Old School Hip Hop: Old School, 80's, 90's,

[TheFrogFather]

Source: http://www.oldschoolhiphop.com

[TheFrogFather]

BUSY BEE

Chief Rocker Busy Bee (David Parker) first entered the hip hop in 1977. He earned his reputation and amassed a large following in early battles around New York, including winning the New Music Seminar's MC World Supremacy Belt in 1986.

He made a record in1980 called "Rappin' All Over" as a member of the Marvelous Three (which included DJ Smalls and AJ (later AJ Scratch- Kurtis Blow's DJ).

He's a member of Afrika Bambaataa's Zulu Nation.

One of his most famous and high profile roles was in Wild Style. As one of the main characters, he is featured in a battle against Lil' Rodney C of the Funky 4 + 1 and Double Trouble, as well as at the show in the film's finale with DJ AJ. Be sure to check out the funky fresh suit he's wearing on stage at the amphitheatre.

He was also involved in one of the most infamous battles in history against Kool Moe Dee. Copies of this battle have been traded around for last twenty years (including on this site).

He had an early 12" pre-Sugarhill Records was "School days" in 1980. On Sugar hill he made "Making Cash Money" in 1981 and "Busy Bee's Groove" in 1984.

His biggest record to date is "Suicide" in 1987 which was produced by Jazzy Jay and appeared on Strong City.

He did release two albums ("Running Thangs" in 1988 and "Thank God for Busy Bee"), but his work on the Wild Style soundtrack is widely considered his most memorable recordings as well as some featured tracks on the Sugar Hill box set.

He appeared on Funkmaster Flex's Mixtape Vol. 3 in 1998.

[TheFrogFather]

KURTIS BLOW

The year was 1976. A young man named Curtis Walker (born August 9, 1959) hooked up with a group of party promoters who called themselves The Force. Among that group was a rather aggressive and bold member named Russell Simmons. The group sponsored parties in Harlem until 1977 when Russell, or Rush as he came to be known, moved the group to Queens.

Kool DJ Kurt as he was known at the time was renamed to Kurtis Blow and, along with Rush's promotion, began selling himself as "the #1 rapper in Queens." At a time when rap was still being discovered by many new listeners, Kurtis carried a lot of influence over the youth at the time. Russell's 14 year old brother Joseph was no exception. He joined Kurtis as his deejay calling himself "DJ Run, the Son of Kurtis Blow." Wonder whatever happened to that kid?

In 1978-79 he worked the Disco Fever with none other than Grandmaster Flash.

Later on he utilized the deejay and production skills of Davy DMX.

A Billboard reporter named Robert Ford made contact with the duo giving them press in the magazine. And although Ford had hoped to eventually make a record with one of the other groups around at the time, Rush convinced him that the young stylish Kurtis Blow was ready to hit the studio. Another man named J.B. Moore (who is characterized in a different light in the film Krush Groove) put up the cash for the recording.

While the group was in the studio recording what would be the first single, "Christmas Rappin" or "Rappin Blow" as it is sometimes called, another single swept the country- "Rapper's Delight."

Despite the success of the single, no major label wanted anything to do with "Christmas Rappin'" assuming rap was a one hit wonder. Finally, an A&R man from Mercury heard the song and signed Kurtis Blow, who became the first rapper ever signed to a major label.

The next song recorded was "The Breaks" which is still recognizable to many today.

He went on to record one of the first political raps "Hard Times" which would later be covered by RUN DMC on their first album.

Around this time he befriended a group called The Disco Three and helped them secure a deal of their own. They went on to record as The Fat Boys.

He also went on to star in Krush Groove including a memorable live concert scene where he performed "If I Ruled the World." He indeed looked like the King of Rap in that performance.

In 1986, he and Dexter King, son of civil rights slain leader Martin Luther King Jr., put together a single titled, "King's Holiday" in observance for the holiday by The King's Holiday All Star Chorus which featured Run-D.M.C., Whodini, Grandmaster Melle Mel, and The Fat Boys.

He appeared in the documentary film The Show.

Kurtis Blow appears on a cd by LEN called "You Can't Stop the Bum Rush in 1999 on a track called "Cold Chillin'".

Though no longer recording new material Kurtis still tours the world and has become a highly influential behind the scenes player in the world of Hip Hop. Most recently he assembled a three disc collection called "Kurtis Blow Presents The History of Rap." Not only is it a great collection, but Kurt's liner notes are the shining star of the project.

He is also compiling a film documenting the history of hip hop.

[TheFrogFather]

KOOL MOE DEE

Kool Moe Dee was born on August 8, 1962/3 as Mohandes Dewese. His early career began with his work with The Treacherous Three. (See their link for more info)

After leaving the group he attended college in NY and received a degree in communications.

He was also involved in one of the most infamous battles in history against Busy Bee.

Kool Moe Dee kick started his solo career while he was still signed to Sugar Hill with T3, releasing the single "Turn It Up" and lending his writing talents the Sugar Hill Gang's single "The Down Beat" (he also recorded his own version). Both singles were released in 1985.

Once he decided to reenter the hip hop scene full time on his own he enlisted the help of an unknown producer named Teddy Riley. The first single was "Go See the Doctor" and it made them both famous.

By 1986 he had signed to Jive and released his first solo album.

In 1987, with the release of his next album "How Ya Like Me Now" and the single of the same name, Moe Dee moved into one of the most highlighted portions of his career. He took on LL Cool J in a war of words. LL fired back with "Jack the Ripper." Moe Dee returned with "Let's Go." LL countered with "To The Break of Dawn." And Moe Dee finished up with "Death Blow." Good luck deciding on a clear winner (I think it was LL), but the results are one of the classic battles in hip hop history.

He became the first rapper to ever perform on the Grammy Awards. He also participated in The Stop The Violence Movement single "Self Destruction." In addition, he was part of the Quincy Jones project, "Back on the Block."

He has continued to release albums into the 90's without much success with the exception of his greatest hits collections.

He has released some tracks on Chuck D's SlamJamz.Com site.

Also he is now spelling his name "Kool Mo Dee",

He has appeared in several movies in the 1990's and 2000's including, (courtesy of IMDB.com)

New Guy, The (2002) .... Ted
Crossroads (2002) (as Kool Mo Dee) .... Bar Owner
Out Kold (2001) .... Blackie
Brother (2000) .... Jack
Cypress Edge (1999) .... Agent Armstrong
Storm Trooper (1998) .... Driver
Gang Related (1997) .... Lionel Hudd
Panther (1995) .... Jamal
Strapped (1993) (TV) .... Gun Dealer
Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones (1990) .... Himself

[TheFrogFather]

SUGARHILL GANG

The story of the Sugarhill Gang is perhaps one of the most controversial among old school hip hop and hip hop on a whole for that matter.

A woman named Sylvia Robinson, who herself was involved in the music industry, heard this new underground sound called rap and felt that there was market there for the taking. She began to put together a group to record a rap record.

At the same time, Henry Jackson was a bouncer in club and also a part time hip hop manager. Henry used to listen to mix tapes of various crews of the time and rap along with the lyrics. One night Sylvia overheard Henry repeating some rhymes of Grandmaster Caz of the Cold Crush Brothers. She asked Henry if he was interested in joining a group.

Here's where the controversy begins.

Instead of revealing the true author of the rhymes, Henry agreed. He later went to visit Caz who agreed to let Henry use his rhymes. Caz figured if Henry got hooked up, he was later help Caz and Cold Crush do the same. Obviously, he never did.

Henry Jackson, now renamed Big Bank Hank, joined Wonder Mike, and Master Gee and formed the Sugarhill Gang. They went on to record "Rapper's Delight." The song eventually went on to sell over 2 million copies, hit #4 on the R&B chart, and became the highest selling 12 inch single ever.

When the true hip hop crews heard the song on the radio they were stunned. Grandmaster Flash recalls thinking, "Sugarhill who?" No one knew who this group was, but nevertheless, they broke the sound from the underground and blew it up worldwide.

In an ironic tint to the whole story, check out one of Hank's rhymes:

"But whatever you do, in your lifetime/
You never let an MC steal your rhymes"

And how about this one:
"I'm the C-A-S-A-N-O-V-A...." Hank was spelling Caz's named before he shortened it to just Caz.

The group did record several other singles, none of which approached the success of the original, however, some were successful. "8th Wonder" reached #15 on the R&B chart. "Apache" peaked at #13.

Kory O eventually replaced Master Gee.

They released a new album in 1999 entitled "Jump On It." But instead of breaking down musical doors, they are doing this one for the children. The tracks will be aimed at the youth listeners and will include a new version of "Rapper's Delight" called "It's Like a Dream Sometimes.

Grandmaster Melle Mel will lend his vocal talents to the project as well.

They will be donating a portion of any money raised to The Boys & Girls Club of America.

The group still tours fairly regularly and can be seen from time to time on various TV specials.

[TheFrogFather]

WHODINI

Formed in the early 80's Whodini got its start in a rather unusual way. Keyboard wiz Thomas Dolby brought in a track to Jive. Someone suggested they have someone rap over it. The label grabbed Jalil and Ecstasy to record a track about radio personality Mister Magic. The song gained more attention oversees than in New York.

They eventually used tracks recorded from producers all over Europe for their first album which never really received much success.

They were also the first group to include official dancers in their show, utilizing Dr. Ice and Kangol Kid of UTFO.

Their next effort, however, was different story. Escape is the best known Whodini album. It featured "Friends," "Freaks Come Out at Night" and "Big Mouth" and ended up going platinum. There more melodic sound opened doors for them outside of the normal rap channels. And for a while it was the highest selling rap album ever.

Whodini put out a hype EP called "SIX" in 1996.

By the time their next album came out, LL Cool J was the man to watch and their R&B edge paled next to his hard hitting rhymes. They did achieve some success with the classics "Funky Beat" and "One Love."

Members appeared in the documentary film The Show.

They did go on to record some other albums and showed up on a moderately successful single on Terminator X's second album.

Members
Jalil (Jalil Hutchins)
Ecstasy (John Fletcher)
Grandmaster Dee (Drew Carter)

Discography
Whodini
Escape
Back in Black
Open Sesame
Bag-A-Trix
Six
Greatest Hits
Jive Collection Series, Vol. 1

[TheFrogFather]

GRANDMASTER FLASH & THE FURIOUS FIVE

Born in Barbados, Grandmaster Flash is one of the Holy Trinity of Hip Hop.

Flash learned the basic art of cutting between records from Herc in the mid-70's.

Along with Afrika Bambaataa, Flash was an early competitor of Herc. Flash recalls Herc embarrassing him because he didn't have the system (nor did anyone else at the time) that could compete with Herc's. He decided to make up for what he was missing in volume with flawless technique.

Not only could Flash cut from one record to the next without missing a beat, he added in a new element. He would take phrases and sections of different records and play them over other records. He installed a device that would allow him, through the use of headphones, to hear what was going on on each record. Herc didn't use this technique until much later.

He began to develop a following from house parties and block parties. People would come to hear and see Flash and his partner "Mean Gene" Livingston. Gene's brother, a 13 year old named Theodore, practiced with Flash and is often credited as the inventor of "scratching." Obviously this technique was mimicked by every DJ and became standard practice.

By 1978, Flash had surpassed Herc in popularity, but there was a decided shift in the realm of hip hop. While still important, deejays began to take second place to MC's.

Flash rapped and made the shout outs on his own at first, but he knew if he wanted to remain innovative and retain his flawless turntable technique he needed some help.

He worked for a short time in 1978-79 with Kurtis Blow before recruiting a few of his friends Keith (Cowboy) Wiggins, and two brothers, Melvin (Melle Mel) and the older sibling, Nathaniel (Kidd Creole) Glover. They soon began writing their own rhymes and calling themselves The Three MC's. Over time they added in Guy (Rahiem) Williams and Eddie (Mr. Ness/Scorpio) Morris and became the legendary group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

They went on to battle the likes of The Treacherous Three and, ironically, Grand Wizard Theodore (Livingston) and The Fantastic Five.

The group recorded the single, "We Rap More Mellow" on Brass Records under the name, The Younger Generation. They also released a along with a live version of "Flash To The Beat" on Bozo Meko Records under the name Flash and The Five.

They went on to record for Enjoy! Records before moving over to the land of Sugar Hill Records.

Flash is also credited with using the electronic beat box. He would put it between his turntables and use it to play the beat in between records.

Flash briefly appears in the hip hop film Wild Style cutting records in his kitchen.

In 1981, Flash released what is considered the most influential display of cutting and scratching ever recorded- "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel." On it he uses sections of "Rapture", "Good Times," "Another One Bites the Dust," and sections from some of their previous work. This was the first time that people heard a song of nothing but a record on a record.

But, without question, the most influential song ever recorded by this group was released in June of 1982, only one week after The Sugar Hill Gang had released "The Lover in You" a much more typical Sugar Hill record. "The Lover in You" peaked out at #55 on the charts.

"The Message" peaked at #4.

"The Message" changed the playing field for what a rap record could do. It showed that you could make things other than party songs and still sell records. It featured Melle Mel and Duke Bootee (a Sugarhill session musician named Ed Fletcher). It is known that Melle Mel is angry about how everyone else shared credit for the song. Duke Bootee wasn't even credited on the song at all. Critics raved about the song, despite rumors that many members of the group didn't want to record it in the first place. Nevertheless it paved the way for such acts as Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions who would also go on to infuse much of their music with political and social commentaries.

Also along the same lines as "The Message" was the anti drug song "White Lines (Don't Do It)" which was supposedly a tribute to cocaine before the "don't do it" was added in later.

By 1983, Run DMC was emerging and Flash and the Five began their fall from the spotlight. Flash sued Sugar Hill Records for $5 million in royalties. The suit split the group in half. Melle Mel leading one side (which included a performance in the film Beat Street) and Flash on the other. Although they did reunite in 1987 to record a new album, it was not well received and the group disbanded permanently.

In 1989, Cowboy died after spending nearly two years strung out on crack. He was twenty eight years old.

Production duties for Flash away from the Furious Five and his own material was Donald D's "Don's Groove" in 1983 Just Ice's 1990 album "Masterpiece" was solely produced by him.

Group members appeared in the documentary film The Show.

Melle Mel and Scorpio released an album in entitled "Right Now" 1997.

Grandmaster Flash was the musical director of HBO's The Chris Rock Show. He also appeared in Jon Favreau's 2001 motion picture "Made".

Melle Mel also lent his vocal talents to the Sugarhill Gang for their album "Jump on It."

Both Flash and Melle Mel released new CD's in the beginning of 2002. Melle Mel with his new group Die Hard and Flash on his own entitled "The Official Adventures of Grandmaster Flash" and "Essential Mix: Classic Collection"

Grandmaster Flash has also been working on a new mixer, a turntable tournament, and other projects.

The group was recognized at the VH1 Hip Hop Honors in 2005. A new album from Melle Mel is expected in 2006.

[TheFrogFather]

KOOL HERC

Did you know that a man named Clive Campbell who was born in 1955 in Kingston, Jamaica is The Father of Hip Hop?

Why don't you?

Kool Herc emigrated to the Bronx in 1967 when he was 12 years old. While attending Alfred E. Smith High School he spent a lot of time in the weight room. That fact coupled with his height spurned the other kids to call him Hercules.

His first deejay gig was as his sister's birthday party. It was the start of an industry.

1520 Sedgwick Avenue. The address of Herc's family and the location of the recreation room where he would throw many of his first parties as the DJ.

Herc became aware that although he new which records would keep the crowd moving, he was more interested in the break section of the song. At this point in a song, the vocals would stop and the beat would just ride for short period. His desire to capture this moment for a longer period of time would be a very important one for hip hop.

Herc would purchase two copies of the same record and play them on separate turntables next to each other. He would play the break beat on one record then throw it over to the other turntable and play the same part. Doing this over and over, he could rock any house in NY. (Not to mention it being an early form of looping that would be made easier through electronic sampling.)

He would dig in crates and look everywhere to find the perfect break beat for his parties. He didn't care what type of music, because he only needed a small section of a song for his purposes.

His first professional DJ job was at the Twilight Zone in 1973. He wanted to get into another place called the Hevalo, but wasn't allowed...yet.

His fame grew. In addition to his break beats, Herc also became known as the man with the loudest system around. When he decided to hold a party in one of the parks, it was a crazy event. And a loud one. At this time Afrika Bambaataa and other competing DJ's began trying to take Herc's crown. Jazzy Jay of the Zulu Nation recalls one momentous meeting between Herc and Bam.

Herc was late setting up and Bam continued to play longer than he should have. Once Herc was set up he got on the microphone and said "Bambaataa, could you please turn your system down?" Bam's crew was pumped and told Bam not to do it. So Herc said louder, "Yo, Bambaataa, turn your system down-down-down." Bam's crew started cursing Herc until Herc put the full weight of his system up and said, "Bambaataa-baataa -baataa, TURN YOUR SYSTEM DOWN!" And you couldn't even hear Bam's set at all. The Zulu crew tried to turn up the juice but it was no use. Everybody just looked at them like, "You should've listened to Kool Herc."

Finally his fame peaked and at last, in 1975, he began working at the Hevalo in the Bronx. He helped coin the phrase b-boy (break boy) and was recently quoted as saying he was "the oldest living b-boy."

As competing DJ's looked to cut in on the action, Herc would soak the labels off his records so no one could steal his beats.

Grandmaster Flash had another story about Herc in his heyday

Flash would go into the Hevalo to check out Herc, but Herc would always embarrass him. He would call Flash out on the mike and then cut out all the highs and lows on the system and just play the midrange. Herc would say, "Flash in order to be a qualified disc jockey...you must have highs." Then he would crank up the highs and they would sizzle through the crowd. Then he would say, "And most of all, Flash, you must have...bass." And when Herc's bass came in the whole place would be shaking. Flash would get so embarrassed he would leave.

After a while spinning the records got to be an all intensive thing and Herc wouldn't have as much time to talk to the crowd and get them going. He needed someone else to help out and act as the Master of Ceremonies for him. And thus, for all practical purposes, Coke La Rock became the first hip hop MC ever.

Another club that Herc rocked was the Sparkle located at 174th and Jerome Avenue in the Bronx. This was the spot that came before the Hilltop, 371 (DJ Hollywood's spot) and Disco Fever.

In 1977, Herc's career began to fall. The rise of Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five, and Bambaataa's various crews with their polished emcee styles put Herc at a disadvantage. One night he was stabbed three times at his own party and his career never fully recovered.

He appeared as himself in the film Beat Street.

Kool Herc played his last Old School party in 1984.

Most recently he has appeared on Terminator X's release "The Godfathers of Threat" and with the Chemical Brothers on their album "Dig Your Own Hole."

Similar to Bambaataa he does appear in Europe and New York from time to time.

Although he is not part of the hip hop vocabulary of most of those who listen to it these days (unfortunately), Kool Herc is the father of this underground sound from New York that found its way to becoming a worldwide phenomenon.

Kool Herc lives on...

[TheFrogFather]

RUN DMC CONCERT REVIEW by JOHNG
March 18, 2001

A friend and I had the pleasure of taking a road trip to Peoria, Illinois last week to witness the tenth stop of Run DMC's Spring tour.

I'll give a brief rundown of the set before I make a few comments on the evening as a whole.

The Kings of Rock opened with the usual Jam Master Jay introduction on the turntables. If you've ever seen them in concert, you'll know exactly what I'm referring to.

DMC stomped out second and the crowd (of maybe 200) really got going. Finally DJ Run appeared and they dropped right into a loud version of "King of Rock."

They played all the hits including "Rock Box", "It's Tricky", and "My Adidas." When Run and D took a short break JMJ came out to the crowd to take requests. He laughed and semi mocked someone in the crowd saying "Play 'Walk this Way' dude."

Once D and Run came back they broke into "Here We Go" and a rousing, crowd chanting version of "Ooo Watcha Gonna Do."

Of course, my personal highlight of the evening was "It's Like That" including the old school Krush Groove intro "Now DJ Run's my name, Jam Master Jay is his....." and so forth.

They did play "Walk This Way" which was a bit of a surprise considering Jay's reaction earlier in the show.

They did an outstanding version of "Peter Piper" with both MC's going through the usually lightening quick intro at a slower pace with Jay cutting up behind them.

Run and Jay did a beatbox version of "Crown Royal" and a couple other tracks off the new album.

Now that's enough of a track listing. Let's talk about the show itself.

Anyone who goes to a Run DMC show and is educated on the history of this music has to simply stand in awe of this group. Jam Master Jay plays the turntables like few other deejay's ever have. He is completely at ease with them. There is little showboating or spinning around like many younger guys do today. He simply does his thing and thing gets the crowd moving with the microphone. DMC is a tall man that when you look at him you know he's a force to reckon with. And really, is there anyone more sure of himself and his crew other than Joseph "DJ Run" Simmons.

Let's talk about DMC's voice. Sure, it isn't what it was before. Sure, Jay helps out with some of his verses. But the bottom line is Darryl McDaniel IS DMC. He's not some new jack who's trying to make himself into something he isn't. He is D THE MC. One third of the most influential hip hop group ever. For that fact alone he deserves and gets respect.

I love Run. How can you not? The guy has always been the more animated of the two MC's. During this show he made crazy faces and motions with his body they whole show. He says every word like he is completely serious about taking out every other rapper in the world with every verse. He knows exactly where he fits in the annuls of hip hop and demands that everyone in the crowd give him his due.

It's amazing how many times Jay's records played "RUN DMC AND JAM MASTER JAY". It was all night and every time he did. Run and D would get in their b-boy stance and the crowd would love it. Just the mention of the group's name insights applause and excitement from the crowd.

It's sad to think that there may not be many more Run DMC tours. They may continue on, but as most of you know DMC is looking to head in different musical directions than the Run and J. Who knows how many more tours the original trio has in them?

If you do get a chance to see them, take the opportunity now. Most truly old school groups aren't available for us to see anymore. We have to rely of 30th generation bootlegs of live shows from 20 years ago. Here is your chance to see the old school live and breath.

Take the time to see them before all we have left of Run, D, and Jay are mix tapes.

[TheFrogFather]

Big & Proud: Afrika Bambaataa in Concert
by ToddeB
July 7, 2000 Back to Features

July 4, 2000 - Copenhagen, Denmark, Club Rust, 11:00 pm.

Due to the fact that Denmark is so far north the sky was still light as we entered the club unsure if we were in the party mood yet. But as Afrika Bambaataa took to the tables on the small stage in Club Rust this July fourth, any doubts of missing the vibe disappeared.

With a near capacity crowd of 200 on hand this Tuesday evening Bam took us all for a promised “musical journey”. While rockin’ a shirt with the phrase “Big & Proud” on the back, there was no doubt that Bam’s beats were as large as ever. Spanning from e-funk, reggae, drum and bass, go-go, hip hop, then to house we all found ourselves gettin’ busy. Bam turned out these Danes for over two hours and left me begging to go home to NYC.

The style was so casual and intelligent , reaching deep into the crates to turn out the scene in Copenhagen like no one else can. With the chants of “Zulu” from the blonde haired blue eyed back row, Bambaataa gave everyone what they came for and much more to take home. He delivered a package which was raw but on point, setting you up with his electro funk and house then dropping in references which reminded you of his old school roots. All in all it was a big night for Copenhagen and an even bigger one for the reality that the old school is alive and well in Scandinavia.

[TheFrogFather]

Jazzy J in Concert
by Ed Roberts
September 18, 2000 Back to Features

Jazzy J was in the house here in the UK very recently touching down at a small venue which is home to an old skool flava night called The Phonic Hoop, home to a lot of UK Trip Hop/Big Beat Talent from Wall of Sound, Ninja Tune, Skint & Big Kahuna).

His appearance was nothing more than a DJ set, but he played some interesting and fun stuff for UK breaking crew, The New Park Rockers, to throwdown to.

The J man played self-produced cuts from Busy Bee and some Strong City stuff mixed in with break beat super funk from way back like "Ashley's Roachclip", "Apache", "The Mexican" and "God Made Me Funky".

He didn't just come on stage for ten-minutes either which these famous guys are loath to do. He was up there for almost 90 minutes and his hands were always at work rarely letting a track rock for more than 3 minutes, far better than we had a right to expect considering that this country is awash with over-paid wack sap suckers who think old skool records played at the jam should start with "I Know You Got Soul" and end with "Rebel Without A Pause"

This leads us on to Steinski, the guy who did the Lesson records and the pioneer of the cut and paste sample record. He sucked so much every vacuum cleaner in the place stopped to give it up for his ass....He was on stage for 15 minutes, played Lesson's 1, 2 and 3 and two badly mixed Robbie & Jazzy J records for the late 80's then he fucked off home.

It's lucky DJ Food and Matt Black of Cold Cut where there to rescue the night. This guy gave the subsequent old skoolers visiting Broighton a bad name.

[TheFrogFather]

THE EVOLUTION OF RAPPER'S DELIGHT
by JohnG
February 24, 2004 Back to Features

Everybody knows this song. Thanks to the revitalization of disco in the late 1990's and several remakes (include one by a grandmother), the words "Now what you hear is not a test, I'm rappin' to the beat/ And me, the groove, and my friends are gonna try and move your feet/" are recognizable. But how did this happen? Who were these guys? That's this month's topic.

First of all, "Rapper's Delight" was not the first rap record. Earlier in 1979, a funk group called The Fatback Band, or simply Fatback, released a single on Spring Records called "You're My Candy Sweet." That song held little significance, but the B side entitled "King Tim III (Personality Jock)", was picked up by radio stations and surprised everyone.

Returning to "Rapper's Delight", the group that recorded it, The Sugarhill Gang, was not exactly a well known crew before the song. In fact, they weren't a crew at all. Sylvia Robinson, co-founder of newly created Sugar Hill records, heard this new sound from her kids and decided she could take advantage of it.

Wonder Mike was a buddy of Sylvia's oldest son. Master G heard through the grapevine that Sylvia was making a record and arranged an audition for himself. Both of these guys were in previous groups. The final piece of the group, Big Bank Hank, is the real mystery. Hank picked up rapping as a bouncer at an NY club. Sylvia heard him rhyming in the kitchen and signed him up. While that may be an unusual break, the rhymes he was using were the real problem- they weren't his. They belonged to Grandmaster Caz of The Cold Crush Brothers. Hank helped manage Cold Crush and asked Caz if he could use his rhymes on the record. Caz agreed under the assumption that Hank would help him if anything good happened. Hank even went so far as to spell out Caz's original name, Casanova Fly, in the verse, proving that he didn't write it.

The song used the backing of Chic's popular disco track "Good Times" a deejay favorite when it was released in 1979. Originally the song's composer Nile Rodgers was not credited on "Rapper's Delight" but that was later changed.

Once the record was finished Joe Robinson, partner/wife of Sylvia, was quoted as saying she brought him a 15 minute record and he had no clue how to get it played on the radio. Once he heard the song, however, he knew it would only take one play on any station and that would be enough to start the momentum. One of the big breaks came in St. Louis, MO when station WESL played it once and jammed the phone lines for the next 12 hours. Chuck D of Public Enemy said, "It wasn't how long the 15 minutes were, but how short the 15 minutes were."

Once the song started playing heavily on the radio, other New York MC's and DJ's were stunned and amazed. And not so much because rap was on the radio, but because of who the group was that was being played. Grandmaster Flash recalled thinking, "The Sugarhill who". It was inevitable that a rap record would hit, but most people thought it would be The Cold Crush Brothers, The Fantastic 5, Grandmaster Flash, or Kurtis Blow (who was in the studio at the same time recording "Christmas Rappin').

The song sold over two million copies (the biggest 12" single ever) and hit #4 on the R&B Chart. At one point, the record was selling over 50000 copies a day.

The Sugarhill Gang was never able to recapture the same success although they did have other hits included "8th Wonder" and "Apache".

They have been able to continue to tour even today on the success of "Rapper's Delight".

[TheFrogFather]

"The Message": A Classic That Almost Never Was
by JohnG
June 3, 2001 Back to Features

"Don't push me, cause I'm close to the edge, I'm trying not to lose my head."

It doesn't take too long for someone to delve into the realm of Old School Hip
Hop before that line comes crashing into your consciousness.

"The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five was released in
summer of 1982. It went on to peak at #4 on the R&B Chart and #62 on the
Pop Chart and changed the face of hip hop forever.

But it almost didn't happen at all.

A session musician/producer for Sugarhill Records named Ed Fletcher, also
known as Duke Bootee, laid much of the groundwork. He developed the line "It's
like a jungle..." to go along with an African track he was working on and ran it
passed the head of Sugarhill, Sylvia Robinson. She liked the verse but wanted to
switch the track to something more commercial.

Fletcher wrote the remainder of his verses and Robinson took the track to the
Furious Five. At first none of the five were able to adapt their personal styles to
the song, eventually complaining that they were doubtful that the song would be
ever be popular.

It's certainly important to note that up to this point, the majority of the main stream
hip hop songs were party oriented. While there are exceptions, so called
"message" songs were not usually going to sell many copies.

Fletcher and more importantly Robinson were both adament that the song would
be successful. Finally Melle Mel returned and thought that a few of his lines from
a previous song would match up nicely with this new concept.

Unfortunately the verse was used on the song "Superrappin" which was originally
recorded on Bobby Robinson's Enjoy! label. Sylvia did what was needed to gain
permission use the lyrics again.

In addition to breaking new lyrical territory, "The Message" was also one of the
first records to use bass sythnesizer instead of a live bass player as in the previous
Sugarhill sessions.

So basically Sugarhill Records had this amazing song that used Melle Mel and
essentially an unknown rapper. Still, they decided to release it as a Grandmaster
Flash and The Furious Five song despite the fact that only Melle Mel had any
creative input.

When the record took off, it sent the group into a new league. Suddenly The
Audubon Ballroom wasn't the biggest venue around. They began touring with well
known R&B and rock acts in arenas and stadiums across the country.

As they say, "time is everything". The early 80's was a perfect setting for the
song. Melle Mel has stated, referring to the opening line of this column, "At that
time anybody could have said that...half the people in America probably wanted to
say that". (quoted from Alex Ogg's "The Hip Hop Years- A History of Rap")

Almost twenty years later, true hip hop fans still are.

[TheFrogFather]

Looking to dig deeper into the History of Hip Hop? Many of this books provide you an excellent opportunity to learn more.

Books are listed alphabetically by Title, includes author(s) and published year.

Click below to read more on each title. This section is still under construction.

And It Don't Stop : The Best American Hip-Hop Journalism of the Last 25 Years
Nelson George (Foreword), Raquel Cepeda (Editor) - 2004

Back in the Days - Jamel Shabazz (Photographer), Fab 5 Freddy (Introduction), Ernie Paniccioli (Contributor) - 2001

Bring the Noise - Havelock Nelson & Michael Gonzales - 1991

Can't Stop Won't Stop - Jeff Chang - 2005

Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists - Sacha Jenkins, Elliott Wilson, Chairman Mao, Gabriel Alverez & Brent Rollins - 1999

Hip Hop America - Nelson George - 1998

It's Like That : A Spiritual Memoir - Joseph Simmons (aka DJ Run) - 2000

Jam Master Jay: The Heart of Hip-Hop David E. Thigpen - 2003

King of Rock : Respect, Responsibility, and My Life With Run-DMC - Darryl McDaniels (aka DMC) - 2001

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life : The History of the Disc Jockey - Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton - 2000

Life and Def : Sex, Drugs, Money, and God - Russell Simmons - 2001

Looking for the Perfect Beat : The Art and Culture of the DJ - Kurt Reighley - 2000

Rap - B. Adler - 1991

Rap Attack 3 - David Toop - 1999

Rev. Run's Words of Wisdom - Rev Run - 2006

Raising Hell : The Reign, Ruin, and Redemption of Run-D.M.C. and Jam Master Jay - Amistad - 2005

Street Conscious Rap - James G. Spady - 1999

The Hip Hop Years: A History of Rap - Alex Ogg with David Upshal - 1999

The New Beats - S.H. Fernando Jr - 1994

Tougher Than Leather: The Authorized Biography of Run DMC - B. Adler - 1987 (updated in 2002)

Vibe History of Hip Hop - Alan Light - 1999

Who Shot Ya? Three Decades of Hiphop Photography by Ernie Paniccioli (Photographer), Kevin Powell - 2002

Yes Yes Y'All: The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip-Hop's First Decade - Jim Fricke (Editor), Charlie Ahearn (Editor), Nelson George (Introduction) - 2002

[TheFrogFather]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_school_hip_hop

[TheFrogFather]

http://www.daveyd.com/hiphopvscivilrightsarticle.html

Hip Hop vs Civil Rights
by Lee Hubbard... 5/20/02
"We never said we had a perfect city, we never said we didn't have problems," said Newark New Jersey Mayor Sharpe James as he addressed his supporters at the Service Employees International Union, Newark. "But we've certainly come a long way."

James had just come from voting for himself in a contentious election for Mayor of Newark, in which federal poll observers had to be called in to monitor the race. James beat his opponent, freshmen Newark Councilman Cory Booker, 56 to 43 percent, in a heated campaign that spotlighted the generation divide within the black community and how this divide will become a prevalent issue within the African American community for years to come.

This could be seen in the make-up of the two candidates. Booker, a 33-year-old highly educated Ivy League black politician? an upstart "New Democrat," and James a 66-year-old Newark civil rights pioneer. While Booker had just moved to the Newark area 6 years before, James has been a Newark resident all of his life.

Booker advocated the use of school vouchers to get black students out of failing schools, decried government corruption and leading up into the campaign, he had made headlines for himself by holding a hunger strike outside a drug-infested housing project, and living in a trailer in front of some of the Newarks worst neighborhoods, to draw attention to the crime in the areas.

James, a long time political player in New Jersey politics, was one of the first black councilmen in Newark. During the campaign, he talked about the progress he helped to usher in as Newarks mayor. He took credit for a 50 percent drop in crime in the city, and the re-development taking place in Newark. Various Downtown businesses such as Prudential, Blue Cross, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and a minor baseball stadium in recent years. .

While both James and Booker are Democrats, the friction on the political campaign between the two, is a good example of the divide taking place between the civil rights generation and the hip-hop generation. "The black generation gap is a divide that is as vast as the one that separated white America in the 1960s, as radical white youth culture broke from the mainstream and swept across the country," said Bakari Kitwana, author of 'The Hip-Hop Generation: Crisis in African-American Culture'.

On the campaign trail, James called Booker an interloper and he questioned his black authenticity. "You have to learn to be an African-American, and we don't have time to train you all night," said James of Booker.

James also brought out two stalwarts of the civil rights movement, the Reverend Jesse Jackson who called Booker a "wolf in sheeps clothing" and the Reverend Al Sharpton, to campaign for him. This helped to bring out older blacks to vote against the young upstart.

Booker had Spike Lee campaign for him, calling him the "right thing." He also talked about change and bringing efficiency to Newark government so everyone can benefit from the development and changes Newark was experiencing. He made a further drop in crime, more investment dollars into Newark, and a change in the educational system as his main campaign goals.

While Booker downplayed James comments on his authenticity, the comments point to the resentment some older blacks feel towards younger blacks. This gap can be found in continuing disputes over rap lyrics (dismissed as "obscenity" by many older blacks) and the casual use of the "N-word" as a term of endearment by many younger blacks.

It also can increasingly be seen politically. According to a recent study by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found that younger blacks (ages 18 to 25) were six times (24 percent versus 4 percent) more likely than those ages 51 to 64 to say that the lack of good candidates is a reason not to vote. On issues such as on school vouchers, blacks under 50 are much more likely to support school vouchers than blacks over 50.

At 33 million, blacks make up about 12 percent of the U.S. population, and of that number, 18 million are under the age of 30. This group, often called the "hip-hop generation," is much more politically independent than their black elders who went through the civil rights movement.

While this challenge of the status quo was apparent in the Newark mayoral race, its also taken place in other cities. This could be seen in the November 2001 Detroit mayoral race between 31-year-old state Sen. Kwame Kilpatrick and 69-year-old Detroit City Council member Gil Hill. During that race, Hill made an issue of Kilpatrick's age, saying voters should choose "an experienced driver at the wheel, not someone with a learner's permit." While Booker lost to James the seasoned politician, Kilpatrick won in his race against Hill, as voters expressed change. As Black America changes, blacks from the hip-hop generation will want to lead cities, organizations and corporations and there ambition may come at the expense of blacks from the older generation. While this may be inevitable, if the black community is to succeed, the young will need wisdom and guidance of the older generation.

To make that happen, both sides of the gap must mend fences, acknowledge there past errors and foster dialogue between the generations. Hopefully, James and Booker can do this one-day.

Lee Hubbard writes on hip-hop, national and urban affairs, and he can be reached by e-mail at superle@hotmail.com. He is a contributor to the book, "After 911: Solutions for a Saner World'' (The Independent Media Institute, 2002).

[TheFrogFather]

http://www.daveyd.com/nwalatimespt1.html

NWA: Straight Outta Compton
by TERRY MCDERMOTT of the LA Times 4/14/02
This is an incredible article that first appeaered in the April 14th Sunday edition of the Los Angles Times. It gives a full break down of the world's most dangerous group.
Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics
No One Was Ready for N.W.A's 'Straight Outta Compton.' But It Sold 3 Million Records and Transformed the Music Industry.

By TERRY MCDERMOTT of the Los Angles Times

The beginning of the end of life as we know it occurred here, on a beaten patch of asphalt out in the vast, flat no man's land of greater Los Angeles.

The beginning of the end came unannounced. There was no salute, no blast of trumpets or heavenly choir. It came in the sunken heat of summer at an abandoned drive-in movie theater called the Roadium.

The Roadium was graced by a grand arched gate that, in its day, promised entry to whatever secret kingdom Hollywood could conjure. By the summer of 1985, though, the drive-in, its dreams and innocent magic are relics of a long-gone past. The dull blur of south county towns the Roadium served--Torrance, Lawndale, Hawthorne, Gardena, Carson and Compton--are staging areas in a decade-long descent into what feels at times like a war zone; and at times is. Street corners are outposts in a new crack economy, boulevards battle lines dividing endless variations of Bloods and Crips, usually from one another, always from themselves. With the drive-in theater gone, the stuff of dreams has been traded for just plain stuff. The Roadium's arch now frames an open-air bazaar piled high with cheap Chinese toys, one-size-fits-all Sri Lankan socks, used car batteries, secondhand tool chests, last year's Barbie dolls and canned peas with last week's use-by date. The Roadium is a swap meet.

The first thing you notice are the people. The place is so jammed you wonder how they ever got along without it. At the moment, the biggest crowd surrounds a little stall just inside the old arch. Kids are lined up two, three deep along the perimeter of the stall, whooping and hollering. A lanky Japanese guy, whippet-thin and wired, presides behind a homemade plywood table in the middle of the noise. The table is stacked high with records, LPs and those 12-inch singles that disc jockeys spin. He's got more of the same displayed on a 20-foot-wide pegboard behind him.

He's got so much product that some days, days when the heat is so thick you could lean against it, the table legs sink an inch into the melting asphalt.

The whole place isn't much bigger than a walk-in closet, and it's hot in every way imaginable. The air's an oven, the kids fired by the desire for the new.

"Yo, Steve. Whatcha got?"

"Stevie, Stevie, whatcha got new, man?"

Steve Yano is the man of the moment, an East L.A. guy who has somehow swapped a career as a high school guidance counselor to become the uncrowned king of a swap meet music underground. He has turned his table into the hippest, hottest record store on the West Coast. He's got everything--all the new East Coast hip-hop, the best old-school R&B, all the L.A. dance jams, that locking-and-popping stuff you see on "Soul Train." He has stuff nobody else has, stuff nobody else has ever heard of. He has stuff so new it doesn't even exist yet (not officially), stuff with no labels, no packaging, just the stamp of the new.

It is the new that tugs at the ears of the man who will deliver the beginning of the end of life as we know it. He's a little guy, 5-5, 5-6, tops, with the slow swagger of a hustler fat on house money. Steve Yano remembers him showing up that first day at the Roadium, going through piles of 12-inch singles. Big piles.

"He looks 'em over, stacks 'em up. Then says, 'I'll take these."'

The guy has maybe 20 records in front of him. Yano is used to kids buying one, maybe two at a time. These are not rich kids. They wouldn't be at the swap meet if they were. Yano thinks this guy is scamming.

"All those?" he asks.

"Yeah," the kid says. He's got a high, squeaky voice that makes him sound even younger than he looks. And he looks about 13. He picks up one of the 12-inchers, a cut from some local DJs called the World Class Wreckin' Cru.

"Where you get that from?" he asks.

The question doesn't even register with Yano, who still can't believe the kid has money to buy all the records he has in front of him.

"All of them?" he asks.

"Sure," the kid says, and reaches down in his sock. He comes back up with a roll of cash. He peels the bills off. Bam. Just like that.

Then he says: "Tell Dre, Eric says, 'Whassup?' "

With that, Eric Wright turns and walks off with a stack of records half as big as he is. Yano, of course, tells Dre nothing. Dre, Andre Young, a member of the Wreckin' Cru, is one of the hottest young DJs in L.A. He doesn't need to be bothered, man. Not with this kid anyhow.

Wright comes back the next weekend, asks about Dre again, wants his numbers. He's polite but persistent and comes back every week. Yano finally asks Dre if he knows a homeboy named Eric Wright. And damned if Dre doesn't.

"Next thing I know," Yano says, "those guys are on a three-way call with me at 2 in the morning. Eric wants to open a record store. I tell him, 'Don't do it. It's a bad business. I can show you how, but don't do it.' "

Eric has money--street money, dope money--and wants to go straight. Dre, meanwhile, bugs Yano, who knows every low-level somebody in the record business in all of Los Angeles, to start a record label. Dre wants a place to put out his own music.

In time, these dreams merged and came true. Eric went into the record business, all right, not with a corner store but with his own label and Dre was on it. Soon that label, Ruthless Records, sent out into the world some of the weirdest, funniest, saddest, maddest music anybody ever heard. Out of that little swap meet stall came the partnership that rocked, then overran the record business.

The partnership took full form in the hip-hop group Niggaz With Attitude, which in 1988 released a record called "Straight Outta Compton." This was the group's first national release. N.W.A was largely unknown. The record contained no hit singles. In most of the country, nothing from the record was played even once on the radio. It was too crude, too misogynistic, too violent. MTV, which had by then established itself as the primary gatekeeper of popular culture, refused to play N.W.A videos.

No radio, no television and no publicity.

"Straight Outta Compton" sold 3 million records.

The music it contained was so perverse, so nihilistic, so forbidden, politicians--then and still--elbowed each other out of the way to condemn it. Highbrow critics couldn't find language strong enough to critique it; they went further, questioning whether it was even music at all. It's barbaric, they said. Hide the women and children; bar the doors. Too late.

Gangsta rap was in the house.

Locking and Popping

[TheFrogFather]

But in the first half of the 1980s, people in the Los Angeles-based record industry saw hip-hop as an East Coast fad. Hip-hop's few national hits were dismissed as novelties. Southern California was in the grip of a dance epidemic, a local disco fever. A DJ collective called Uncle Jamm's Army played Culver City east to Pomona; the Dream Team owned South-Central. A forceful young man named Lonzo Williams worked the clubs and parties from Gardena to Long Beach.

Eve was a high-class club--dresses for the ladies and ties and slacks for the gentlemen. Lonzo dressed his Jheri-curled DJs in matching lavender outfits and devised Temptations-style choreography. The club became a fixture on the dance map of Los Angeles. "People came out in droves," Lonzo recalls. "It was a constant party."

A young Compton kid started hanging around outside Eve, which didn't serve alcohol but had an age limit. His name was Andre Young. He was 17, still a student at Centennial High, and already a three-year DJ veteran.

Young pestered Lonzo for a spot on the Cru. On a night when one of the regulars didn't show, Lonzo gave the new kid a shot.

Lonzo says the key to DJing in such a competitive scene was to "find the most obscure record you could and play it." Dre was young, but he had tremendous musical knowledge. He'd been listening forever to his mother's extensive rhythm-and-blues and jazz record collection. When she came home after work at night, he once said, the stereo went on before the lights. He DJed for her and her friends when he was barely school age.

That first night at Eve, Young mixed the old Motown song "Please Mr. Postman" over Afrika Bambaataa's seminal hip-hop recording, "Planet Rock"--two songs with completely different tempos and moods. For whatever reason, it worked.

The crowd went crazy and Lonzo went, "Hmm, what do we have here?"

One of the most popular acts in town at the time was Uncle Jamm's Army, in which the DJs built identifiable characters--essentially roles they played onstage. One, a heartthrob named Egyptian Lover, did several numbers exploring the racier dimensions of his love life. Lonzo admired Young's musical talent, but even more he saw the good-looking young ladies' man as a draw, his answer to Egyptian Lover. Young joined the Wreckin' Cru under the stage name Dr. Dre in honor of Julius Erving, the basketball player known as Doctor J. Lonzo booked other acts into Eve, including the first L.A.-area appearances of New York rappers Kurtis Blow and Run-DMC. When the Wreckin' Cru saw Run-DMC for the first time, they looked at one another in amazement, recalls Antoine Carraby, a DJ known as Yella.

Run-DMC was a Eureka moment.

" 'This is it? It's not even a 10-minute show. We can do this.' That's exactly how it started," says Yella. "We can do this."

They began writing their own material. It didn't seem to matter that none of them were musicians. Yella could program a drum machine. Otherwise, they were lost.

"We were DJs. What we knew was partying," Lonzo says. "I can't play dead. I can't play the radio."

No matter. Dre was naturally musical in a way that most DJs only dreamed about. Dre and Yella hung out during the day at Eve After Dark, listening to records, figuring out how to replicate instrumental tracks on an old four-track recording deck in the back room. It was, Dre says, how he learned record production.

In 1984, they went into Audio Achievements studio in Torrance, where for $100 they recorded two tracks--one called Slice, the other Kru Groove. The music--a fast-beat techno sound influenced by the German band Kraftwerk--consisted mainly of drum tracks programmed by Yella and Dre's turntable scratching, the distinctive wicky, wicky sound made by manipulating a turntable by hand. Another member of the group, Marquette Hawkins, known as DJ Cli-N-Tel, rapped lyrics that mostly said how clever Yella was to have written them. They took the tracks to Macola Records, a small, independent label in Hollywood where you could have records pressed in lots as small as 500. For virtual pocket change, they were now proud owners of a two-sided, 12-inch dance single. They began selling it out of the trunk of Lonzo's car to independent record stores throughout Los Angeles.

"We sold 5,000 of them," Lonzo says. "Five thousand! That's like ghetto gold."

The New Mall

Steve Yano was a grad student in educational psychology at Cal State L.A. when he saw an ad on campus for a part-time job delivering records to stores in the area. Within a year, he found himself part owner of a record store with the man who had hired him. The store did well enough but couldn't support them both, so Yano sold his half of the business to his partner. Yano took payment in merchandise.

"At about this time, the West Coast swap meet scene just blew up," Yano says. "I spent the week, Monday through Friday, searching for product. Hitting all the spots in town, going through used record bins. Weekends, I'd sell at the meet. I went to every single pawnshop in L.A. You could buy 10 records for a dollar. I knew I could sell three of them for two bucks each."

At the peak of disco fever, Yano got a stall at one of the busiest swap meets in California--the Roadium on Redondo Beach Boulevard in Torrance. Customers at the Roadium were mainly African American, and Yano began to tailor his product to fit the customers. "Then there started to be this new type of talk--R&B, Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC," Yano says. "These guys are popping. Kids are talking about it. Do you have any 12-inch? Nobody has it. They've never heard of it. Finally, I found out places you can get some."

Among those sources was Lonzo Williams. Yano called him.

"Oh yeah, sure," Lonzo said. "How many you need?"

"Three or four," Yano answered.

"Pretty soon it was, 'I'll take 10 of these. Then 50,' " Yano says. "Pretty soon Lonzo is coming to me with stuff and I'm carrying 100 titles. I'm selling 100 a week of some of them. The DJ craze hits. Now everybody and their mother is a DJ and they all want the latest [music]. So they all come to me. I was selling a lot of 12-inch vinyl. I mean, a lot. Pretty soon other dealers are coming to me. I'm meeting these guys outside bowling alleys in parking lots at midnight. It was like we were dealing drugs.

"I become for a while a very important guy. I'm buying 500 copies of a title. The first place anybody called in L.A. was me. 'Play this. Whattya think?' All these label guys are starting to bring me their new records. I could tell the first weekend if something is going to sell just by how the kids react. If it was good, kids would start to break dance right there in the stall."

One day, when Yano went to Eve After Dark to meet Lonzo, he heard Dre and Yella in one of their practice sessions.

KDAY, a local radio station, had converted to an all hip-hop format, the first station in the country to do so. The station had a daily feature called Traffic Jam, and it solicited local DJs to make mixes. Dre and Yella did mixes several times a week--Yella on the drum machine, Dre scratching on the turntable.

Yano listened, rapt. "Is that how you do it?" he asked.

"You want us to make you a tape?" Yella answered. Yano took the tape to the swap meet the next weekend.

"I'm playing it," Yano says, "and people go, 'Who did that tape? Can I get that?"'

Calling Dr. Dre

[TheFrogFather]

MacMillan let the artists put their own labels on the recordings and control their own publishing. Lonzo called his label Kru-Cut Records.

After modest success with its first 12-inch single, the Cru had a hit with "Surgery," a 1984 number written and produced by Dre that sold 50,000 records--a huge amount for an independently made and distributed record. "Surgery" was typical of the Wreckin' Cru's music: basic electronic funk, a fast drum machine beat, lots of turntable scratching and silly lyrics ("Calling Dr. Dre to surgery").

The Wreckin' Cru started making the transition from dance hall DJs to recording artists. They followed "Surgery" with "Juice" in 1985 and put out an album called "World Class" that same year. CBS Records called. Larkin Arnold, an executive, wanted a meeting. "Larkin was like the black godfather of music. If he said there was a meeting, there was a meeting," Lonzo says.

The meeting went well. Arnold said he'd get back to them, and the Wreckin' Cru went on tour as an opening act for Rick James. The Cru measured its success night to night by how many girls they could coax to their hotel rooms. Most nights, they earned high marks. "We had showmanship," Lonzo says.

They did their dance steps, wore lace gloves, makeup and rhinestone satin costumes. These were, in their way, almost quaint reminders of Lonzo's old-school roots. On the road, Lonzo got a call from his lawyer. CBS was offering a contract with a $100,000 advance.

Are you interested, the lawyer wanted to know.

"Interested? Sign the damned contract!" Lonzo screamed. "You got power of attorney. Sign it before they change their minds."

Lonzo pauses at this point in the story. He now owns a small club on Manchester Boulevard in Inglewood. It's empty in the way that only a nightclub at noon can be. He looks around and shakes his head.

"It was the worst thing that ever happened," he says. "From that point on, we had nothing but dissension over money."

[TheFrogFather]

Dre complained that Lonzo wasn't paying him enough. He was the musical foundation of the Wreckin' Cru but was being paid as one of the guys. That category--one of the guys--meant everybody except Lonzo, who, in his own defense, says that no one understood how much it cost him to keep the Wreckin' Cru operating. It was his group; he paid for everything--advertising, recording costs, travel, equipment. It was only fair that he be paid more money. The irony was that the more successful the group became, the worse things got. This had been Lonzo's one big chance. It left without him. He shakes his head again. "One day you're cool, the next day you're not. By the time we came off the road, we were on the down slide," Lonzo says. "Something happened with those guys."

Boys Become Boyz

The Wreckin' Cru was Lonzo's group. He decided what music they did. As much as Dre complained about money, he told friends that he was equally frustrated with the Wreckin' Cru's musical direction.

"I'm inviting Dre and Yella out to the stall. They're cutting records right there at the Roadium," Yano says. "Somebody plays it at a party. Everybody goes, 'What's that?' But you can't get it. You can't buy it anywhere. It was unbelievable. Dre says, 'Why don't you make a label?' I said, 'No way.' "

Dre kept asking. Yano kept saying no.

"Then one day," Yano says, "along comes Eazy."

There was no reason to think Eazy-E (Eric Wright) knew anything about any business but selling dope.

But being a dope man imposed certain career limitations. When he wandered by Yano's swap meet stall in 1985, at 22, he had resolved to get a new occupation. He told one friend if all else failed he would do what his father had done: go to work at the post office.

First, though, he wanted to give the music business a try. And it was clear to everyone that it was the money more than the music that interested him.

"Even as a kid, he was a businessman," Yano says.

This was something Dre notably was not. He was a terrible manager of his own affairs, forever broke. He made matters worse by ignoring money matters when he could. He racked up parking tickets and traffic citations, then didn't pay them until the fines doubled or tripled or he was jailed for not paying at all.

"What you gonna do? Couldn't leave him in jail, you might have a gig that weekend," Lonzo says.

So Lonzo bailed Dre out repeatedly. Finally, it happened one time too many. The call came, Dre asked and Lonzo said: "You know what? I'm gonna let your butt sit in jail for a while. Maybe you'll learn something."

"So he calls Eazy," Lonzo says.

Eazy and Dre cut a deal: Eazy would bail Dre out of jail; Dre would produce records for Eazy's new record company. Of course, Eazy's record company existed only in Eazy's mind. The idea of a minor-league dope dealer starting a record company from scratch was not as preposterous as it might seem. It was possible to create a virtual record company, although nobody called it that at the time. The existence of Macola Records, basically a fee-for-service pressing plant, lowered the bar to enter the record business to next to nothing.

Macola provided all of the infrastructure to manufacture and distribute records. Studios could be rented. And the music itself could be made quickly and cheaply. All Eazy really needed was ambition, which he had, and Dre.

"They come by the stall one day," Yano says. "I got a guy there doing T-shirts, spraying them. Eazy says, 'Whattya think of Ruthless? Ruthless Records?' " "That's cool," Yano said.

And the T-shirt guy painted what would become the logo for Ruthless Records.

Eazy Duz It
Eazy now had a name but still no artists, no material, no plan. Dre gave him a tape from a New York rap duo called HBO. Eazy agreed to record them as the debut artists for Ruthless. He booked time at Audio Achievements, where the Wreckin' Cru records were made. He asked Dre for a song.

Dre had been writing with O'Shea Jackson, a young Compton MC who lived four doors down from one of Dre's cousins. Jackson had been writing rhymes since grade school in L.A.'s Crenshaw district. Dre became a mentor. He'd pick Jackson up after school and take him along to clubs and to Lonzo's garage, which they had converted into a ramshackle recording studio.

Dre produced an album by Jackson, Dre's cousin Jinx and a third friend, Kid Disaster. They called their group CIA (Criminals In Action). Jackson adopted the stage name Ice Cube. Like a lot of kids, Cube was a huge fan of the comedian Richard Pryor. Cube's parents had Pryor's records, which in addition to being hilarious were exceptionally profane. Cube listened to the albums when his parents left the house. He started writing similarly obscene rap parodies of popular songs.

"We knew the value of language, especially profanity. We weren't that sophisticated, but we knew the power it had," Cube says.

He and Dre started DJing together at clubs and the Compton Skateland roller rink. Dre would play the instrumental tracks of popular hip-hop songs and Cube would rap obscene versions of the original lyrics. One of the highlights was a version of the Run-DMC hit "My Adidas" that Cube transformed into "My Penis." The Skateland kids loved it. Cube wrote constantly. "I never stopped," he says. "I had notebooks full of raps." Among them was one called "Boyz N Tha Hood" that Cube wrote during English class at Taft High School in Woodland Hills, where he was bused from South-Central. Cube showed the rhyme to Dre, who made an instrumental track for it. When HBO showed up in Torrance to record, Dre gave them "Boyz." HBO balked. Too West Coast, they said, and walked out. Eazy was stuck with the bill for an empty recording studio. Since Dre, Cube and the others were already in various groups, Dre urged Eazy to rap the song. Eazy resisted. He was a businessman. He knew nothing about rapping. Dre persisted, and with no other option, Eazy did the song.

He had no rap experience or skills, and it showed. It took two days to make the track. "We all laughed 'cuz it was so bad," Lonzo says.