DS & FL VOL 16: PHASE 2

Originally posted on March 30, 2006


Today we have the man known we influenced the world. A man of mystery who if you don't know him personally you will never know what he looks like. Even his real name is a mystery. When you mention Turntablism you have to talk abut Q Bert and when you mention graf you have to talk about this graf master TRUE 222, the writing legend PAIN better known as......

PHASE 2





Often referred to as a father of style PHASE 2 is considered by many to be one of the most significant painters of the aerosol art movement. In the early 1970s PHASE 2 [aka PAIN] was a key figure, helping to pioneer the creation and reinterpretation of new letter forms. Many present day aerosol paintings across the globe are clearly derivative of integrations and embellishments created by PHASE.

He was president of the prestigious INDs crew as well as the Bronx chapter of the Ex-Vandals. He was a major force in creating a visual look for Hip Hop. He was one of Hip Hop's first major underground graphic designers. He designed promotional flyers and posters for early hip hop's top acts such as Kool Herc and Grand Master Flash.

He is the founder IGT TIMES, the first magazine dedicated to Aerosol art. He is also the author of Style from the Underground a perspective on the evolution aerosol art's development.


JOHN MAIZELS MEETS PHASE 2, ONE OF THE MASTERS OF NEW YORK CITY'S REBELLIOUS AEROSOL CULTURE

From its early beginnings in the late 1960s, the aerosol culture of New York City developed into one of the most vibrant and unprecedented art movements. Its young artists, all self-taught and predominantly from Hispanic and African-American backgrounds, have been involved in a genuinely revolutionary artistic development, whose followers have been consistently persecuted, harassed and ignored by social, political and cultural forces

Originally stemming from stylised names drawn out on walls and subway trains, the culture of rebellion that went alongside it brought retribution from authority. Aerosol culture was born out of an era when many of its youth identified strongly with the protests of Vietnam, the suppression of those from the ghetto, the riots and burnings of rebellion. Human rights, racism, poverty, crime, drugs, all played their part. This feeling of being outside society, of art and revolution closely linked, is still a strong element.

The first signatures depicting the logos of the alias names of their owners, appearing on city walls and shutters, drawn with magic marker pens, may have been a cry from the streets, a shout of existence in a world that was not their own. A re-affirmation of the self in a hostile environment. Although termed 'graffiti' by the press and observers, the artists referred to themselves as 'writers'.

I met the tall, soft-spoken Phase 2, [now known as TRUE 222] one of the great masters of aerosol art, in New York. He explained the logic of this definition:

'First of all, don't call it graffiti. Those of us who truly understand the magnitude and depth of this culture would never refer to it as that. What is that terminology supposed to represent anyway? It's like calling a meteor a pebble. Technically it's not politically correct, unquestionably due to the fact that from the very beginning we called ourselves 'writers' and what we did 'writing'.

Phase 2 first came to prominence in the first major wave of writers to emerge from Manhattan. He seemed to reluctantly accept his fame. He explains that his first intention was to get his name known but at the same time remain anonymous. However, the recognition he received was inevitable and having an impact became a duty that he rose to achieve. He termed it 'impact expressionism'. Phase has witnessed the birth, growth and evolution of aerosol culture. He became totally involved with his position as an aerosol artist, it became his principal activity, his profession.

'Once you really got into it, somehow it became an integral part of you, second nature. It's something you ate and slept and aspired to do when you woke up in the morning, it was part of our lives for years after our first encounter with a magic marker'.

Magic markers gave way to spray paint in the early 1970s as writers realised the potential for elaborating and enlarging their signatures. The movement soon grew into a wealth of varied and constantly developing calligraphic expression, each writer having his own distinct style and identity. Signatures gave way to more involved and complex calligraphic forms, which in turn evolved into complex compositions where the words and letters became just one element in the overall whole. Phase 2 describes this new development as a 'second coming' and it laid the way for the classic 'pieces' of the aerosol rebels.




By the 1970s the culture moved from the streets of upper Manhattan to the subway. The New York underground trains and stations became the most favoured canvasses of the youthful writers who would often spend six or eight hours on their pieces, working in the silent darkness and secrecy of railway tunnels and sidings. Once morning broke they could stand back and admire their night's work as it sped around the city; a combination of the secretive and anonymous with the most public and audacious display of their talents.

Some of the artists worked out their compositions with small sketches, at other times they would work with a spontaneous intuitive flow, reacting and responding to their evolving composition. Often an outline would be drawn or painted first and then filled in, the development of the piece was followed by the final outline and background. Local variations and styles developed, with Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan leading the way. Phase explains:

'It was like one big gigantic network. We'd see names from Brooklyn and be impressed and inspired with them. You looked forward to meeting people like Dino Nod, La-Zar or Devilish Doug and Evil Eric, partly because of their styles'.

'At one point it was all about the 2s, 4s, 5s (train lines). They travelled through Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx, which was where a lot of history was being made. When new flavours came into the scene, we bombarded the yards and lay ups and took over like a factory churning out all the new products on supply and demand. So all eyes were on the Bronx. That's where you showcased. Manhattan was kind of next door to it so they were connected and channelling like sister and brother'.

As the movement spread, open warfare developed between the writers and the Transit Authority. From Brooklyn, teams or 'crews' of writers would descend on a train in its night time lay-up or tunnel, covering the cold metallic carriages with a mass of vibrant and colourful words and images. Once more the imagery developed, always organically, naturally, intuitively. A favourite became the all over coverage of a subway car, from top to bottom, from end to end, even painting over the windows.

Techniques became highly developed and pieces took even longer to complete. A whole technical repertoire was established, with a host of differing nozzles and paints used to produce a previously unknown array of effects.

Although New York City was its birthplace and still remains its centre, Aerosol Culture had by now spread and was flourishing across the USA and the world; strong movements were evident in London, Berlin and other European cities.

Phase went on to become one of the great innovators of aerosol art. His letter forms were drawn as outlines or cut into one another, his softie, or marshmallow, lettering became fused together and then developed extensions and extension bars. They moved on to sport loops, feet, stars and arrows. Another of the great New York aerosol masters, Vulcan, said of him:

'One of the things about Phase is that he was the only person at the time whose name could roll by ten times and each piece was different. That's what you noticed about his shit.'



The writers influenced one another, borrowing each other's imagery yet turning it into something of their own. The greatest of them were always one step ahead, continually seeking and producing new forms and variations. Phase's work became ever more complex and grew further and further away from its original simple signature towards a hieroglyphical calligraphic abstraction.

'The English language isn't much, especially in its current state. By comparison (to Chinese and Japanese) it's like a dot. Why not go beyond that and just create an alphabet or language? You can't put a limit on communication or how one can communicate, you've always got to look further, that's how style expanded in the first place.'

'All those things that were part of the initial game are now passé. Presently, it's a matter of word and the power of word, speak and the power of speak. Verbally and visually. Language and its essence. Not being able to read Arabic or Thai doesn't dismiss them as languages, so to me what I'm doing isn't much different. When it gets in that, let's say 'psychophonetickeneticverbalgenitichyper-bolicsyllabistictonguetwisticmysticcalliguistical-cerebralinconcievebrial' mode or whatever, consider it plutonian. I'm absorbing and devouring language in its co-existing state and creating something else with it'.

Phase is immensely conscious of the achievements of the aerosol artists:

'What we have done with it goes beyond what it started out as, or any language invented. At its highest degree, writing is a science based on the power of speak, of communication and symbolism. No matter how simple or esoteric, even though unspoken, it says something and relays and relates to all who come in contact with it. At its lowest degree it is probably an eyesore but at its zenith it can hold its own with any so-called artform on the planet.'

RAW VISION

Next Week:
TRACY 168

DS & FL VOL 15: ON THE ONES & TWOS PART TWO

Originally posted on March 23, 2006


Well here it is the part 2 of a roundtable discussion with Hip Hop legends Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc, Jazzy Jay, Grand Wizard Theodore & Kev E Kev Rockwell, Charlie Chase & Tony Tone,Grandmixer D ST, and DJ La Spank.


ON THE ONES & TWOS....PART 2



By Chairman Mao April 1996

So what else do you all feel has most significantly changed that needs to be recognize now?
Grandmixer DST: The commercial aspect. I mean,ultimately it's not even Hip Hop anymore,it's "Rap Music" And the rap music aspect of it totally annihated the cultural ofhip Hop,because it's all about money.[making records] tore eveything apart. "Kim Tim III" [ Kim Tim III by FATBACK was first rap record released] was the beginning of the end of it for all of us. People who had no knowledge of business aspect got control of the shit---
Tony Tone: And messed it up
Grandmixer DST: And messed it up. The whole art form of the DJ seeking beats, and the love and respect for the records that you find and the respect for the other DJ who has that same ability--it's like we're all Jedi Knights and shit and only a few peole believe in the force and shit. But we made one terrible mistake, and all due resect to Lenny [Lenny Roberts, Beat Street Records] , that was our undoing. because we did not understand what he was doing at the time.


With the Ultimate Breaks and beats volumes?
Grandmixer DST: Yeah. He knew all of us, and he would come to all of us and say,"What record was that?" But what he did was he networked between all of us, so he ultimately ended up with everything. We wasn't thinking about making money like that, our love was just for the art form itself and being recognized in the community and the street.
Jazzy Jay: We was selfish though, remember? We wouldn't want nobody to have the same record. We'd always cover'em.
Tony Tone: I don't think it was selfishness....
Grandmixer DST: That was part of the whole shit. It wasn't selfishness, it was the fact if you wanted to go to a Bambaataa party and hear certain records,he had his crowd who wanted to hear those certain records.I't's just like the Bronx was a huge radio dial. You tune uptown you get BREAKOUT, you tune to the westside you get FLASH, and it was like that. Each DJ had his own [repertoire]. We had the generic records that became generic once everybody in our circle had 'em. The whole thing was the obscure records. Everybody always came up at their next party with the next new obscure record. And that cycle would go for at least two or three parties before the next DJ got that record. So then everybody's like "Yo, we're goin' to hear so-and-so. You heard that new shit that homebody's playing?"



How do you respond to the notion that when Lenny Roberts came around to get tiels to license for Ultimate breaks and beats compilations, it kind of killed things?
Bambaataa:Well, me and Lenny worked close together, so it didn't bother me--'cause whatever I'd give him,he'd wait to release. I always had many more where they came from anyways. it didn't bother me, it was those dJs that didn't have no big selections that it bothered. When I first gave the list out in England at the time when nobody would say the names, th whole England went crazy trying to find those grooves. It was good, 'cause I felt it was time for all these other DJ's to have things that help them. You see , I had vision. Alot of other people were selfish and wanted to hold stuff to theyselves. I had vision to try to make this whole-world phenomenon andmovement. My vision was try to get Hip Hop across the world as muchas possible. And everything fell in place the way we did it. [Kool Herc enters the room]
Everybody: We're not worthy! We're not worthy! We're not worthy! [General Laughter and greetings]


What else strikes you that's missing from today's Hip Hop scene?
Tony Tone: I'm still upset about how parties go. Back inthe day, you paid $3-$5 to get ina party and see who you want to see all night long. Now you pay $25-$35 to go a concert and see somebody's for 15 minutes-20 minutes.
Kool Herc: Some little ragged motherfucker witha backpack walking back and forth on a stage--ain't doin' shit. Ain't got no little honeys up there doin' their thing or nothin.
Tony Tone: And everybody thinks that's the thing!
Charlie Chase: You know what the problem is?
Grandmixer DST: No More DJ's --DATs!
Charlie Chase: Too many middle of the road DJs. They all there waiting for the biggest artist to get they next record out. They wanna be the first to play it. Instead of going there and finding something that nobody has that's the bomb and just rock off that.


Give me an example of one of the more memorable show routines.
Kev E Kev Rockwell: Theodore - when he used to brek out with the handcuffs. It was like when the MC's would battle the other MC's,we used to put the handcuffs on him, and at that point Theodore used to show off on the other DJ of the crew and make him look very foolish. The other DJ, he's got the earphones on and he's got his hands loose. We'd take the earphones off Theodore with the handcuffs on him, and we'd tell him to go to work, and he used to to tear it up and bring the house down. Everybody used to be shocked and amazed. We were just takin' it to another level because each time you'd do a performance they'd wanna see something different.

Describe for me the process of what you had to go through in preparation when you had to do a party.
Bambaataa:We was one of the first crews really started touring all over the city, as well as other cities,as DJ's, so the first thing was picking where you was going. We were like young entreprenuers at the time. We couldn't drive cars and all that, so we had to get older guys that would drive us around. We'd get the place,rent it,then we had to the fliers made, then we had to get them back to the place where we were having the function and just flood they town with the advertisment of the event. And also sell what you'd call our album-cassettes. You would play from nine to about four in the morning, so you had 60 minute or 90 minute cassettes that would become like your records. Everybody would wanna buy your tapes between the different areas and luxury cabs. Or you'd mail out tapes to your cousins and other friends in other places and they would make copies. It was alot of work involved.


La Spank,share some of your own reflections coming up as afemale DJ.
La Spank: I'd go to the jams and se herc and Flash. Go to the T-Connection and see Furious Five,Theodore,El Brothers. Just seeing, iI was like, "Hey, I could do that" And then Baby D came along and she saw my talent and put me down. My true love has always been DJing, and Mercedes Ladies are the original MC-DJ group. You had Sequence, but they were MC's and singers. They were not DJs. Between Baby D,RD, Smiley and myself, we were the three female DJ's that really out there doin' it.

Did you see people intimidated by you as females?
La Spank: They gave us a hard time.
Herc: Yea - If a guy didn't have his shit together,can't go up against a girl who's rockin' it.
La Spank: Yeah, cause I used to rock - me and Baby D. When I came in, I was doing disco, Baby D was Hip Hop. She was cuttin, and then Theodore liked the way I mxed so well as far as disco, so he started gettin' me into scratching a little bit. We were down the El brothers, [Grand Wizard Theodore & Mean Gene] and our manager Trevor, he treated us just like the guys. Believe me!! We had to pull crates of records and carry equipment just like everybody else, and we had to rehearse three times a week - 168th Street and Franklin. Just like everybody else. That was something phenomenal back then that we don't have now. You can never replace that replace that excitement of actually being there and watching Theodore do the mix and turn around and say,"Spank,hit it!" and I gotta jump on. And us messin' up and everyone lookin' at each other, and our manager goin' "five dollars!" Every mistake we made, we got docked $5.

What is the greatest misconception about the early days of Hip hop that people have now?
Bambaataa:That everything was strictly all about fun. There was alotof fun,but it was a struggle just to get Hip Hop moving. Sometimes there was violence involved.
Charlie Chase: I remember one day when Herc got on the set and there was one stampede. He got on the mic and said "My speakers are not a force field! Run the other way!" Another time,we set up in Arthur Park when Caz did something. And Herc popped up with this 27" panasonic bicycle, and a stampede broke out and somebody took the bike. He was crazy heated. Herc was on the mic:"Yo, man, bring me back my bike!"[Laughing]
Tony Tone: That was when people wasn't returning shit.
Herc: But I did get it back? I got it back. I tracked that shit down.
Charlie Chase: Arthur Park was good for that though. Remember when Richard T set up in the park? He was playing music and these kids jumped up on the shit where he was. Pow!Pow!Pow!. The next day when they took the set down and he lifted up that Dynacord,there was a fucking' slug in that shit-- a hole this big in the motherfucker. Word. And it was still working! Them shits take a licking.[General Laughter]


Herc tis is another chance for you to speak to the new generation of DJ's and Hip hop listeners. What word do you have for those following the trail of what you've establihsed?
Herc: My thing is about staing true to the game. Stay drug free. Listen to your parents. If you ant get in this game,better get some background about it.Get somebody who gonna look out for your interests. Promote yourself. Don't forget where you come from. I'm one of them guys they want to come back and pay homage. Stop saying thanks to old school and do something for the old school. Get together,say"I wanna do something with Kool Herc or Bambaataa or Theodore or Cold crush Brothers. I want to be ina show with them". Do something like that. Give it back. If we did all that for you,come back to the scene.


BONUS:
To hear how they used to do it back in the day check the infamous battle of Busy Bee vs Kool Mo Dee and Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel RIGHT HERE.
Also check DJ Mane One rocking old school style spinnin it the way used do it in early days of Hip Hop RIGHT HERE

Next Week:
Graf Legend PHASE 2

DS & FL VOL 14: ON THE ONES & TWOS PART ONE

Originally posted on March 16, 2006


Well this is definitely the shit right here. A roundtable discussion about the history of the early days of Hip hop when the DJ's ruled. Make sure you digest all the knowledge & history in this article because chances are this will be the only time you read this on the net. This is history right here especially for all young heads out there that have just begun to rock the tables and didn't read the article when in came out in 1996. So here it is enjoy all my Hip Hoppers out there....



On the Ones & Twos: A Roudtable discussion with the Pioneers of Hip Hop
Afrika Bambaaataa, Jazzy Jay, Grandmixer DST, Grandwizard Theodore, Charlie Chase, Tony Tone

by Chairman Mao
[First published in April 1996 issue of Rap Pages:The DJ Special]


In the beginning, there was the DJ....

Afrika Bambaataa: I been djing since 1970,and the first type of djing I ever did was ata community center we used to have called the O-Center in our area. And we used to give parties down there in the gang days. We would take two turntables from somebody's houses and put one guy on one side and I'd be on the other side and put on a record. And when it was getting toward the end,you'd take a flashlight and flash it to him and he would put another record on. This was how it was going before you had two turntables and mixer and all that.

The "old school" . Never in Hip Hop's Illustrious history has the term's definition been so hazy to its audience. If Hip hop is today's youth music then what,realistically,does "old school" mean to your average member of the 15-26 age demographic? Despite the best of intentions,even Hip hop's place of birth-NEW York City- fuels these ambiguities on the regular. Turn on the Video Music Box,the city's famed rap music video show, and you're liable to see the clip for Eric B & Rakim's"I Ain't No joke" labeled "old school". Check out the local urban contemporary radio ststion's "old school" power hour and you're likely to hear "Do The James" as you are "Give It Up Or Turn It Loose". While "old school" may be just another handy catch phrase to cover whatever Hip Hop miscellanea that precedes one's firsthand experiences,don't blame the youth for their ignorance.

Today's 21-year old legal adult was an as-yet unconceived foetus when Increible Bongo Band's "Apache"-aka the Bronx's National Anthem-first hit the bins in 1973. Although Doug E. Fresh's eloquent sentiments from 1988 still echo within the corridors of Hip Hop nation's collective consciousness("Old school,new school-no school rule,but other than that ,everything's cool"),let's get serious like Jermaine Jackson and establish one thing for all the young people out there:For the record,Hip Hop's true founders were the DJ's-the ones who controlled crowds through their scratching and mixing innovations ,their shrewd and open-minded song selections ,their beat-digging diligence,their unparalleled showmanship and the sheer power by their sound systems.

The following are excerpts from conversations held in both separately and in group discussion format with just a few of the folks who gave birth to Hip hop: Afrika Bambaataa,founder of the Universal Zulu Nation,famed "Master Of Records" and international Hip hop Icon; DJ Jazzy Jay, Zulu Nation master technician and one of Bambaataa's original featured DJ's; DJ Grand Wizard Theodore,backspinner behind the original Fantastic Five and acknowledged inventor of scratching; DJ Grandmixer D.ST. of Zulu Nation,scratching technician extraordinaire and worldwide populizer of cutting; DJ Charlie Chase and Tony Tone,co-founders of one of Hip Hop's most celebrated performing groups,the Cold Crush Brothers; DJ Kev E Kev Rockwell,Grandwizard Theodore long time partner and an original member of the Fantastic Five and Funky 4+1; DJ La Spank of Mercedes Ladies, Hip Hop's original MC-DJ crew; and finally DJ Kool Herc,Hip Hop's original sound system kingpin,breakbeat innovator and the pioneers' ultimate inspiartional leader.

Their recollections of Hip Hop's original essence can only inspire those DJ's who today walk the path they blazed and continue to search for records and build their skills with the expressed concern of expanding ears and rocking the party like it's never been done before.

Hip Hop started with the DJ and you all started at the beginning. But what was it hat inspired you to get into djing?
Tony Tone: I used work in a record shop from age 12, and when I was around 15 I kept hearing about this "Kool Herc, Kool Herc". but everytime I went to go where he was playing at,by the time i'd get there it'd be over.I'd alaways hear about it at the wrong time.then my godbrother, who was older than me,took me the heatherlowe[to hear herc]. and that was it. the Heatherlowe was a club.like the first home base. i was too young to be int here but 'cause of my height and stuff they got me past the door.We was inthere.the music,was bouncin' .And my whole thing actually before DJing was like I'd get a hard-on for equipment.so I used to go in the Heatherlowe and get high off just the way the music was hittin'.
Jazzy Jay: When Herc set up and played, it was lie something you had to be there to witness. I remember one day I went down to Ceder Park to see Kool Herc. And I was a little aguy then, and I used to stand up inside the speakers-you know, he had these monstrous speakers. and the bass pressure was like something you would never see in the Bronx. The only people who had systems like that were the big Jamacian systems that were out in the Brooklyn. Nobody in the Bronx had nothin' like that. Even when we used to DJ,we'd steal our mothers's little receiver,somebody'd take areceiver from they pops, somebody else take a speaker from they cousin. And you know, we'd all get together and do our thing. But Herc just came out with the monster.
Charlie Chase: Herc lived up to his name.'Cause when you saw or heard Herc,all you though about was the system.
Grandmixer D ST: I forgot what year it was, but one night--Webster Avenue PAL, DJ Smoke and Kool Herc on the same card. Smokey set on the ground on the floor in front of the stage, and Herc set up on stage.It was smokey's hour. In the middle of his hour, Herc threw on "Hustler's Convention", where Grit says,"Dig this lame,challenging my game/Why, you must be out of your head,chump/Boy , I'll baet you so fast,you be peddling your ass/Trying to make back your bread." And threw on "Apache". and he drowned him. Klark Kent got on the mic and he said,"DJ Smoke!"-with the echo plex-"DJ Smoke..Smoke...Smoke..Turn your shit down or will drown you..drown..drown you.." And he drowned him. He blew him out. Smoke got so mad that he packed up his shit,went to ggrand Avenue, where he lived at. He set his shit up outside the window and played until the sun came up. and when the party was over,everybody left and went Smokey's block--all abandoned buildings. He was the only family left on that whole block. And he put his speakers out the window and played. herc blew himout that night. It was ridiculous.
Charlie Chase: Was that the beginning of the end of him??
Grandmixer D. ST: Yeah .After that he disappeared.I think he went into the service.
Tony Tone: These days, a lot of the young,they don't even think about equipment. It's like, "Equipment? What?"
Grand mixer D. ST: "Let me get my demo together"
Charlie Chase: Naw, but you know what it is? Today's equipment is made to sound the way we were taught to make it sound back then. Right now you can just buy it.-
Tony Tone: But we're not even talking about that. We're talking about the fact that a whole lot don't even buy equipment. They rent sets.
Jazzy Jay: Me and my partner Superman used to sit down in the basement covered with sawdust, 'cause we used to build speakers from-
Tony tone: I still got two speakers they built for me ten,15 years ago.
Jazzy Jay: - build speakers for the ground up. Once the speaker's finished,we sittin' inside the speaker like this smilin'-Yeah.
Tony Tone: Matter of fact, mine need an overhaul. I will see you.
Jazzy Jay: They got a lifetime guarantee. No doubt.
Bambaataa: It was Kool DJ D -who was one of the first people that came out of the gang days of the black spades,who gave me the inspiration to go and become a DJ,to become fully fledged with the whole turntable,mixer and everything.

In the Zulu Nation,did you have a technician whose duty it was to deal exclusively with equipment?
Bambaataa: Yeah ,well, I always had different people who been with me. My main technicians at the time was mighty Sinbad,the Original DJ Jazzy jay and DJ Superman. And they were wizards in the engineering of the sets that we had.

Jazzy how'd you and Bambaataa start out?
Jazzy Jay: I was DJing with Mario--he was called King Mario at the time. Alot of people don't remember Mario,but he was one of the pioneers also.
Grandmixer D ST: Chuck Chuck City!
Jazzy Jay: Chuck Chuck City crew. Mario was the type of motherfucker,you get down with Mario and he would claim everything you brought to the table. So I had all the beats I had stolen from Bam. When Bam wasn't looking, I used to sneak up and take apeek. Pull the tape off the beats and shit,put'em back before he could realize that I saw what it was. And I went down to the village and copped all the records. And when I went to DJ for Mario,Bam and them got upset.Bam sent liek ten zulus toa party one day talkin' 'bout they was gonna kick my ass 'cause I gave away Zulu beats to the enemy. So I was like,"aight, it's alla that."But you know my style,that I wasn't goin' out without afight. So being that[they respected my style and] we was sll cool and everything like that, Bam's turntables broke down one night he was playing inYonkers. So they knocked on my door: "Yo, Bam needs to borrow youtr turntables." I was like,"Cool. Bam want to borrow my turntables. Bet" He coulda kept'em, as far as I was concerned. Just for him asking me ws like yo,a big deal. And not only did he borrow the turntables,he took me to play with him that night, and then he gave me money for playing--which I could not beleive. I was 13 at the time.

What was your working relationship like?
Jazzy Jay: The whole situation for me was Bam was dedicated to the records. Me, I was just a wild man. I used to show up,spin my little set and be gone. To be Jazzy Jay was an easy job. Bam had everything, so he made me look good 'cause his record repertoire was so extensive. he would just pass a record and just point.
Tony Tone: I've seen Bam do that alot. with you,Red Alert,everybody.
Jazzy Jay: And then it gave me so much of a well-rounded education of music. Bam would pass me Bo Didley,then back it up with Elvis Presley,then hit me off witha Coca Cola commercial. His music came from so many different angles and he was teaching everybody in the audience. He'd play a record, and if the audience didn't like it,he'd play that record four or five times,six times, back it up in between two records that they loved, and made them like it. Whereas alot of DJ's today,if it ain't on the top playlist,they won't play it 'cause they scarred everybody's gonna walk off the dance floor. They don't break records no more,they just play them.

So what records can each of you claim you broke?
Grandwizard Theodore: "Dance To The Drummer's Beat" by Herman Kelly & Life. As far as I'm concerned,that record wasthe record and "Super Sperm"
Grandmixer DST: "Bumpin' Bump Bump" and "Johnny The Fox"
Charlie Chase: We brought out "Stiletto",Billy Joel. We brought out Trouble Funk,"Pump Me Up"
Jazzy Jay: Liar! [general laughter]
Charlie Chase: I got that shit direct from Washington!

Bam,how did your musical tastes evole to the point where you built up your collection and attained the title "Master Of Records"?
Bambaataa: It was Kool Herc who came with the sounds that I had. so when I heard him playing what I be having in my house, I said,"Whoa,that's what I was jammin' on". When I heard him play certain things, I knew I had alot of other stuff. So I just said,"I'm goin' off and just shock people's minds." And the more crazier stuff I played,the more wider my audience came to hear what I was gonna do.
Theodore: Afrika Bambaataa was the first person I remember to cross out labels. Every Bambaataa party,he'd play a record--and you could be at the back of the party and you'd try to make your way all the way to the front to the turntables. Soon as you get there,the label's crossed off.

It's generally acknowledged that you were the first to backspin the record and initiate the noise.
Grandwizard Theodore: I was first to scratch the record. I was home in my house at Boston Road on 168 th street. my brother Mean Gene was down with Grandmaster Flash. I was their record boy. I was in charge of going downtown and buying all the records for them. Getting the set for wherever they gonna do on the weekend. Usually when I came home from school,I had a little tme to, yo know,go in the room and mess with the turntables a bit. This one particular day I went in the room and put two copies of "Passport" on the turntables and,you know,the music was kind of loud.
Grandmixer DST: "Juju man"!
Theodore: Yeah. and my moms bust in the room and she ws like,"If you don't turn that effin' music down, i'm gon'..." So during the time that she was standing there cursing me out, I was like holding the record. the record was like goin' back and forth in my ear while my moms was talking to me. So when she closed the door and left the room,I was like, "Hey, this is good. I can do something with this."

What about the art of needle-dropping?How did that develop?
Theodore: Let me tell you,everybody's moms had a alittle turntable in the they house sittin' on top of the amp. So I used to always be in the house with the little Dennis Coffey 45 "Scorpio" And just be pickin' the needle just listeing to it all day long 'til it just came natural. it was likea process,we just take the needle and just skip it back to the dark part of the line and just be like, pow.
Grandmixer DST: And I try to tell alot of the young brothers comin' up, 'cause I noticed most of them now went back to..[motions extensive backspinning]
Theodore: That shit wears!
Grandmixer DST: To the real art form, you got to be able to drop them joints. You know, in LA, the first party I went to,I was like, "These guys are spinning back--"
Jazzy Jay: Like half the record.
Grandmixer DST: After the beat is gone and they back into the last verse of the song and shit,they'd start spinning back from there.
Charlie Chase: I remember I used to lend my records to some DJ's and they'd start that. I be like, "Yo, give me my shit back" Especially when you went out digging for beats and you couldn't find no more. And you had a motherfucer bulldozing your shit with pickering.
Grandmixer DST: With a quarter on that motherfucker!

To be continued.....

Next Week:
Part 2 On The Ones & Twos: A Roundtable Discussion With the Pioneers

DS & FT VOL 13: AFRIKA BAMBAATAA

Originally posted March 9, 2006


This man needs no introduction but for those who don't know who he is you need read and learn everything written below. This man has changed the world and is truly a living legend. The godfather himself...

AFRIKA BAMBAATAA



THE AMEN RA

OF UNIVERSAL HIP HOP CULTURE

THIS MILLENNIUM





Afrika Bambaataa (Afrika Bambaataa's birthname has been mistakenly listed as Kevin Donovan; however, Kevin Donovan was actually another man and leader of the Harlem Underground Band.)is one of the three main originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and "Godfather" of Hip Hop Culture as well as The Father of The Electro Funk Sound.

Through his co-opting of the street gang the Black Spades into the music and culture-oriented Zulu Nation, he is responsible for spreading rap and hip-hop culture throughout the world. He has consistently made records nationally and internationally, every one to two years, spanning the 1980's into the next Millennium 2000.

Due to his early use of drum machines and computer sounds, Bam (as he is affectionately known) was instrumental in changing the way R&B and other forms of Black music were recorded. His creation of Electro Funk, beginning with his piece "Planet Rock," helped fuel the development of other musical genres such as Freestyle or Latin Freestyle, Miami Bass,Electronica, House, Hip House, and early Techno.

Bam is responsible for initiating many careers in the music industry, and his early association with Tom Silverman of Tommy Boy Records helped propel the label to its success. Bam was instrumental in launching the R&B group New Edition, Maurice Starr and the Jonzun Crew, Tashan, and Bernard Fowler of the Peech Boys, to name a few. Bam is also recognized as a Humanitarian and a man of peace, who has applied elements of Afrocentric, spiritual, and health-conscious teachings to his philosophy. He is also a historian on Hip-Hop roots, who traces the culture back to the times of the African Griots.

At a time when DJs-Hip Hop or otherwise-were recognized for the distinctive records they played, Bam was called the "Master of Records," and was acclaimed for the wide variety of music and break records he presented to the Hip-Hop crowd, which included Go-Go, Soca, Salsa Reggae, Rock, Jazz,Funk and African music. He is responsible for premiering the following records and songs to Hip Hoppers, which are now staples in rap and Hip-Hop culture: "Jam on the Groove" and "Calypso Breakdown" by Ralph McDonald; "Dance to the Drummer's Beat" by Herman Kelly; "Champ" by the Mohawks; themes from The Andy Griffith Show and The Pink Panther, and "Trans-Europe Express," by Kraftwerk and hundreds of others .

Bam joined the Bronx River Projects division of the Black Spades street gang in the southeast Bronx in Act, where he soon became warlord. Always a music enthusiast (taking up trumpet and piano for a short time at Adlai E. Stevenson High School), Bam was also a serious record collector, who collected everything from R&B to Rock. By 1970 he was already deejaying at house parties. Bam became even more interested in deejaying around 1973, when he heard Bronx DJs Kool DJ Dee and Kool DJ Herc. Kool DJ Dee had one of the first coffins (a rectangular case that contains two turntables and a mixer) in the Bronx area circa 1972. West Bronx DJ Kool DJ Herc was playing funk records by James Brown, and later just playing the instrumental breaks of those records. noticing that he had many of the same records Herc was playing, Bam began to play them, but expanded his repertoire to include other types of music as well.

As the Black Spades gang began to die out toward 1973, Bam began forming a Performing group at Stevenson High School, first calling it the Bronx River organization, then Later the Organization. Bam had deejayed with his own sound system at the Bronx River Community Center, with Mr. Biggs, Queen Kenya, and Cowboy, who accompanied him in performances in the community. Because of his prior status in the Black Spades, Bam already had an established party crowd drawn from former members of the gang.

About a year later he reformed a group, calling it the Zulu Nation (inspired by his wide studies on African history at the time). Five b-boys (break dancers) joined him who he called the Shaka ZULU Kings, a.k.a. ZULU Kings; there were also the Shaka Zulu Queens. As Bam continued deejaying, more DJs, rappers, break dancers, graffiti writers, and artists followed his parties, and he took them under his wing and made them members of his Zulu Nation.

By 1976, because of the proliferation of DJs, many sound system battles would occur to determine which DJ had the best music and sound. Although the amount of people gathered around a DJ was supposed to be the deciding factor, the best DJ was mostly determined by whose system was the loudest.Held in parks and community centers, DJs would set up their gear on opposite sides, playing their records at the same time at maximum volume. However, Bam decided that all challenges to him would follow an hour-by-hour rule, where he would play for an hour, and the opposing DJ would play for an hour.

Bam's first official battle was against Disco King Mario at Junior High School 123 (a.k.a. the Funky 3). A few other important battles Bam had later on were against Grandmaster Caz (known as Casanova Fly at that time and who later was one of the Cold Crush Brothers) at the P.A.L. (Police Athletic League) circa 1978, and a team battle against Grandmaster Flash and an army of sound systems, with Bam teaming systems with Disco King Mario and Tex DJ Hollywood. Bam formed additional systems for battling as well, It like the Earthquake Systems with DJ Superman and DJ Jazzy Jay. There were also many MC battles, where rappers from Bam's Zulu Nation would go against other outside rappers. Later, Bam also jointly promoted Shows with Kool Herc under the name Nubian Productions.

Many cassette tapes were made of Bam's parties and MC battles, which were sometimes sold for $20 to $40 apiece. During long music segments when Bam was deejaying, he would sometimes mix in recorded speeches from Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and, later, Louis Farrakhan.

Influenced by Jame Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, George Clinton, and the many separate-but-same Groups that he created, Bam formed the Soul Sonic Force, which in its original makeup consisted of approximately twenty Zulu Nation members. The personnel for the Soul Sonic Force were groups within groups that Bam would perform and make records with, including: Soul Sonic Force (1)-Mr. Biggs, Queen Kenya, DJ Cowboy Soul Sonic Force (..2)-Mr. Biggs, Pow Wow, G.L.O.B.E. (creator of the "MC popping" rap style), DJ Jazzy Jay Cosmic Force-Queen Lisa Lee, Prince Ikey C, Ice Ice (..1), Chubby Chub; Jazzy Five-DJ Jazzy Jay, Mr. Freeze, Master D.E.E., Kool DJ Red Alert, Sundance, Ice Ice (..2), Charlie Chew, Master Bee; Busy Bee Starski, Akbar (Lil, Starski), Raheim.

Around ~1980, Bam and his groups made their first recordings with Paul Winley Records, who recorded Bam's "Death Mix" piece. Winley also released Cosmic Forcers "ZULU Nation Throwdown," after which Bam (disappointed with the results) left the company.

Bam's parties had now spread to places like the Audubon Ballroom and the T-Connection. In the early 1980s, news about Bam and other DJs', parties-and the type of music Bam played-started traveling to the downtown sections of Manhattan. Tom Silverman visited Bam at one of his parties and did an article on him and the Zulu Nation for his own Dance Music Report magazine. The two became friends, and Silverman later recorded Bam and his Soul Sonic Force with a group of female singers called Cotton Candy. The first song Silverman recorded around 1981 with both groups (without Bam's name listed) was a work titled "Let's Vote," after which a second song was recorded and released, titled "Having Fun."

Thereafter, Silverman met producer Arthur Baker, and together with then-KISS-FM radio mastermix DJ Shep Pettibone, Silverman recorded Bam and the Jazzy Fives "Jazzy Sensation" on Silverman's own Tommy Boy Records label. The record had three mixes, one with Bam and the Jazzy Five, and the other with a group called the Kryptic Krew. The third mix was an instrumental. The record was a hit with Hip Hoppers.

Around 1982 Hip-Hop artist Fab 5 Freddy was putting together music packages in the largely white downtown Manhattan New-Wave clubs, and invited Bam to perform at one of them, called the Mudd Club.was the first time Bam had performed before a predominantly white crowd, making it the first time Hip Hop fused with White culture. Attendance for Bam's parties downtown became so large that he had to move to larger venues, first to the Ritz, with Malcolm McLaren's group, Bow Wow Wow (and where the Rock Steady Crew b-boys became part of the Zulu Nation), then to the Peppermint Lounge, The Jefferson, Negril, Danceteria, and the Roxy.

In 1982 Bam had an idea for a record revolving around Kraftwerk's piece "Trans-Europe Express." Bam brought the idea to Silverman and both tried working on it in Silverman's apartment. Bam soon met John Robie, who brought Bam a techno-pop oriented record titled "Vena Carva" that he was trying to release. Bam then introduced Robie to Arthur Baker, and the three of them, along with Silverman and the Soul Sonic Force (..2), worked on the "Trans-Europe Express" idea, resulting in the piece "Planet Rock"-one of the most influential records in music. Bam called the sound of the record "Electro Funk,, or the "Electro-Sound," and he cited James Brown, Parliament, and Sly and the Family Stone as the building blocks of its composition. By September of that year "Planet Rock" went gold, and it continued to sell internationally throughout the 1980s into the next millennium 2000 and still sells today with the many remixes. Planet Rock is the most sample record ever in Hip Hop.

In the autumn of 1982 Bam and other members of the Zulu Nation (which included Grand mixer D.ST, Fab 5 Freddy, Phase 2, Mr. Freeze, Dondi, Futura 2000, and Crazy Legs, to name a few) made one of their first of many trips to Europe. Visiting Le Batclan theater in Paris, Bam and the other Hip Hoppers made a considerable impression on the young people there, something that would continue throughout his travels as he began to spread Hip-Hop culture told around the world.

Bam's second release around 1983 was "Looking for the Perfect Beat," then later, "Renegades of Funk," both with the same Soul Sonic Force. Bam began working with producer Bill Laswell at Jean Karakos's Celluloid Records, where he developed and placed two groups on the label Time Zone and Shango. He did "Wildstyle" with Time Zone, and in 1984 he did a duet with punk-rocker John Lydon and Time Zone, titled "World Destruction" which was the first time ever that Hip Hop was mix with Rock predating RunDmc's duet with Areosmith "Walk This Way". Shango's album Shango Funk Theology was also released by the label in 1984. That same year Bam and other Hip Hop celebrities appeared in the movie Beat Street. Bam also made a landmark recording with James Brown, titled "Unity." It was admirably billed in music industry circles as "the Godfather of Soul meets the Godfather of Hip Hop."

Around October 1985 Bam and other music stars worked on the anti-apartheid album Sun City with Little Steven Van Zandt, Run-D.M.C., and Lou Reed and numerous others. During 1988 Bam recorded another landmark piece as Afrika Bambaatea and Family. The work featured Nona Hendryx, UB40, Boy George, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, and Yellowman, and it was titled The Light. Bam had recorded a few other works with Family three years earlier, one titled "Funk you" in 85, and the other titled Beware (The Funk Is Everywhere) in 1986.

In 1990 Bam made Life magazine's "Most Important Americans of the 20th Century" issue. He was also involved in the anti-apartheid work "Hip Hop Artists Against Apartheid" for Warlock Records. He teamed with the Jungle Brothers to record the album Return to Planet Rock (The Second Coming).

Around this same period, Greenstreet Records, John Baker, and Bam organized a concert at Wembley Stadium in London for the A.N.C. (African National Congress), in honor of Nelson Mandela's release from prison. The concert brought together performances by British and American rappers, and also introduced both Nelson and Winnie Mandela and the A.N.C. to Hip-Hop audiences. In relation to the event, the recording Ndodemnyama (Free South Africa) helped raise approximately $30,000 for the A.N.C. Bam also helped to raise funds for the organization in Italy.

In 1991 Bam received some notice for his remix work on the group EMF's goldsingle "Unbelievable." He also did an album for the Italian label DFC (Dance Floor Corporation), titled 1990-2000:The Decade of Darkness.

By 1992 Bam had his own Planet Rock Records label, releasing Time Zone's Thy Will "By" Funk LP. In 1993 Bam's Time Zone recorded the single "What's The Name of this Nation? . . . Zulu!" for Profile Records. Toward 1994 Bam regrouped his Soul Sonic Force for the album "Lost Generations". In that same year he began deejaying on radio station Hot 97 FM in new York City on Fridays, hosting the show Old School at noon which Bam changed the shows name to True School at noon. Bam has release other records throughout the world from many different countries as well as always stayed on top of his deejaying throughout the world from the 90's, straight through the next millennium 2000. He is truly one of the hardest working man in Hip Hop.


THE GODFATHER

It's been three decades since Afrika Bambaataa started the hip hop nation - and he's still rockin' the planet



Afrika Bambaataa has seen hip hop evolve from a trial-by-fire experiment in New York City to a billion-dollar industry supported by fans around the globe. This year marks the genre's 30th anniversary, and the DJ who helped start it all is as busy as ever. His new album, Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light, is being called the best of his career. His Zulu Nation education group recently held a three-day music summit at Unesco headquarters in Paris. Back home, state legislators are considering granting historical monument status to the Bronx River Houses where Bambaataa grew up and threw his first block parties. Wired caught up with the legend for a chat about hip hop's old and new schools.


Take us back to hip hop's early days.
Bambaataa: It was founded in the Bronx by DJs - Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and me. Up until 1974, you had MCs, DJs, graffiti artists, and dancers all doing their thing, but the various components hadn't been brought together under a single banner. Hip hop began when we combined those elements into one cultural expression and gave it a name.

You didn't have a lot of fancy gear back then. How did the low tech aesthetic shape the music?
Bambaataa: It was about taking what we had and adding a twist. We may have had only two turntables and a mixer, but we used them to invent scratches and make crazy sounds. We had to be spontaneous.

Could you speak about the Zulu Nation, what it is, and how did it come about?
Bambaataa: Well, It came about in the year of 1973 in the area of the Bronx in a high school called Adlai E. Stevenson High School…Universal Zulu Nation is a large body of young adults and youth who stand on the principles of knowledge, wisdom, understanding, freedom, justice and equality, peace, unity, love and having fun, overcoming the negative to the positive, science, fact, mathematics, and the oneness of God. And we also stand on the teachings of what Dr. Malachi Z. York has given us with the right knowledge, right wisdom, right overstanding, and sound, right reasoning.

And, can you explain how it works? Are there chapters, where is it located, how big are you guys?

Bambaataa: Well, the main base was in New York City, but now we have chapters throughout the world in many different countries and it is made up of people of many different racial backgrounds and nationalities and religions from all over Europe and Africa and across the USA and some off of key islands.

Has the easy access to music-making software like ProTools killed hip hop's spontaneity?
Bambaataa: No. Ultimately, hip hop's about expressing how you feel through music. It's not about what methods you use to make it. On my new album, I recorded some tracks in a studio with an engineer and all the standard equipment, while some other songs were done on a laptop.

On Dark Matter, you've got everything from drum-and-bass to a collaboration with new wave legend Gary Numan. Why so eclectic?
Bambaataa: I'm trying to get people to understand that hip hop is much bigger than just rap music. It also includes Miami bass, turntablism, electronica, and lots more. Hip hop comes in many forms, but when you think of it, you probably just think of the rap stuff they play on the radio.

What music have you been listening to lately?
Bambaataa: The best stuff I've heard recently has been from other countries. There's great hip hop coming out of Japan from artists like Mimi and DJ Yutaka.

I bet 30 years ago, you never imagined you'd be listening to Japanese people rap.
Bambaataa: [Laughs.] It just goes to show you how great ideas can take hold on a global scale.

All of the performers within the different elements of Hip Hop have a particular style. Like deejays will have their own individual style, and the same with graf writers and breakers. Is there something that you would use to define your style of deejaying?
Bambaataa: My style of deejaying is just deejaying. I usually play just to make people dance. Years ago you had to do tricks, but I leave that for all the new blood out there, going crazy, cutting crazy stuff. My thing is bringing you all the funky music that most other deejays wouldn't even play and to see the crowd go off on different fields of music that other people said they wouldn't dance to. So, that's my thing… just bringing that funk of all the different music together on the dance floor and see everybody shake they ass.

You spoke earlier about what people's perception of what Hip Hop is and the different fields of music. Can you explain how you feel when people hear something like house and they think it's not Hip Hop? Can you speak about that?
Bambaataa: Well, there's certain house records if you put the rap on it, it becomes hip house, and that's part of another branch of the Hip Hop culture. You have the roots, which is the deejay and the break beats, and then the rappers. But now, corporations has made it where when you say "Hip Hop," you automatically go straight to the rap records. And that's not Hip Hop, you know?
Rap is part of Hip Hop, Hip Hop is not part of rap. People have to understand that. We put the term on it, the music "Hip Hop," but now when you say "Hip Hop," people just think "Oh, you're talking about a rap record." And they're forgetting about the b-boys, the b-girls, graffiti artists, the emcees, and also the knowledge part of Hip Hop. And they don't understand that it has progressed on to other fields of music.
Hip house, trip hop, jungle, drum 'n' bass, R&B Hip Hop, raga Hip Hop, you know? It's all other fields of music with the rap and the Hip Hop now, so if you want to deal with Hip Hop, you have to recognize it all. The go-go, the Miami bass, the electro-funk, the Latin freestyle; all this is part of the Hip Hop culture.

As far as Hip Hop and where it is today, what do you like that you see and what do you think are the changes that should be made?
Bambaataa: Well, I love that many people are making some money and I hope that many are trying to find ways to keep a hold of their money and use it wisely. I love that many people have came from out the ghetto and now they got mansions and nice cars and can move around the world and can perform before all different types and races. That's the beautiful part of it that the Creator has blessed them with.
But if they act a fool and be so negative and be disagreeable, then I see that they are going to do harm to theyselves and to the community of Hip Hop to the point that it will go back underground or it will be pushed on itsside somewhere down the line in the future if they don't organize and try to keep a structure happening within the Hip Hop community worldwide.

Source: Universal Zulu Nation ,Wired and UZN Holland



Next Week:

ON THE ONE'S AND TWO'S..DJ Roundtable With Kool Herc,BAM,Grandwizard Theodore,Charlie Chase,Tony Tone,DJ LA Spank, Jazzy Jay, Grandmixer DST & Kev E Kev

DS & FL VOL 12: MR. WIGGLES

I wasn't able to finish the History of the DJ - which was what I intended to post today- so I decided to profile "one of the most dynamic and influential figures in Hip Hop culture". Graf Writer, MC, Music Producer, Clothing Designer and Extraordinary B Boy....Steffan Clemente better known as...


MR. WIGGLES

He is a member of the world renown “Rock Steady Crew” and “The Electric Boogaloos.” This multi talented virtuoso is blessed with the ability to dance, act, choreograph, teach, produce music (one of his longtime passions) and is a gifted Grafitti artist.

According to Ben Higa, writer for Rap Pages magazine, “Mr. Wiggles is Hip Hop’s jack-of-all-trades – skilled in Popping, Locking, Bboying, Graf-writing and MCing…” He first started out as a kid doing the ‘Robot.’ During the early days he was influenced by his older sister Wanda and was introduced to the dance after bumping into a neighborhood kid who asked if he was a Bboy.
At the time, he didn’t know what a Bboy was and after the young kid hit the floor and executed some freezes, that was it, Wiggles was inspired and started Breakin’.”

From theater to film to music videos, Mr. Wiggles has enjoyed a very successful career since those early days and has worked with the likes of Graciele Danielle, SavionGlover, Bill Irwin, Lynne Taylor Corbett and Anne Marie D’Angelo. He was commissioned to produce a musical piece for Kurt Weill’s “September Songs” working with accomplished musicians Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop and Betty Carter.

He has been a featured artist at the world famous Apollo Theater and performed at the Kennedy Center honoring the Nicholas Brothers. Mr. Wiggles was also featured in a Skechers commercial as well as appearing alongside basketball great – Patrick Ewing.

Recently, he was among the members of Rock Steady honored at the first VH-1 Hip Hop Honors. He’s appeared in music videos with such artists as Missy Elliot, Usher, Madonna, Limp Bizkit and more. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Choreography for the show “Largely New York” and was nominated for a Drama Desk award for the Ghettoriginal production of “Jam on the Groove.” He won a Bessie Award for Best Choreography for the theatrical production of “So What Happens Now.” A play created by all the original Bboys dedicated to Buck, a Rock Steady Crew member who tragically passed away.

Mr. Wiggles tours extensively as a solo artist and with the Electric Boogaloos and RockSteady Crew. He is a guest faculty member at Steps on Broadway in NYC and makes countless personal appearances at events across the country and abroad. He was one of the first to teach Hip Hop in a mainstream studio at New York’s Broadway Dance Center. He distributes his music productions, 100% street edited dance videos and clothing wear through http://www.mrwiggles.biz His website enables fans around the world to connect with their hero. Despite his busy schedule, he is committed to participating in out reach programs teaching youth about the positive aspects of the Hip Hop culture. When asked “what is your greatest gift,” – he responds, “being a father. At the end ofthe day, family comes first.” His respect for self, life, family and all those he touches earns him his well deserved legendary status.

INTERVIEW WITH MR. WIGGLES

How did you get your start in b-boying/breaking?

I'm from the Bronx, and I was surrounded by both Rockers (Uprockers) and B Boys all my childhood, so I just followed what the older cats did in the streets, and my sista Wanda got me into Rockin (a more Latin dance style that was more vertical)


Your graf work didn't pick up until a few years after you started rocking, how did you get involved with that?

In the 70's I was so involved in anything and everything that was in the Bronx streets, and back then we didn't just do one aspect of HIP HOP, we did it all, and writin' was definitely one of my biggest passions in the streets, I started out cause my cousins NAC 143 and DAZE, NAC is my real cuz, and we would just say that DAZE was also our cousin, was down with a well known crew called CYA (crazy young artist), and DAZE was featured in Wild Style. They would come over my house every weekend for family parties and get togethers, and bring black books and photo albums, and I got hooked and started bombin' the IRT lines, mostly the 6 train lay-ups.


Who were some of the people that inspired you as a b-boy?

In my area it was a brotha from Bronx River named Beaver.
He was popular at the time and was down with the famous Bronx B-boy Crew Zulu Kings.

In the late 80's, you were doing Broadway performances, followed up in the 90's with mostly off-Broadway work and choreography. How did you get involved with theatrical work?

Theater work kind of just fell on my lap. It was during the time when B-boyin', Poppin', Lockin' was being brushed off as a fad. And I was blessed enough to get these phone calls from theater people looking to spice up there production with something different. After doing one, I started getting mad calls from all kinds of Broadway people, and started taking it more serious, and eventually did several productions on my own and with Ghettoriginal dance company. Including off Broadway shows like Jam on the Groove, Hip Hop Wonderland and Mad Hattan.

You've been in videos for artists like Madonna, Usher, Limp Bizkit and most recently Missy. With your accolades and experience, shouldn't we be seeing you in more videos?


Haha, tell that to these c*ck blockin' choreographers.... Haha, just kidding.

On your site you offer practical feedback to newjacks in the game, have you considered working as an industry consultant?


I think in my experience, and position in Hip Hop,
I will always help young people in the culture, just to keep them on the straight and narrow.

You've got some great stories about battle experiences, what was your most memorable battle and why?

I guess the battles in Japan. They were real competitive, and it was mad fun. That kid Go was dope in the mid to late 90's and had as many moves as I did at the time so we had some ill battles.

As far as graf, you've been bombing from the Bronx to as far as the Middle East. Do you still get down?


I still get down once in a while, no more illegal sh*t though, but I like to throw down when ever I can, and I'm always creatin' new styles.

Worldwide recognition of breaking started mushrooming in the early 80's. How has breaking changed in the last 20 years?


70's it was the funkiest, realest, rawest, and mad street era. Crazy Flava

80's it went from the creation of incredible power moves to being commercialized

90's it got more technical with the Europeans adding some incredible sh*t

2000 and beyond, more young heads are starting to dance more like the 70's, but very few will catch the essence of the original styles like the OG's.

You appeared in two groundbreaking Hip Hop flicks, Wild Style and Beat Street. What affect do you think these movies had on graf, breaking, MCing and DJing as a whole?


WILD STYLE was raw, and real, but the script and acting sucked. But you can still feel the energy of what Hip Hop was all about in this movie. And everything was high caliber sh*t. B-boys, DJ's, MC's, and writers were all real and at the top of there game.

BEAT STREET was allot more watered down, and still a bad script and they had actors play the characters, so the acting was good, but it made it seem even more fake. The graff was also fake done by a union artist who just bit ideas from real writers and he did a horrible job. The MC's were real but were forced to wear a lot of funny a** sh*t, and rhyme about corny sh*t. The B-boys were real, and the battles were real, but the editing was what messed up some of the dance sequences. Wild Style wins by a landslide.

What advice to you have to anyone interested in becoming a b-boy but live where there is no exposure to experienced breakers or competitions?


Get as much info on real foundation before you peruse this culture. Learn from the ROOTS, and FOUNDATION.

Finally, where do you see B-boying in another 20 years?


I hope I don't see it in the Olympics like a lot of people keep comparing it to. B-boying is the art of dance not flips and tricks, it's something you feel and the only way it would work in that format is if it done the way it was done in the streets. And that's battles. I would hate to see a B-boy with tights on doing perfect windmills with pointed toes, and legs straight looking like a gymnast tryna break.

I hope that young dancers gear themselves more to theater and stage, and try and put on full productions. And I also see the underground getting stronger, but we need more real B-boy jams and less B-boy events. I'm tired of going to a B-boy event and seeing these young dancers with backpacks dressed like bums warming up and stretching on the floor, and breaking all day and night showin' every lil move they got. A jam is more of a party atmosphere, you gotta get down and dance with girls, and feel the music, and when that James Brown beat hits you, you get down and rip, and and the moment is gone, you go back and party some more and save some moves for the next session. That's the real sh*t.

Anything else you want to add?

Right now I'm representing two of the most amazing dance crews of our time, Rock Steady Crew and The Electric Boogaloos. I am incredibly blessed and honored to be down with these crews. And also me and my partner Zeus started a clothing line called "BRIGANTE" so be on the lookout for our gears. High end Latin flavored hip hop gears with mad ghetto elegance. Peace.



Source: BWYDANCE and LATINRAPPER

Mr. Wiggles On Myspace:
MR. WIGGLES
MR. WIGGLES MySpace Music Page

Next Week :
The Master of Records Afrika Bambaataa

DS & FL VOL 11: WANDA DEE

Originally Posted on February 23,2006

In this installment of DS & FL we have one first female DJ's as well as the first female solo MC to release two consecutive platinum singles in Europe. The first female inducted into the Universal Zulu Nation. You might have caught a glimspe of her in the movie "Beat Street" with her partner Richard Sisco. She was also lead singer for the group KLF who had a major international hit song with "3am Eternal". Now the DJ,MC, Singer, Hip Hop pioneer...


WANDA DEE



By JULIANNE SHEPHERD & DEARDRA SHULER


Wanda Dee entered the world the same day Josephine Baker left it. The two souls must have passed and smiled at one another as each made the transition. One entered and one left, yet a bond was intrinsically formed. Born in Harlem and raised in the Bronx, Wanda's penchant for dreaming left her head more in the clouds than in the schoolbooks. A tomboy, she excelled in sports and was accepted by the boys as one of their own. None of them viewed her as the glamorous woman she would become because the then Wanda, was a skinny girl who peered out at the world behind thick glasses and crooked teeth. Wanda's athleticism enabled her to do a mean dance impression of both James Brown and Tina Turner right down to the slides, splits and struts. She played clarinet, flute and keyboards and was already setting the stage for her show business career.

Wanda Dee has always felt drawn to Josephine Baker and has made it her business to know everything about the star. She has met and befriended Josephine's son, Jean Claude Baker, sung at Chez Josephine and has even emulated Baker's dress and singing style occasionally in her act. "Josephine Baker is Diva Original. She wrote the chapter on Divadom. In fact, long before Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Marlene, Dorothy or even Lena…there was Josephine out there daring to be different, demanding to be seen and diligently assuring that she and all people of color were respected."

Dee became the first female Hip Hop DJ and inductee in the Zulu Nation in her early teens. "Afrika Bambaataa, the Godfather of Hip Hop and the founder of the Universal Zulu Nation, gave me my first big break as a DJ, " said Ms. Dee. "He protected me against all the jokes, pranks and insults by my male DJ contemporaries." Wanda was adept on the turntables and soon her skills drew the attention of Harry Belafonte who featured her as the first female Hip Hop DJ in his movie, "Beat Street." The movie led to a European tour. Wanda packed the London theatres. While there, Peter Waterman, offered her a multi-million dollar record deal on PWL, which gave her the opportunity to work with the production team of Stock, Aitken & Waterman who worked with artists the likes of: Kylie Minogue, Donna Summers and Bananarama.

Reknowned as Eric Floyd (who also played "Jerome" on the hit TV show Fame)are building an empire.They co-own Goddess Inc., which is their main holding company. Its subsidiary branches are Goddess Empire Entertainment (for Bookings); Goddess Empire Productions (for Song and/or Show Productions); Goddess Empire Publishing, Goddess Empire Record Label (aka G.E.R.L) and lastly F.A.M.E. Inc., which stands for Floyd Artist Management Enterprises.


"Both my husband and I are spiritual people and devout non-traditionalist. No disrespect intended towards anyone else's religion, but personally we feel that the institution of religion is man made," explained Dee. "All of the oldest civilizations and/or religions gave praise to a loving, generous, nurturing and peaceful Female Deity…the Creatress…the Great Ancestress…the Universal Mother…the Goddess.....In ancient times when women were heralded, exalted and recognized as the healers of our lands, holders of our hearts and protectors of the peace. Remember, long before HIStory, there was: HERitage, HEReditary, inHERitance and HERstory."

Dee and Floyd travel extensively. "I maintain a rock-solid 10 month international global touring schedule with 8 weeks off to regroup. My last tour was 22 months, in 90-countries, 150-cities and 6 continents. At last count I think I've played at least 121 countries and every state in the union," stated the inexhaustible performer.

Dee and Floyd have had some interesting experiences while on tour. When in Tallin, Estonia (outside Russia), people stopped, stared, and ran up to touch their skin in awe of their color having never seen black people before. "When we were performing in Riga, Latvia, I had to be rescued from a Russian Mafia boss who was attracted to me," recalled the beautiful star. "Apparently, he was notorious and extended an insistent invitation to dance via his hulking bodyguard. Once the mobster got me on the dance floor, he began whispering sweet nothings in my ear. I became concerned he had no intentions of letting me leave.

Before things got any scarier, my husband and one of our dancers, Panther, approached Charles Bronson, who was also in the casino and explained the situation. Bronson approached the Russian Mafioso (complete with film crew) and asked if he could cut in. Not even the Russian Godfather was going to say "no" to the "Death Wish" star. Bronson strategically danced me across the floor and out the door where my husband, a van, and troupe were waiting. My husband had paid a Mediterranean woman to feign being me while we took off in the van. Although, Charles Bronson has since died, I remember him fondly and will always thank him for that..."

Dee is sprinkling her stardust upon the year 2004, with plans to record a compilation album, co-headline and co-produce the Sweatfest World Tour which blasts off New Years Eve with Freedom Williams(C & C Music Factory) and Turbo B (Snap). Also in Las Vegas will host a show at a major casino based around Dee's 'Goddess' image and persona; Eric Floyd's Diva Fever Revue, a world tour of Pop, Soul, Funk, Dance and Disco femme fatales, will be on the roster for Valentine's Day at The Westbury Music Fair, featuring Wanda Dee, Grace Jones, Sister Sledge, Freda Payne and Loleatta Holloway.


Wanda Dee:
The Goddess Is Here And What A G.E.R.L She Is!!


Tell me about your album, Wanda Dee: The Goddess is Here. What's it about?

WANDA DEE: Well, this is my first solo album. "The goddess is an image, she's just a creation; a symbol for all the women in the nations. That is, beauty, body, brains and sophistication can co-exist within glamorization... and there's a goddess in every woman." This is what this album is all about. It's about the support of the female deity and that's what's happening now... everything was so male, male, male, male and from a male's point of view; that's the world that I came up in--the hip-hop world. It was a constant fight for me as a DJ, as a female in that world. You know, a lot of people just didn't believe I could do it, and I got a lot of guys who wouldn't let me on cause they didn't believe I could do it--until I got on, and they saw me DJ'ing and saw how good I was. Afterwards, they bowed and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you could DJ!" But I'm glad I came up that route, because it made me a stronger artist and it prepared me for what I'm doing now on the solo tip.

Were you always a versatile performer?

WANDA DEE: Yeah, I've always sung, since I was two years old. I just didn't imagine that I'd end up getting into the business through deejaying. That was my door in; then I became a rapper, then a performer, and that's when I got back to my singing, so that was the best thing for me 'cause I ended up learning from the ground up.

ERIC FLOYD: What kills me is they keep attributing Lil' Kim to being the first glamorous female rapper and that's really not the case. Years ago, Wanda... well, it was such a male-dominated industry and a lot of the girls coming out were adapting their behavior and style of dress to fit that male domination--sneakers, jeans, and gold chains and sweatsuits, minimal make-up. I said, "You know, Wanda, the only way to beat a man is to be the one thing he can't be, and that is a woman." We incorporated this high-glamour, Las Vegas, exotic, erotic, hypnotic persona, and it worked for her. It's the reason why her first two rap singles went platinum. This was way before Lil' Kim.

WANDA DEE: And of course, when you're the first to do something it's not easy, and you take the slings and arrows, and boy did I take some slings and arrows!

ERIC FLOYD: We'd go to events and female rappers would be there upset with her, saying, "You're making us look like sluts and selling our records with our butts!" But now if you look around, Salt and Pepa, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, everybody's glamorized. Missy Elliott has false eyelashes--it's no crime to be a woman!

WANDA DEE: And it wasn't easy for me because I was too young to get in clubs so I had to go underneath the wing of Afrika Bambaataa; he got me into the big time as a DJ, so I thank him a great deal for getting me into the game.

Do you have any thoughts on where the culture of hip-hop might be headed?

WANDA DEE: Well, it's clear: it's in everyone's faces. I'm happy that it's grown so much. It went from just being in someone's basement, out on someone's street corner to now, on the TVs and radios of people worldwide. That is a tremendous accomplishment. Now people can retire on it; before, you're doing it for the love of it and hope and pray you get it. Now, they're selling millions of records, everyone owns real estate, businesses, and feeding peoples' families. That is tremendous.

ERIC FLOYD: There are so many pioneers who started this game, and paved the trail that others now walk upon who didn't benefit. That's why each of us have a responsibility; I'm so glad that Will Smith and Latifah and others are reaching back and using some of the talents that didn't get those big paydays.

WANDA DEE: I'm also glad to see that there are a lot more women who are able to be in charge of their careers and sell millions of albums and do TV and other mediums of the business. It's awesome!!

You can learn more about Wanda Dee through her website: http://www.goddessempire.com

Source: Desofo.com and Globalblacknews.com




Next Week:
The HISTORY Of THE DJ: WE USED DO IT IN THE PARKS!!!

DS & FL Vol 10: CRAZY LEGS

Originally posted on February 16,2006

Today we have the B BOY Legend. President of the second oldest Hip Hop organization,graf writer,hip hop historian and master dancer Ricardo Colon better known as .....


CRAZY LEGS




This weekend the world famous Rocksteady Crew celebrated their 24th Anniversary [July 2001] and people from all over the world will come to New York attended the annual celebration. As one of Hip Hop's oldest and most enduring organizations we felt it was important that people obtain a better understanding of the crew, so we sat down with Rocksteady President Crazy Legs and had him run down some of the group's history.


First of all congratulations on Rocksteady's 24th Anniversary. But you know a lot of people aren't really up on the history of Rocksteady. So let's start by asking who is Rocksteady and when did you all form?

Rocksteady was formed in the Bronx in 1977 by Jimmy Dee, JoJo, and Eazy Mike who was JoJo's brother. There were other brothers who were down like Jimmy Lee, Weebles, L-Mack and a bunch of other people who were there before me. They were there two years before me. The name was based upon a dance called The Rock. Which was basically stylized Top Rocking. It was kind of like Top Rock/ Uprock. It was initially going to be called The Rock Dance Crew. But then people said let's name it Rocksteady just to keep it going. I actually joined Rocksteady in '79. It was me and my cousin Lenny-Len who had to battle Jimmy D and Jimmy Lee to get in. Jimmy D was the original president.

Was Rocksteady primarily a dance crew or were you guys like other Hip Hop crews in New York where you were doing a little bit of everything?

Well you know when crews were first set up back then, there really wasn't a term called to label the culture. So what you had was just a crew. Within a crew you had brothers who liked to just rock the mike, while other b-boyed or deejayed. The first crew that I ever got down with was The Bronx Boys. There was an affiliation with Rocksteady at that time. The Bronx Boys had a lot of different things. We had everything from stick up kids to B-boys.



Did you do other things other than dance?

I can never say that I was an emcee although I don't mind getting on the mic from time to time and getting 'Everybody say 'Ho!' That's just in my blood. I mess around on the turntables every now and then. I used to go bombing [graffiti] a lot in Manhattan and in the Bronx. I was a motion bomber, which meant that you would be bombing the trains while they were in motion.

You mentioned the term B-Boy. What exactly was a B-Boy?

Before the term Hip Hop existed, this is the way you approached people; 'Yo! You B-Boy?' or 'Yo! Do you emcee?' 'Do you rhyme'? That's how you knew who did what. That's how the B-Boys were labeled. They were known as the Break Boys-the brothers that would dance to the percussive part of the record or the break. That's how we got labeled. That was our title. It had nothing to do with how we dressed. Some of us were straight up bums and some of us were fly. It had nothing to do with a stance or a pose.

So it was known of that stereotypical stuff. It just signified what you got down with?

Yep. It was B-boying or B-girling.

Most people outside of New York became aware of Rocksteady through the movie Flashdance. Was that a direction you intended to take or did that just kind of fall into your lap?

It just kind of fell into our path. We were just people who came across other people who were promoting clubs and looking to do something alternative to what was going on. There was no real movement going on at that time. By the late 70s early 80s, the movements from the 60s were dying out. We got into the movie when we were put on stage to perform. It was just for fun. We never really cared whether or not the crowd was going crazy or if they knew we did a move right or wrong. We just went up there for ourselves. There were no dreams of stardom, fame or anything like that. It was really just done for the love.

Did appearing in the movie Flashdance open up a lot of doors? Or did you guys get any negative feedback from coming out of the hood and onto the big screen?

There wasn't anything about selling out back then. We had no concept of what was going on and what we were getting into. There was no conscious effort by anyone to say 'Yo! Forget these people, I'm gonna go get paid'. It was very rare when you came across someone like that. Yes, Flashdance created opportunities for us. But we never had to hear anything about us selling out. It probably had a lot to do with the way we did it. We went up there raw dog. We didn't go up there and try and candy coat it or anything like that. The only time things got weird was when we were tied into Virgin records and they wanted us to do some flimsy stuff. We were always against that.


I remember your record "Hey You Rocksteady Crew. Was that you guys singing?

You know that was a bittersweet thing. During that whole process we were basically raped. No one had any idea that a song was being recorded. Everyone was told we were going to be brought to Boston to see if you could sing for these people. Little did anyone know that a record was being recorded during our audition. It was put out by Charisma/ Virgin Records. It was top 10 in the charts with no contract what so ever.

And you guys didn't get paid for that?

We went through litigation. The record 'Hey You' sold over a million copies and I would say that each of us made 7gs. [7 thousand]

Wow Welcome to the music biz..

When we were that young and the rug was pulled out from under us in the mid 80s, it was definitely something that was hard to understand. We went from being on all the first tours that presented this culture to the world and set the foundation for what has now become the music industry to having to having to wait on the back of lines. That was a reality check for us that we weren't prepared for.

I don't think anyone was prepared at that time. I wanted to see if you could elaborate and explain how people like yourself and Afrika Bambaataa went about introducing folks to Hip Hop.

First, before we went on the road, we brought that whole scene to Manhattan to clubs like Negril, Danceataria and The Mud Club. Back then it wasn't just about a Rap Thing. It was just a music thing and how we expressed ourselves physically or verbally. There was more variety and more of a universal feeling when it came to the music. Being around Afrika Bambaataa and people like him, opened us up to so many different styles of music like rock, punk rock, roots, soul, funk and electrofunk. Right now its just straight and narrow Rap. The clubs back then were way better then the clubs right now.

Would you consider a lot of today's artists like a Jay-Z or a Puffy to be Hip Hop or Rap? And if they are considered Rap, what would it take for them to be considered Hip Hop?

In my personal opinion, Jay-Z happens to be one of my favorite lyricists. I think he has incredible metaphors. He can talk about the same thing and hit you from so many different angles and from so many different ways and still keep you interested. Puffy- he does what he does. I'm not gonna front, there's music that he does that I'll be dancing to and just having fun. You do need that type of music when dancing with a honey. I think its all valid, but then it gets to a point where people should admit if they're really down with Hip Hop or just down with the industry.

I actually have a great deal of respect for Ice Cube. This is something that happened several years ago when I first met him. He came up to me and said "You you should hook me up with some information cause I really don't know that much about Hip Hop Culture and its history". I really respected that. To me, it made him more Hip Hop then most of these people out here cause he had the nerve to admit that he actually did not know that much about where it came from.

So what would it take for that artist to have that Hip Hop vibe? Is it having dancers in a vibe or just general knowledge? Is there any one thing a person could have or do that signifies they are Hip Hop?

I think a person can be considered Hip Hop even if they don't do any of the elements, but have a deep respect for it and understand what it is and what it consists of. To me, that in itself is Hip Hop. A person can be so into and supportive and to me, that's all good. I think a lot of brothers out there are just one dimensional. They're only focused on 'how they can get mine?' And when the rug is pulled out from under them, those are the same people that finally recognize and say 'Yo man, I remember you. They only come up and say that after they lose everything.

Let's talk about the dancing aspect a little over the years we've done everything from floor dances to the cabbage patch and the prep to spinning on our backs. What exactly is Hip Hop dance?

All these dances like the cabbage patch and the prep, are just trendy dances that can be within any scene. B-Boying is the Hip Hop dance. No one should ever get it twisted. It was the one that was treated as an art form and it's the one that was preserved. No other dance was preserved that came out of the root of Hip Hop. I would say popping, locking, strutting were adopted by Hip Hop. Those were the only other dances that I would say were treated as an art form within Hip Hop. All these other dances are just something to have fun with on the dance floor.

So are there certain criteria or certain moves that one needs to master within these dances in order for it to be considered a Hip Hop dancer?


I would say, in order to become a Hip Hop dancer you have to know what you can't do. For example, some people just don't have rhythm and they just don't have flava. I think sometimes, certain people have to go back and resort to learning how to snap their fingers to the beat again. As you get into it, then you master your foundation and you treat it like you would any other art form. You go from step A to step B. I was fortunate to learn while it was still being developed and I was able to contribute in my own way.

Many people who are into Hip Hop today were born in the mid 80s, after Hip Hop had already been established. Can they do things that add to that foundation that was laid down from the 70s and still have be considered Hip Hop?

Yeah, you can add your own flava to it, but it's like this. If you're going to make some soup, you still need the water. There are just certain things that you can not ignore or forget. My theory is this:When you're out there dancing, you are partners with the music, but you will never be the lead. A lot of people don't understand that and they wind up running out there and trying to do something for the sake of being acrobatic. It may wind up being something that is obviously dynamic to the eye. They act like they're off to the races. They just do moves and have no regard for the music. When I go out and dance, I allow myself to dissolve into the music and I see where the music is taking me.

A while back we were talking and you said you didn't think capoera had a direct connection to B-boying. Can you elaborate on that?

The first time I even saw capoera was in 1991. I grew up around the original B-boys. I know about the original B-boys and this dance [b-boying] was inspired by the way James Brown was dancing. People took off from there. In capoera, your back is not allowed to touch the floor. We as b-boys spend so much time with our backs on the floor. We always have things that definitely manifest at different times. I'm not saying that a move we do in b-boying couldn't have been made up within another art form, at some other time, within some other culture or some other place. But when it comes to Hip Hop and B-Boying, many of these other things we came upon like capoera moves was by accident. When I evolved the backspin, which lead to the continuous backspin, which everyone knows as the windmill it was by accident. The 1990 was by accident, I was trying to do something else.

What were some of the other moves Rocksteady Crew members developed that are standard within Hip Hop dance today?

Came up with the backspin in which you're whipping your leg around and you spin around real fast and ball up. Then I came up with the continuous backspin [the windmill] and the 1990.

I bet you wish you patented that move.

Imagine if I was to get paid for that. You have moves by Frosty Freeze like the Suicide, where he jumps straight up in the air and lands on his back. That's a straight up Frosty Freeze move that really hasn't been bitten because you have to be a little tapped in the brain to be doing that.

What about Mr. Freeze's move that he did in the movie Flashdance when he slid backwards with the umbrella?

That wasn't an original move. He got that from miming. He learned that when he lived in Paris. You also had the Lockers and Electric Boogaloos who people would see on TV out here and imitate them.

I had a conversation with Kool Herc and he said there were some very distinct ways in which African Americans and Puerto Ricans approached b-boying. Could you shed some light on that?

I think the difference is when the brothas first started doing and it was at its infancy they weren't doing acrobatic moves. That didn't come into play until more Puerto Ricans got involved in the mid 70s. We then took the dance, evolved it and kept it alive. In '79 I was getting dissed. I would go into a dance and I would get dissed by a lot of brothas who would ask 'Why y'all still doing that dance? That's played out'. By 79, there were very few African American brothas that was doing this I one say one other thing. We always maintained the flava. It was like a changing of the guard and all we did was add more flava to something that already existed. We use to refer to it as Moreno style or Cocola style. That was just the slang back then. There were certain Top Rocks called Latin Rock

Did certain cultural things in your back ground influence those dances?

Naw it was you were either Black or Puerto Rican. The bottom line is what it really all comes to. We all lived in the same ghetto. There weren't too many differences. We were all on the same welfare and we all lived in the same projects. The segregation didn't exists when it came to Latinos and Blacks the way it may be in places like LA where you have straight up Black neighborhoods and straight up Latin neighborhoods. Out here in NY, my neighborhood consisted of everything. We shared our cultures. You have brothas who have no problem speaking Spanish out here. Brothas out here know how to go to a Spanish restaurant and order food.

What is Rocksteady doing these days? What do you see coming down the pipe?

We'll hopefully we ain't on no pipes [laugh]. There are two things I wanna do. One, I wanna open up a dance school that's gonna have more than dance. Its gonna be an entertainment type of academy. Two, I would like for us to put together one more time an off Broadway show that's based upon what we wanna do as opposed to what other people are telling us to do. We just wanna do our story. We want it to be the Electric Boogaloos and Rocksteady Crew.

I understand that Rocksteady has been getting involved with politics

Yeah, in fact we're getting a proclamation by Fernando Ferrer who is the Bronx borough president and now running for Mayor. The proclamation acknowledges Rocksteady as a group from the Bronx that is helping to preserve a dance form that started out in the Bronx. I personally have contributed to Fernando Ferrer's campaign. We also have a non-partisan voter registration drive during the anniversary as well.

Lastly.. Shout out all those pioneers whom we should all be trying to seek out and learn more from you mentioned The Bronx Boys [TBB] and The Salsoul Crew.. Who were some of the others?

There was Star Child La Rock, Rockwell Association, The Zulu Kings, Rocksteady, TDK [The Disco Kings] . I also feel that a lot of the outlaw gangs contributed a lot as well especially when it came to the uprocking. There was the Savage Nomads, The Ching A Lings, The Seven Immortals. There are so many contributors to this..this whole culture was really formed by a bunch of stick up kids that decided to do the right thing eventually. Thank God Hip Hop was there from them to do..

Davey D.com

Be sure to check out Mr. Freeze & Mr. Wiggles from the Rock Steady Crew on MTV's MADE tommorrow @ 4:30pm/1:30 pm for those who have satellite. Also Jay Z & Nas on MTV @ 10pm/7pm. So until next week....


Next Week:
Wanda Dee