DS & FL Vol 9: Busy Bee & Futura 2000

Originally posted on Feb 10, 2006 4:30 PM

DOMESHOTS & FAT LACES

Firstly I would say Rest in Peace to Jay Dee aka J Dilla. May Allah mercy be upon him.

I am posted this a day late because yesterday was the Islamic holiday of Ashura.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Fasting the day of `Ashura’ (is of great merits), I hope that Allah will accept it as an expiation for (the sins committed in) the previous year.” (Sahih Muslim)

So in keeping with tradition I fasted from sunrise to sunset and Allah willing he has accepted my fast and forgiven my sins.

Now today we have two profiles first the "back bone of the microphone" the chief rocker himself Busy Bee and second the Graf master Futura 2000.



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 was one of the first comedic Emcees , and he lived up to his title as Chief Rocker . He would always ask the crowd.." whats your zodiac sign ? " ," whats your favorite restaurant ? "..." if you love your mom say ho ".....things like that .These were techniques that all emcees used at the time , but Busy relied a little more on these than most other emcees . He was usually backed on the wheels by Kool DJ AJ...who later became the DJ for Kurtis Blow.



Charlie Ahearn, Kool DJ AJ, Busy Bee

A perfect display of his party starter techniques can be seen in the movie 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. Busy Bee was once a member of the Fantastic 5 Emcees.

He was also involved in one of the most infamous battles in history against Kool Moe Dee at the legendary Harlem World New Years Battle where he ripped Busy a new one. Actually there were two battles.....the first was a tie and Moe Dee ; who still has the trophy won the second one. Copies of this battle have been traded around for last twenty years.

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 had an early 12" pre-Sugarhill Records was "School days" in 1980. On Sugar Hill Records 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 also performed on the Raiders Of The Lost Art LP and Funkmaster Flex Mixtape Vol 3 . Most recently he appeared on De La Souls " Art Official Intellegence " LP. He's also a member of Afrika Bambaataa's Zulu Nation.


Source: OldschoolHip Hop.com and Jayquan.com


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FUTURA 2000


Futura 2000 started his career as a New York graffiti artist in 1970. But it wasn't until the 1980s that graffiti (as well as the hip hop lifestyle) came to the surface for the mainstream public to appreciate.

Writing on train cars and subways or "bombing" as it is called, was where Futura 2000 first showcased his talent. However, it wasn't long before canvas graffiti art pieces found their way into exhibitions and galleries. The next platform for Futura 2000's work was the UK Record Label MoWax which was run in part by James Lavelle, whom Futura 2000 met up with in 1992. Since then, Futura 2000's work has appeared on many album covers including the U.N.K.L.E album

1) WHERE WERE YOU FROM AND WHEN DID YOU START WRITING ?

I am from New York City (Manhattan) born in Bellevue Hospital (1955). I started writing when I was fifteen years old. it was of course the early 70's.

2) WHO WHERE THE WRITERS IN THE EARLY YEARS THAT INSPIRED YOU?


The writers from Broadway. SNAKE, CAT 87, STITCH I, COCO-144 and OTHERS outside of Broadway were EL MARKO 174 - (from the Bronx) , PHASE 2, FLINT .. - (from Brooklyn) , and certainly STAY HIGH 149.

3) WHO WHERE THE FIRST WRITERS YOU WOULD MEET UP WITH AND HOW DID THE SOUL ARTISTS COME ABOUT?

Marc Edmonds AKA (ALI) was my lifelong friend and the creator of the (Soul Artists). I was always a co-pilot in those days.
we were just a bunch of guys looking for an introduction into the graffiti movement.

"Futura was one of those artists — and they were very, very rare — who had the original style to evolve beyond graffiti,most graffiti artists are really folk artists. Futura did a train that was totally abstract art. And he had the most beautiful tag of anybody,It defined the seriousness of what a tag meant."

Charlie Ahearn



4) WHAT TRAIN LINE DID YOU FOCUS MOST ON AND WITH WHOM?

The No. 1 Broadway Local. which would change with the No. 3. the (one) tunnel. the layups and elevated platforms these lines provided. the abandoned stations, and the easy access to vast yards of sprawling mass transit. I did most of my "getting up" alone. I was always worried about (them) doing something stupid. for dangerous missions, I (rolled) solo.

5) COULD YOU NAME OTHER WRITING GROUPS YOU WERE A MEMBER OF .

Sure I could. 3YB, CIA, FBI, Interpol and the KGB.





6)DID YOU EVER HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH OTHER WRITERS GOING OVER YOUR WORK? AND HOW DID IT COME ABOUT .

I think we all have. but that's part of the history and tradition of the culture, for better or worse
these elements will always attempt to provoke negative responses. We shouldn't let that happen.
The (minor) beef I have had throughout the years has been exactly that.

7) WHAT DO YOU FEEL WAS THE BEST CAR YOU EVER DID AND WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU PAINTED A TRAIN. I would have to say that the abstract whole-car of 1980 was by best work on trains. as a writer from the (tagging) period, not the (stylized) artistic one, it was quite a leap of creative possibilites for me.

8) IN WHAT DERECTION IS YOUR ART TAKING YOU NOW?
There is no direction to my direction. I am as I continue to be, open to all transitions in the process.

9) ANY CLOSING WORDS?

....."The event is the journey, not the destination. because we all know what that is



source: Subwayoutlaws.com, Beastiemania.com and Nograffiti.com

BONUS:
Here's a link to hear a sample of a mixtape I never finished called
"All Things Considered". I recorded it old school style on a 4 track and with two belt driven turntables [I didn't have 1200's then]so the sound quality nor the scratchin' [belt driven tt got no fuckin' torque] isn't great and there are a lot of mistakes but all in all you will get a sense of my style. So until next week...

Next Week: Crazy Legs from the Rock Steady Crew

DS & FL VOL 8: THE COLD CRUSH BROTHERS

Originally posted on Feb 2, 2006 11:27 AM



Before Run DMC,before Jurassic 5,before the Visionaries there were the originators of the flow between MCs on the mic. These brothers inspired a host of groups and Mc's like KRS One,NAS,Will Smith,Whodini,The Beastie Boys and the microphone fiend himself Rakim.The crowd rockers,the microphone kings....

The Cold Crush Brothers



As one of the first Hip Hop crews to come out of the Bronx in the late 70's, the Cold Crush Brothers raised the standard for the groups of the time. With their synchronized routines and flashy costumes, the Cold Crushers were definitely the crew to see live. As the Crushers stand today, there members include DJ Tony Tone (Angelo King), Easy A.D. (Adrian Harris), DJ Charlie Chase (Carlos Mandes), GrandMaster Caz (Curtis Fisher), Almighty KG (Kenneth Pounder), and JDL (Jerry Dee Lewis). The original crew included Chase, Tone, A.D., WhipperWhip, Mr. T, and Dotarock. This lineup never recorded anything together. WhipperWhip and Dotarock left and became members of the Fantastic Five.

DJ Charlie Chase was one of, if not the first Latin American DJ to get involved in the Hip Hop movement. He was raised in a family of musicians, and was a bass player before he became a DJ. He got his first chance to start spinning with the DJ crew Tom and Jerry. They would play disco records and let Chase get on in the middle of their sets. Crowds of the times were getting tired of disco, so when the party started dying, the two DJ's Tom and Jerry would let Chase spin his Hip Hop albums to get the crowd going again. Most of the time, after hyping the crowd back up, the other DJ's would make Chase get off the tables so they could look like they were the party pleasers. After leaving Tom and Jerry, Chase took to the streets to build his own reputation and following. He got up with a few MC's around the area such as Cisco Kid, and RC. RC introduced Chase to Tony Tone one day, and that was the beginning of the Cold Crush. Tony Tone was part of the Brothers Disco (DJ Baron and DJ Breakout) at the time and took Chase to one of their shows. It was the first all Hip Hop show Chase had ever been to, and he loved it.

Tony actually came up with the name Cold Crush, after waking up from a dream one night. Tone said in the book Yes, Yes, Ya'll ," Cold Crush, when I thought up the name meant anybody steps in our way, they get crushed, cold crushed, no remorse. Once we get on stage, it's no friendship, we got to walk off the stage victorious." Eazy A.D. was first part of the group the As-Salaam Brothers. They broke up, and he joined the Cold Crushers.



Grandmaster Caz (one known as the DJ Cassanova Fly) hooked up with the Crush after his crew, the Mighty Force disbanded. Dotarock and WhipperWhip also came along for the ride. It just so happened that Kevie Kev and the guys from the L Brothers were looking at the two MC's to join their crew. Back then, it was all about the system you had to perform on, the louder the better, and Chase and Tones system wasn't the best of the time. So, Dota, and Whip chose the crew with the better sound, and joined the L Brothers to form the Fantastic Five. Later the Cold Crush even took in some of the Furious Five MC's, after they were pissed at Grand Master Flash for taking too much of their money. They later went back to Flash, only after he had them ruffed up. What a world.

One of the most funked up parts in the history of Hip Hop, involved GrandMaster Caz and the first mainstream group of HipHop, The Sugarhill Gang. As the story goes, Sylvia Robinson of SugarHill Records heard a demo of the Cold Crush with Caz rocking the mic, and decided to make a rap album. She over heard a bouncer of a local club named Hank, rapping along with a Cold Crush tape and asked him to join her new group. Now, Big Bank Hank as they called him, was a friend of the crews, who helped them get the big sound system that they needed. So Hank goes back to Caz, and asks him if he could use the lyrics he wrote. Thinking that after he let him use the lyrics, he would help bring him into the SugarHill Gang, Caz let him use them. As history goes, Hank goes on to be part of the first platinum HipHop album ever "Rappers Delight", with Caz's lyrics. Caz never sees a dime from Hank or SugarHill, and doesn't even get credit for his rhymes. It's a major lesson to learn in the industry. Never let anyone use your stuff if your not getting something out of it.

Cold Crush started to attract a lot of attention from other crews, and was approached constantly to battle. Caz one said, "It's like I don't care if God, Moses and Abraham, come down here to battle us, we bustin' they ass".



Some of their most famous battles were against Grand Wizard Theodore and the Fantastic Five. Both of the crew were featured in the film Wild Style, and were both on the soundtrack. They were the first crew to sign with Tuff City, a label under CBS records. The Crushers went on to release numerous singles like, "The Weekend, "Punk Rock Rap", "Fresh, Wild, Fly, and Bold," and "Heartbreakers." The group never recorded a full-length album though. The Cold Crush broke up in 1986, but today are still affiliated with one another. The members have released solo material throughout the late 80's and 90's such as KG's and Tony's 1988 album "Troopers", and GrandMaster Caz's 2000 release "MC Delight", which was an album done as a comeback for not receiving credit for "Rapper's Delight".

The group as recently performed at the grand opening of the Experience Music Project in Seattle, and brought down the house during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's "HipHop Nation: Roots, Rhyme and Rage" exhibit when it opened at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in Sept. of 2001.

To learn more about the Cold Crush Brothers, check out these myspace sites:
Cold Crush Brothers
Grandmaster Caz
Tony Tone
Easy AD
Prince Whipper Whip

Source: HeavyContact.com

Bonus:Check out the Audio section on the website of one of the sickest DJ crews...5th Platoon. Especially Neil Armstrong's sample of "Bitter Sweeet" and "Smoove"...that's what a mix CD should sound like!!!! Speaking of which I came across a mix I made about two years ago and I will be posting a link to hear it by the end of next week so be on the look out that. So until next week..

Next Thursday:The Chief Rocker Busy Bee Starski
Graffiti Legend Futura 2000