yo, what the fuck are you doing over there?" Then Aby looked over to me and said,"Yo, Jojo! What's up? What you're doing over there?" And I said,"You know, man, you never came to get me so I'm gonna help them out." So I ended up helping Trac 2 and his crew. So we stayed on Trac 2's side and that's when that battle began. Trac's guys actually went out and battled and then when the good guys started to come out, that's when me and Spy came out and got busy. At the end we ended up winning that battle and that was the history of that battle."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Could you please elaborate on those B-Boy sessions that took place at JHS 115? Like where exactly did the dancing take place at and who were the DJs?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"The battles that I told you about when Aby came around and where I used to come out for lunch that was on the Morris Avenue side of JHS 115. But the DJing.....when they started DJing they took it to the front of the school which would be on the 181st side between Morris and Creston Avenue. They used to block off the top stairs there with tables. If you wasn't down you couldn't go back there and my man DJ Ray Ski used to DJ there all the time."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Wizard Wiz (TDK) told me about DJ Ray Ski. He also used to DJ at the Aqueduct, right?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"Yeah."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What exactly is the Aqueduct?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"It was just a little walkway that was like in between the buildings, between the blocks. It goes from Tremont by University Avenue.....that's where the Aqeduct begins..and it goes all the way down to almost 184th Street or a little further. It almost ends by Fordham Road I think. Like you can go from Fordham Road and walk the Aqueduct and it'll take you all the way down to University & Tremont. It would be a few blocks. Like if you took the train...you would take the train from 176th Street to Fordham Road. That's the length of the Aqueduct."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So where exactly would DJ Ray Ski set up his equipment there? Was there a park?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"There were certain areas over there where they had like little sockets 'cause all the lamps that lit up the Aqueduct had a little box on the bottom. They were screwed tight but you would unscrew it and there's an electrical socket in there. All you had to do was plug up and that was it. You got juice! They used to find those lamps, take the thing off, plug up, take your extension cord and set up everything. Set up their equipment and do it there." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"The 12 O'Clock Crew also used to hang out there, right?"<br /></b></p><p><b>JOJO:"Exactly. Well, the 12 O'Clock Crew ran 183rd Street. They used to say, "What's the word? 183rd!" You know, the 12 O'Clock used to run that. Like we was also affiliated with them. We never had any beef 'cause they knew us and we knew them. They was like down the block. They were on 183rd Street, we were on 184th Street. We were kool. We'd see each other at the jams. They were more like stick-up kids. They never tried anything with us but they did their thing to get their money. That's just how it was back then. You really had to know the area, you had to know who to talk to. They could get you in a building, they could get you outside. It was just crazy." </b><b> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Let's go back for a minute to the time when you started out as a B-Boy. Your first B-Boy partner was a guy called Spiderweb, correct? Moreover, is it true that Jojo wasn't your first B-Boy name?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"No, my first name was Spiderman. It was Spiderman and Spiderweb. That was my partner."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did you meet him and how long did you stay together as partners?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"He was in my class. We was in school together for three years....JHS 115. We became good friends and then when he found out that I could dance, you know, he started coming around and he just picked it up and I started teaching him and so he became my partner. Then his two brothers got down....Freddy and Angel... and my brother (Easy Mike) met them and we formed a little team. That little team used to go over to the Herc jams on Sedgwick Avenue."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"That's very interesting! You were featured in that documentary "The Freshest Kids" and you stated there something to the effect that you were actually already B-Boying when there were hardly any Puerto Ricans around doing that dance...."</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"That's exactly what I'm meaning. What I'm telling you now that's what I meant when I said that. We were the only Puerto Ricans that got busy. Now DJ Kool Tee and DJ Mr. Lee (early DJs from the West Bronx) used to give us our respect and say, "Check out the Puerto Rican B-Boys in the house! B-Boy Spiderman and B-Boy Spiderweb!" And we got busy and that was way back. Back then there were a lot of Zulu B-Boys around. They sorta ran it back then. As for the Puerto Rican B-Boys we were just up and coming. You know, we were people who wanted to learn it and got good at it 'cause, you know, they say Puerto Ricans actually put B-Boys on their back. We're the ones that started the backspinning and all these kind of moves. As far as the footwork and the flip turns that they did....that came from the Black B-Boys."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQzQLPAXAz2MEoPbDOcc-niEKR7LetYf61O288At0AtxDC1UM3gM_EYyq_QCjbOsm1Gv-6mYsdouU816mWjlqJIObk1l6AXcgWSiKcORtFWt-WNFqzpnGFxXO29LHi9f6qTOWNoIMOcg/s960/DJ+Mr.+Tee.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQzQLPAXAz2MEoPbDOcc-niEKR7LetYf61O288At0AtxDC1UM3gM_EYyq_QCjbOsm1Gv-6mYsdouU816mWjlqJIObk1l6AXcgWSiKcORtFWt-WNFqzpnGFxXO29LHi9f6qTOWNoIMOcg/s320/DJ+Mr.+Tee.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>DJ Kool Tee and DJ Mr. Lee rocking the Mount Vernon Boy's Club (Date: March 3rd, 1978)</b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> </b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did DJ Kool Tee and DJ Mr. Lee throw their jams at?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"That was at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. It was the same spot where Kool Herc used to rock. DJ Kool Tee would be DJing by the 1520 side and then Kool Herc would set up his equipment on the 1600 side. It was in between the buildings. One building was 1520, the other building was 1600. DJ Kool Tee and DJ Mr. Lee would set up their equipment and play till five and then Kool Herc would come out with the Herculoids. You know what they say about Kool Herc and The Herculoids, right? People used to think that The Herculoids were his crew but the Herculoids were his speakers. It was his shit that he brought out. That was the Herculoids!!! He used to come out and set up his soundsystem. We were like, "Damn!! Look at his speakers!!!" You know, his speakers were big! DJ Kool Tee had the small shit but his shit did enough for us to enjoy ourselves. Everybody that was outside enjoyed the music and then as soon as he started packing up his shit Kool Herc would be setting up. So we were like, "Let's go over there! Herc is setting up over there!" "Oh, there's another jam after this????" "Yeah!" "Oh, no doubt!" Go get some pizza, go chill out for a minute and then come back and they got the jam all set up. We were ready to go!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Before you participated in that battle of Starchild La Rock against TDK at the Dungeon you had joined Spy's crew which was called The Crazy Commanders. How did that come about?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"Okay, this is how it happened. I was a known B-Boy and Cisco was a known DJ. He used to DJ at 82 Park, too, just like DJ Whitehead. It was either DJ Cisco and DJ Bucko or DJ Whitehead. They used to come out all the time. He was also sorta involved in B-Boying. He was always hanging out with B-Boys and he wanted them to do things for him as far as like, "Battle this one and battle that one!" And if you didn't he would get mad and that's what he did to me. He got upset 'cause I ended up being friends with Shorty Rock and Spy after we battled. I ended up joining their crew. He said, "Nah, don't join them!" I said, "I'm sorry, B, but I join them, I like them." So he was like, "Ah, fuck that!" So he got mad and he left and that was it. Other than that when I first met him Cisco was the one that came and he said, "There's a group up the block from you. They're the best of this area!" So I was like, "What? Who?" He said,"There's a group up there called The CC Crew." I said, "Where??" He said,"Right up there by Harrison Avenue!" They lived right up the block. He said, "Come on I want you to meet them!" So I grabbed my brother B-Boy Easy Mike and we went up there to meet them. So we got there and it was just like in those karate movies. We got there and there were guys the front of the building just sitting there and I said,"Excuse me, where can I find B-Boy Spot?" He said, "B-Boy Spot? There ain't no B-Boy Spot. You mean B-Boy Spy." I said, "Yeah!" He said, "Why?" I said, "Tell him B-Boy Jojo and B-Boy Easy Mike we're here! Tell him we come to battle!" So he runs upstairs. Me and Easy Mike we walk inside the building and we're standing there. The building as soon as you walked in..it was a long straight hallway about 12 feet wide and like 30 feet long from the elevator to the front door. So it was kinda wide for Breaking. On each side of the elevator there was a staircase, so you can go up there through the stairs or take the elevator. So what happened was they went and got Spy. All of a sudden you heard a ruckus, many people were coming down from both staircases. This reminded you of a karate movie how the two guys come to challenge the master. It was just like that! Their people ran to this side, ran to the other side and Shorty Rock and Spy walked down like they were the masters. They walked right down and these cats were all lined up. I was standing there looking at Easy Mike, he was looking at me and then Spy goes, "Who're you??" I said,"I'm Jojo. This is my brother Easy Mike. What's good?" He said, "What do you want?" I said, "We come to battle!" He said, "Really?" I said, "Yeah! Box!" And we went in, we started battling.</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0fZPOYI5jwrWxRVF-7gdxuKGelm-O4yXPtADTfnsBW8PVKq8p8aq02-AwGAIZcdZUsA5MQ4DkaPKvypzdrf-V_NSCQ-OrIGDt9mVZUfa0d0A7KCNquI1URw2gM5V7XKvd4_xxdlIPA/s960/Shorty+Rock.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0fZPOYI5jwrWxRVF-7gdxuKGelm-O4yXPtADTfnsBW8PVKq8p8aq02-AwGAIZcdZUsA5MQ4DkaPKvypzdrf-V_NSCQ-OrIGDt9mVZUfa0d0A7KCNquI1URw2gM5V7XKvd4_xxdlIPA/s320/Shorty+Rock.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Shorty Rock (The Crazy Commanders)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b> </b><p></p><p><b>What happened was there were two styles colliding 'cause we sorta had the six-step but it was the tucked in, short version where you're like tucked in but you move real fast. They had the long six-step. It comes out where, you know, you stretch out a little while you're still doing those steps. That's the first time I seen that style. </b><b>I remember practicing with Spy and he was trying to show me the chair freeze, the figure four. This is before I met Trac 2. Spy showed me how to put my leg over, I never knew about that. I remember having a hard time, I kept dropping and dropping until I finally got it how to twist my body, to have my body like stay in one spot but my leg to switch over to land on the other side. I learnt that from him. You know, he taught me that. Me and Spy became real good friends. I used to wake this guy up in the morning. I would come to his house, Spy used to be sleeping...I would come to the building, go to a side window in the hallway, go out to the fire escape, go up to the second floor, open up this ni**er's window and go right into his room and this ni**er would pop his head out of his blanket with all that fucking hair (laughs). I would be like, "Hey, what's up!?!" and we would sit there, maybe blaze a joint or something and talk for a minute. Then he would get up and that was it. A lot of times when I didn't go to school and we played hooky we would meet up to drink a 40. We were bugged out kids back then but that's what we did, you know what I'm saying? So I would pick him up and we would hang out and that's how we did it. So that's my association with the CC Crew. After a while the CC Crew diminished and they weren't doing anything no more and so Spy started meeting some of the other people. Like Jimmy Lee and them they were from my side of town. They were like from Macombs Road which was up the block from Grand Avenue and Featherbed Lane and that area. That's were G-Man and Sunkist Evie and Coco and all those people came from and Jimmy Lee was part of that group and then Spy was on that side of town, too. So them, Spy and us were all on that side and we all became good friends and then we moved it from there to 184th Street..... Field Place. That's where we started hanging and that's where the Rock Steady Crew really got his birth at right there. That block is where we started hanging right there!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who won that battle between Easy Mike and you and the Crazy Commanders the in the hallway?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"It ended in a tie."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What comes to your mind when you think of Spy back in the 1970s? What was so special about him as a B-Boy and a human being in general?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"He had an aura around him. He was just outstanding as a dancer, you know? And he didn't really need to show off. He was a humble guy. Don't get the ni**er mad......don't get it twisted, he wasn't a punk, he'd whip a ni**er's ass in a minute but he was a humble dude when it came to dancing. If you came and needed help on behalf of dancing he would be willing to help. That's just how he was and he was just cool about it."</b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjN0QMUrujTbeJWKFZjhU5K5HkCWR8VQ3gJzri8If59QDyVDAIZvnwACqxyc3JxVJttwkJOT9g_rPwmYEWSKyiII2C3-N-_5f5Vj_xCg3zDGiVJ9UD0nofwIGiP62ngay_b_w-ewAzg/s960/Spy+%2528The+Crazy+Commanders%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjN0QMUrujTbeJWKFZjhU5K5HkCWR8VQ3gJzri8If59QDyVDAIZvnwACqxyc3JxVJttwkJOT9g_rPwmYEWSKyiII2C3-N-_5f5Vj_xCg3zDGiVJ9UD0nofwIGiP62ngay_b_w-ewAzg/s320/Spy+%2528The+Crazy+Commanders%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>B-Boy Spy (The Crazy Commanders)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did your brother Easy Mike get into B-Boying? Did he follow you because you are his older brother?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"I think my brother was a little bit ahead of me and he's my younger brother. What I mean by ahead of me..he was a little bit more out there. I think he was dancing before me.....to be honest.See my brother was more like....his strong point was comedy. He would serve you with funny shit. He was sorta like how The Ni**er Twins was. They did comedy in their dance and their routines. His routines were something like that, you know? So that's where his strong point was, making you look stupid on the dancefloor without doing a lot of power and spins and shit like that. So he went that way and I went totally the opposite. I went to like skills and style and finesse. That's why we were like two completely different B-Boys. When we were together it was a team effort. I had the styles, he had the comedy and you had to beat both of them in order to win."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you share a room in your house? Would you practice at home, too?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"Well, my house in the Bronx was the base for all of the practicing. I would practice right in my living room. We was like poor, you know? My moms worked a lot, you know just so we could have a good life. My moms was my mother and my father. She was both to me. When she went to work she used to leave at 6 o' clock in the morning and wouldn't be back till 6 o'clock in the night. So if I went to school and I got home at 3 o' clock I had three hours to practice before she got home. I had to make sure everybody was out of the house by the time she got there. So we practiced a lot in the house."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I think you once told me that your brother did not always go by the name of Easy Mike. What was he called before that?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"Big Boy Baretta."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did that name come from?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"Like I said he was very out there. So he changed his name a lot. Like when he wrote graffiti he wrote See 2. That was his graffiti name. And then when he was dancing it went from Big Boy Baretta to Easy Mike. Actually, when we met Spy he was still Big Boy Baretta and I was still Spiderman. We changed our names when we got older."</b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOJvJSCNlRtaGE4ZwNBksx1cY4MJhfQNJg80P3gjLsuGvxVjSB2W1BP4HLpF8-F2rPBNfAJDWF0R5FXiaQjCR1joVlnyNq05uSC-4orP4I8S_8mL6H3DEOYNYjcrBQ1BD2CWLz9T7-cg/s1696/Easy+Mike+%2526+Jojo+%2528The+Crazy+Commanders%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1483" data-original-width="1696" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOJvJSCNlRtaGE4ZwNBksx1cY4MJhfQNJg80P3gjLsuGvxVjSB2W1BP4HLpF8-F2rPBNfAJDWF0R5FXiaQjCR1joVlnyNq05uSC-4orP4I8S_8mL6H3DEOYNYjcrBQ1BD2CWLz9T7-cg/s320/Easy+Mike+%2526+Jojo+%2528The+Crazy+Commanders%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>B-Boy Easy Mike and B-Boy Jojo</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Were you a Writer back then, too?"</b><p></p><p><b>JOJO:"I really didn't do too much graffiti but when I did I wrote Maze 176."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"It seems that in your era it was a common thing among B-Boys to get up even if it just meant to carry around a Uni-Wide or a Pilot marker and to tag up your name wherever you went."</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"Yeah, see this is the difference between today and my generation. My era...we did it all. I DJed, I MCed, I used to do graffiti, I used to dance. I was an all around B-Boy, that means I did it all." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How old were you when you met Spy?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"13, 14. I was around that age."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"If that's okay with you I would like to address a highly controversial topic now namely that of the inception of the Rock Steady Crew."</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"Yeah."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Let me start by telling you what I have been told so far about the creation of that very prestigious crew. I have been told that the Rock Steady Crew was started in late 1979, not in 1977. I have also been told that Jimmy Dee and Jimmy Lee who started out as TBB members went to Batch at that meeting in 1979 when he broke up the TBB Crew and told him that they wanted to started a new crew but at the same time continue the legacy of TBB. That's why they had on their brown sweatshirts which featured their names on the front </b><b><b><b>and then at the bottom of the "Rock Steady Crew " in the back of the T-Shirt it read "TBB". </b></b>What is your take on that?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"As far as Rock Steady I don't wanna step on nobody's toes or say shit that ain't true but I don't remember that. Jimmy Dee and Jimmy Lee....I taught both of these cats how to dance! I'm not saying I taught them everything they know but the fundamentals came from me. The fundamentals how you got started and then you took it from there. I also remember vividly being in Jimmy Dee's room when we came up with the name "Rock Steady Crew", you know? 'Cause at that time we had a group called The Untouchable Four B-Boys and this was before Rock Steady, you know what I'm saying? There was other B-Boys that wanted to get down with the Untouchable Four but we couldn't do it 'cause see the name was The Untouchable Four, so it only had four members. The reason why I say this is because I remember the t-shirt that said "Untouchable" and then "4". That's like way back. Rock Steady came out of the Untouchable Four. Back then as far as leadership is concerned there wasn't nobody looked upon as the one leader of the Rock Steady Crew. I was still part of Rock Steady when Jimmy Lee got in trouble and he left and me and Jimmy Dee...we were considered the founders and we went to Lincoln Center (where the Rock Steady Crew battled the Dynamic Rockers in 1981). Why you think I was there? Why you think everybody was standing around me when they took a picture of us standing there? I have no problem with giving credit to TBB and I can't say that no TBB members became members of Rock Steady later on like Popeye. I remember Popeye, he got down with us but he came from TBB. But all this came from us hanging out on 184th Street. We were all friends. Those guys were from that area. They didn't come from TBB in the South Bronx, they came from Davidson Avenue, Burnside Avenue, Grand Avenue. They came from the West Side of the Bronx where I was from, you know what I'm saying? Like Rum 6......Jerry was his name..he lived right there in that building on the corner of Davidson Avenue & Fordham Avenue, you know what I'm saying? So yeah, I can say many TBB members later on became members of the Rock Steady Crew. In fact I once put out an article on the creation of Rock Steady and many of the original members listed there where down with TBB before. I guess that's why when Aby and them saw that they were like, "Yeah, this is why RSC came from TBB!" It didn't come from TBB. Those guys were down because we put them down. They wanted to be down with Rock Steady. Not that they were all TBB members and we just started the Rock Steady Crew. Rock Steady got started outside of TBB, it didn't get started within TBB, you know what I'm saying? This is what the argument is about. I was never a member of TBB and I have never seen a Rock Steady shirt and a TBB shirt together. I heard about that, too, and that's not true. There was a Rock Steady shirt....the main colours were brown and white and black and yellow. Those were the main Rock Steady colours. Don't let nobody tell you otherwise. Those were the main colours. I was there when we went to Frank's and got them t-shirts made.....at Frank's Sporting Goods. I had my brown and white Rock Steady shirt and I got my black and yellow Rock Steady shirt. I got both of them." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So how did you meet Jimmy Dee and Jimmy Lee?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"Ok, this is how it all started.....Jimmy Dee...I meet him through Ricky Dee. Ricky Dee was a DJ, he had DJ equipment. So that's how I met Ricky Dee 'cause I went to one of the jams where he was DJing. Then I met Jimmy Dee through Ricky Dee. So we all became friends. At that time Jimmy Dee wasn't no B-Boy. Like I said I taught him 'cause he knew I was a B-Boy. "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did Ricky Dee DJ at?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"Not too many places. He would DJ at house parties and sometimes he would do it in front of his building.</b><b> Now as far as Jimmy Lee goes, me and Jimmy Lee had a big fight on Halloween. After that I didn't see him for a few months and then one day I was at another DJ Whitehead jam at 82 park and I served some kid when I got up I saw that Jimmy Lee was there. He wasn't Jimmy Lee then, he was just Jimmy, you know what I'm saying? He came walking over and I said to myself,"Don't tell me I have to fight this kid again." He came to me and said,"Hey, you think you can teach me how to dance like that?" I was like, "Yeah, man. You wanna learn?" He's like,"Yeah!" I said, "Just come to my house, I live on Grand Avenue. Meet me here tomorrow and I'll show you." Sure enough he showed up the next day and we started practicing and like I said I showed him the fundamentals. Same thing with Jimmy Dee."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Let us please talk about the year in which the Rock Steady Crew was created. Obviously, since you were still down with the Crazy Commanders at that Dungeon Battle in late 1978, Rock Steady's birth cannot have taken place in 1977."</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"The misconception about the year......Yeah, I might have got the years mixed up and I'm gonna be honest. I remember the Blackout and that was in 1977. That's what I remember and I thought it ( the creation of Rock Steady) happened around that time but I could be wrong. Rock Steady could have started in 1979." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Was Crazy Legs among the original members of the Rock Steady Crew of 1979?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"No, he wasn't. He never did anything with us."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, but what about the battle of Crazy Legs and his cousin Lenny Len had against Jimmy Dee and Jimmy Lee in 1979 in order to join Rock Steady?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"I wasn't there and I don't remember this happening in 1979."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was the original hang out spot of the Rock Steady Crew? I guess that Rock Steady Park on 98th Street & Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan came later in the early 1980s, right?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"Yes, that was the second generation's stomping ground. The first generation's hang out spot was 115. We was hanging out at 115 and when me and Jimmy Dee put those words "Rock Steady Crew" together, we was on Anthony Avenue..right there by Echo Park. Right where Jimmy Dee lived at, in his room. I also used to teach Jimmy Dee in his room. He had a carpet in his room, I couldn't spin there but I used to teach him in his room. That's where the name Rock Steady Crew came up and we ran with that from then on. Jimmy Lee wasn't even there. There was also a building across the street that we had a club house in. In the building 111 on the first floor Rock Steady had a club house there. We had a club house in that abandoned building. Then there was fire and the whole building burnt down and to this day it's still an empty building. Who can tell you this?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were your top breakbeats to go off to back in the 1970ies?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"Back then of course it was "Apache". That was the first one and then after that it was "It's Just Begun" and after that it was "Give It Up Or Turn It Loose" by James Brown. What's another dope one? There was a jam called "Blow Your Head" by Fred Wesley & The J.B.'s Yeah, those were my top breakbeats." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you! And who do you consider to be the best three B-Boys from your era?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:" I can only tell you from my experience. I can't tell you that much what was going on in the South Bronx with Starchild La Rock, TDK, TBB, Rockwell and all of them. As far as on my side of town it was Spy, me and Shorty Rock. My brother was also a very good B-Boy.We were the ones that were locking it down in my area." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"You said that when you first met Trac 2 you knew that he was a B-Boy by the way he was dressed. How did B-Boys dress during your era?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"Well, first of all your baseball cap was always to the side or backwards, it was never forward. Back then when we were young we were poor kids so we really didn't have the best clothes. So back then most of the B-Boys were kinda bummy. When we got older we were the ones that took the term "fresh" and turned it around to "being fresh". You know, like our Adidas were clean. We were like, "If you step on my shoes I kill you!" We were taught on keeping our gear fresh. That term "fresh" came from us! So we took that image of being bummy and turned it around to being fly and dancing and being fly and still getting up and being clean. We ironed our pants with Niagara starch, you know what I'm saying? I mean we had the crease, the killer crease. The Adidas suits were firm... all that. Another thing we used to do 'cause we were into straight legs...straight legs looked a little bit more stylish when it came to Breaking...so we used to tie our shit with laces along the legs. We used to take one sock and fold it up and put it into our socks so the front of my sneakers would look busted out really fat and shit. We did all that. I mean I'm the type of person you'll never catch me wearing an Adidas shirt with Nike sneakers."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So dressing fresh or fly was part of the B-Boy identity?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"Yeah, that's where "fresh" came from. You know, (raps) <i>"cold chillin' at a party in a B-Boy stance!" </i>How do you chill in a B-Boy stance if you're not fresh? You had to have style 'cause you know if you was a B-Boy and you was a bum they had pity for you like, "That ni**er is dirty. You see his pants? What's wrong with him??" and then you would get help. Other B-Boys would look out for you. They'd be like, "I let you rock these tonight! Wear these sneakers!" or whatever, whatever. But we didn't have to that 'cause after a while we started to get our gear together."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give any shoutouts at the end of this interview?"</b></p><p><b>JOJO:"Yes, I'd liketo give a shoutout that was involved back then. Mad love and respect to Aby and Batch. Trace 2...may he and all the other guys that have passed over the years rest in peace.I wanna give a shoutout to my man Spy. I hope he'll be out soon. We got a lot of work to do. Shoutouts to everybody else that supports this. We love you 'cause this is our culture, this is our life! Shoutouts to my crew of today..Original Skillz!! Shoutouts to Kevski and B-Boy Concrete Monkey. Shout outs to Sting Like A Bee Prez B and Alora. I also appreciate you, Norin, for the interviews that you are doing. Oh yeah, one more thing..shoutouts to my wife Lorrie for supporting me from day one. Love ya Baby! "</b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> </b> <br /></p><br />Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-48531886335328343092020-12-10T06:14:00.002-08:002020-12-10T06:41:10.088-08:00Interview with B-Boy Voodoomaster Herb<p><b> Interview with B-Boy Voodoomaster Herb</b></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMsQPWT6uLCDKwYEYmkYJHGDVvTBrW5k0DabIzon5o8ZmdfXhFf0QpeuJ4CWo7xLXCWRD5VtoFcmcx5vgqfEV0BaEaeeUx41s280JKBDtmRfv11a4vUf-Tv6Uz1oKcfdgN5SEaSrJn1w/s909/Voodoomaster+Herb+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="909" data-original-width="481" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMsQPWT6uLCDKwYEYmkYJHGDVvTBrW5k0DabIzon5o8ZmdfXhFf0QpeuJ4CWo7xLXCWRD5VtoFcmcx5vgqfEV0BaEaeeUx41s280JKBDtmRfv11a4vUf-Tv6Uz1oKcfdgN5SEaSrJn1w/s320/Voodoomaster+Herb+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Voodoomaster Herb</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p> <b>conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)</b> </p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly in Harlem did you grow up at? <br /></b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Well, actually it was two parts. There was the Bronx and Harlem 'cause I was in the Bronx first, then I moved to Harlem.<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you were born in the Bronx?"<br /></b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Yeah."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Which part of the Bronx?"<br /></b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"I was born in the South Bronx, around Prospect Avenue."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So when did you move to Harlem?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Okay, now this is tricky. At a very young age we moved to Harlem but then we moved back to the Bronx. So we'll go by when I moved back to Harlem and stayed. 1975 is when I moved back to Harlem and stayed there."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where in Harlem did you live at then?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"145th Street."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"That's the Sugar Hill section, correct?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Yeah, that is. That's the Sugar Hill section. West Harlem."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of music was being played at your house when you were growing up?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Well, it was pretty much everything! You know, we had Al Green....Stax, Atlantic.....you know the label that Aretha Franklin was on......Rufus Thomas, of course James Brown. Everybody played James Brown!! You had Black Ivory, Blue Magic, The Delfonics...there were all sorts of R&B bands out back then and it was wonderful. The music was beautiful!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you were listening to both the uptempo funky joints and the smooth slow joints?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Exactly!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When did you witness Breaking for the first time? How old were you then?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"For the first time it's kinda hard to say, you know, because it's been woven in into the urban culture so long! 'Cause I mean if you go back to documentaries where you see Sammy Davis Jr. .......he did it also!!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"He had that exquisite footwork...."</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Exactly!! And he had ground techniques!! So like I said it's been woven in into the urban culture, it just carried all the way over into the Hiphop Culture but my first experience with it.....with me getting down.....was when I first met Mark....Puppetmaster (the legendary B-Boy Puppetmaster from the Shaka Zulus). I mean I knew a little about it but when I saw him it was like the wow factor! This is how good he was!!!(excited)"</b></p><p><b>SiR NORIN RAD:"Damn!"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Yeah, he was like the wow factor!! I was okay, I know I was good but then you have some people that are exceptional and that was my man Mark, the Puppetmaster!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe that occasion when Puppetmaster showed you his B-Boy Skills for the very first time!"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:" I met him through this guy Doug. Doug wasn't a B-Boy, Doug was a friend of his and a friend of mine. We were walking one day and that was back in the 1970ies when you would carry your boom box with you and we were walking down 145th Street going towards Riverside and we had a tape in the boom box and that's when I first saw Puppetmaster dance. And it was the wow factor! I was like, "Holy shit! This dude is nice!!!" 'cause he did stuff I had never seen before!"</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nbFCu0i5G-P8EEQodmRfKrbVySEd27VjN41E39ZZwxdvIWz502y0zcDTJNIAKIyiXBtPmzdsoLe2RHmPGpxEwBI1XzfviSbsL5a5oMB5LUXx_KcLTodfcPEEzo28SuTi_owGsk2iIQ/s647/Puppetmaster.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="622" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nbFCu0i5G-P8EEQodmRfKrbVySEd27VjN41E39ZZwxdvIWz502y0zcDTJNIAKIyiXBtPmzdsoLe2RHmPGpxEwBI1XzfviSbsL5a5oMB5LUXx_KcLTodfcPEEzo28SuTi_owGsk2iIQ/s320/Puppetmaster.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>B-Boy Puppetmaster (The Shaka Zulus)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you recall what kind of moves he did?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Well, you know, you do your basic introduction moves on top. Crossing your legs and everything..... but when you go down on the floor it's the combination that makes your style unique and that's what he had! He had a certain combination. You know, you had a lot of B-Boys when they go down the initial moves are the same and then you always gonna have those special moves that sort of separates you from everybody else. And you know, that's what I didn't have at first. I mean I was good and I had certain moves but when I saw him I was like, "Wow! I gotta get on my game!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe the process through which you build up your B-Boy skills."</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Well, the gift was already there 'cause like I said growing up I always seeen it. You know, there was always one person competing with another and I used to look at it and I'd be like, "Oh man, I could take that guy out!!" You know, and then I would get down there and I would do my thing and that's how my name started surfacing 'cause they would be like, "Yo, this guy Voodooo is nice!" I thought I was really good till I met Mark (Puppetmaster) That's when I said,"Okay, I gotta brush up on my game!" And even there were a lot of moves that he did that I incorporated with mine....I was like, "I gotta get that!!" That's what we called biting back then (laughs). He was that good! I mean there were a lot of guys that were almost as good as him but when it came to competition he pulled a rabbit out of his hat!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So I guess you and Puppetmaster became good friends real fast?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Oh, right on the spot!! Yeah, right on the spot till today! I'm in Virginia now so whenever I go to New York I call him before I get there, "I'm coming up to New York!" We hook up and that's it, you know?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you remember which year that was when you became acquainted with the Puppetmaster?" </b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Oh yeah, that was about 1975 or 1976. I know it was before the Blackout of 1977." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did you practice at?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"You know, back then in the Hiphop Culture the B-Boy connection was.....you were always around it 'cause back then there was always a party going on somewhere. I mean they'd hook their system up to the street light and you'd be out in the park all night. You know, you always knew somebody else. I had cousins that were B-Boys and everything so we'd go to the hallway and practice our moves 'cause it was a natural thing that you already had, you understand? To incorporate something else into your repertoire was always good because it wasn't as rehearsed as stuff is now! It was all natural! Everything now is so rehearsed! You can see that it is rehearsed!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"To me it seems that many so called B-Boys of today actually lack soul...."</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Exactly!! There was one thing I was watching and you know what the gymnastics do on a horse??? This guy's whole ground routine was that!!! I mean it just took so much away from the B-Boy experience 'cause it's like.....this is not B-Boying, this is gymnastics!!! These days they're not in rhythm or anything!!! When you were listening to the music and you were a B-Boy back then your moves were part of that music! Your movement was music, you understand? It was on time, in rhythm and in step. It was undeniable but now all these slips and everything and they're counting moves.......I call it counting moves!! I laugh at it.......I mean Harlem and the Bronx....all these urban areas, they were real rough. So you couldn't get a lot of people to come in and document this visually. This is the only disadvantage we had, if it got to the point where you could have documented us visually you would have been amazed by what you saw!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were some of the venues in Harlem that you would dance at?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Okay, well we would always go to East Harlem. I mean my crew we were from West Harlem but we didn't stay in one particular area, we were all over East Harlem. For B-Boys you had the Renaissance Ballroom and you had the Audubon Ballroom of course!!!! That was my stage...the Audubon!!! I always killed the competition there at the Audubon and then you had a lot of rec centers that were turned into clubs after hours on the weekends. Mark (Puppetmaster) started taking me over to the Bronx to meet the Zulus. That was my first encounter with them. You also had a lot of stuff going on in the projects. Like I said they'd take their DJ equipment out, hook it up to the lamp post and you'd be out there all night. St. Nicholas Park was one of these spots. And of course between 146th and 147th Street in Manhattan...in between Amsterdam & Broadway...we had a little park over there. I can't remember the school.....163 I believe it was... we had that yard! Puppetmaster used to always appear there. He would go off and I would go off as well but we never competed against each other. So many people wanted to see that but we never competed against each other! Like he had a protege named Anthony and I had a protege named Ace. You know, we sent them to compete with each other...waiting for us to interfere and jump in..then the other one would jump in but it just never happened!! (laughs)"</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge3GaNzveRqcEllRNqwdwe1x8bt-ODKV2Gx_RNuW1c9pe-1N9oLBefoNflS_QcpnLer-eAi56S5IlvZ1IjcYmGy7diWGcOdTx2YeHGVge6W59xia19L_Rdjv0D5X4rEucX6HFSgHiCVA/s1030/Audubon+Ballroom.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="831" data-original-width="1030" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge3GaNzveRqcEllRNqwdwe1x8bt-ODKV2Gx_RNuW1c9pe-1N9oLBefoNflS_QcpnLer-eAi56S5IlvZ1IjcYmGy7diWGcOdTx2YeHGVge6W59xia19L_Rdjv0D5X4rEucX6HFSgHiCVA/s320/Audubon+Ballroom.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Audubon Ballroom</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was it like to come to a party at Bronx River Center for the first time?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Bronx River, man! That was an experience! I mean there were so many cats! First I was too intimidated to do anything. You know, I'm not gonna lie! You had Cholly Rock, Beaver.....and there were even some females....Trina (RIP), Taste (RIP), Natalie......there were a lot of females that were nice so I was looking and I tried to feel it out at first, then when it started coming to almost the end I said to myself, "Well, you know no better time than now!" So I went down and did my stuff. What I did was impressive enough to be able to come back and do what I do. It was fun." </b></p><p><b> SIR NORIN RAD:"How did you go there? Did you take a cab?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"No, we took the train."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did that party take place inside of the Bronx River Center or outside of it?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"My first experience was inside the center 'cause I believe it was winter time. Bambaataa was DJing, it was inside and I 'd be doing that all winter. Then I used to see DJ Mario outside...in the back of the center. Mario used to have that coffin with his turntables in there and everything and this just caught me. He had his system in a coffin. It was weird!" <br /></b></p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What went through your mind back then when you were approaching Bronx River Center hearing those beats from blocks away?" <br /></b><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Oh, you were anxious to get there. You know, you're real anxious when you hear it, especially when it's a sound that you're familiar with. That would be the sound that you can break to. You would be like, "Oh man!!!!!!!" Then you would start to put a little pep in your step to get there to see who's already on the floor doing what they're doing, you understand? So you could go ahead and do your thing. It was always that anxious feeling once you hear it because you'd hear it from blocks away. I mean these guys had some serious systems!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How many B-Boy circles would usually form there inside of Bronx River Center?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"You'd see at least tree, four circles! You know everybody else would be dancing......doing regular dancing or doing The Hustle but you would see at least three or four B-Boy circles. This is one thing about B-Boys.....not too many B-Boys wanted to start the circle off. They wanted to see what somebody else got before they go and display their skills. So everybody waiting around to see who goes first, you know? And then that's how it started. They would set it off. "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What went through your mind when a truly nice B-Boy jumped into the circle and did his thing?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Okay, this is how it is with B-Boys back then...like I said a lot of things were never rehearsed back then. You did have signature moves but what you did...everything was pretty much off the top of your head. You got down on that floor and the only thing that you would have to remember is what you did that made everybody like stand up on their feet like, "Wooooooow!!!" You know, you just had to remember what it was that you did. Then.....the funny thing about it is...then you would go home and practice it. You would do it first...like something you even surprized yourself doing it...'cause that's how B-Boying was back then.....spontaneous, it wasn't something rehearsed. You'd just get down there, you'd do what you do, then you'd get up and he'd go down there and do his stuff and in that instant you had to think of something better than that. See that's a true B-Boy, you know, where you can make something up right there on the spot!!!! And that's the difference between what they do now and what we used to do back then."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What did B-Boys typically wear back in your era?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"You know, back then Levi's wasn't the big jeans! Lee were the big jeans!!!!! (chuckles) Bell bottom Lees, Pro-Keds or you might have your Playboys on or your British Walkers. But see that's the thing about a B-Boy...it doesn't matter what you had on. If you were called out no matter what you had on you would get down on that floor!! If you called out a B-Boy no matter how fly he was, you understand, if you called him out, he was coming out!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What exactly was considered to be fly during your era?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"You had your Cortefiel coat, you had your Overlaps. Sometimes you had some Teardrops.....you had your Playboys or your British Walkers, a Mockneck sweater or maybe a cardigan v-neck sweater with your Kangol on."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How were battles initiated back then? Did they start by one B-Boy jumping into the circle and doing a certain move specifically directed towards another B-Boy?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Yeah, exactly!! Like that happened to me one time......actually, that's how I met Fletch. I'm gonna give you that story first! Everybody knew about me B-Boying and then they were like, "Yo, Fletch is up at the Battlegrounds!!!! Blah, blah, blah, you know?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"The Battlegrounds!!!!!"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Yeah, that's in Harlem also."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"The People's Choice Crew used to rock there...."<br /></b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"The People's Choice, Fever Disco...."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"And also The G-Force, right?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Yeah, exactly!!! (laughs)!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Damn, so B-Boying went down at the Battlegrounds as well?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Yeah!! It became one of my spots but Fletch was there so I said, "Okay, I'mma go up there and see what this guy's about!" You know what I'm saying, I watched him, I was a little impressed by him but I said, "Let me go down and do my stuff!!!" And I wowed them!!!! Everybody was like, "Uuuuuh!" because they had never seen me before but I had heard of Fletch. Fletch used to be with this other guy called Johnny. Johnny was also good and then he had another partner named Frank. So that's how I met Fletch. We started talking, I brought up Puppetmaster's name and after that we started hanging out."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So did you go often to the Battlegrounds in order to take out other B-Boys?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"It was a regular spot whenever they did their thing but me and Fletch kinda held down that B-Boy arena. You know, there would be guys that came there but we would just embarrass them and they would go about their way. So pretty much the Battlegrounds belonged to me and Fletch, you know as far as the B-Boy thing was concerned. Puppetmaster....I would see him every now and then but he would always be up in the Bronx. So the Battlegrounds, the schoolyard betweeen 146th and 147th Street, the Audubon Ballroom and places like that....pretty much....that were our territories. That was me and Fletch, we held that down."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please provide more details of that battle against Fletch!"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Well, I had heard about Fletch before then but I had never met him. I was actually on the corner of 145th Street & Amsterdam Avenue. The Battlegrounds is on Amsterdam Avenue & 152nd Street. Somebody came to me and said, "Yo, Fletch is up there at the Battlgrounds!" I said, "Yeah? Okay, let me go up there!" I went up there and like I said I saw a circle already around him. I'm like, "Yeah, okay! Let me wait for him to do something crazy." I could tell that he was comfortable and that this was his arena because when he finished doing his stuff and he stood up he wasn't expecting nobody to step in that circle and do something and that's when I came in. Everybody's looking like, "Oh, who's this???" And I went down, did my thing. Like I said I impressed them all. All you heard was, "Oh shit!!!!!!" And then, you know, he went down again, I went down again and then they sorta switched the tempo of the music so we had stopped right there. That allowed us to get acquainted with each other and that formed a friendship right then and there!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Fletch was from Featherbed Lane in the Bronx, right?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Yeah, you see that's the thing. A lot of people from the Bronx moved to Manhattan. 'Cause Fletch lived up there on 163rd Street.....something like that.....between Amsterdam Avenue & Broadway. See a lot of us moved from the Bronx to Manhattan."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Is it accurate to say that the Bronx and Harlem were like siblings when it came to Hiphop Culture?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTR HERB:"Yeah, exactly, yeah!!! 'Cause you're sharing the same DJs and everything. Like if there's a party over here this week...you know, let's say TJ The DJ (The People's Choice Crew)...they're giving a party this week so we're all over there. Now the next day DJ Mario might be giving a party at JHS 123 so, you know, we're goin over there. Everybody shared...."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So I guess you and Fletch became something like a crew after that battle and started going to different parties, is that correct?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Yeah, exactly. We would do that. It was me, him and Frank."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were your favourite breakbeats back then?"<br /></b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Oh man, it was always "It's Just Begun" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch! Of course James Brown "Give It Up Or Turn It Loose"....but there were so many more."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What about "Apache"?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Of course!! That was without a doubt! That whole album had at least four banging beats on there....."Apache", "Bongo Rock", "Duelling Bongos", "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". I still have all these records. "Let's Dance" by Pleasure is another one. "Mambo #5" by Samba Soul.....it was a Salsa record but it had a vicious breakbeat!!!! We would go off to that! Then they had this other one. That was the Zulu's record!!! It was a band from Brazil! I don't remember the name....."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I think you're referring to "Mandamentos Black" by The Gerson King Combo."</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Yeah, yeah!!! (excited) Gerson King Combo...that was it!!! Yo, when they played that song you had about twenty circles!!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"For real???!!?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"(laughs) When that song played you had about twenty damn circles, man!!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What about "Juju Man" by Passport? Pow Wow told me that him and Cholly Rock once burnt a whole squad of B-Boys to this joint up in The Valley."</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Oh yeah! That too!!! All of these get you on the floor in a heartbeat! Once those songs came on the crowd would just erupt and then the B-Boying would start! You had two Charlie Rocks (one of them is actually spelled Cholly Rock, a legendary Zulu King B-Boy from Uptown, BX), 'cause you had a Charlie Rock from Manhattan also."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"B-Boy Charlie Rock from The Rock City Crew."</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Yeah, yeah!!!! The Rock City Crew was right around the 145th Street area also, all the way down to 80th something. They had a very strong crew!!! And then you had The Mechanics.......Did Mark (Puppetmaster) tell you about The Mechanics?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"No, please elaborate on them!"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"That was another time I saw the Puppetmaster do his thing. He danced against one of The Mechanics in the Battlegrounds. That was another sight to see!!!! This guy from the Mechanics he did tricks, like he blew fire out of his mouth and all of this stuff. So I was like, "Where does he get these gimmicks from, man?"But he was good and he was double-jointed, so he used to do a lot of things with his body. It was a good battle but he just couldn't mess with the Puppetmaster!!! I'm surprised he didn't tell you about The Mechanics!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Were they from Harlem, too?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Yeah, they were from Harlem, too. From the Battlegrounds area. I think they had about four or five members and my sister she still knows of the guys 'cause he still likes her from way back then but they're just good friends."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Since you mentioned The Rock City Crew what do you recall about the legendary B-Boy Sondance?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"He was an awesome B-Boy!! Let me tell you something.....now this is what made Sondance so good. He was that big but he moved the way he moved!! He burnt a lot of people but you know it's just a fact that he burnt them because they underestimated him. They didn't think anybody that big could move like that!!! Like when you saw John Belushi doing backflips, you wouldn't expect somebody of that size doing backflips. That's what it was with Sondance. You know, you didn't have any answer to it! They were like, "Oh, this dude is nice!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What made you pick the name Voodoomaster?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Because when I started breaking.....you know, like I told you about the guy from The Mechanics who used to blow fire out his mouth.....I used to do a lot of these transformation moves like I was transforming into something else on the floor and I guess that's where the name Voodoomaster came from."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you do certain routines?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"Well, like I said I would transform into something that crawls on the floor, then I'd spin around or jump up in the air. Then I had that thing called The Dead Man's Drop. Now that was hard! You know, cause it took me...like I actually had to practice that move 'cause I was on the floor doing my moves, then I started spinning real fast and then I pushed myself up in the air and I would spin in the air and you know you had to land right or you would hurt yourself because you could land on your side but I put my foot under my leg and that would cushion my fall. I used to call that The Dead Man's Drop because it looked like you spun in the air and you just came down on deadweight. Then I jumped back up and started spinning and do the helicopter. Then I had and I actually got this move down pat to at least three spins while I was able to spin without no hands at all and that was one of my moves. That was one of the moves I used when I first met Fletch and that's why everybody was like, "Oh, shit!!!" because not too many people could do their spinning with no hands at all. You had to spin fast enough to pick up the momentum to raise your hands and to spin three more times before you stopped."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What did B-Boying mean to you back then?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"I LOVED B-BOYING!!!! That was my passion! And that's the thing we didn't do it for money or nothing, we did it because we enjoyed it! I'd go everywhere where there was B-Boying going on! Once Mark (Puppetmaster) took me to the Bronx I was always back in the Bronx. Plus where I used to live in the Bronx I'd go around there and they'd have something going on Marmion Avenue, Boston Road.......places like that."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who were the three best B-Boys that you ever witnessed going off?"</b></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"It would be Puppetmaster #1, Puppetmaster #2 (Rodney B, cousin of Puppetmaster #1 and also a Shaka Zulu B-Boy)......I have seen a lot of B-Boys but they were mostly guys that I could deal with but I'm talking about B-Boys that I could only hang with for a little while before they would go ahead and do something that would get me out of the circle. So it would be Puppetmaster #1, Puppetmaster #2 and I guess Beaver (The Little Zulu Kings). That's about it."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give shoutouts at the end of this interview?" <br /></b></p><p></p><p><b></b></p><p></p><p></p><p><b>VOODOOMASTER HERB:"I wanna give a shoutout to all the B-Boys and B-Girls from back in the days and a big shoutout to you for connecting with me!"<br /></b></p><p></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-79907672644304257592020-11-17T04:20:00.022-08:002020-12-08T07:28:31.649-08:00 Interview with MC Barry B (The Mean Machine Crew)<p> <b> Interview with MC Barry B (The Mean Machine Crew)</b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><b><br /></b><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1Z80ZelACpGAHI-0kGekvhkRMIhIewlRgMqwI-BPvSFBkX4PhyphenhyphenXXWRRSi36xTGOx4GbzxeysVu2IBRv8izZRq5JuQ98Uz3LJ6AKkUH7-ni-CzMyqhYUvQk3BB5p0CIrcS878dNRGmw/s1667/Barry+Lou.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1667" data-original-width="1349" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1Z80ZelACpGAHI-0kGekvhkRMIhIewlRgMqwI-BPvSFBkX4PhyphenhyphenXXWRRSi36xTGOx4GbzxeysVu2IBRv8izZRq5JuQ98Uz3LJ6AKkUH7-ni-CzMyqhYUvQk3BB5p0CIrcS878dNRGmw/s320/Barry+Lou.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>MC Barry B (The Fabulous Four MC Connection / The Mena Machine Crew)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly did you grow up at?" <br /></b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"I grew up in East Harlem, Wagner Houses.. on Pleasant Avenue."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How old were you when you encountered Hiphop for the first time?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"I don't know...I had to be about 11 or 12 because we actually listened to cassette tapes and one of the first cassette tapes was Flash but then the next cassette tape we heard was Funky Four and then we heard Sha Rock (female MC of the Funky Four). "</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Oh..."</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"Right! That's what we used to listen to on the bench."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So someone from your neighbourhoood used to bring live tapes along from BX groups like Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"Yeah, well actually it wasn't The Furious Five, I think it was The Furious Four." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I see. So this must have been around early 1979 or even earlier before Rahiem left The Funky Four to join The Furious Four?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"Around that time I believe, I cannot give the exact date when Rahiem went to The Furious Four but I know that when I heard those tapes Rahiem was still with The Funky Four. Then later on down the line he was with The Furious Five. That's my man!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did these tapes inspire you to start MCing?"<br /></b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"I just didn't hear them and did it because actually you know what inspired us? We had a group on our block. It was a guy his name was DJ Kid Flash. Marvin Major....his name was Kid Flash. Not being the guy from the Bronx, he was from East Harlem. His MCs were Eddy Ed and Greg G. So those were the three..."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did you see DJ Kid Flash and his crew perform at?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"They was on 124th Street park. We called it Woodland Park."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When you saw them perform in that park what kind of impression did that leave on you?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"That left a good impression because after that I wrote (rhymes). So when it was time for Kid Flash and his MCs to take a break they had me on the mic, me and I think it was Master Z. We helped them, we backed them up. So I guess to give the MCs a break. We did shows like in Chuck Center with Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. So we was over there doing shows with them. Like I was secondary, you know I was starting so it's like I'm secondary. You know I mean when they get tired Kid Flash would be like,"Yo, get ready!" So I'mma go in! So my father had other children and I didn't really know them because I'm on this side. My father never let us know he had other children. I had an older brother named Darryl, so when Darryl went down south I was upset. </b><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>My pops came through he saw I was angry because my brother Darryl had left to move down south. That's when he told me about my other siblings. </span></span> He said, "You ain't the only one. I just met your brother. He's downstairs." I tried to figure out what brother. He said he had blue and white on. That's my brother T-Bird. So me and my cousin Kenny ran down and I seen him. He had on a blue and white sweatsuit. I said,"Yo, kid! There you go! That's T- Bird!" So when I walked up I said, "T-Bird?" And he said,"Darryl?" I shook my head, "No." He said,"Barry!!" I said, "What up? How you doing?" 'cause that's the first time I'm meeting my oldest brother. At he first time I ain't know 'cause you know it's on my father's side, not my mother's side. So anyway he gave me the adress to come to the house. They had a party in his house in the Bronx the next day 'cause it was his birthday but I didn't go there because there was a party in Woodland Park. We partied in there, breakdancing and all that!!! You know, we had a good time in there. Even Ski Jump (The Floor Masters) came through. Everybody came through. That was our East Side little corner besides other places. So I didn't come that day, so the next day I seen my brother I said, "Yo, I ain't come. I come today." I was young, so I hit my mom up, "Yo, ABCDEFG." I better let her know. She knew who I met. I said, "They told me they would like me to come over. What's up?" She said,"That's your brother. Yeah, go on over the bridge. Just make sure you know the address." Now I get over the bridge, they told me to look for the white water tower. I looked for the white water tower, I didn't really image that. We never really went over the bridge, we were young. Everything was about the East Side. You never crossed the Willis Avenue Bridge unless my mom took us shopping. So when I came over the bridge I'm stuck but God is so good and powerful that I can't understand how powerful he is and I love it. I'm right there on 141st Street at the yellow church, it's right on the corner...Willis Avenue. So I ain't seen no white water tower and then it so happened I seen the girl my brother was with over my side. I said, "You're Linda?" She said,"Yeah, you're Tony's brother." I said, "Can I ask you a question?" She said, "Yeah!" I said, "Where is the house?" So then she brought me up to the house and we all met each other and then I met my other brother Tiny (RIP). I met my sister Hazel...that's MC Lil Bit..and I met my sister Trudy. Trudy was on the turntables. So Tiny came in the house and then he found out that I'm his brother. He asked, "Yo, you're hanging out?" I said, "Yeah!" So he just snatched me, we went to my aunt's house, we hung out. So me and him were walking over the Willis Avenue Bridge 'cause I wanted to get some clothes. I'mma stay for the weekend. So he asked me, "What do you do?" I said, "I rhyme." He said, "You rhyme?" I said, "Yeah, I rhyme." Remember I'm secondary, remember I'm secondary over here. So he said,"Go ahead! Rhyme!" I said, "I need a beat." He said, "Alright. I'mma play Bongo Rock for you."'Cause my brother Tiny was a DJ (DJ Tiny Tine of The Mean Machine Crew) and he learnt how to MC later. So he said, "I'mma play you Bongo Rock!!!!" He was beatboxing through his mouth but just saying it not like a Doug E Fresh beatbox but he kept that beat. So me and him stepped on the Willis Avenue Bridge and I rhymed that whole Willis Avenue Bridge non-stop! Non-Stop!! Rhyme for rhyme for rhyme for rhyme...ain't no talking about <i>yes yes y'all</i>....rhyme for rhyme for rhyme.....He said,"Wow! You my MC now!!!" </b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2GylZXBy4foujKNCAMmpDiXWhG34soAlJKWynP-Ak_JHBVcab_OWNkTD7Ij85vjTko8y9HLCBBuvK-1Rtv8Nk9f_tjZ0G9XmAhciZL647EkIEFEdgQ1lC8zSaZZS3NTi-_xeSWFlwPQ/s2016/DJ+Tiny+Tine+%2528The+Mean+Machine+Crew%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2GylZXBy4foujKNCAMmpDiXWhG34soAlJKWynP-Ak_JHBVcab_OWNkTD7Ij85vjTko8y9HLCBBuvK-1Rtv8Nk9f_tjZ0G9XmAhciZL647EkIEFEdgQ1lC8zSaZZS3NTi-_xeSWFlwPQ/s320/DJ+Tiny+Tine+%2528The+Mean+Machine+Crew%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>DJ Tiny Tine (The Mean Machine Crew)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> <br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How long did you serve as back-up MC for DJ Kid Flash? How many parties did you do with him?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"Could have been about three, maybe four parties. If they needed us, it's when they get tired, you know what I mean? They rhyme the whole party but if they get tired, "Yo, you're ready?" So we're coming in, so they get a second breather...they can get their breath and come back in. So it may have been about a year, could have been about a year. Maybe about four parties if that. I'm not too sure about that. I was just happy to actually get on. You get on and say something little, you're not saying what they're saying because you're not ready yet. I'm secondary, I'm not ready yet. They're polished, they know their stuff. We're just coming in and make sure we got that beat and we're holding it. No routines, just a rhyme, you know what I'm saying???" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you have to audition in front of Kid Flash to become one of his back-up MCs? How did that come about?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"Because everybody rhymed outside! Everybody rhymed! Like I told you we were sitting on the bench and we were listening to other MCs."Oh, we gonna write something! We gonna try!" Then we started with a little bit or whatever. I don't even remember what my first rhyme was 'cause that's many, many years ago. The crazy thing is... now we got over the bridge back now and I rhymed back across the whole bridge. When I realized that's a long bridge to just rhyme...once I learnt that pattern...and I'mma tell you what happened next.....that became my practice, you know what I'm saying? So when you get on the stage there is no way in the world you're winded because you rhyme that whole bridge...non-stop!!! So when we got to the house, he (DJ Tiny Tine) told them about me. Remember they already met me. Tiny came with me to get my clothes, now I'm coming to spend a whole weekend with them. I'm their baby brother. They want to get to know me. So everybody is in the house.... Rockin Rob, Crazy Eddie, my partner MC Little Rich...everybody is in the house.....The Mean Machine Crew!!! They played music 'cause they did a three-day-party. I ain't never seen that in my life. Now when I say a three-day-party in the morning you go home. What I loved about my stepmom and I loved her the best... she kept us out the streets. We can go, we do our business but if we wanted to party she let us up in the house. Just you ain't smoking in here, none of that and she let us party so that kept you out the streets. We had our own crew, you know what I'm saying? We had a big crew...Mean Machine Crew, South Bronx!!! Not the ones from Sylvia Robinson with Sugar Hill. We are talking about the original Mean Machine Crew from the Black Door!! DJ Rockin Rob, DJ Tiny Tine....my brother...rest in peace......DJ Tin Man, The Fabulous Four MC Connection: MC Crazy Eddie, MC Little Rich, my sister MC Lil Bit, myself the Playboy Kid, the MC Wiz MC Barry B!!!! You know what I'm saying, that's how we became that!! So they asked me to come in the room. They heard me rhyme and all of a sudden everybody disappeared one by one from the room. I'm in the living room. So they came out and said,"Yo, come here!" I said, "What's up?" They said, "Hey, I wanna ask you a question...You are family from the same blood. I know you secondary with Kid Flash but would you like to be one with us?" I said, "My family? Yeah, I'm with y'all. You're my family, we're blood! We are literally blood! Our father's blood's going through everybody's veins. Yeah, I'm down." And that's how I became part of The Fabulous Four MC Connection, of the Mean Machine Crew."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"The Willis Avenue Bridge connects East Harlem with the Bronx, right?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"It's two bridges if you really want. It's two bridges...3rd Avenue Bridge that brings you back from the Bronx and it's the Willis Avenue Bridge that brings you across to the Bronx. Like if you're driving you go over the Willis Avenue Bridge, that's the long bridge. I loved to walk that bridge, </b><b><b> I still walk that bridge</b> and if you're in a car you can't go back over that bridge, you have to go through the 3rd Avenue Bridge. One bridge brings you in, one bridge brings you out. There is other bridges that bring you out but you said East Harlem."</b></p><br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOnWwVRDp2vd7V5nFmNh3xeJ_w5aRQfiPjn6dGmKzgaNThXsW2ve4f2_3CCFYfY4oQHLV3YIRDHkrgBSLmE8pJ46SSLy52a6wpZ4z2FbxdGHSavkkxD89VNze5i6HN9uAXFVYfRLDg3g/s1000/Willis+Avenue+Bridge.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="819" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOnWwVRDp2vd7V5nFmNh3xeJ_w5aRQfiPjn6dGmKzgaNThXsW2ve4f2_3CCFYfY4oQHLV3YIRDHkrgBSLmE8pJ46SSLy52a6wpZ4z2FbxdGHSavkkxD89VNze5i6HN9uAXFVYfRLDg3g/s320/Willis+Avenue+Bridge.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Willis Avenue Bridge</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Could you please describe how you as The Mean Machine Crew rehearsed for your live shows?"<br /></b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"Okay, my stepmother.....I talked about her before....I love her she kept us out the streets. So instead of us being somewhere in the street doing something, we practiced in the house. She let us practice everything in the house. We would do some words in the house, you know, because we learned to put routines together. You gotta put routines together 'cause the hot boys got routines!!! You have to put routines together! Ain't about you getting on no stage just rhyming and then the next MC....NO!!!!!! You have to put a routine together! You had the Force MCs, they had all the routines. You had the Fantastic Five, you had the Furious Five...so </b><b><b>we are Black Door now!! We gotta say something on stage to make somebody look at us!!! My DJ Rockin' Rob had his thing going and he was very excellent at his thing but we all perfected at the same time. The perfection was so crazy I loved it, you know what I'm saying!!!! We practiced so hard!!! Now we got the words together in the house 'cause we all wrote together. A piece, a piece, a piece..we all got a piece!! That's how the routine went right or switch it back up. That taught me a lot about putting things together. Now I'm learning how to put routines together, so once I learned how to put a routine together I said, "Now I gotta perfect this craft!" So by perfecting this craft I'm listening. They had a lot of things going on out there!! You can hear it, you hear the Fantastic 5....I love the Fantastic Five on the mic.....(sings a Fantastic Five routine) </b></b><i><b>Fantastic Romantic Five! Each one is qualified.......</b></i><b>and they tore it up live!!!</b><i><b> </b></i><b>I been on stage with them.....Lord!!!! The Furious Five....they tore it up!!! I haven't been on stage with the Force MCs but they were nice!!! Stevie D is my man!! He a cool dude! They had F Troop!!! Hold up, hold up! Ain't nobody tear up F Troop!!! (sings a routine of the Force MCs)......<i>We came, we came. </i>Yo, they had F Troop, B???? Come on, man!!! They came out with a lot of stuff. So we loved that and I said, "I gotta write something different!" So I started going into different thoughts. At the same time I said, "I gotta find something ain't nobody got!" So I'm into movies, Im good. So I went into "The Education of Sonny Carson". <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Damn!"</b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiphn_82gEq4C4WU_T1UKFolI3S226yiodLZAhPlDTo3WcMvISGOgmo7_h1y6LyCGEI5mmbw1SmmXoYPSa5q5dbTdyoWkteSRnzoyMjqgmp0hg99RzbefMUd7sEG8A_CQZmeAVeucFElg/s960/7.+DJ+Rockin+Rob+%2526+The+Fabulous+Four+MC+Connection+%2540+The+T-Connection%252C+24.12.1980.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiphn_82gEq4C4WU_T1UKFolI3S226yiodLZAhPlDTo3WcMvISGOgmo7_h1y6LyCGEI5mmbw1SmmXoYPSa5q5dbTdyoWkteSRnzoyMjqgmp0hg99RzbefMUd7sEG8A_CQZmeAVeucFElg/s320/7.+DJ+Rockin+Rob+%2526+The+Fabulous+Four+MC+Connection+%2540+The+T-Connection%252C+24.12.1980.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>December 24th, 1980: DJ Rockin Rob & The Mean Machine perform at the T-Connection along with Grandwizard Theodore & The Fantastic Five </b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> <br /></b><p></p><p><b>BARRY B:"Right! I gotta get something! I gotta get something!! And our crew is the Mean Machine....so you know my family and them they was from Brooklyn,so there was gangs down there....Tomahawks and all that...and in that movie they had The Tomahawks and they sing, "We are the Tomahawks!!! The mighty, mighty Tomahawks!!" I thought about the Mean Machine!!!! (sings) <i>We are the Mean Machine, the mighty, mighty Mean Machine!!!" </i>Yeah!! (continues) <i>Stay back now, sucker, sucker!!! The L-I-L..yes the B-I-T!!! Stay back now!!! </i>Yeah, my sister..all of us!! So we were just putting routines together and so we got a lot of routines going on. Then we even started getting together...me and my partner Crazy Eddie and Lil Rich and we put "Seven Minutes Of Funk" together. Crazy Eddie would initiate it...<i>I gotta little tune that I do miss and it goes something, something like this: One for the crowd, two for me! I wanna hear the voice of the Barry B! He is the man with the masterplan. He can rock the mic all over his hand! Lil Rich, Lil Bit, the female MC that is the sure shit!! </i></b><b><i><b>And there's one more, that is me!</b> The MC man called Crazy Eddie! </i>Then we came right behind! <i>We aaaaarrrreee the Four MCs and we rock you on down to your knees! </i>Yeah!!!<i> </i></b><b>So it's of the rhythm!! So that made it more....now we ain't puppies no more!! You know when you're growing up, you're like first the puppy, then the middle sized dog, then the big dog. So we're getting stages through and now we're in a new stage. We're putting songs together, all of us! Mean Machine Crew! And then now we're adding up, we get on stage. My brother Tiny (RIP) and them, they used to have dance routines. So everybody (all the DJ /MC crews back then) had a dance routine that they posed. You know they're just posing, we didn't have that, we danced!!! We had a crazy dance routine and it was hard. It was a full-blown shuffle, we busted ass when we did it. We killed them and I remember one time we did it in the P.A.L.......183rd. I remember my sister (MC Lil Bit) she set it up, "<i>Clap your hands everybody and everybody clap your hands!</i> <i>Clap your hands everybody and everybody clap your hands! We got our one DJ and our three MCs who gonna rock the step with no delay! And if you really wanna see them get on down just clap your hands to the funky sound!!! Say</i> <i>one for the money, two for the bass! Come on Rockin' Rob let's rock this place!" </i>Now when she said,"<i>Place</i>!" the lights went off, the place went black.....blink of an eye black and then the strobe light came on..and at the same time she said that our right foot went in place and we went right to the routine and we tore their asses up on that stage!!!! They ain't seen nothing like that 'cause they're looking at posing! We ain't posing, we move, we do some funky stuff! We won the trophy that night!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I think you told me once that your crew was affiliated with a squad called The Little Mix Masters which basically consisted of your students. How did that affiliation come about?"<br /></b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"Ok, when I first came the umbrella was Mean Machine. We had Mix Masters and we had Disco Masters. Disco Masters consists of my big brother Moe. DJ Moe Start The Show and then my older brother Tony...T-Bird...... and we had Stretch. That's the Disco side. On the Hiphop side we had Rockin Rob, Tiny Tine and Tin Man. That were our DJs and The Fabulous Four MC Connection."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"The Little Mix Masters were Hiphop though, right?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"Yeah. One of their DJs was DJ Master Maze. He was a very good DJ."<br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgtbPXmHnjVy1FLRZtWV8fHWlBDfeErPynGx4SLy63Ys9GYSf-o7bx4_0J11iYjHjdiDIuSwtjtq0NUDYk_KpEjVAUb1Aog1Rh4ZYt6wtvijVTKzvbAkHsAkGLxieTGfAnjpAsDxS1iw/s960/The+Little+Mixmasters+%2540+The+Mitchell%2527s+Gym%252C10.8.1979.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgtbPXmHnjVy1FLRZtWV8fHWlBDfeErPynGx4SLy63Ys9GYSf-o7bx4_0J11iYjHjdiDIuSwtjtq0NUDYk_KpEjVAUb1Aog1Rh4ZYt6wtvijVTKzvbAkHsAkGLxieTGfAnjpAsDxS1iw/s320/The+Little+Mixmasters+%2540+The+Mitchell%2527s+Gym%252C10.8.1979.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>August 10th, 1979: The Mean Machine Crew and The Mix Masters perform at Mitchell's Gym</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><br /><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I guess you were the only member of The Mean Machine Crew that came from East Harlem, is that correct? All the others came from the Bronx."</b><p></p><p><b>BARRY B:"Bronx, yeah. Everybody I met at my brother's house was from the Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you wear special outfits when you were performing on stage?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"When we started performing we had sweatsuits with our name on it at first."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would they have specific colors?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"Red and black. Our Mean Machine crew is red and black but at that time it wasn't 'cause they had different colors sweatsuits, you know what I'm saying? But when we really settled Mean Machine is red and black. Just like that movie "The Longest Yard" with Burt Reynolds..yeah, Mean Machine.....red and black and they said Mean Machine on that, too, when they're playing football, "Mean Machine, Mean Machine!!!" Right!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"In which parks did the Mean Machine crew perform on the regular?" <br /></b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"We had Clark Park. That's ours!!!"</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWpkE66aLqpZQ-83-6NvZ5THLkNUSBsGohgEuoYgJbI-i8RaFdtG7ziew84iQSDGbLi8ur3ApBXM4xnTE-JoJ7fXIIN5B09c7CgKP4Sy-lx_2nwQVYLCSVjR7c6OpMOGm1DvZaUEiynw/s640/Clark+Playgrond+Mott+Haven.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWpkE66aLqpZQ-83-6NvZ5THLkNUSBsGohgEuoYgJbI-i8RaFdtG7ziew84iQSDGbLi8ur3ApBXM4xnTE-JoJ7fXIIN5B09c7CgKP4Sy-lx_2nwQVYLCSVjR7c6OpMOGm1DvZaUEiynw/s320/Clark+Playgrond+Mott+Haven.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Clark Park (Mott Haven, BX) - Home of the Mean Machine Crew</b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> </b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where is Clark Park located?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"Clark Park is on 3rd Avenue between 144th & 145th Street."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How many people would come there when your DJs set up their equipment and started playing music and you got busy on the mic?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"A lot of people! A lot of people! A looooot of people!!! Let me tell you when I first rhymed out there I was nervous. I don't lie, I'm a man but I was nervous. So I had a practice that I would do as a practice that kept me hot besides the bridge, you know what I'm saying? I would be in the mirror in the bathroom and I' go off!! I'd go off in that mirror! I practiced! See MCs nowadays don't know...you have to practice!!! You have to be a one-verse-person meaning one take. That's the point of rehearsing your rhymes because when you get on stage you can't redo that!!! So you got to know your stuff, your part from beginning to end and then as knowing it so much you can put your feelings into it as you're saying your rhymes. You gonna sound like you're ready 'cause you practiced!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I think that's something that many people today fail to understand about the golden era of original DJs and MCs. Crews had to build their reputation in the streets by constantly delivering fresh and impeccable live performances and so they couldn't just stop in the middle of their performance and say, "We're sorry! That obviously didn't work out well so we have to do it again." They had to come correct..."<br /></b></p><p><b>BARRY B:" Nah, you crazy??? No, no,no, no!!! If you wanted to be alright the next day and nobody sayin' nothin' bad you better know your work!! They gonna know you messed up, you feel me??? They gonna know you messed up!!! They'd be like, "Oh, he don't even know his rhyme!!!" or "They messed up on stage!" That's what you gonna get! That's what you really gonna get! We never got booed but people did get booed."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe what went down when your crew performed with Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five at Mott Haven Center!" </b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"That was my sister's birthday party, that was MC Lil Bit's birthday party. In that night...on the flyer was Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. So we up in there 'cause that's Mott Haven, we're Mott Haven. Ain't nothing, a regular day but we're having a party that night. </b><b><b>Man, let me you something! </b>I ain't gonna lie..I love me some Furious Five!!!!! I told you that. I love The Fantastic Five, I love The Force MCs, I love a lot of groups....I love the Cold Crush...don't get it twisted but the Furious Five came with the best shit that I seen when they came in with some other shit!!! (laughs) Listen to me! It was a party, we wasn't thinking about nothing. You know it's music.....Man, let me tell you something, when Flash and the Furious Five came in there they had every color sheepskins in the world!!! Them colors never was out! When they walked in with Flash, them sheepskins they had.....beige and brown were the regular sheepskins colors.... they came in there with grey, blue, green. Colors that you ain't never seen and with the hat to match!!! I said, "Oh my god! This shit is fly!" and they coming in as The Furious Five!!! I'll never forget this night.....Mott Haven Center. And Rockin Rob and Flash got into a DJ thing, it was crazy! The MCs were MCing, it wasn't a battle for us. We had already been on, then the Furious Five came on and did their thing. Then Flash got on (on his own without the MCs) and he asked Rockin Rob to get on, so he could cut one, then Rob would cut one on the turntables. That went crazy that night!!! That went crazy, you know what I'm saying?? They're playing what they're playing... Flash is tearing up his records and Rockin Rob is tearing up his records! They're all tearing them records up!! The best showed the best! See like back in the days when I was younger like when I told you with Kid Flash. His record was "I Like To Make It Right" ("Well, Have A Nice Day" by King Erisson) He cut it up like "<i>I like to make it.....I like to make it...I like to...I like to..." </i>Yeah, that was then, that was like slow brewing.<i> </i>Nah, it got different over here. They were tearing it up! Very impressive! I love that night."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKjVcye5djg-axVCY6Oy6sg5b-kGqemYDMQTabwstSzeKwmZU6UNK-Kok5r_h4o00dKkpxVX98F8MtPOrkuZW72iFKVrwmc841tF0VoUabMfXvEpzSg0JNMbBsLW25YhZxcHR-WVUvg/s960/2.+DJ+Rockin+Rob+%2526+The+Fabulous+Four+MCees+%2540+The+Ecstasy+Garage%252C+8.3.1980.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKjVcye5djg-axVCY6Oy6sg5b-kGqemYDMQTabwstSzeKwmZU6UNK-Kok5r_h4o00dKkpxVX98F8MtPOrkuZW72iFKVrwmc841tF0VoUabMfXvEpzSg0JNMbBsLW25YhZxcHR-WVUvg/s320/2.+DJ+Rockin+Rob+%2526+The+Fabulous+Four+MCees+%2540+The+Ecstasy+Garage%252C+8.3.1980.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>March 8th, 1980: DJ Rockin Rob' & The Mean Machine are performing at the Ecstasy Garage along with Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five and The Cold Crush Brothers</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"There is this very interesting flyer which advertises a battle between the legendary MC Sha Rock and your sister MC Lil Bit. What do you remember about that event?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"I don't really like to talk about it. Sha Rock is kool, I like me some Sha Rock. Remember she was my idol before I knew that Hazel (MC Lil Bit) was my sister. Remember I told you we used to sit on the bench and listen to Sha Rock, "<i>You rock the hip, then you rock the hop and you rock Sha Sha Sha Rock!!!!" </i>Yo, that was everything!!! First of all you ain't heard a girl and then the girl tearing it up worse than some dudes?? What I do remember.....I asked my sister about it. She said she was challenged and she met that challenge. She said, "I met that challenge by showing up!" There was a coin toss of who was going first. Sha Rock won the coin toss, she told Lil Bit to get on first which she did. MC Lil Bit was prepared, she started with a rhyme saying, "<i>Sha Rock that Lady MC, she can rock but no match for me!! I'm the L-I-L , the B-I-T, the number one lady with quality!" </i>The crowd went crazy! MC Lil Bit finished her time, next up was Sha Rock.They called her to the stage, they called her several times but she never came. MC Lil Bit won and was crowned Number One Lady MC. After several parties she decided to hang up the mic and started a career in finance."</b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYz4AGjIVbdox2NQkrTMWqNWEYUsBRHACCejZAWhYHpHHKQdsRoj2YeCiVoFSlYmF5vmLJjAmVHXoJnok1j93UeFZsB3B0gFICQrvecREAFe7msD5emsKTaQQHGe6R1wYlqV-fBvGShQ/s960/Lil+Bit+%2528The+Mean+Machine%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYz4AGjIVbdox2NQkrTMWqNWEYUsBRHACCejZAWhYHpHHKQdsRoj2YeCiVoFSlYmF5vmLJjAmVHXoJnok1j93UeFZsB3B0gFICQrvecREAFe7msD5emsKTaQQHGe6R1wYlqV-fBvGShQ/s320/Lil+Bit+%2528The+Mean+Machine%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>MC Lil Bit (The Fabulous Four MC Connection / The Mean Machine Crew)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg-L044eUq3144VbBMuJSvbJD8SE8YgP47Q0Pg8ge_mcTM0wAMRmK4ggOxheXEpETR0QkU1XK72lMki_jX46qbzzV4yISm12xh0nV4w33gnmbxZVjAb-hYM2mBxrck8zr5mYBFk1pfuA/s960/Lil+Bit+vs+Sha+Rock.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg-L044eUq3144VbBMuJSvbJD8SE8YgP47Q0Pg8ge_mcTM0wAMRmK4ggOxheXEpETR0QkU1XK72lMki_jX46qbzzV4yISm12xh0nV4w33gnmbxZVjAb-hYM2mBxrck8zr5mYBFk1pfuA/s320/Lil+Bit+vs+Sha+Rock.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>December 19th, 1980: MC Lil Bit (The Mean Machine) vs. Sha Rock (The Funky Four Plus One) at The Ecstasy Garage, BX </b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> </b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b><br /> SIR NORIN RAD:"It seems MC battles were totally different back then from what they are today with all this gun talk and verbally abusing each others mothers that is going on now. Plus there are no beats involved anymore."</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"It's not the battle style we had. It's a huge difference. Now they're talking but they rhyme. I don't know it's a difference, you know? I listen to them but I only listen to these new battles because of my nephew Fettucine 20 'cause he's on it 'cause when I listen to other people I be like...... you know, it's different than me!!! I give everybody a chance. I give everybody what it is but it's totally different than me. The more you listen to it you might get a little closer to it...a little, you know what I'm saying? Their punchlines sometimes be crazy what they say. Then they repeat it, then come back and do it. I mean yeah, they call that battle rhyme, yeah.......I'm not really into it. They're different."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did the Fambulous Four MC Connection have a leader?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"We was a team. Nobody was above no man and nobody was above the group. We did everything together. Nobody was no higher, nobody was no better. So it was a crew effort and right now to this day I still mess with my partners 'cause we still got joints."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe the role of each MC within your crew!"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"We was all in the same barrel. First of all, Crazy Eddie used to open it. I didn't feel comfortable open it, so I rather let Eddie open it. That's how it went. He used to say something like, "<i>Ladies and gentlemen, how y'all doing? We're the original Mean Machine Crew!" </i>Then Little Rich would get on, then I would be next. My sister is not gonna be on that like that. Just when her time comes...banger!!! She gonna knock it out the park! Home Run! Do another hit....bang!!!! And she out! That's it, unless we needed her for something. It was always me , Eddie and Rich. That's why my sister faded after a while. She was involved in everything but certain things.....routines?? She was in every routine! Every routine my sister was part of that. Actually, like with me...my sister is my energy. You know how you got a big sister and you try something and you're good at it but she's on fire with it, so you better get on your shit." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So she was pushing you to become a better MC?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY
B:"Oh, we were pushing each other! We pushed us all but by me being the
baby...I'm the little one...I had to show them that I'm playing no
games, I ain't missing no beat. My stepmother kept us in the house, we
practiced, we wrote our rhymes, we said it together then we went across
to Rob's house. We went there, that's when we really started practicing
with his DJing and the music and we know we're getting ready to do a
show. Yeah, we're practicing and now we come back to the other house
'cause now we're doing our routines, our dance steps. That's how it
went, it's a family effort!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who was the lyrically strongest MC among you?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY
B:"All of us. Listen to what I'm saying...we sat together! "Yo, what
you think? I got this concept!" "Alright!" "Follow behind me! Yo, what
you got?" Let me throw this rhyme in!" "Nah, this sounds better." So
you'd rewrite it."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you keep your rhymes and your concepts for routines in specific books?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY
B:"We kept rhyme books, we didn't worry about the routines, 'cause all
you got to do was remember the hook. Now if you're gonna do a routine
routine...like what we would do..we would do a routine and switch in and
out...for that you had to have a book but not really because when we
practiced in the house we practiced so frequently you knew your part!
You knew your part!" <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How often would you get together and practice your performances per week?" <br /></b></p><p><b>BARRY
B:"Practice your lyrics? Every day!!!! You would practice your lyrics
every day! Listen, I told you I didn't care if somebody thought you was
crazy. Go and walk by yourself, have your earphones on and rhyme!
You're practicing! I ain't care what they think about me!! I'm
walking...say I get on the Drive......the FDR Drive...just to walk.
Everything ain't Willis Avenue Bridge 'cause this is right here by my
house. I got on my earphones, I'm going through my routines!!! I like
to be by myself when I'm going through it. I want no interruption, let
me just get this. I'm getting my mind ready 'cause we're getting ready
to do this. No mistakes! We don't do no mistakes! Practice do make
perfect but ain't nobody perfect but you ain't mess up if you really
practice!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did your rehearsals sometimes last for several hours? Like from afternoon to nighttime?"<br /></b></p><p><b>BARRY
B:"Yep, after we got out of school......well, it was me after school
'cause remember I was 15, so by that time I'm 16 whatever. At 15 I got
out of there and went to Julia Richman HS. They'd be waiting for me.
"Where's Barry?" "He's coming out of school." "Aight." "He's on his
way." From up there we're going to my stepmother's house. We eat.
Everybody start coming in, then we start getting ready to work. Play the
cassette from the house and go through our routines. When it's time to
go crazy, " Let's go across (to Rockin Rob's house)!"</b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZ1tCp5_ICltiFT-PxgmGLx0Gfgod0m9JbC_bBmqEtruUv3pUKY9XKiUXyXX_Lo0eH90V-CRc8liTzYY2SnnSLIkcq81vl_jqqGz20NdKgqFZjCUySz37w7pDWxyRB6aS3sqr6fpPhQ/s604/DJ+Rockin+Rob+%2528The+Mean+Machine%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="413" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZ1tCp5_ICltiFT-PxgmGLx0Gfgod0m9JbC_bBmqEtruUv3pUKY9XKiUXyXX_Lo0eH90V-CRc8liTzYY2SnnSLIkcq81vl_jqqGz20NdKgqFZjCUySz37w7pDWxyRB6aS3sqr6fpPhQ/s320/DJ+Rockin+Rob+%2528The+Mean+Machine%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>DJ Rockin Rob (The Mean Machine Crew) cuttin' it up....</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who was the main DJ that would cut up beats for the Fabulous Four MC Connection when you were performing?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY
B:"Rob! But don't get it twisted at a certain time Rob needed a break,
too, so then Tiny would get on. But we weren't going crazy, when we go
with Rob we're going crazy!! That's it!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What are your top five beats to rhyme over?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY
B:"I tear up "Apache"! I tear "Funky Drummer" up! Give me "Got To Be
Real" and you can give me "Seven Minutes Of Funk". It really wasn't mine
'cause I'm the hyper one. You know like when you hit them beats I'm the
hyper one. Like my sister is a hyper one. My sister used to tear up "Do
The Funky Penguin" and she would do "Funky Drummer". She gonna rock
that crowd!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"By looking at all these
flyers I noticed that The Mean Machine Crew would not only perform at
all these big venues in the Bronx but also in Harlem. How did that come
about?"</b></p><p><b>BARRY B:"Let me tell you something......there was a
guy called DJ Mr. Freeze, he knew who we was but before that it was
Kool DJ AJ. I love him...may he rest in peace! I used to go to Julia
Richman High School. Remember it was 1979 when I graduated, so when I
graduated I ended up going to high school. So when I went to Julia
Richman HS, AJ was always outside giving out flyers. So I approached him
one day and said,"Yo, What's up, B???? Why we ain't never on them
flyers?? What's up?" He said,"Barry, I guarantee you one thing if y'all
guarantee to come I put you on a flyer." I said, "Alright, give me a
minute! Let me go holler at the crew." So usually we would have our
meetings......I told you three times a week...and I asked, "Yo, DJ AJ is
putting these joints on. He wanna know if we wanna get down. Let me
know now so he can put us down for the next joint." He was putting us
on all them shits after that. So when we did those Mr. Freeze realized
who we were.....BOOM! He got us in C&C Disco. C&C is on 125th
Street & Lennox Avenue. Now from C&C Disco they did more parties
which became B&B. B&B was a karate school, it was on 122nd
Street & 3rd Avenue. Everybody performed up in there!!! Master Don
& The Death Committee..everybody!" </b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM9SrPjpY3KyUkgzCRMKZHMSoTxcQV2_IBDl3gnkSRYJnxqJ8rLV972gCog-xdX6WJ4JYXJQw-SagBG8eKRhZPlnYnKMaViGYy_i8DWWvORJH2TPM_GALWlEVecBtc__e_z1Qa5BQsNg/s960/6.+DJ+Rockin+Rob+%2526+The+Fabulous+Four+MC+Connection+%2540+The+C%2526C+Disco%252C+26.9.1980.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM9SrPjpY3KyUkgzCRMKZHMSoTxcQV2_IBDl3gnkSRYJnxqJ8rLV972gCog-xdX6WJ4JYXJQw-SagBG8eKRhZPlnYnKMaViGYy_i8DWWvORJH2TPM_GALWlEVecBtc__e_z1Qa5BQsNg/s320/6.+DJ+Rockin+Rob+%2526+The+Fabulous+Four+MC+Connection+%2540+The+C%2526C+Disco%252C+26.9.1980.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>September 26th, 1980: The Mean Machine Crew performs at C&C Disco in Harlem</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would youl like to give shout outs at the end of this interview?" <br /></b></p><p><b>BARRY
B:"To my Mean Machine Crew family....the incredible DJ Rockin Rob, my
brother Tiny Tine (RIP), Tin Man...... The Fabulous Four MC Connection
and my Wagner family!!!!"<br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQG5gqEFEYMIuVvuR5aLPPnOjKXtfNA61GZ2NrHg14Z6SgfqOmlFvGLns_sbkvlfgumCX2BCYZlIGyagpGCTj6we3do_XYFnS359_cCLlHZ058BOiCdl8qdGkXm63B79JiRr63z5P_8Q/s720/The+Mean+Machine+Crew.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQG5gqEFEYMIuVvuR5aLPPnOjKXtfNA61GZ2NrHg14Z6SgfqOmlFvGLns_sbkvlfgumCX2BCYZlIGyagpGCTj6we3do_XYFnS359_cCLlHZ058BOiCdl8qdGkXm63B79JiRr63z5P_8Q/s320/The+Mean+Machine+Crew.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Mean Machine Crew</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><b> </b><p><b> </b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><p></p><br /><p></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-53565485948069773412020-11-08T12:01:00.000-08:002020-11-08T12:01:30.380-08:00<p> <b>Interview with B-Boy Wizard Wiz (The Disco Kids)</b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYs5XWKOyxwO7RATzOYz3Vy28aCgNV8TmQnG62O0PFgPA2SQFnqVo300XNHXqJ_QYuqOqN6L7tYEU-JFEqg_TrTBjrCYUgKF_B_QdnOEHZ-gAl0z85JJaX_ROmOchtlXRkN3DgV5XgNQ/s960/Wizard+Wiz+%2528The+Disco+Kids%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYs5XWKOyxwO7RATzOYz3Vy28aCgNV8TmQnG62O0PFgPA2SQFnqVo300XNHXqJ_QYuqOqN6L7tYEU-JFEqg_TrTBjrCYUgKF_B_QdnOEHZ-gAl0z85JJaX_ROmOchtlXRkN3DgV5XgNQ/s320/Wizard+Wiz+%2528The+Disco+Kids%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Wizard Wiz (The Disco Kids)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)</b><p></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:" From which section of the Bronx are you?"</b></p><p><b>WIZARD WIZ:"I lived in various parts of the Bronx. From 175th Street & Bathgate Avenue to 183rd Street & Creston Avenue to Forest Projects. Pretty much throughout the Bronx I circulated growing up as a child."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How old were you when you witnessed DJs setting up their soundsytems in the parks and playing breakbeats for the B-Boys for the first time?"</b></p><p><b>WIZARD WIZ:"Okay, I was about thirteen years old...something like that (laughs). It was in 1977 when I first got introduced into the culture of Hiphop. Actually, that was around the time of the Blackout. Yeah, that was around that time."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So who were the DJs that you noticed doing their thing at that time?"</b></p><p><b>WIZARD WIZ:"Well, you know, the DJs that I took notice of weren't popular. You know, they were local guys who had soundsystems and who brought their equipment out in the parks in their neighbourhood or on the block in front of their building, you know something like that. They weren't really popular like the ones who may have went on to further their careers as you know your Grandmaster Flashs, your Afrika Bambaataas, your Grandwizard Theodores and your Kool Hercs and brothers like that. It was a lot of local guys growing up at that particular time they just came outside and did their thing It's so far back... I can remember DJ Ray Ski, I can remember DJ Lil Angel, DJ Lay Lay...just a few local guys that never really got to grow up on that status but definitely contributed to the culture."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you remember how you felt when you went to your first jam? What went through your mind when you saw what was going on there?"</b></p><p><b>WIZARD WIZ:"Well, at that particular time I was a B-Boy. I got introduced into B-Boying and that was because of a brother who lived across the street from me..his name was Mongo Rock..a latino brother.......and we lived across the street from each other. I was new on the block, I was young. I don't know how we met or what sparked us to inquire about breakdancing or something but he might had on a shirt or something like that but anyway I was a B-Boy at that time, too, but I wasn't mixed in with no organzation or nothin' I was just getting into the game. And Mongo and I had a challenge. You know he challenged me and we went into the back of some abandoned building or something and we went one on one. You know at that particular time one man would go down, then the next man would go down. So we had a little battle and I did this move on him called The Frog. You know just some hippedy hop froggy type of joint and so I had won the challenge but that made us become best friends and then we also became partners that day."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What's the name of the street that you lived on at that time?"</b></p><p><b>WIZARD WIZ:"We lived on 175th Street & Bathgate Avenue. He lived right around the corner. It's by Tremont Avenue.....in that section."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you and Mongo Rock became real close after that battle. I guess you also know his brother Jesus then?"</b></p><p><b>WIZARD WIZ:"Yes, yes!!! We became family! We were not just partners (Mongo and him) but family!! You know I began to know his brother, his mother. He has two brothers, I met both of them. We grew up together! In fact his brother Jesus was breakdancing, too!! He liked to do a lot of Toprocking, you know? But he could get on the floor and do his thing on the floor, too!!!! But yeah, that's my family!!!!!! That's my family right there!!! We'd go to each other's house...I'd sit with his mother, I'd hug her, we'd talk......he'd sit with my moms. We would eat in each other's homes. We practiced together. We went out and battled other guys together! In fact, Mongo Rock started a crew called The Casablanca Crew. That was our first crew.....Casablanca!!!!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Was Jesus also part of The Casablanca Crew?"</b></p><p><b>WIZARD WIZ:"Jesus wasn't with that crew. He was doing his own thing. We were still family though...no matter what, you know? If we was breaking on the floor and he happened to be there, he came and got down and did his thing, too! So yeah! But Jesus was doing his own thing."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH87JDXesOzwj7Tj_MjZjWrSikmEWTeO2GxL_ULPLsgzRzR8dTD_3uZsurZgG-6y7wkbqMJuI6cq9NLXKGogXr6EnP2yC9S5O96AkKGgikoFModEBLIh3Do9CulpsriUtBKDN_2IvE4g/s960/Jesus+%2528The+Disco+Kids%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH87JDXesOzwj7Tj_MjZjWrSikmEWTeO2GxL_ULPLsgzRzR8dTD_3uZsurZgG-6y7wkbqMJuI6cq9NLXKGogXr6EnP2yC9S5O96AkKGgikoFModEBLIh3Do9CulpsriUtBKDN_2IvE4g/s320/Jesus+%2528The+Disco+Kids%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Jesus (The Disco Kids)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How long did the Casablanca Crew last?"</b></p><p><b>WIZARD WIZ:"</b><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>The Casablanca crew was something Mongo Rock created which didn't get no real growth...this led to us joining TDK."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"Since you have just mentioned that you and Mongo Rock became real good friends instantly I would like to ask you whether you did ever experience any kind of animosity from Puerto Ricans at that time? I'm asking this question because DJ Disco Wiz among others stated that there were Puerto Ricans in the Bronx at that time who felt that Boriquas shouldn't mingle with Blacks and therefore also shouldn't embrace Hiphop."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Nah, nah, not at all. I mean because Hiphop was Hiphop, you know what I'm saying? I mean that ain't in my nature anyway.....to discriminate against someone or to look down on someone. I felt like,"Yo, first of all we're all in the ghetto! We're all in the hood! We're all right here! We're all right here together!!" You know what I'm saying? There was that going on, you know? There was that going on, I admitt that. Yeah, I saw that but that wasn't in my nature and I never had no encounters at all with that. Plus, you know, my moms....I have latino in my culture as well, I have that in my bloodline as well. You know, I don't speak the language but I do have it in my culture as well. I didn't see no difference, we were all just family, man! And if you did bring that kind of stuff that wasn't accepted."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you! When did you meet Mongo Rock? That was in 1977, correct?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Right."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, so please describe the process through which you became such an excellent B-Boy! I mean Trac 2 and others they all speak highly of your B-Boying skills."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Well, the whole thing that we got to understand about Hiphop from our perspective....when we was doing it from the beginning...it was a competitive thing. It was a way of expressing of what we felt inside. It was a way to say who you were and it gave you identity. So everybody wants to be respected, everybody wants to be seen, everybody wants to be the best at what they do. Everybody wants that respect and people cheer for you. So this was a way of settling beefs, this was a way of communicating. This was a way of making friends. This whole Hiphop thing was a way of just self-expression and, you know, creating a identity for yourself. It was fair playing ground, everybody had the opportunity to express themselves to the best of their abilities and, you know, some brothers worked harder than others and some brothers went extreme. You know, I happened to be around a lot of the greats......all of the greats! All of the greats from the B-Boys from Batch, Aby, P-Body, Me 2, Trace 2 (RIP), Jojo, Trac 2, Spy, Shorty Rock, Weebles, Rubberband...You know, we was around the best. We was the best so it was a lot of competition. Everybody was good, so you had to be good and you had to be on your craft! You had to make sure your thing was tight 'cause these guys was tight!!!! They were serious about it, so, you know, I was a little chubby guy, too. I used to have a little weight on me growing up and I still had to be able to hold my own and be able to compete with these brothers who were slimmer and trimmer and could do flips and all that kind of stuff. So I was just competing there for my name and my identity."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"So a lot of practice went into that?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Extensive...extensive practice. That's all me and Mongo did! And Mongo was nice. I mean, Mongo was like...he had his own thing, too. I mean he was nice. We always had to compete, we always had to be nice, man! This is what we did! This is what we really did every day!"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where would you practice at?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"We had different places like we would meet in hallways that would have nice smooth floors and it would be warm in the hallways. Not too many people were going in and out of the builing and stuff like that. We would do that. We would do it outside, you know, in the parks, too. Create a circle... and when they would have a jam we would go inside the spots. At that time TDK and them would have parties and was throwing events and stuff like that in different locations and they had their little spots. And La Familia had a little club....so we had places we would go to on Saturday nights and the weekends or even we would just have battles in the street with other crews that wanted to challenge us and it would go down like that."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"I guess you would also practice to breakbeats coming from a boom box back then?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Yeah, absoluteley! Somebody walked around with a boom box, somebody had a big radio or something that everybody would get down to. So that's what brought the whole event alive when we were all be chilling on a car or on the block just not doin' nothing. Somebody came with a radio and it was on!"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"How important was it to dress fly as a B-Boy back then and to keep your gear clean?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Oh, that was very important. I mean in fact I still practice those traits today like I still spray my sneakers, keep'em brushed up with a toothbrush and, you know, every night make sure my shoe strings is straight......you know clean. You know, I still practice those old ways from back in the days. It was very important because fashion is a part of Hiphop and again it was a very competitive thing. It was another way to express yourself and for people to identify who you was. So what you wore was a way of speaking and to let people know how you felt about yourself, your status and this is how you do your thing. So fashion and being clean....keeping up with the latest peacoats and Adidas and sweatsuits and the Kangols and the Cazals and having all of these things was a part of the culture. So it was very important that you dressed the part."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"I heard that B-Boys would even iron creases in their Lee Jeans."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Yeah, absolutely. At one time Lees was very popular. In fact, we had bell bottom Lees, you know, where we had the big cuff at the bottom and that was the style. And yeah people would definitely iron the crease up in their joints and keep 'em creased out like that with the starch and everything. You had the starch...starch them joints out, you know, hit that joint with the iron. That was the style at the time."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"B-Boys would also iron the letters of their crew's name on their sweatshirts, right?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Yeah!!! (laughs) That was very big! That was....again....giving you self-identity and self-expression, you know? The particular color that your crew wore and the particular name that you had...on your shirt. It was a way to let people know who you were, you dig what I'm saying? 'Cause you basically had your name on your shirt and your crew on the back. So again self-expression...this is who I'm rolling with, this is me, here is my name and this is what I do. You already know I'm a B-Boy yada yada ya!!!! And yo..this is where we at!!! That was the whole thing with the Lees, the Pro-Keds, the Adidas, the sweatshirts with the ironed on letters, the Kangols....whatever!!! That was the whole flavor right there!!! That was Hiphop!!! That was the Hiphop dresscode!!!"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"So is it accurate to say that B-Boys held their crew colors in high regard?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Absolutely! I mean I'mma tell you how deep it was...sometimes when dudes had beef and they solved it dancing......you know we wasn't fighting and all that when we had beef on a B-Boy note....but when dudes had beef on a B-Boy note what dudes had to do was give up their shirts if they lost. On some occasions you had to give up your shirt. You know what I'm saying, now some dudes held on to it and kept it as a trophy. In some cases that's the embarassment of it... of you losing your shirt and being stripped of it because your skills wasn't good enough on the dancefloor! You know I mean, homie got you, man........won the battle, took your shirt and now he is flagging it around. That's a big thing! That's like your flag, you know what I'm saying? So that's why everybody had to be good and be tight in their game because it was real. It was real!!!"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"Damn!!! To those that are going to read this interview, this goes to show you that cats back then took Hiphop extremely seriously! What were your top 5 breakbeats back then?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Yeah, let me just back up a little bit before I answer that question because it is very important...like you said...for those who read this that they see how much we love this culture, how much it meant to us....You gotta remember this came from nothing!!! Can you just imagine your life is just...you come outside, you got domestic issues, everybody living in the projects...apartment buildings on top of each other. It's trash in the hallways, trash in front of the buildings, neighbours fighting......you know, everybody's business in the open, drug dealers on the corner, gangs over here, abandoned buildings over there......That's the life! Going to the grocery store this is what you got to see every day...gloom....just basic gloom, you know, with nothing else. No parks, no recreational centers, no hope, nothing to inspire you to find out what greatness you got in yourself. Just a hopeless situation...just walking from your house to the grocery store. So here comes music, you know, a whole new thing called DJing and you know music is a very powerful thing. So music comes along with the art of dancing and poetry and DJing and all this new technology 'cause now DJing is a technical thing. Now records are not just being played...you know, the whole length of the songs....now the beats are being chopped up and cut up!! A whole new culture is created from out of this gloom! You know, when there was nothing!!! So here comes this Hiphop thing in the park. You know somebody brings some equipment out in the park and you can hear it from blocks away and he's just playing beats and beats and beats!!! So you're just like, "Wow!!!!!" It blossomed from nothing!"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"Like a rose that grew from concrete...."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Beautifully put, yeah! Absolutely, I agree with you. So for us who have greatness inside of us...all these people who have greatness inside of them don't even know how to look within themselves to discover that greatness in them. Here comes Hiphop!!! Here comes this new form of music and dance and graffiti and poetry that gives people the opportunity to discover the greatness in themselves whether it be art, poetry, dance or music. People are discovering who they are and they're evolving! Evolving into this new way of being, this new culture and perfecting it and being creative and being more creative as years go by......being more creative and elevating it. So it's blossoming and it's becoming a way of life now where everybody is dressing this way and we got the swag, the ebonics we're talking....<i>That's fresh!</i> <i>Thats's fly! That's the joint! Yo, they're jamming over here!!</i> You know we're talking the same language. We are creating our own new system from nothing, from that gloom!!! So now we got hope! Now we want to improve, now we wanna enjoy this thing, now we wanna express ourselves!!! To answer your question one of the main beats that I still love today...even if they play it it drives me crazy...my number one beat from back in the days is "Apache"! That is my number one! After that I would say "Catch A Groove". "Apache", "Catch A Groove", "Bongo Rock", "Scorpio""</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"What about "Let's Dance"by Pleasure? The late Trace 2 (RIP) told me that he really loved this beat..."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Oh yeah!!!! (sings) <i>Let's dance! I know you got the feeling.....</i>Yoooooooooo! Oh man, that was one of my top joints right there!!!! Oh, you just took me back, man!!!!"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would adrenaline rush through your body when you walked towards those jams back then and you heard those beats from blocks away?"<br /></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZARD:"(laughs) It's funny you've said that because as I think about it I'm looking at myself and a few of us as we're walking to the jam. You know, we're walking 'cause we're young..we did a lot of walking back in the days. Anyway....I mean that's one of the things we listened for as we got closer to the neighbourhood or wherever the location was where they was jamming at. That's the thing we were listening for and when we heard that sound from the distance we knew that when we get there it was on!!! So now we wanna walk faster! You know, we're getting more excited, we're stepping up the pace. The beat is getting louder as we get closer with anticipation..the thump is getting louder and yo.....BANG..we turn the corner and yo we're in the schoolyard and it is crowded and there is the DJ and yo now you're walking in the jam and you're looking for everybody you know. So you're home now. You're home! You just took me back for real, man!!"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"You're painting a very vivid picture! Thank you so much! So then I guess you would give your friends a dap and check out which other B-Boys were present at the jam?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Yeah, as soon as they played the B-Boy records. You know, something that got the B-Boys ready to go. That's all it took. The DJ threw that joint on, man....whenever he threw a joint on that was relative to what the B-Boys liked to get their groove on to a circle was formed and yo every man went for himself! That's how alliances were made, that's how enemies were made. That's how we got to know one another. Everybody is flying their colors, their shirts, doing their moves yada, yada, ya and yo, it was a beautiful thing! It was beautiful thing, man! It was just like the analogy that you used earlier, man! A rose that grew from concrete! To see the unification of it and just to see the talent in everybody! People were talented, man! It wasn't about the money. We wasn't about it for the money, we were just about it to enjoy the moment to express who we were. That was the biggest thing, man! I miss it, man! I'mma tell you the truth and I'm grateful that I was born during that era! "</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"Since you spent so much time with Mongo Rock back then did you and him have routines that you would do together at those jams?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Nah, we never did no routines like that we was just for like doing moves. You know, creating new moves to just add on to our arsenal. He created his moves, I was making my moves. Whenever we met up or something or decided to go somewhere together, people knew we were together. They knew we was partners and stuff like that."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"How important was it to you B-Boys back then to impress the girls at the jams?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"(laughs) Of course it was important.....we was young, man!! So dressing and making sure your shit was fly and making sure you're looking good and making sure, you know, you can hold your own whether it was MCing, DJing or B-Boying......That was very important 'cause that was one of the main goals now, you know what I'm saying? You would go there to meet girls and try to get her number and you know, try to get something poppin'. So every man was there for that! That goes without saying. Yeah, you had to be right. Everybody was right, everybody knew what you had to do. Even the girls..they was right! They knew what they had to do. They had their big bamboo earrings, their hair nice, you know what I'm saying?? They had their little jewelry on, looking all nice!!! Yeah man, we all knew how to roll, man! Women played a very big part! Dudes showin' off and dudes wanna compete more."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR
NORIN RAD:"I was told that in the late 1970s cats did the Freak Dance
to the breakbeats that were being played by the DJs. They were mimicking
some sort of intimate action...Would you do that dance, too?" <br /></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD
WIZ:"(laughs heavily) Well, yo the word Freak, man!!! It's
self-explanatory! Everybody was interacting with their natural ways of
being. Here's a male, here's a female! This is what we're supposed to
do! We're supposed to mingle, meet, you know? And now we're dancing and
we're doing this particular dance called The Freak and we know what that
this when we're touching, rubbing and grinding and you know we're
enjoying it though. We're enjoying it and everybody's doing it and there
ain't nothing wrong with it. Wow, man!!!! (laughs) But I wasn't much
of a dancer like that to be honest with you, man. I dance and do my thang if I gotta do what I gotta do but I really wasn't much of a dancer like that. That wasn't too much of my thing but I made sure I stayed on top of it when I had to."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"I see. Would people still do The Hustle at the jams during your era? I was told by many early original B-Boys that this dance was an integral part of the parties of Kool Herc and even of those of Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaata."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Yeah, man!!! That was fly, man!!! There were people that would still freak that! We used to stand back and watch them. That was a whole 'nother level of dancing. It was amazing, man!! It was one particular guy, his name was Slick Watts!!!! He reminded you of Sammy Davis Jr.. He was like that. He was small like Sammy, dark like Sammy and talented, too, like that on the dancing tip. This brother was so nice with the Hustle, man!! He could dance with two or three girls at one time!!! He used to have girls that he practiced with. You know, when they came out to the park they had these routines where he danced with two or three chicks, changing partners, flipping 'em this way. All kinds of crazy moves, nobody could fuck with him on that note, man! He was the best I have ever seen doing that, man! If you ask anybody about Slick Watts that was there...He was...oh man.......he was talented!!!! Not too many people were on that note unless you was in the clubs. Outside they wasn't really doing the Hustle like that in the parks, it was about breakdancing. But you go inside the clubs with TDK and them, a lot of that stuff was going in there." </span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you describe your style of B-Boying back then? What were your signature moves?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"I was more of a technician. You know, I liked to do footwork on the floor. Stuff like that...sweeps, kicks in the air...all that kind of stuff. I was more of a technician, I liked to do crazy body things....knee rocking,jumping back into another position and continuing. I wasn't like the clowny guy doing The Spider and all that kind of stuff. I was more of a technical B-Boy, I would like to say. Like Spy, Trac 2...those brothers I call technical B-Boys and that's the category I was in."<br /></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you start your dancing? Did you use that crossover step which is commonly referred to as the Indian Step today?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Yeah, yeah absolutely! Yeah, you did that two-step, that jump.... I don't even know the name of it. It's just a habit, there was no name for it at the time. We just started off every session before we went down with that toprock kind of thing. Yeah, most B-Boys did that! It's amazing that you brought that up because that's the way we all initiated our dancing! That two-step before we hit the floor!"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you have some other ways of toprocking?"<br /></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Yeah, I had a few variations before I went down. Like I did this thing called the Rubberband Man where you wiggle your whole body like a rubberband and jiggle all over, then you freeze while you hold the top of your head. then you go back to the Rubberband Man...jiggling throughout the circle...then you go down. Little shit like that, man! You had a few things that you would do on top. Or either the one...we would call this....where you kick off.....what the hell we called that, man???? You would just kick out into the air and you'd just twist your whole body and go down on the ground and go right into your move, man!! It was called The Flying something....I forgot what we called it but yeah I definitely had some variations to the way I initiated my dance on top." </span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"How important was it to match the beats with your moves back then?"<br /></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"That was very important! I mean, the music is what motivated the B-Boy. You know, when the beat was banging....."Bongo Rock", "Apache"....whatever was on the turntables being played that was what was motivating the B-Boys. You gotta understand I come from the best! I come from the generation of B-boys when it was pure, when it was genuine, it wasn't cut with nothing, it was authentic, it was original. So that's all we bred back in that day. In that day it was nothing but original. You had to be tight, you knew what you did and you had to be right because this was brothers' lives man!!!!!!!"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"What were some of the venues that you would dance at? Since you were down with TDK I assume you would dance at The Dungeon, right?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Right."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"I guess you would also go to 129 where DJ Lay Lay played at?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"That's right! We would go all over, wherever the jam was at. We lived for that! It's like we lived for that, man!! If we didn't have a way to get there on a train....we hopped the train if we had to....or we walked. There was main spots where we knew they would be jamming at. 129 with DJ Lay Lay and them (The Fun City Crew), 118 with DJ Charlie Chase, 82 up on University Ave with DJ Whitehead and them....DJ Dr. Pepper and them (The Triple A Crew). What else? 115 where different DJs came out and played over there. The Aqueduct over there with DJ Ray Ski. DJ Lil Angel and them on Belmont Avenue. Webster Park......So it was different hot spots where these DJs would now make it a regularity to come out and set up and play music. So we knew where to go, you know what I'm saying? Either there, there, there or there...."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"How did you become a member of the TDK Crew? I was told that Mongo Rock was very important for TDK because he was instrumental in elevating the B-Boy skill level of that whole crew."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"I cannot remember how or when I met Joey and Kid and how we got down but I think Mongo introduced me to them. I don't remember how it all initiated I just know that I became a member of TDK and we all was down with that. You know, a lot of us was TDK and Mongo and Jesus was, too. That was like the beginning of me as a B-Boy...with TDK. You know that was my first crew besides Casablanca which didn't last long.....then TDK came and with TDK I had a family and a home. So you know we had a family, Big Boom, Little Boom all of us......We had a place of refuge, we had a place where we could hang out and express ourselves and meet new members that came in. You know, girls included....and sometimes we had to be there when we had beef, to hold it down. That was my first base right there...TDK!!! Joey and Kid that was my first home, that was my first family that gave me a place where I could continue to increase my talent and gave me a place to compete at and gave me a place where I could have a name and be respected, you know?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"I was also told by Kid and Big Boom that the Dungeon did not not only have a huge space where people used to party at on the regular but even apartments. Nicely decorated apartments.......Aby (TBB) and others used to stay over there. So it was something like a B-Boy mansion."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Yo!!!!!!!!!!(laughs) I'mma tell you something, man!!! That was so creative, man!!! Back in those days the way we survived and the way we popped off things...I'm glad you brought that up because we would take an abandoned building that everybody had disregarded and made that into a home, man!!! I mean with electricity, food, furniture...the whole nine!!!! And this was home. Nobody would intrude on us, we could go there, you know what I'm saying? Some guys took their girls there, everybody had their rooms. Some dudes had candles, some dudes had electricity and all that. This is where we lived, this is where we did our thing at, this is where we threw our parties at on the weekend and sometimes we did hookie parties on the weekdays, too. And yo some people actually lived there. Dudes ended up putting locks on doors and bringing couches in and turned it really into a place that was ours! That was genius though, man!"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who do you regard as the best three B-Boys of your era?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"It was a lot of great B-Boys out there but of course I got my favouritism because that's the way I saw it and I was probably family with them as well. So that's kinda not fair to ask me that question because there's a lot of people out there that I didn't get the opportunity to see them do their thing and things of that nature so I don't wanna take nothing from those people. I'm just gonna say the names of the brothers I ran with...Spy (The Crazy Commanders), Mongo (The Disco Kids) and Trac 2 (Starchild La Rock). You know those were the top dogs to me. We even became the Fantastic Four, you know? Me, Spy, Mongo and Trac 2 was the Fantastic Four. "</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"When did the Fantastic Four Crew form? After the Dungeon had burnt down in 1979?"<br /></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Yeah, that was way after that! 'Cause we was like the top dogs, you know what I'm saying? Trac had his reputation, Spy had his reputation of course and me and Mongo we was nice, too. So you know, we all was friends and family, we did so many events together dancing and doing moves and practicing in hallways so we just said,"Yo, we're The Fantastic Four, yo!!!"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you characterize Spy as a B-Boy and generally as a human being?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"One of the things I love about Spy was he was very humble an modest. He wasn't a show-off, he wasn't a blabbermouth. He was very humble, always smiling, always encouraging other brothers, you know? Even though he was nice and other brothers wasn't as nice as him. I never saw him look down on nobody unless, you know, you made a fool of yourself and deserved it but otherwise it was just competiton and fun. So I loved that about him and he was nice with his footwork and skills. He was articulate, precise..you know, snaplock into whatever freeze he did, whatever move he did and when he got aggressive on it he got turned up even more. And he was a good brother, I mean we were very close. I'm in his house all the time...we're going to jams together..we was like that. I got to know him personally, you know what I'm saying?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"Spy was called The Man with 1000 Moves back then. Was that name well deserved?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Surely!!! Absolutely!!! He pulled out stuff, you know, that nobody had ever seen before and that would throw people off. When you thought you had his game plan figured out he would come out with something that much more mindblowing that would just add to your amazement checking him out."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, what stood about Trac 2?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Well, Trac was like gymnastic and acrobatic and mad footwork. You know, just technical with it. I'm a technician guy I like a guy who's technical and precise with his shit and tight with it, you know? You could tell that guy Trac was this guy in perfection! I like that! I don't like a guy who's sloppy, off-beat. I'm talking about perfection to the point where you finish your freeze on the floor, you jump up in a stance and salute the crowd with such perfection...snap your legs together...you know, it's just tight. He was just a tight technician with it, man! Yeah, and he was a good brother, too! Always showed me love and he loved B-Boying, so I salute him."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you rate your partner Mongo Rock as far as his B-Boy skills are concerned? Several people told me he was almost as good as Spy." <br /></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"See with Mongo....I saw where Mongo came from to where he went. See I was there with him in the beginning when he only had like two moves. We were both just playing around, battling in the park just to see which one of us was gonna end up on top and I saw us come from that to where he went. Like see the reputation you have heard about him that he was almost as good as some of these brothers that were well-known. And yes I seen him come from that, you know what I'm saying??? We was together in that journey! We both had that drive! We both loved it that much and yo man we had to be one of the best, we had to be known, our shit had to be tight and yes Mongo was definitely one of the best!!!"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span> </span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrxkLLO7ThR8gcmiR2MVEcQdtiZrtCZQdgRTdXmKkErSDB3G06je48RagcVboP1iQ4E8xp5NE362WFZ88gmRMiB5HAVgBfaVI_v0YnhOscQJNIf6X67ftomYu4DNLJcctmHA5rsQZBwg/s631/Mongo+%2526+Spy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="631" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrxkLLO7ThR8gcmiR2MVEcQdtiZrtCZQdgRTdXmKkErSDB3G06je48RagcVboP1iQ4E8xp5NE362WFZ88gmRMiB5HAVgBfaVI_v0YnhOscQJNIf6X67ftomYu4DNLJcctmHA5rsQZBwg/s320/Mongo+%2526+Spy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Mongo Rock (The Disco Kids) and Spy (The Crazy Commanders)</b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> </b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> </b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you run into the Little Zulu Kings back then? One of their members Lil Boy Keith told me that TDK was the first Puerto Rican B-Boy Crew that he encountered."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"Nah, I never ran into no Zulu Kings on the B-Boy tip or nothing like that so I can't really comment on that. I heard of them but I never had no personal encounters with them."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"By 1978 most Black B-Boys stopped Breaking and transitioned into MCing or DJing. They had gotten older and started to dress extra fly, girls became more important. Were there any Black B-Boys in your era that you recall?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"During my time it was the Latino culture who was dominating the B-Boy era. It was never dominated...from my perspective..by African Americans, by my Black culture. They was more into DJing and MCing. That's one of the things that inspired me to transition. Of course I liked to dress and look good and you can't do that and then be on the dancefloor doing breakdancing. You can't go down with British Walkers on and expect to keep your shit nice. Impossible! I went through a few bad experiences..I'mma keep it real..I scuffed up some British Walkers and I was mad about that shit, man! On certain days when British Walkers and getting fly and talking to the girls started becoming more of my drive, being seen on that note I started fading out and discovered"Yo man, I'mma grab that mic!"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would like to give any shoutouts at the end of this interview?" <br /></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span>WIZARD WIZ:"First of all I'd like to give praise to the Most High! I give you a shoutout, my brother Norin, for taking the time out, you know, reaching out to me and adding this moment of Hiphop to Castles In The Sky. Basically my family, my loved ones, my queen... the mother of children, to my my sons and daughters and all those who stand for righteousness, man, and who want for their brother what they want for themselves they can get a shoutout from me!!!<br /></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span><br /></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span><br /></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span> </span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span> </span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="_5yl5"><span> <br /></span></span></b></p><p><b> </b><br /></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-75376096555549454242020-10-22T11:25:00.000-07:002020-10-22T11:25:29.705-07:00<p><b> INTERVIEW WITH B-BOY BIG BOOM (THE DISCO KIDS)</b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kzETnuEV8drOCbBvdE4X0xgCkQ7ggzf1D-y9A7a0ClgAbhmwHtzAJBMk7LuUX5CAGXL_MIGfEFy1al-spwgoq_jw4PL1jnV0zL3Bn1YmHrpb6NMFSAmFMJzZpk6_0-jK3p0zKU6SDg/s685/Big+Boom+%2528TDK%2529+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="385" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kzETnuEV8drOCbBvdE4X0xgCkQ7ggzf1D-y9A7a0ClgAbhmwHtzAJBMk7LuUX5CAGXL_MIGfEFy1al-spwgoq_jw4PL1jnV0zL3Bn1YmHrpb6NMFSAmFMJzZpk6_0-jK3p0zKU6SDg/s320/Big+Boom+%2528TDK%2529+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Big Boom (The Disco Kids)</b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders /Germany) </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"From which area in the Bronx are you originally?" <br /></b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"My moms lived on Daly (Avenue) and my grandmother lived on Mohegan (Avenue). I had problems with my stepdad so I went to live with my grandmother. That's when I started hanging out on Mohegan (Avenue) and that's where I met Kid (TDK). Kid used to be a member of The Flying Dutchmen. I became a Baby Dutchman. It was, you know, a gang...from the neighbourhood. We used to take care of the neighbourhood and stuff like that. Since they went to the same school, I used to see them with the jackets and everything. So I said, "Wow, that looks kool, man!" So I decided to join them."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"On which side of the Bronx is Mohegan Avenue?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"The East Side. Like East Tremont."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you're saying that you were a member of the Baby Dutchmen?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"That's correct. In order for me to join the gang......you know, back then you had the Apache Line....me they put to fight this big, big fat kid! Yo, and this kid beat the shit out of me, bro! He put it on me, bro! I don't know if they didn't like me or they did that to all their members but that kid put it on me, bro! That was like my initiation to get in, you know what I mean?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What did the logo of The Flying Dutchmen look like?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"The Dutchmen logo was like a Dutchman. It was like a guy with a hat on, with a long cigarette coming out of his mouth and it was like a Dutchman, you get it? That's how the colors were. They were beautiful! The person who did those colors was real good at what he did."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How old were you when you joined The Baby Dutchmen?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"I was like ten years old."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What year were you born?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"1963. That makes me 56 today."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you joined the Flying Dutchmen in 1973?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"That is correct."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Now you have already told me that you were a part of The Bronx Boys (TBB) before you joined The Disco Kids (TDK). Now from what I have been told TBB started out as a Writing Crew. As a matter of fact, TBB is listed in that book "Getting Up" (written by Craig Castleman) among the most prominent Writing Crews of NYC. So before they got into B-Boying they were basically a Writing Crew with Batch, Cash and Shark. They would primarily hit bus depots...." </b></p><b>BIG BOOM:"Exactly! I met Batch in 1975 and then I used to write Boom TBB."</b><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you were already a part of TBB when they were still strictly a Writing Crew?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Oh yeah, I was one of their original members. Like when Batch first made the colors and evrything..'cause we used to go get t-shirts......and back then we had to go to either an Army & Navy Store or something like that. They was printing the letters on the t-shirts. That was really famous back then. So when Batch started TBB I was one of the original members. The shirts were blue and white and black and white. The girls had blue and white, the guys had black and white." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I see. How did you meet Batch?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Ok, this is gonna be real funny. I met Batch through his sister. I used to see his sister, her name is Elizabeth. So she took me to the house one day and I met Aby, I met Batch, I met his other sister Esther. They were all little. The biggest one there was Batch. He was like 13, I was 12. He asked me,"You wanna come with me?" I was like, "Where are you going?" He said, "I'm gonna go bombing the busses and stuff like that!" And then after we did that...you know, tagging up on the busses....we would be tired so Batch said,"Come on, I got a club!" So we had a club called The TBB Club but it was in a abandoned building. We would find a way to get in and that's how we would sneak the girls in and all that. We would get mattresses, you know, from the street. We would bring the radio and steal electricity from the lamp post. Yeah, we would bring electricity to the abandoned building and we had lights, we had everything, man! Matter of fact Batch was the one that gave me the name Boom. We was looking for a name for me 'cause at that time I didn't have a name. We started looking in a comic book and you know that name BOOM kept popping up. I said, "Yo, what about this? Does anybody write that?" He said,"Nah! Nobody writes that name." So I said, "Oh, so I'm gonna take that name then."So I started writing Boom TBB."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of influence did Salsa music and dancing have on you?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Salsa was one of the first dances that I learned. My first dancing partner was my little sister, I still remember it to this day. The second dance I learned was The Freak. That's when I was hanging out with TBB. I also did The Spank. In order for you to know how to dance with a girl you had to know how to do The Freak and The Spank." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When one listens to these old tapes from the late 1970ies one quickly notices that the MCees at that time used to say things like, "Yes, yes y'all!!!! Freak, freak y'all!! To the beat y'all!" Thus they were inciting the party crowd to do The Freak. From what I have heard that was in late 1977, 1978 when most black B-Boys stopped B-Boying and picked up MCing or DJing. The Freak was like grinding, right?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Yes, yes, there you go! The Freak is you getting with a girl and starting to grind her. And sometimes another guy would come and get in front of you. Like, "Oh shit!!!" So you had her through the back and he had her through the front!! (laughs) That was one of my first dances that I learned how to dance."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"To which jams would you go in order to do The Freak?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"I would go to 129. That was a famous place to go. Mohegan is like two blocks from there."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"That's the park where DJ Lay Lay (The Fun City Crew) used to rock at."</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Riiiiiight! DJ Lay Lay was the one! Lay Lay would be the DJ. We were always there. You know the funny part? He would come outside with house turntables. You know those house turntables that we used to have in the house back then? We used to call them radiolas. A radiola is like a audio house turntable. Matter of fact I remember the name of those turntables. They were called Garrard."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Kid (TDK) told me that before him and his crew picked up B-Boying they were heavy into the Toprocking Dance which entailed doing certain gestures in order to intimidate their opponents. Would you also do that type of dancing?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"I picked it up from Batch. Batch had a good way of doing it. He used to grab your head...like when he would come to you and grab your head...he would act like it was a ball and then throw your head up in the sky and hit it with a baseball bat, you get it? Or he would crawl up to you like a dog and lift his leg and piss on you (laughs)." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did you witness B-Boying for the time? Did you encounter the black B-Boys back then? I'm asking this question because Lil Boy Keith from the Little Zulu Kings stated in the interview that I did with him that TDK was actually the first Puerto Rican B-Boy Crew he ever ran into."</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"No, I don't recall running into the Zulu Kings back then. I heard about them though. I remember being in 129 and seeing TT Rock when he went down. I think Batch talks about it that TT Rock threw himself on the floor and did that breakdance move. I was there in 129 when that happened. After that everybody was like,"Yo, you seen that?!?! Oh shit!!!!" That was new to us!!! We were like, "Yo, we gotta start doing this!" Then we started seeing a lot of people doing that. For me that's when I started seeing breakdancing. Before that I would see people rock to the music...in the gang, too...in the Dutchmen Club...grab each other by the head stuff like that but nothing as far as the floor was concerned, you get it? That came a lot later when B-Boying evolved to another level."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So after you had witnessed TT Rock going down to the floor you started to elaborate on the moves you had seen? Like coming up with your own footwork patterns, right?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Exactly! There you go! Right on the head!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you pick up Breaking after the Freak Dance?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Yeah..the Freak Dance and also the Spank I knew that way before breakdancing."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe how your brother Little Boom got involved in the dance? Did you teach him?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Yeah! He was good! He would pick up stuff real fast. Faster than me cause he was smaller than me and more athletic than I was, you get it? I was taller. I'm like 6 feet. My little brother is like 5'6, 5'7. Back then he was smaller so he could spin faster than me, you get it? He used to do a headspin like eleven times. Like that! And that was incredible for you to do that back in the days, you know. And we had the big afro, they knew us as The Afros. Me and him we were the only ones that had big afros and my other brother....may he rest in peace......they used to call him Fat Boom. He passed away. It was me, Fat Boom and Little Boom." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"But out of you three only you and Little Boom started B-Boying, right?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"That is correct. No, the other one he wasn't really into that. My other brother..his stuff was working and.....you know? I mean he would go to the jams an stuff like that but he wasn't into the breakdancing. Me and my little brother.. we were the ones that loved it. We'd first seen it and it like took us by storm."</b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW167ZR3WzB_Ps_vaDMFOh8jykRLQVR25uJrU9CIkwutY5MBgvLaYbWbJsKO6zndOlluboKQ91o3MdbgPLitjlpPxuBFlIDDHWUumzOAtokIO7VfT5h8M1Bdy-eSMskaC0pXNMlTtmqw/s960/Little+Boom+%2528TDK%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW167ZR3WzB_Ps_vaDMFOh8jykRLQVR25uJrU9CIkwutY5MBgvLaYbWbJsKO6zndOlluboKQ91o3MdbgPLitjlpPxuBFlIDDHWUumzOAtokIO7VfT5h8M1Bdy-eSMskaC0pXNMlTtmqw/s320/Little+Boom+%2528TDK%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>B-Boy Little Boom (The Disco Kids) </b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"By how many years are you and Little Boom apart?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Two years. That's it! Two years apart."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I guess he always looked up to you?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Yes. I'mma tell you what happened.....My real name is George, right? But like I told you I started writing Boom and I started becoming real famous with that name. So that's how my brothers said,"Wait! Look at all the people my brother knows, man!" So that's when they switched their names to Boom also, you get it? They saw how many people I knew in the jams and stuff like that so my little brother started calling himself Little Boom. And they called us The Boom Family. Remember there were three of us so that was like the Boom Family, you know?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When I spoke to Kid (TDK) he gave your cousin Eddy (TDK) mad props. He said he was an outstanding B-Boy. Was he your real cousin?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Yeah, Eddy.....he was my real cousin. The one that passed away...Eddy. We used to call him Eddy Rock Steady. He used to breakdance real, real good. He had another standard for that! We couldn't touch him on the floor, man. He was real fast."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where was he from?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"He lived on 180th Street & Webster Avenue." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Do you know where and when he picked up B-Boying?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"I think he caught the bug at the same time but the only thing he learned it much faster than I did. What would take me maybe a month to learn he would do it in one day. He would pick up stuff like real quick. I would be like, "Yo, how you did that, man?" Then he would spin on his back and go to his head. I was like,"Yo!! How you do that man?" Like I said I was big. It took me longer to learn stuff, you know what I mean? "<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you practice together?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Oh yeah, yeah! I was always in his house and he was always in my house. We would take the furniture, move the furniture over...you know how that goes...make room and put the record player on and start breakdancing in the house. And you would hear your mother,"Hey, you gonna break something over there!" We'd be like, "No, no we got this!" (laughs) You know that all b-boys got like a burn mark on their back from doing that backspin. I still got that burn mark on my back. You would also have scuffs on your hands from doing the footwork."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:" Was it important to you to look fly when you showed up at the jams back then? Did you iron creases in to your Lees? Did you carefully clean your sneakers with a toothbrush? Stuff like that?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Oh, yeah! Every Friday that would be our day, you get it? Because the flyer would come out maybe like Wednesday and we already knew that Friday and Saturday it was jam, you know? So we had to go home, get sharp and go to the jam. It was either there or the Dungeon. Once the Dungeon opened that was an everday thing, you get it?? That place was open every day. There wasn't a day there wasn't a party in there." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"The Dungeon was the homebase of the The Disco Kids Crew. Kid (TDK) told me it opened in 1977. It was located on 176th Street & Belmont Avenue."</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"That's correct." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe how you joined the ranks of the TDK Crew and how that name TDK Zodiacs came about!"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Ok, ok....I'm gonna tell you exactly what happened. We had met Kid on University Avenue 'cause I used to fly birds. So I took birds for check up over there to University. There was a guy over there that we knew. So I would take birds to see how smart they were to come back to my neighbourhood. And I would see Kid with a TDK shirt and everything. So I said, "Yo, Kid!!!" You know, I knew Kid already from the Dutchmen. Batch had went to prison already, so TBB was like at a standstill. So I told Kid, "Yo, since you got TDK over here on University Avenue why don't we make a crew on the East Side?" So he was like, "Alright! Elaborate on the name and come back to me!" So it took us like a week. Me, my cousin Eddy, Little Boom and Fat Boom we was sitting down with a piece of paper and we would do like brainstorming, you get it? You know how do brainstorming? And we came up with Zodiac. We said, "You know what? Why don't we call it The Zodiac Lovers?" "Oh, shit!!! You know what??? That sounds good, bro!" So that was it. It was red shirts with black letters and it was TDK Zodiac Lovers. On one side of the arm we had TDK and then on the other side we had East Side. So we represented the East Side, you get it?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So TDK had two divisions. One on the West Side and the other one on the East Side?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Yes, that's correct. I was the president of the Eat Side division."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was the function of Little Joey in TDK?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Little Joey was like the treasurer. He was like the guy when you'd come he was at the door collecting the money, you know? He was like the doorman at the Dungeon, you know what I mean?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of a place was the Dungeon? What did it look like?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Okay, the Dungeon....it was a private house. So you would walk into the house, you would go to the first door and that was the Dungeon. You opened the door....TDK Joey would be right there.....you'd come in and you would see furniture like in a regular house but the jam was downstairs in the basement!! There was a secret door that you had to open to go down to the basement. That's where the jam was. Until we took over the building...when we took over the building then they made the whole thing a disco, you get it? That's when the construction came when they bought the whole building for a dollar. They started working....it took'em maybe like six months, man. Putting work into it like every day until it was done. The Dungeon was bad!!!! I'm talking about you walk in there the floor was all plywood...nice....shellac floors...real nice. It was furniture, everything man. There were couches for you to lay back. There were curtains, you know, like in a regular house. There was no walls, they knocked down all the walls. So it was just one big open place for you to dance." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How many people could fit in there?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"I'd say a good 900 to 1000 people could fit in there! That's how big the Dungeon was! It was big! And let me tell you every given night that place would be packed like that! On a bad day there would still be like 200 people there. Every day! It would be somebody's birthday party coming up or Valentine's Day. Whatever occasion came on we would throw a party, you know what I'm saying? The word would spread like wildfire! You'd be surprised how fast the word would spread around. The Dungeon was popping that night, you know what I mean?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who were the DJs at the Dungeon that you remember? Kid (TDK) told me about DJ Jimmy who used to play there."</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Yeah, that's correct. That's who I learned from.....DJ Jimmy!! Yes, he was real, real good! This guy....he could mix the records, boy!!! I mean he fascinated when I first started to play. I said, "This kid is nice!" So I told him to teach me, he wouldn't teach me. He said, "Just watch me, man! Just watch me!" So I would just stand there and watch him and watch him. Then he said to me,"Yo, you wanna hand me those records?" So I became his record boy, you know? I would be there looking at him, "Damn, how he did that?" And I would write the songs down. Little did he know that I would write the songs down. So when he would leave, I would start DJing, you get it? That was nice. People would wake up and go, "Who's that? Jimmy is here? I didn't know Jimmy is here." I said,"Nah, that's Boom, yo!" They would be like,"Get outta here! That's Boom??? He's getting good like that already?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of music did DJ Jimmy play?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Disco, that's disco! Hustle music!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Kid (TDK) stated that in the beginning The Disco Kids Crew wasn't into B-Boying. When it started all it's members would do was the Hustle and Toprocking. Then by 1978 they picked up B-Boying and took it very seriously. Having regular practice sessions at The Dungeon....."</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Yes, that's correct!"</b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYp9Q8vUSd3U4cyz19FGuj3_bvkt83xV_7OebCxG6fwLIwVKgXD4aEp8ZpIw-jqJfcHMOQ8YTDXDIkv3Izz6EVnbB8H_g-Imnf9ikNELsS7xERgvJCU5yuOovM_shUOIEYvQZtUbVkVg/s960/Kid+%2528TDK%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYp9Q8vUSd3U4cyz19FGuj3_bvkt83xV_7OebCxG6fwLIwVKgXD4aEp8ZpIw-jqJfcHMOQ8YTDXDIkv3Izz6EVnbB8H_g-Imnf9ikNELsS7xERgvJCU5yuOovM_shUOIEYvQZtUbVkVg/s320/Kid+%2528TDK%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Kid (Founder of the TDK Crew) </b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So as far as the breakbeats are concerned who taught you about them?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"DJ Lay Lay! Yeah, when I used to go to 129 and see DJ Lay Lay that's when I learned about the breakbeats. Sex Machine, Yellow Sunshine..... I would look for these kind of beats." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"From what I have heard The Disco Kids had a fierce rivalry with The Rockwell Association back then. What do you recall about all the battles that went down between you and them?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"I'm gonna keep it real with you not because I was a part of TDK or nothing like that but I think out of all the battles that we had with them I think we took them all! But there was one thing that they used to do better than us and I'mma tell you what it is: They used to buy the judges!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Yes, I have heard about this allegation before." (laughs)</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"We was ignorant to that, you know? Since we had the baddest dancers, you know, that wasn't important to us. We knew we was gonna win no matter what!!! But then when it was time for voting the people, even the crowd (when they heard that Rockwell had won) they were like,"Nah, man! That can't be, yo!!! How the hell these ni****rs beat ya?!?!" You know what I'm saying?? Everybody was like, "Nah, nah, man! This shit is bought!!!" And it was that!!! They would fucking buy the judges and we wasn't aware of that! We had no control over that" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When I spoke to Willie Wil (The Rockwell Association) about that legendary battle that took place between you and them at St. Martin's Church in 1978 he said he was aware of these accusations but dismissed them as pointless. He said the judges were Catholic priests, respectable men who couldn't be bought."</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Yeah, but they knew them more than they knew us. They grew up with them and all of that! You know, Willie Will was really good though, man! He was real good!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How do you feel about that statement that TDK was notorious back then for starting fights after losing in B-Boy Battles? Kid TDK stated your crew had certain members that were known for getting into beef with other B-Boys."</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"That's true. Yeah, we would react. I was probably one of them. Little Joey he punched one of the guys from Rockwell in the mouth when we found out that they bought the judges 'cause we knew that we took that battle. That's the one I remember perfectly, the one at St. Martin's. Little Manny was there, we had Spy, we had everybody with us that day. There was no way we was gonna lose that battle!!! And at the end of the day they gave it to Rockwell and it was because of that...they bought the judges!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you 're saying Spy was on your side that day?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"That's correct. You see that battle I remember perfectly........"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe how that battle went down!"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Ok, that day I remember it was TDK against Rockwell. It was in St. Martin's Church. Everything went well, everything...the jam....everything. Everybody breakdanced.....at the end of the thing they gave the score to Rockwell, you get it? So TDK got tight. I didn't know what was going on. Then all of a sudden I see commotion in the bathroom. Come to find out... Little Joey came out and said, "Yo, man! Just found out one of the judges snitched on us!" I said, "Oh shit, you're kidding me, bro!" So we went through all this shit for nothing 'cause sometimes that would take a lot of work, man! Gathering people, you know, to come battle. It wasn't easy to get Little Manny or Spy. Sometimes it would take weeks to gather all these people to go to one event, you get it? And then to get cheated on at the end, you understand what I'm saying? I remember we won that batte, man! Straight up and down, we won that battle. The last B-Boys that danced was Spy against Willie Wil and Spy took him hands down!!!!! Spy was like The Man With 1000 Moves!!!! That's what we used to call him and he was real fast. Spy was like.....forget about it! In those days he was like too much, man! I never see nobody beat Spy!!! That's why I knew we took the battle, you know what I'm saying?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"If I remember correctly Willie Wil said that he acknowledges Spy as an incredibly nice B-Boy but he also said that Spy messed up his last move in that battle and then Willie Will defeated him with a nice combination of moves."</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Nah man, that's not true, man! That guy it was hard for him to mess up a move, man! He was like a perfectionist. Forget about it, man!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you also participate in that battle?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Yes, we both went down. Me and my brother (Little Boom). We had a routine that we used to do...me and my brother. I'm gonna tell you what it is .....We used to start off looking at each other. He does a routine....my brother goes down, he does a spin on his head and he falls. It makes him look like he got hurt in his routine, you get it? So I go up to him.....people think he's hurt now...I go up to him and start giving him a mouth-to-mouth...you know, I start pumping his chest.....CPR...and now the crowd goes, "Oh shit!!!!!" They think he's really hurt!! They already start to come at us. And then when I pump his chest he starts going like.....you know, jumping up and down. Yoooooo, and that's when he starts breakdancing! The people go like, "Oh, shit!!! These ni****ers are crazy!!!!" You know what I'm saying. This is one of the routines we had." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Kid said that one of the best b-boys that TDK ever had was Mongo Rock. What do you remember about him?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Oh yeah, Mongo was good!!!! Mongo was like ten times better than me. He had his brother, too. They used to breakdance!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"His name was Jesus, right?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Yes, yes. That's true. His brother could dance, too. This kid could dance, bro!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"He was also down with TDK, right?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"That is correct. In order for you to be in a battle you had to have your crew shirt on or you couldn't battle. That was one of the rules also. You couldn't come that day and put on the shirt of somebody else just to win that battle, you know what I'm saying? You had to be registered, too! You had to be registered on paper."</b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTA9yDc8wcHcRj7NlLOyM6OGTKy0m8EjxnfZDir5Bc_6R1OF9ECbSHtaIz8EdBiL9tJ5vNKW43f-63ceLuZJ5TS8ctG_RryIvsT46wZxVW7KqugRugQ8D9Gk-tMH1-7i4ZmGta1nrzWg/s640/Big+Boom+%2526+Mongo+%2528TDK%2529+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTA9yDc8wcHcRj7NlLOyM6OGTKy0m8EjxnfZDir5Bc_6R1OF9ECbSHtaIz8EdBiL9tJ5vNKW43f-63ceLuZJ5TS8ctG_RryIvsT46wZxVW7KqugRugQ8D9Gk-tMH1-7i4ZmGta1nrzWg/s320/Big+Boom+%2526+Mongo+%2528TDK%2529+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Big Boom (left) and Mongo Rock (right) of the TDK Crew</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you rate Wizard Wiz (TDK) ?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Oh yeah, Wizzy Wiz!!!! He was good! He was a little chunky but he was good, he was fast!" <br /></b></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNZp-jciO1BW0jNjZQ4hYIoGiJv3R4c-oLfna5hozU1sQtNz9z5ApKla-QMSJ3MvWYzimNEl93iJ6Fu5wNyiyRka_rMrAwg-mZhtabmmt8DpJAlMXkT0rKbPF_1ytnXAfZwv5oyZDK4w/s1350/Wizard+Wiz+%2528TDK%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNZp-jciO1BW0jNjZQ4hYIoGiJv3R4c-oLfna5hozU1sQtNz9z5ApKla-QMSJ3MvWYzimNEl93iJ6Fu5wNyiyRka_rMrAwg-mZhtabmmt8DpJAlMXkT0rKbPF_1ytnXAfZwv5oyZDK4w/s320/Wizard+Wiz+%2528TDK%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Wizard Wiz (TDK) </b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So before a battle started each crew had to present a list featuring all it's members?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Exactly. It would be like ten against ten. So back then another person could not fill in for let's say Mongo and his name is scratched off. Like,"He's filling in for him." No, it's not gonna happen. Mongo has to be there or he has to let us know before the day of the battle. That was one of the main rules, too. 'Cause that's like cheating, you know what I'm saying?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I was told that the Dungeon burnt down in 1979. What do you remember about this tragic event?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"To be honest with you I wasn't there when the Dungeon burnt down. I was at another house party. I had went to another house party but this is what I heard happened though...I heard that a guy was getting high.....he was tripping or something and he put the curtains on fire. He didn't think it would ignite the way it did, you get it? He thought he had control over it and he could turn it off but the shit ignited so fast that he didn't have control over it. You're not gonna believe what they were saying outside when I got there. When I came and they were outside crying....'cause there were some people that were crying.....they were saying, "The Dungeon is burning! We'll be back!" While the building was burning, yo!!! They were outside chanting, "The Dungeon is burning! We'll be back! The Dungeon is burning! We'll be back!" I said,"Oh shit, these people are crazy, yo!!!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Was there also slow dancing going on at The Dungeon back then? Like the 500s?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Oh yes, man! We used to always end the jams that way! Always! Yup, that was at every given night 'Cause you know you wanted to leave with a shorty (girl), you know what I mean? So every night it was either you're looking at somebody or she was looking at you and that was your move, that chance right there and if you couldn't do it then you wasn't gonna do it no other time. That was your chance to move and say,"Hey, you wanna dance?" And if she said, "Yeah!" Oh man, you was taking her with you. You feel me? If not you blew it 'cause then somebody else would step and he would snatch her up."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So is it accurate to say that a B-Boy back then also knew how to dance with a girl?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"That's correct 'cause you know back then they said that if a guy could move, he could move good in bed. That was something that the girls always talked about and if you was a good slow dance dancer...you know like the 500....if you could grind real good you was taking whoever it was home that night, you know what I'm saying?! And that was my thing, bro!!! My 500 was nice!!!! Call me whatever you wanna call me but don't call me late to dance 500. That was my thing, bro! Righ there!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So all these slow joints by groups like The Dramatics or The Moments were also played at The Dungeon?"<br /></b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Yeah, you know my favourite slow joint was..... you heard of "Float On" (by The Floaters) That one! It says all the signs...<i>Libra!!!!</i> My hair is standing up right now thinking about that shit. Ah man, that's my joint right there!!!"<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Is it true that stepping on somebody's sneakers back then lead to a fight?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"That's like taboo, bro! Yeah man, that's like taboo!! Cause remember like I told you you were saving money to look fly at the party. Most of us were still going to high school so you had to save up your little money to get your little kicks or whatnot. Remember we all dressed up! Come Friday everybody is dipped to go to The Dungeon. You know, to represent your crew! That's what it is all about... representing your crew! And if somebody walked by and stepped on your sneakers he either didn't like you or he was looking for beef, you know what I'm saying?"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give some shoutouts at the end of this interview?"</b></p><p><b>BIG BOOM:"Oh yeah, most definitely! I'd like to give a shoutout to my cousin Eddy Rock Steady! May he rest in peace! We miss him dearly! I also wanna shoutout the whole TDK Crew! Another shoutout to TBB, man! Most definitely! Without them I don't know where I would be today. And I definitely wanna thank you also, man! You're doing a great job! Not a great job, you're doing an outstanding job! With your interviews and the knowledge that you have. You took me way way back!" <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b> <br /></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-15386062260237216872020-10-05T07:43:00.000-07:002020-10-05T07:43:39.432-07:00<p> <b> Interview with B-Boy Drac (The Floor Masters / Harlem)</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibtV2B4IWpoYv5hxjGLbZvK92gZGVd6hf_9683wn1NgnOq0CnYaTKeE_MZ79OdGji3avEI8D3N1iCxlbjVEn-3UT2kmHwtlMqpPMwo9hmXLh0l_g_Puaea10Pw9vJZPSQ4d8DzJwfTNw/s1084/Drac2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1084" data-original-width="1079" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibtV2B4IWpoYv5hxjGLbZvK92gZGVd6hf_9683wn1NgnOq0CnYaTKeE_MZ79OdGji3avEI8D3N1iCxlbjVEn-3UT2kmHwtlMqpPMwo9hmXLh0l_g_Puaea10Pw9vJZPSQ4d8DzJwfTNw/s320/Drac2.jpg" /></a></div> <b>Drac (The Floormasters)</b><br /><br /><p></p><p><b> conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders / Germany)</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly were you born and raised at?" <br /></b></p><p><b>DRAC:"I was born in Clarksville, Virginia and we moved to New York City in 1968. We were living in Brooklyn but our house burnt down. The apartment that we were living in was in a tenement building. The building caught fire and burnt down so we wind up moving to Wilson Projects on 105th Street & 1st Avenue in Harlem, Spanish Harlem actually."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I guess Harlem is the place where you encountered Hiphop for the very first time in your life, is that correct?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Ah yes, it was. What happened was I had a friend named Skeeter and Skeeter was a member of The Floor Masters which was a B-Boy crew. Me and him were talking one day so I asked him if could join their crew and he said,"Yeah!" You know, he took me over to meet E-Man who is the Imperial Floor Lord. I met E-Man and E-Man said in order for me to join The Floor Masters I had to battle Skeeter being that he had brought me to him. Okay, so I battled Skeeter and I wind up taking his spot. That's how I became a Floor Master. Well, actually the name of the group was really the Floor Lords when I joined but because of this gang on 103rd Street & Lexington Avenue called The Young Lords they thought we were a street gang because of the name Floor Lords and tried to take their name. So E-Man and Ski Jump they went over and had a sit-down with the leader of the Young Lords and explained to him that we were a dance group. So what happened is that we wind up changing our name from The Floor Lords to The Floor Masters."</b><br /><b></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, let's go back for a minute to the time before you battled Skeeter. Which steps did you take in order to sharpen up your dancing skills?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"What happened was is that I was watching Soul Train and they had this group called The Lockers. They basically did a type of funky upright dancing, they didn't go down on the floor and stuff like that. And also I was in gymnastics. I was on the gymnastics team in my high school. I was in high school when I joined the Floor Masters. That was in the summer of 1976."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you would combine your gymnastic skills with some of those funky moves that you would see The Lockers do on Soul Train, is that correct?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Righ, right! The only difference is that I used to do my moves on the floor."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, do you recall how you met Skeeter and how you became friends?" </b></p><p><b>DRAC:"How I became friends with Skeeter.....that's kinda funny because we found out that we were dating two friends. He was dating one young lady and I was dating the other young lady. We found out they knew each other and that's how we got to know each other."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did Skeeter hold grudges against you after that battle of yours?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"No, we were still friends. I mean he remained a part of The Floor Masters but I took his spot. Let's say if he was like number four or number five, I became number four or number five. He got moved down the ladder so to say."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, do you recall where that particular battle took place at?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Schomburg Plaza."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who else was present when that battle took place? I guess you were battling in front of Ski Jump and E-Man?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Well, Ski Jump wasn't there at the time....Who was there? If my memory serves me correctly I know E-Man was there, Ice Man was there, Ronnie Ron was there, Ernie D...these were all B-Boys of the Floor Masters."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMQqCR_IBFfXtpz5SVxQfg-s70GTbtHj03_PNUZNgG70Ize3LhXqAYzJUzhL_gbYKds6Nr3pVjBLay9e-jXzHVXHa2oWHAApYIAT6cZUGCtYZLpluDKs5tvgr8nft92L8CBPilmnc4A/s960/Ronnie+Ron.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMQqCR_IBFfXtpz5SVxQfg-s70GTbtHj03_PNUZNgG70Ize3LhXqAYzJUzhL_gbYKds6Nr3pVjBLay9e-jXzHVXHa2oWHAApYIAT6cZUGCtYZLpluDKs5tvgr8nft92L8CBPilmnc4A/s320/Ronnie+Ron.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Ronnie Ron (The Floor Masters)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Did you know in advance that you were going battle Skeeter there?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"No, I wasn't aware that I had to battle Skeeter. We just showed up and E-Man said I had to battle Skeeter in order for me to become a part of the group. So as I said I battled Skeeter, I won, I took his spot but we were still friends."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I guess you were battling to breakbeats coming out of a boombox?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Exactly. The music that we danced to.....the name of the record was "Scratchin'". It was on a cassette tape boom box. This was in 1976 so back then they would have cassette tapes, there were no CDs... none of that." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Back then you probably didn't battle on cardboard or on a piece of linoleum, right?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"No, we was on straight concrete black top. There was no linoleum, there was no cardboard boxes. We just got on the floor, you did what you did. The thing about it is you couldn't have delicate hands 'cause if you had delicate hands your skin would get cut up. As a matter of fact I'mma say something that a lot of people don't know. There was a club that had opened up on Lennox Avenue & 116th Street called Harlem World. The Floor Masters....we were the original dancers for Harlem World when it first opened." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where did you get that name Drac from?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Okay, this is the thing. My canine teeth they were a little larger than normal, right? And the name Drac was actually given to me by my little sister. She started calling me Drac and it just stuck with me, you know? So that's how I acquired that name Drac. Once I became a MC, Drac didn't fit anymore so it got changed from Drac to Prince Hadji. And for those that don't know Prince Hadji was actually the little black dude with a turban on his head in The Adventures Of Jonny Quest."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"That's a cartoon series from the 1960s, right?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Yeah, exactly."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you describe your footwork back then? By that I mean the part of the dance that was done top before you went down to the floor (Among Puerto Rican B-Boys this part was later called Top Rocking)?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"As far as this went I actually adapted different types of foot movement over the time because each style of dancing had a different foot movement. You just had to adapt your foot movement to your style that you wanted to use at that particular time." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How much time went into practicing and where would you practice at?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"We practiced in Schomburg Plaza, up on top of the Plaza. That was on 5th Avenue & 110th Street, right there on the corner. Schomburg Plaza. We had our practices on Thursdays. There was one move that we practiced a lot as a group. It was called The Floor Master Stomp and that became kinda popular especially when you got like seven or eight guys all doing the same move at the same time and then everybody just stopped and they would go into their own routine and people liked that, you know? People really liked that." <br /></b></p><p><b> </b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja1uEYlIvi26t1iD3oimYFSlKuFnepxBiFEBx-pP5O9kJmag7qJ63SslJoA2alRLxeNbtev0miruoIGqUpbo0_PQZFoaO-xsOb1DMXsk_h5FjffW6AwErDzAESyF49Y2dnIUth1uxoCA/s580/Schomburg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="580" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja1uEYlIvi26t1iD3oimYFSlKuFnepxBiFEBx-pP5O9kJmag7qJ63SslJoA2alRLxeNbtev0miruoIGqUpbo0_PQZFoaO-xsOb1DMXsk_h5FjffW6AwErDzAESyF49Y2dnIUth1uxoCA/s320/Schomburg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Schomburg Plaza</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So the Floor Master Stomp was something like a group routine?"<br /></b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Yeah, that was a group routine."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, could you please describe what it looked like?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Alright...one, two, three to the left......hop on one foot three times to the left....hop on one foot back to the right and stomp on the third one. On the third one you'd stomp...BOOM! Go back again.....one, two, three....stomp! Yeah, like that!! It was nice! We had fun with that!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Who came up with that concept?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"E-Man!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What are some of the places in Harlem that The Floor Masters would go to in order to dance at and who were your fiercest opponents?"<br /></b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Let me put it like this....you had Jefferson, Johnson, Clinton, Washington, Wagner, Taft, Carver. These are all (housing) projects and a lot of B-Boy groups formed in a lot of these projects. We battled some of these groups. One group in particular that we battled a lot were The Crusaders. We would also go to Mr. Soul's, we would go to the 300 Club. There were a few places that we would go to." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you prepare yourself before you went to these parties as far as the dressing is concerned?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Okay, as far as dressing is concerned... we had our own outfits with the crew. Our colours were black and gold. You wore black jeans with a gold short sleeve sweatshirt. On the back of the sweatshirt it said "Floor Masters" with your name on the front. You would iron your jeans, you would iron your shirt. Back then we used to iron our jeans. They don't do that anymore. You would iron the crease in or you would take them to the cleaners and let them sow in the permanent crease down the front. Everybody would either have on a black Kangol or a gold coloured Kangol. Yeah, this is how we danced. Except for Ski Jump...Ski Jump always wore a Godfather Hat. He always had the Godfather Hat!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of sneakers did you wear?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"It would either be the regular Pro-Keds, the Super-Keds or we would wear the Converse Chuck Taylor's. Super Pro-Keds you had to have them in black 'cause if you're going with the crew everybody had to have either black Super Pro-Keds or black regular Pro-Keds. The Super Pro-Keds had the red and blue line on the outside of the sneaker, the regular Pro-Keds had the black lines that went all around the sneakers, at the bottom of the sneaker." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"From which sneaker store would you get those?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Okay, for me that was a store called Tom, Dick & Harry on 108th Street & 3rd Avenue in Spanish Harlem."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How much was a pair of Pro-Keds back then?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"12.99$ to precise.Yeah, 12 dollars and 99 cents."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, but I guess back then a dollar had way more buying power than today, right?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Yeah, it had a lot more buying power than today 'cause I remember the first time I went to buy a pair of Pro-Keds and I came home....my mother was like,"Why you went out there and spent 12.99$ on a pair of sneakers???!! What's wrong with you?? You think I'm rich?" So I was like, "Okay, but I worked a summer job so I bought it with my own money!!" But it didn't matter to her. "I ain't rich! You're spending money like you're crazy! You must have lost your mind!" Oh my goodness, she went bezerk! (laughs) That was so funny!"</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So dressing up fly was important for a B-Boy back then?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"You had to be fly! Listen, you couldn't show up to a party in Chuck Center, 300 Club, Mr. Soul's...you could not show up at any of those places looking like derelict. You walk in there looking busted you're gonna get laughed out of the place, man. You had to come fly! You either came fly or you stayed home."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you also wear that extra fly gear from AJ Lester's?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Oh yeeeeeeeaaaah, man!!!!! Whaaaaat?!? I stayed up in AJ Lester's." (chuckles)<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How much money would you spend there? Coke La Rock stated that he would spend regularly like a G or better in there and thus got to meet Mr. AJ Lester himself who used to stay downstairs in that store."</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Well, basically it's like this...when you talk about Coke La Rock.....these guys were making really big money back then. So we go in there we buy maybe a pair of pants and a shirt and spend maybe like 150 $. Back then that was a lot. Me I always had a job. Even though I was B-Boying and MCing and going to school I also had a job that I went to every morning before I went to school. I used to work for a newspaper company. I would deliver newspapers every morning before I went to school. So I was up at 4 o' clock in the morning to be at work by 5 o'clock. I had to finish by 8.30 so I could reach school by 8.40. The way I was raised you had to have a job. There was no way you was gonna stay in bed until it was time for you to go to school and you wasn't making no kind of money to sustain yourself. Another one of my favourite places to shop was Delancey Street because you could go down there and you could get stuff at disounted prices as opposed to paying full prices. The first Cortefiel coat I ever bought I bought from Delancey Street. 95 $ I'll never forget it."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When did you join the Gangster Five MCs? Was that in 1979?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"The Gangster Five actually started in '78. Marty Mart..he was one of the original Gangster Five but he was never there when it came to performing. So I had them let me perform with them at one particular day and that's when they found out that I had rhyming skills and that I could rock the mic with the best of them. That's how I became part of The Gangster Five. Besides from that I was always there."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What did it take back then to be a good MC?" <br /></b></p><p><b>DRAC:"I mean being an MC standing in front of the DJ when the music is playing and once that beat hits you.....you see this is the thing that people don't understand about being an MC...you gotta feel the music. You know, you can't try to grab it, you just gotta feel it! If you can feel it and you know what you're gonna say off the top of your head you could be a good MC." <br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Okay, so when you replaced Marty Mart as a member of The Gangster Five you already had some rhymes prepared?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Oh, I always had rhymes because back then I could rhyme off the top of my head! Let me give you an example.....<i>I'm the capital H-A-J-I-E rockin' to the rhythm, to the highést degree. I'm the jazzy jazzy brother that lives on the block, when I snap my fingers you start to rock! Rockin' to the west, rockin' to the east, rockin' to the rhythm 'cause you want a little piece. I'm not Spoonie Gee, I'm not Rapper's Delight, just a bad, bad brother that is rocking the mic. 'Cause rappin' on the mic is the perfect example to show the other MCs just scramble.... </i>You know just gotta have a nice even flow!<i>"</i></b></p><p><b><i><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLyrLfKxKoYpDWOy6eQ0q6LSdpMSg49MnP_hsBszzM5dmy3zluWJWhpNEegvy9DxLEzb2FFaYblkSwsXIiZCQl-6MZhx9ayuq7WWz9CTDI7sUpJchXrzx52RHv9EUZW0V6DMEWIlEODg/s1023/Prince+hadji.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="1023" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLyrLfKxKoYpDWOy6eQ0q6LSdpMSg49MnP_hsBszzM5dmy3zluWJWhpNEegvy9DxLEzb2FFaYblkSwsXIiZCQl-6MZhx9ayuq7WWz9CTDI7sUpJchXrzx52RHv9EUZW0V6DMEWIlEODg/s320/Prince+hadji.webp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Prince Hadji</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </i></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Very nice!<i> </i>What were some of the places that The Gangster Five would perform at? Like schoolyards and public parks?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Oh boy, let me see. We performed on 119th Street between 3rd Avenue & We performed on 124th Street in 24 Park that's underneath the bridge there, right by Wagner Projects. We performed in that Junior High School on 3rd Avenue & 115th Street. We played there. We played on 112th Street in Foster Projects. I mean we played in a lot of different places and some of the places that we played in are not even there anymore." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I have noticed that the name of The Gangster Five appears on many of those flyers which advertised huge DJ & MC Conventions. Like that "East vs. West" competition at I.S. 201 which was put together by Mike & Dave Productions. What was it like to compete there? Please describe the efforts that would go into preparing for these kind of events!"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Okay, MC Priest had an apartment in 2065.....3rd Avenue which is in Jefferson Projects, right? It's apartment 11C in 2065. We called it The Penthouse. The reason why we called it The Penthouse because that was the hangout. That was our practice spot. We practiced like almost every day. DJ Blue was our original DJ, then after DJ Blue it came to be DJ Al Ski. Now here's a funny story about Al.....Al used to work at a place called Downstairs Records and he had all the beats!!! I mean he had beats beyond beats. He also had records with little extras. So Al Ski became our DJ and whenever Al Ski went out, we performed. I mean we put on a show!!! We had the crowd, we had everybody because between me, Ski Jump and MC Priest...we could make a crowd come alive! It was all about fun for us, it wasn't about getting rich."</b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6fhvsGGXgdYg_N3G3VDNqk23cmGQolIB7ND0HsXU-QiJ1d-58LD8yUDxtHjKMZOyLWHBcHPrVe_l5MYVYmud7wmGOZdbnJMuu55wf-4hw9MiDGyNAEuysdTwcsOQ-2whmN6xKEiNtPQ/s800/Ski+Jump+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6fhvsGGXgdYg_N3G3VDNqk23cmGQolIB7ND0HsXU-QiJ1d-58LD8yUDxtHjKMZOyLWHBcHPrVe_l5MYVYmud7wmGOZdbnJMuu55wf-4hw9MiDGyNAEuysdTwcsOQ-2whmN6xKEiNtPQ/s320/Ski+Jump+2.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Ski Jump (The Floor Masters / The Gangster Five)</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So what kind of things would you practice at The Penthouse?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"We were working on things like switching from one MC to the next MC. Instead of saying,"<i>MC Priest, my mellow, my man get</i> <i>on the mic and do the best that you can</i>!" we would practice to a point where at the end of a word the next person would start and then at the end of another word another person would start. Then we had this going on where we would start a song that we were singing about The Gangster Five...... like in harmony. I mean everybody still had their own rhymes but we would practice it to harmonize with the rhymes." </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was your approach to writing rhymes back then? Would you sit down in front of your composition book and write down lyrics to beats that you had playing in the back? Or would you write rhymes without music?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"My thing is this...back then I never wrote anything on paper 'cause I had everything in my head."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So you were freestyling?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Yeah, I could freestlye but whatever rhyme I made up in my head I could always remember it so I can come back to it again."<br /></b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you describe the role of each MC within The Gangster Five?"</b></p><p><b>DRAC:"Kid Kendu.....He was the brainiac! He was smart, matter of fact he was real smart. He went to private school. Priest was like the hype man. Priest used to rock a collar like a catholic priest and he used to carry a book with a bible cover on it but inside the book was his microphone. Ski Jump was the pretty boy. He was the lightskin black guy with the grey eyes. Me I was </b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">I was <b>number 4 In the line up</b></span><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"> even though I made up rhymes for myself and Priest."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"What about Tony G?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">DRAC:" </span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Tony G came after l left. Easy Earny D was the fifth member when I was down."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"So what was his role?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">DRAC:"He was just an MC. He didn't have a specific role. As I said I was number four, he would be number five."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"What are your five top breakbeats?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">DRAC:" "Scratching","Apache","Funky Drummer", "Black Grass"and "Seven Minutes Of Funk"."<br /></span></span></b></p><p><b><br /><i></i></b></p><p><b><i> </i> <br /></b></p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197146188775227255.post-49431661886741468622020-09-27T04:40:00.005-07:002020-09-29T07:34:10.401-07:00Interview with the legendary Style Writer Pel<p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsiA1vSaVgKJyXhllRQ2XpdMmD2brIbsUvFH35ViL_-6nGCApl1sSZbwB-3v2gkEYDpCPp2wgk9W8hlraKPsvCXiNyNPw41mz9VYY4ZLW1NIEg5kr1n0nfzJvG56BuJth7PyEC_7ryCg/s640/Pel.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsiA1vSaVgKJyXhllRQ2XpdMmD2brIbsUvFH35ViL_-6nGCApl1sSZbwB-3v2gkEYDpCPp2wgk9W8hlraKPsvCXiNyNPw41mz9VYY4ZLW1NIEg5kr1n0nfzJvG56BuJth7PyEC_7ryCg/s320/Pel.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pel</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b>Conducted by Sir Norin Rad (The Intruders/Germany)</b> </p><p><b> SIR NORIN RAD:"From which borough are you originally?"</b></p><p><b>PEL:"Actually I grew up in Manhattan, New York City. I'm a Puerto Rican guy from East Harlem. That part of Manhattan is very close to the Bronx. I moved to the Bronx when I was about 13 just making 14 and that's when I started Writing."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Where exactly in the Bronx did you live when you started Writing?"<br /></b></p><p><b>PEL:"Okay, well the 4 train line runs on Jerome Avenue which goes down to 149th Street which would be considered South Bronx. I lived on 176th Street, I would say that's the Southwest Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What inspired you to pick up Writing and how old were you then?"</b></p><p><b>PEL:"Well actually, I started noticing it when I was like.....early 13. I went to Brooklyn..I jumped on a train in the Bronx that goes through Manhattan and then goes to Brooklyn. So the first piece that I noticed was on a train, a F train that had Pistol on it, a Pistol 3D. That blew my mind. I was like, "Wow!" I was blown away."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"Pistol 1 was a famous Brooklyn Writer, correct?"</b></p><p><b>PEL:"Yes, he was. I was amazed at the 3D that Pistol did and then I saw Flint 707 (another famous Brooklyn Writer who incorporated the 3D effect into his pieces). The next one I saw was a Flint. It caught my eye when I was looking at trains. I saw the Pistol train when I was going to Brooklyn and I seen the Flint going back home to the Bronx."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"When was that? Around 1973/74?"</b></p><p><b>PEL:"Very close, yeah!" </b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What about the Writers from the Bronx? Like Lee 163rd!, Phase 2 and them? Did you notice them as well?"</b></p><p><b>PEL:"Well at the time back then.... the guys that I noticed more were Super Strut, Hondo One...The pieces weren't from the window down, they were kind of floating basically. They would float in the middle of the train. I can't remember all the guys that I would see back then but Hondo One and Super Strut those were the ones that I noticed. Me when I saw the Pistol piece and that Flint piece they was so much put together I was like, "Wow!" Oh, another guy that I actually saw was Riff 170. I saw a couple of his pieces.....they were Riff and Worm (alias of Riff 170)."</b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZbLSP89-8jBRCBMAIpES5501NPl49MjpHl9qF71Hd6CNMxIe438oji3Jzxo75L3UckoiOieI_w8HBIlcEqd9m8QVezxyesLnAS1VOHusmzb9xq-0XMJn_ru1oWmNJcBGRkIq4ddxUYw/s225/Super+Strut.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZbLSP89-8jBRCBMAIpES5501NPl49MjpHl9qF71Hd6CNMxIe438oji3Jzxo75L3UckoiOieI_w8HBIlcEqd9m8QVezxyesLnAS1VOHusmzb9xq-0XMJn_ru1oWmNJcBGRkIq4ddxUYw/s0/Super+Strut.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Early Piece by Super Strut</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:" Please describe the process which made you pick Style Writing!"</b></p><p><b>PEL:"Well with me what happened...I try to make it short.....there was a friend of mine his name was Kiki. He had moved out of the neighbourhood about when I had just gotten in. His mom and dad...they moved back to Harlem. He would come up a couple of times from Harlem and he would say that he was writing on the trains. I think I was 13 or 14. Kiki was a little younger than me, a year or so younger than me....and he'd say,"Yeah, I hit the trains!!!" I was fascinated, I said "What do you mean you hit the trains? You put your name up on the train?" He was like, "Yeah!" I said, "Wow! That's pretty cool!" He kinda sparked my interest in doing it 'cause I asked him, I said,"Hey, how does that work?" But anyway we talked a little bit but not much. Then...a turn of event...he went back home and I never did see Kiki again because I found out like a week later he was shot...they shot him in the head. So it was a sad thing. He kinda got me into it. So when I found that out I felt very bad....I was only 14 maybe. What happened one day...there was a group of us.. we were all sitting in front of my building. They were my friends in the building, they were two brothers and one sister and a friend named Berta. We were all good friends and used to hang out in front of my building. We would talk about Kiki and about what he had done and I'd say, "You know what? One of these day I'mma write on the trains!" They didn't know what I was talking about but we actually walked down from 176th to 175th where you stand on the corner and you can look and see the subway trains go by as they pull into the station. I said, "I'm gonna be doing that one day." They didn't believe me of course. That's basically how I started."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What made you choose the name PEL?"</b></p><p><b> PEL:"Well, what happened was...the very first name that I actually considered writing was a crazy name but it was Superfly Sly and I actually met another friend that was kinda showing me how to build markers. In America we had these cans of pepper. They were like one inch by two inches wide and then you'd take a blackboard eraser from school and some ink but we didn't know so we were making a mess of ourselves......trying to put something together like a Uni Wide Marker but crude."</b></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"I guess the ink was dripping all over the place?"</b></p><p><b>PEL:"Yes and it was hard to control the ink and also in the beginning I used the wrong ink. I was learning, didn't use the right ink. Didn't know about Flo-Master Ink then.</b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"> I actually went tagging alone because it was word of mouth on how it
was done. You ride the train to the last stop and wait until it clears
and do it or you do it quickly when no one's looking. But I never liked
tagging. Didn’t do it much. I was more of an outside guy.</span>"</b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1RC4ZmXE7kiCJbJy_M2HK4M5naTD2YwVGU_3dmZE-iuiOm5tCzswa561J6iA6hQqSSkVlM-y-IO9PbUPv-R9J0tkILzvEPde-nqAGq4PhAwumYLEqlJ-VTUksuXrF7hfZFV8g8aOehw/s382/Flomaster+Ink.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1RC4ZmXE7kiCJbJy_M2HK4M5naTD2YwVGU_3dmZE-iuiOm5tCzswa561J6iA6hQqSSkVlM-y-IO9PbUPv-R9J0tkILzvEPde-nqAGq4PhAwumYLEqlJ-VTUksuXrF7hfZFV8g8aOehw/s320/Flomaster+Ink.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Flo-Master Ink</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"</b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">But isn't it true that tags are the foundation of Writing? What are your thoughts on that?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"</span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Well,
yes it is and pretty much that’s how it started on the outside with
tags until someone became more creative on the outside. But that was
before my time.</span> I realized trying to wrie my name Superfly Sly was excessively too long so I said to myself,"I need to cut it down!" So I wind up cutting it down to Sly 5 and then I also added 176 because there were so many Slys back then. The 176 came from where I lived, that's the street where I lived on. That's how I got the name Sly 5 / 176 but then I also found that to be a little bit too long. I just did a few pieces of the Sly 5 /176. I did a few Sly 5s on the inside with a Uni Wide Marker and I did a few on the outside. I met another guy that told me about it...his name was Lil Flame. He came around bragging about how he did this and that so that encouraged me to now hit on the outsides but before I did that I did a piece in my schoolyard for practice. I can't remember which spraypaint I used...I don't think it was Red Devil or anything like that...I believe it was Krylon. And, you know, my Sly didn't come out bad for my very first time. After I did that King 2 saw me doing a piece one time and we started talking about it. So he wind up doing a King 2 piece in my schoolyard and I did a Sly 5."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"></span></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0oALh8T-EpJ1l6ObWU8XEiITUbjvrktnZqW8peYBzpbxWmsaeQN1FPyFM8XhPlkM86C1lgbcnnkHd9Mwf0yIW_aAnF2GqsKGwORNN2DUiFOaPSULSGaRFVub_Jimccj94NEGdpvLupQ/s1711/Sly+5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="842" data-original-width="1711" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0oALh8T-EpJ1l6ObWU8XEiITUbjvrktnZqW8peYBzpbxWmsaeQN1FPyFM8XhPlkM86C1lgbcnnkHd9Mwf0yIW_aAnF2GqsKGwORNN2DUiFOaPSULSGaRFVub_Jimccj94NEGdpvLupQ/s320/Sly+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Early Sly 5 Piece by Pel</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><br /> </span></b><p></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"You are talking about King 2 who was down with Tracy 168 and them, right?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"Right, before he hung out with Tracy and all those guys me and King 2 were good friends. We used to play baseball, basketball.....King 2 lived right across the street from the schoolyard where we used to play football, baseball...everything and that's how I knew King 2."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"What was the name of that school?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"That school was called Wade Junior High School. That wasn't my school in particular, that was just a junior school that was in the neighbourhood right across the street from us."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"I guess that name Superfly Sly was inspired by that blaxploitation film called Superfly that came out in 1972."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"Right!"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"Curtis Mayfield did the soundtrack of that movie. "Freddie's Dead" and many other great songs are on that album."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"That's it and I tell you why (laughs)! Believe it or not I couldn't see the movie when it came out because I was too young. Over here you had to be 18 or older. I remember I was 12, 13. I liked the song "Freddie's Dead". I liked to listen to a lot of music and I still do now. I still sing and everything now. My older brother he was a little ladies' man kinda guy and he would bring home the Superfly record and I would listen to it a lot. And then Superfly he was smooth, he was a pimp, he had nice clothes and I was a guy that used to dress up nicely when I used to go paint. Believe it or not, the cops would come and chase after everybody and I would stand right there and they would run right by me 'cause they wouldn't see me dirty or anything. They would see me in decent clothes, so they chased everybody else. That happened several times."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"Damn! The late Phase 2 (RIP) also stated in his book Style Writing From The Underground that many of those Writers who had a vicious style in terms of piecing were known as fly dressers as well."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"Oh yeah. Definitely! To me it was important to dress up nicely. As I said I had an older brother who was a couple of inches taller than me but I still got some of his clothes handed down to me. I had to hem up my pants a little bit cause I could fit into his clothes. You know, we weren't rich by no means, we were so poor it was ridiculous. I got his clothes and I would just wear them. I just didn't like to get dirty like some of these guys. These guys had like two, three day old paint on them. I liked to look decent, I just did. That was just me."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"What kind of clothing was considered as fly back then?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"Well, what happened was Harlem set the trends because they had A.J. Lester's there. Remember I was from Harlem originally, so you kinda had a certain style. Dressing up back then you know they used to have nice colours....they used to have this thing called the mockneck....it was like a turtleneck but with a shorter collar. Then you had knit shirts...sometimes they had designs on them. Nice jeans and sneakers to match the shirt depending on whatever colour it was. Some of us wore Matador pants.</span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">They are the pants with the wide waste. You get them from AJ Lesters.</span> </span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">They have 3 buttons in stead of one to latch the pants.</span> You know Phase 2 was known for going to the 149th Street Writer's Bench on the Grand Concourse and putting on a nice Robin Hood hat. He was dressing fly. So if the cops came to chase everybody he could sit right there and they would look at him like, "Who are you??" Because you know they looked at the Graffiti guys as vandals and roughnecks and dirty little scoundrels. I saw what he was doing and I was like, "Damn! I like to dress up, too!" So every now and then I had on the plaid pants and a nice shirt and sneakers......my sneakers were clean and everything. Most of the Writers back then they wore jeans and jackets and things that identified them as a menace. I didn't wanna be caught up in that."<br /></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"> SIR NORIN RAD:"Is is true that you mainly hit the 4 line?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"Yes, most of my beginning was done on the 4 line. There was this kid that I told you about... Lil Flame... he started bragging......he was a few years older than me, he was about two or three years older than me and he started bragging how he was going to do this, that and the third. So I said to myself, "Well, first of all this guy got an excessively long name. So if I'm gonna paint the train I don't wanna be with him 'cause he's gonna take twice the length of the time that is gonna take me to do Sly 5. " So I already had my design in my head and I knew what I had to do. Well, eventually we would hit the trains together at the lay up on 183rd Street </span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="_mh6 _wsc" id="cch_f2d2b01bf1e80ba"><span class="_3oh- _58nk"> but since he lived a few blocks away I didn’t see him much and I started going by myself and I would see other writers there. But mostly toys and that’s what I was at that time and then I saw that others guys were there before me that day, too. So it gave me the courage to hit alone.</span></span> </span></b><span class="_mh6 _wsc" id="cch_f2d2b01bf1e80ba"><span class="_3oh- _58nk"><b>Lil Flame showed me the lay up on 183rd. Not the yard. I found out about the 4 yard through Fuzz One. So when me and Lil Flame went to hit the trains he taught me certain things and then you know common sense kicked in where you don't step in the third rail, you step on top of it. So I was a quick learner because first of all I didn't wanna die. I knew it was crazy reckless. You had to keep watching out for trains while you painted and also watch out for cops. So your head was on a swivel all the time. I learnt how to do Sly 5, I learnt how to do the outlines. Once I did the first piece it was almost like a relief for me. I said,"Now I know what I must do next time I go and paint." I only had two cans, just so I could do the outline and the fill-in. And that's what I did." </b></span></span></p><p><span class="_mh6 _wsc" id="cch_f2d2b01bf1e80ba"><span class="_3oh- _58nk"><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What made you change your name from Sly 5 to Pel?"</b></span></span></p><p><span class="_mh6 _wsc" id="cch_f2d2b01bf1e80ba"><span class="_3oh- _58nk"><b>PEL:"What happened was one day I was drawing my name Sly 5, Sly 5, Sly 5 and I just got bored with it because I didn't see any other style or anything like that. So then I said, "I need to try something different." So then I started writing Pel and I was like,"Ah, okay! This looks more apealing to me and it's an easier name to know!"After I started writing Pel I started going to 183rd and to different other places, sometimes with King 2 and sometimes without him because I had a little more flexibility somehow. So I started doing a bunch of Pels. I went to 183rd Street and I did like four Pels, then I would two Pels.....any few days 'cause what happened at that time they would start buffing (cleaning) the trains. So I happened to go to 183rd Street on a weekday.. at about 9 o' clock..right at dusk, before it got dark because everybody wanted to get home, nobody cared about anything. So what happened was I got a lot of Pels 'cause remember all the trains were being cleaned. Everybody that was a King or had a lot of pieces on the trains....they (the pieces) were gone!!! I was hitting the brand new trains which they weren't gonna redo because I hit them. So I started becoming pretty dominant on the 4 line."</b></span></span></p><p><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"So when did you start writing Pel and when did you begin to write Dime 2?"</b></p><p><span class="_mh6 _wsc"><span class="_3oh- _58nk"></span></span></p><p><b> PEL:"Pel was '74 and Dime 2 late '76 because by then I started being more flexible with paint and experience."</b></p><p><span class="_mh6 _wsc" id="cch_f2d2b01bf1e80ba"><span class="_3oh- _58nk"><b> </b></span></span></p><p><span class="_mh6 _wsc" id="cch_f2d2b01bf1e80ba"><span class="_3oh- _58nk"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcmvsLx97PeXubxmQ9bdJQ9ODRk2VHqQpfH1yviJXydSm_OgCkx7NXPZTewQ2wv-ZO18FDU_5Rj9Ng8R73lTTA1toX1gf9EqJfXbhmYDroBNbuzgxJrKG454hdil9ecHjjkEZY2Xrj5g/s640/Pel+%2528IND%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcmvsLx97PeXubxmQ9bdJQ9ODRk2VHqQpfH1yviJXydSm_OgCkx7NXPZTewQ2wv-ZO18FDU_5Rj9Ng8R73lTTA1toX1gf9EqJfXbhmYDroBNbuzgxJrKG454hdil9ecHjjkEZY2Xrj5g/s320/Pel+%2528IND%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pel</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span class="_mh6 _wsc" id="cch_f2d2b01bf1e80ba"><span class="_3oh- _58nk"><b><br /> </b></span></span><p></p><p><span class="_mh6 _wsc" id="cch_f2d2b01bf1e80ba"><span class="_3oh- _58nk"><b>SIR NORIN RAD:"What was it like the first time you went to the Writer's Bench on 149th Street & Grand Concourse?"</b></span></span></p><p><span class="_mh6 _wsc" id="cch_f2d2b01bf1e80ba"><span class="_3oh- _58nk"><b>PEL:"One day I went to 149th Street and it was a lot of people there. Phase 2, Riff 170.....a whole bunch of people. I had heard about Phase 2 but I had never really got to meet him. So as I'm there a guy named Hydra who was dominant on the 6 line....he was kinda famous....he was there with Butch 2, Kindo.......this guy was like within five feet of me. We was all standing there and all of a sudden all these clean trains come in .....like I said they were cleaning the trains so a lot of people were losing their names....and my name Pel is on one train, it's on the other, it's here, it's there...and Hydra says real loud, "Who the hell is that guy Peg or Pel or whatever?" I'm looking, right? So I say, "Yo, Hydra! That's you, right?"He said, "Yeah!" I said, "My name is Pel. That's me." He was like, "You're that guy?!?" I said, "Yeah!" so when I said that Phase 2 looked up and then Riff looked up, they both looked at me...They were sitting down on the bench, everybody else was standing around watching the trains, drawing and getting tags in their blackbooks...that kind of stuff. Phase 2 looked at me, he tipped his hat, waved at me and said, "Come on over here!" So I walked over to Phase and he asked me, "Yo, you write Pel?" I said, "Well, yeah. You know I'm still kinda learning how to write. I gotta practice at home." So he said, "You got a blackbook?" I said, "No." He was tagging somebody else's blackbook so he asked that guy, "You mind if I tear out a paper?" He tore out a page and actually did a Pel for me, he did a Pel outline and said to me, "Why don't you try this?" I looked at him and said, "Wow! That's nice! Sure, I'll practice this the best I can. It will take me some time." So he said, "Yeah, give it a shot!" Riff was kinda like, "Yeah!" Phase accepted me, so Riff had to. But anyway how I got into changing my name....once Phase 2 gave me that I practiced real hard and I started to take my time. What happened was I had seen that people were rushing and just putting up stuff on the trains. Well, I didn't want to be one of those guys! I wanted my pieces to look different. I also didn't want to compete with nobody doing Top-to-Bottoms because to do all that you have to get nasty and dirty and that just wasn't me. So when Phase 2 gave me that I kept doing a lot of Pels. Well, at the time Riff was doing a lot of Riffs and I noticed that he changed his name to Worm. He did a couple of other things...Worm and Dove. So I said to myself , "Let me start doing different names." So I started changing my name to something else.....from Pel to Dime 2. I started to get innovative. What also made me change my name were the cops. I heard them say one time when I was on the train station...I was in the lay-up on 183rd Street and I was inside the train getting ready to paint and I heard the cops' radio because you could hear it from a mile away since it was so loud.......I heard them say, "We're looking for this guy Pel. He's is a lightskin guy with a big afro." I was like, "Wow!" Not too many liked to hit there because I guess it was too inconvenient for them. You had to duck when the trains came and you had to look out, make sure they didn't see you. But me I liked it because it wasn't very far from home, it was very comfortable for me to hit there. I knew the area, I knew the neighbourhood, I knew everything about it. So when I heard what the cops were saying I said to myself, "Wow! These guys are looking for me!" That also made me think about changing my name." <br /></b></span></span></p><p><span class="_mh6 _wsc" id="cch_f2d2b01bf1e80ba"><span class="_3oh- _58nk"><b> </b></span></span></p><p><span class="_mh6 _wsc" id="cch_f2d2b01bf1e80ba"><span class="_3oh- _58nk"><b></b></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigzIX5_Qlh1lyQAsdZc85350GG5VXuNGCfWuYVnArj2otA7n27QzSCSAfl16jw6bGdFMV4vWg6EVZEsOlFhVhgbLI63w9WLuJRKEmasvBHgI-rW0X_pMwjFWpldnwTKgF5eyIkhsyWzg/s521/Pel+%2528IND%2529+II.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="521" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigzIX5_Qlh1lyQAsdZc85350GG5VXuNGCfWuYVnArj2otA7n27QzSCSAfl16jw6bGdFMV4vWg6EVZEsOlFhVhgbLI63w9WLuJRKEmasvBHgI-rW0X_pMwjFWpldnwTKgF5eyIkhsyWzg/s320/Pel+%2528IND%2529+II.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pel</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span class="_mh6 _wsc" id="cch_f2d2b01bf1e80ba"><span class="_3oh- _58nk"><b><br /> </b></span></span><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2z5r-URiZm2_10ZDsiYL5nbM9ZRKZwUyY8gGXK-pcCGYRGeuOhabUoULk6QTEv_DtHHSNZ8ZvteGhF2YcKn_9O0UR9pJH1GX_6zNyLM7yiDiqsqg2uUy4VdNlQ3_OcjeEq0H0qm9Xlg/s960/Dime.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="746" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2z5r-URiZm2_10ZDsiYL5nbM9ZRKZwUyY8gGXK-pcCGYRGeuOhabUoULk6QTEv_DtHHSNZ8ZvteGhF2YcKn_9O0UR9pJH1GX_6zNyLM7yiDiqsqg2uUy4VdNlQ3_OcjeEq0H0qm9Xlg/s320/Dime.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Dime 2 by Pel</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span></b><p></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"So how did you feel when the legendary Style Master Phase 2 gave you a Pel outline to work with?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"Well, it was total shock and disbelief that he would even give you his time because Phase 2 was already a name established and for him to nod and to call me over, you know? I was thinking, "Hey, I'm a nobody. I'm just starting." Because he didn't do that for many people. He was a nice guy but it was hard to get to Phase. He was very particular. </span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Those guys Phase 2 and Riff 170 were the ones that set the tone. If you ask me."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><br /></span></span></b></p><p><br /></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"></span></span></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQtrA6Ww-so0eUjJhjGWmupFT1wRmY8_Rdx1eQH2YbiXuRYWDDTf0XHsUJXM6nU3xvs0ybQz6hsJNiIy4p8EwlFyl2i5eOnmfDL5BdwLvV8mxpsyr4maB2YkXfbmBSR1B6aY6GV_WIOA/s450/Phase+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="322" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQtrA6Ww-so0eUjJhjGWmupFT1wRmY8_Rdx1eQH2YbiXuRYWDDTf0XHsUJXM6nU3xvs0ybQz6hsJNiIy4p8EwlFyl2i5eOnmfDL5BdwLvV8mxpsyr4maB2YkXfbmBSR1B6aY6GV_WIOA/s320/Phase+2.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Phase 2</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><br /> </span></span></b><p></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"Was there some kind of a pecking order at the Writer's Bench back then?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"The pecking order......once you were known and I mean I got known pretty fast because I started doing really nice stuff....you would get a seat on the bench automatically. At about 2 or 3 o' clock (p.m.) that bench was full with Writers. Now only six people fit on the bench.....maybe seven if it was a smaller guy. Well, you got 30, 40 guys at that bench and everybody else would be like, "Uh, that's a gang!" They would avoid us and so it would be like mostly us. So let's say there were toys sitting down on the bench...guys that weren't well known, that were just trying to get up..........and I would walk up to the bench they would be like, "Oh my god, Pel! Sit down, man! Here's my book!" So you would get a seat automatically. They would treat you like the big boys. Then it got to a point where you had those kinda guys that was trying to get up and the new guys behind them and they would demand stuff from them. Like,"Hey man, you wanna get up? You gotta...." That kind of stuff. To me that was scandalous. You don't put nobody down like that. You don't make them go out there and make them risk their life for you. Who the hell do you think you are? But yeah we did have those kind of guys. Eventually it started getting to the point where some of these guys would take stuff from these kids that where just starting out, putting a bad taste in other peoples' mouth. In the 1980s I dont know what they did because in 1978 I decided I am not gonna even do trains anymore. I left and went to Chicago at that time to go on with my life."<br /></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"Please describe the process through which you came up with new ideas while you were sketching! Did you listen to a certain kind of music when you were developing new letter patterns?"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"This is what happened.....when I moved to the Bronx I was 14. When I came home I would eat some food, smoke a joint, relax and start sketching. We had an old coffee table in the living room I would sketch there. </span></span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Also I smoked weed in the living room. My mother knew I smoked but she also knew I was responsible.</span> My friend upstairs he hit me up to Earth, Wind & Fire which I never knew who they were. I would listen to the Ohio Players, Earth, Wind & Fire, The O'Jays.....all of those guys. Man, I used to sketch all kind of stuff. I would start with a letter, then I started bending letters and doing different things and stuff. And let me tell you something.....a lot of these cats.....one guy in particular.....Noc..."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"Noc 167 OTB"</span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"Right, Noc 167. He was a friend of mine. The reason why he was a friend of mine was so he could come and bite everything I knew. I was doing some real freaky stuff back then, some real nice styles! I wish I had some of those sketches now because if you saw those sketches you'd see everybody's style! All I would do is sketch continuously. Everywhere I went I would sketch....when I would eat at a restaurant or a donut shop I would sketch something.....you know, lettering, designs to make it look fancy although I didn't want to get too fancy because of the fact that if you get too fancy you can't read it. My thing was to do a nice sketch, a nice design....something that everybody could read. I found out that Noc 167 was hanging out with Dondi and all these other cats.....kinda taking my style away. I said to myself, "This guy ain't doing nothing but bite everything that I got so he can become famous." And he has never given me props ever since. He never mentioned me. <br /></span></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you say that music had an impact on the way you designed letters?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"Oh, absolutely. Earth, Wind & Fire, Ohio Players, Parliament....those guys in particular. I used to love me some Parliament. I was seriously into Funk. Even now I listen to Kool & The Gang. There were a lot of influences that did that. Even the weed had some influence on it. It would make you feel so smoothly, you could listen to music and do a sketch,"Oh, I'mma move this over here. I will kick this out this way." (Talking about lettering) I would have all kinds of nice stuff! Then when I was in school I started learning about architectural drawing. Good practice! My styles were influenced by music, good funky music. The funkier the song, the funkier the letters would come out. It was kinda weird, I didn't know it would have that much of an influence on me but it did."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"What about bands such as The Jimmy Castor Bunch, Mandrill, The Blackbyrds? Would you listen to their material as well? The raw funk and then the jazz-funk......"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"Oh yeah!!!! (excited) Absolutely!!! My man you're bringing back memories!!! Blackbyrds they had that song "Doing It In The Park"......."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"Rock Creek Park."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"Yes. Rock Creek Park."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">NORIN RAD:"Damn!!!! What do you know about these joints: "Apache" by The Incredible Bongo Band, "It's Just Begun" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch......"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"Cats used to breakdance to these songs."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"So you also witnessed cats going off to these songs in the 1970s?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"</span></b><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">You're kidding, right??? Of course I did. To me Solid 1 (TFP) was a very good dancer."</span></b> <br /></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"What are your memories of the gangs in the 1970ies?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"I do remember them but it's funny because where I lived at it was mostly white. This is the weird thing. When I first got there..... it was during the summer time when we moved because they wanted to get me into high school and my little sister into school and it was crazy because it was an all white neighbourhood mostly...I would say 90% white...and as we went into the block to look at the apartment there were ladies, older ladies...I wanna say mostly Jewish, some Italian..with those silver things around their neck lying out in the sun on beach chairs trying to get a tan....in the city, in the Bronx!!!!! This was one of the craziest things I had ever seen. It was a nice neighbourhood so I didn't see all the gang stuff. Now had I went to the other side of the Bronx, to the Southeast Side I would have seen more gangs. In my neighbourhood there weren't too many."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"How would you define a burner piece?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"My thing is this.....first of all to me a burner has to have a nice flow and the letters got to be of the same family. To me if you keep in the same family you can get fancy but don't make it illegible where a person has a hard time to decipher it and the colour blends should be pleasing to the eye and not a mess. There's people out there and I don't wanna mention no names that just go overboard with colours and I'm like,"Wow! You don't have to do all that!" It's like you put too much ingredients into the soup, it tastes bad. Sometimes it's better to do less than to overdo it."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"Thank you. By which criteria were battles between train writers judged back then? Did you ever go against another Writer?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"Yeah, for some reason they put me against Riff 170 being that we did this and that but that wasn't even true. Riff was a better Writer than me at the time. He is still very good! Riff is a very good artist. At the time what made him a really outstanding Writer was the fact that he controlled his paint. He had really amazing ideas, he was that one guy that was really different. He was really innovative. I took some of his ideas to get me going and I'm not ashamed to say that because he was really good. Then I sat down and started experimenting with my letters....I went off and I really went into my own. But when two people have a battle I look at simplicity.....be simplistic with style and you'll have something nice! Now you can just be a painter like anybody else. I mean you see all this stuff on the wall and you're like, "What the hell is that??? Is this supposed to be graffiti??? What does it say?" You know graffiti is about letters!!!! Let's put it this way...in a nutshell...when we started Writing we were called Writers, not painters. Now people are artists that's fine but we were Writers on the trains putting up our names to be identfied by other laymen. That was the point of you. I hope that helps."</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"Were you aware of the park jams that were thrown by DJs such as Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc or Grandmaster Flash back then? Did you attend them?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"I didn't really attend those too much. I would go to these parties if they were like close to my neighbourhood. I remember attending this Grandmaster Flash party in an empty supermarket and it was raining heavily outside. People were dancing , having a good time! The DJs had these huge soundsystems back then and they would get electricity from a light pole in the parks. It was fun but it got to a point where it became really dangerous to go to these parties, more guns were around and people got shot randomly so I decided not to go there anymore."</span></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzNQitA2Qgx_RnmiHeBdy9W5JuJS0v94NIgUP2fp6alBR4NNooiZSKYfb1G42SrbozhG32rqiEk-FZziHqffgzvlGGNv_arpcy77i7Nm2oWBxA804hws-h5JH_1-_-ROFZnNS-YnhTIw/s640/Pel+4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzNQitA2Qgx_RnmiHeBdy9W5JuJS0v94NIgUP2fp6alBR4NNooiZSKYfb1G42SrbozhG32rqiEk-FZziHqffgzvlGGNv_arpcy77i7Nm2oWBxA804hws-h5JH_1-_-ROFZnNS-YnhTIw/s320/Pel+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pel</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><b></b></p><p><b> </b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFuKURg-d9k7raC6464rJo2_ZEpcmsANky9Nn_kuT3rgT1Rx2I-R9rB59yrUQI5etnv5Q_Xj0xG5iqW5ubcPWNnNon4B_O-uSbA4ACU7Q_1cZIO7nWIqbInZnjWdw8Uu28du53GIEROQ/s2048/DIme+by+Pel.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1517" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFuKURg-d9k7raC6464rJo2_ZEpcmsANky9Nn_kuT3rgT1Rx2I-R9rB59yrUQI5etnv5Q_Xj0xG5iqW5ubcPWNnNon4B_O-uSbA4ACU7Q_1cZIO7nWIqbInZnjWdw8Uu28du53GIEROQ/s320/DIme+by+Pel.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Dime 2 by Pel</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /><br /><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><br /></span></b><p></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"Please name 5 songs from back then that had a huge impact on you when you were sketching?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"The first one is "Reasons" by Earth, Wind & Fire. The second one is "Sweet Sticky Thing". by The Ohio Players. The third one is also by Earth, Wind & Fire........"Brazilian Rhymes"...it used to put me in a good mood. The fourth is one "One Nation Under A Groove" by Funkadelic and the fifth one is "Aqua Boogie" by Parliament." </span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">SIR NORIN RAD:"Would you like to give shoutouts at the end of this interview?"</span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">PEL:"Yeah, I wanna give shoutout to my man Phase 2....God bless him....Lava 1 & 2.....God bless him, too! Case 2 RIP..... My friends.....Checker 170, Part 1, Chain 3, Ree, King 2 and all the other fellas that I can't remember at the moment. I wish you guys well! Be safe!<br /></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"> <br /></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"> <br /></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><br /></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"> <br /></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><br /></span></b></p><p><b><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"> </span></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> <br /></b></p><p><b> <br /> </b>
</p>Intruders From Planet Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717040574486495212noreply@blogger.com0