 |
|
MIX
MASTER ICE INTERVIEW |
|
JayQuan : What year did you start Djing , and who was the first person that you saw Dj ? Mix Master Ice : I started Djing in 1980 . I may have touched turntables & dabbled around in 1979 , but to me a Dj is someone with 2 turntables and a mixer - that makes it official. The first person that I saw do it live was at my 8th grade graduation , I graduated from the 8th grade in 1979 and we had a school dance with a Dj and Emcees and I was amazed at the energy and response that they were getting from the crowd. I had never been to a party like that or seen that kind of environment. Rap was just hitting the airwaves with Rappers Delight and King Tim The 3rd and I had never witnessed Flash or Bambaataa in the streets. I don’t even remember the guys names who Djed the party , but I wish that I did – I would shout them out in interviews just like this. JQ: Do you remember what kind of set up you had in 1980? MMI: The first turntable I has was an Akai straight arm turntable – I don’t remember the model number , and the mixer didn’t even have a cross fader , in fact it had knobs that you turned!! J.Q.:The first record that U.T.F.O. released was Beats and Rhymes in 1983. Were you a part of the group at that time? MMI: Yes , they linked up with Full Force and Full Force produced the song – they had a deal with Select Records. I was in my last year of High school , and I was clowning around , hanging out with the wrong people and the streets had me less interested in the group. But when the record came out that was the wake up call. It was a blessing because I almost missed the boat on that one. J.Q.: How did the group form – were you all from Brooklyn? MMI : Myself ,
Educated Rapper & Kangol all went to High School together. Myself
& Educated Rapper used to be in a Djing group and a few of us Emceed
, in fact I tried to Emcee first ‘cus it didn’t cost any money. JQ : How did you guys hook up with Full Force on production? MMI : Kangol & Doc were dancing in the neighborhood , and Full Force were looking for dancers. Full Force couldn’t get a deal as a group , but they shopped themselves as a production company and we were the first group that they produced. J.Q. :Roxanne was the B side to “Hangin’ Out” , was that a label decision , or did you guys have any faith in Roxanne as a hit? MMI : Honestly the
label (Select Records) was pushin’ Hangin Out – ‘cus rap still
dealt with a lot of harmonizing. “Roxanne Roxanne” was a thrown
together record. It was an idea that came from B Fine (of Full Force)
and it was just a record that flipped the script on what happens when
you can’t pull a girl , as opposed to everyone else who rapped about
pulling all the girls. It wasn’t for any particular girl , it was just
made about stuck up girls. JQ: Im sure with all the publishing and marketing today , that you guys would have been rich if you released that song in this era. That song had mad responses – Roxanne's Baby , “Roxanne’s A Man” , “Roxanne’s Parents” etc etc. MMI : Ahh man I would have Mix Master Ice Ninja dolls , Roxanne dolls – it would be a rap…..I would have designed mixers , but it’s all a learning process man , I have no regrets. JQ: I notice that on the first U.T.F.O lp you had Technics 1200s. What year did you get your 12s? MMI: 1984. Before that I used the Technics B1s & B2s. J.Q. : On “Leader Of The Pack” your intro is mad precise , were you cutting using the crossfader , or a certain switch? MMI : At the time mixers were still pretty primative. I was using the GLI 7000 with 1200 turntables with Pickering needles. The faders were real stiff so we sprayed 'em with WD40 , not knowing that we were destroying the mixers. J.Q : With that style of cut who did you pattern yourself after? I heard Howie Tee & Silver Spinner cut like that after you did. MMI : All of
us were from East Flatbush (Brooklyn) . I lived in the fifties ,
Howie lived in the forties. Me & Howie were neighborhood rivals , and
the streets always hyped it up. To be honest Howie was an inspiration
for the cuts on Roxanne Roxanne ‘cus Brooklyn always had to look up to
the Bronx – but all I did was practice so if my day came I would be
nice. I always set my aim for whoever was the best like Flash &
Theodore. Howie was a Dj from the neighborhood who was into quick cuts
like myself and we took Djing very seriously. J.Q. : Just that one breakdown with the whistle sound from Buggin’ gave a lot of Djs something to cut till this day. People like Jazzy Jeff , Q Bert and so on. Think of how different your career would be without “Change The Beat” by Fab 5 Freddy. MMI : That’s right. I was the first to cut that owwww part as far as I know. Till this day that is the most used scratch sound. Im blessed to be the first to put it on wax. Others had dabbled with it , and we knew it was at the end of Fab 5 Freddy. Several Djs messed with it at same time. JQ : Fab 5s joint was kinda hard to find after awhile. But you blessed us when you let it go accapella at the end of “Pick Up The Pace”. MMI : I sure did…wow that’s deep…. J.Q. : I noticed
that you had the martial arts image long before Wu tang or Fu –
Shinickens were thought about. Were you really into martial arts? MMI: It was mostly just an image. I dabbled with it but each of us had an image. Kangol was the soldier of love , Dr Ice was the debonaire Doc & Educated Rapper was just that. I was the Ninja – Mix Master Ice. J.Q. : Did you know that your material was selling well outside of New York at the time ? MMI : I started seeing it on the tours. The first tour that we went on was with New Edition in 1985 from Febuary to June. We did the Fresh Fest , then headlined our own tours. Promoters would pull me to the side to Dj skating rinks and clubs. I was one of the first to start Djing on the road like the Kid Capri’s and Clue’s. I was doing that in the 80s drawing crowds of up to like 2000 just off my name. I had 12 or so different cities that I could Dj in during our down time. So a lot of cats came to me in these cities saying that I was an inspiration to them. J.Q. : How was it on the Fresh Fest being teenagers , and Hip Hop being still very innocent ? MMI: Honestly we were swept off our feet at a young age. All we cared about was showcasing our skills and being the best. It wasn’t so much about business like it is now. We had no knowledge of the business we just had talent. We were really paying dues. We were continuing paying the dues that out forefathers paid before us. We just took it a step further. Many people didn’t think Hip Hop would last this long. When we were doing block parties back in ’81 I never envisioned touring , making records and being on TV ‘cus it didn’t seem reachable. When I heard Roxanne on the radio the first time I was working a messenger job in New York with Educated Rapper. The record came on and I would tell people that’s my record. They couldn’t believe it ‘cus it’s like "why are you here riding a bike dropping off letters if that’s your record!!!" We had to quit our jobs ‘cus we were doin’ 4 or 5 shows a night in New York. J.Q. : What clubs were in effect then ? MMI : The Fever , Empire skating rink in Brooklyn , Roof Top , Danceteria , Funhouse , Bentleys , Silver Shadows & The Roxy (one of the first places we performed in New York). J.Q. : Your image seemed to change with each lp. You had the first joint as an introduction , then “Skeezer Pleezer” seemed to be for the ladies , “Lethal” was experimental , “Doin’ It” was kinda pro Black & “Bag it & Bone It” was almost 2 Live Crew. Who was responsible ; was it the label or you guys just searching for an image? MMI : I would say a
mixture of both. On Skeezer Pleezer that was what it was. On Lethal the
label came with the idea for the cover with the legs. On "Doin' It" I
don’t exactly remember but we were one of the first explicit groups .
We had “Master Baby” and all that before it was popular. We has
S.W.A.T. (get down get down , pull your panties down) and all that.
“Bag It And Bone It” I wont point fingers , but I will say that
“If You Don’t Wanna Get Pregnant Suck The D*ck” was strictly
Kangol Kid. That’s why he rapped alone on it. I got real heavy into
Islam & pro Blackness around the time of the “Doin It” Lp. J.Q. : How come Educated Rapper is missing from the “Skeezer Pleezeer” Lp? MMI : He was in rehab at the time. He had started abusing cocaine , and instead of kicking him out of the group I really fought hard to keep him . To do that he had to clean up – and he came out strong on the Lethal album. J.Q. : What input did you have in production. MMI : Full Force
didn’t give up much with that . They were like gorillas with it – we
would be like let's get some hot producers like Marley Marl or Teddy
Riley . They wouldn’t even let us do much – on "Bag It and Bone It" J.Q. : How do you feel about the separation of the Dj & Emcee that we saw start happening in the late 80s? MMI: I feel it was due to technology. In its inception it was all about the Dj and Djs used to Emcee. In the early stages before rap records , we had only breaks from funk ,disco & jazz – we were human samplers. In order for Emcees to rap we had to repeat these beats so the Dj was like the band – he provided all the sounds. Once Hip Hop became marketable , all the Dj had to do was play the song , or the instrumental – now the Dj isn’t as busy. With that & the technology the Dj wasn’t as busy. A lot of our show was based around me because I was a showcase Dj. If not for that I may have been replaced by a DAT machine. Dats killed Djs, Emcees could just push play & rap. But it started when rap went on records , the Dj just threw on the instrumental & chilled so the Dj was pushed back. J.Q. Im gonna name some Djs rate them 1- 10 , 10 being highest – but no mixing or back spinning just cuts & scratches. Flash – 10 The Godfather and a major inspiration. When he did it , he did it big !! Cash Money – 10 - He did it big in his time!!! Howie Tee – 10 - Phenominal Scratcher. He got into producing and kinda left it alone. Silver Spinner - 7 - He was always in mines & Howie Tee’s shadow ;with all of us being from East Flatbush Brooklyn , and he was a great show Dj. Tat Money – 8 – he was always in Jazzy Jeff & Cash Moneys shadows being from Philly but still was one of Hip Hops great Djs. Jazzy Jeff – 10 -Phenominal Dj , workaholic and perfectionist. Also a good friend. Speaking of Jeff , who was the first to do the transformer Scratch – Jeff did it on record first , but who originated it? It came from a Dj in Philly called Spinbad. There are 3 or 4 Spinbad’s but this is the one from Philly. Jeff & Cash Money credit him with the invention. Jeff & Cash were on different sides of town and like rivals. Spinbad had a primitive sound of it. Jeff & Cash elaborated on it at the same time. Grandmaster Dee (Whodini) – He never did anything on wax…this is hard….you’re puttin’ me on the spot…I can't really rate him on cuts & Scratches…he was a good show Dj , and they held him in the air at the Fresh Fest while he cut , but he never really did anything on records as far as cuts & scratches.... Jazzy Joyce – 8 – A pioneer female… Grand Wizard Theodore - 10…The inventor – did it big as hell – beat Flash in a battle !!! Cutmaster D.C. – 10 – He was a beast !!! D.ST – 10 – Precise cuts – Rockit still sounds precise !!! Jazzy Jay – 10 – Big inspiration to me. What are you up to today? I Dj on the radio in Columbus Ohio. I still have my ear to the streets , and I got over 400 crates of records, spread out in 3 states. I never stopped Djing since day one. J.Q. – On your first Lp you guys thanked Phil Donohue (godfather of daytime talk shows) I always wondered why was that? MMI : Well Kangol & Doc introduced Breakin’ to the the world on the Donohue show , and I think Phil had a child that was into Hip Hop. J.Q. : How did you end up in Columbus Ohio? MMI : This is one of the places I used to Dj in back in the days , and I still would visit. I met some people who taught me how to invest in real estate , and I bought some property , and ended up staying in it. One visit turned into a looong stay!!! It’s a pleasure to have been in Hip Hop, I always respected Hip Hop and I think that’s why cats still respect me. It was always a culture to me , and still is.
Check out Mix Master Ice at www.mixmasterice.com
|
But
it was 4 or 5 of us that did lil’ parties or whatever & Kangol
& Doc (Doctor Ice) used to dance together and Kangol also rapped.
Kangol & Educated Rapper were gonna get into some Emcee battle and
they said instead of battling lets just form a group – so me &
Educated Rapper were already together so we formed Untouchable Force
Organization.
Educated Rappers verse was an old routine we
used to do at block parties – it was just thrown together , each one
of them rapped to different drum beats , we didn’t think it sucked , but
it was just a B side , and it’s just a blessing that a Dj turned it
over and said lets work with this.
When we got on and Shante’
started a career by answering the record , light bulbs went off for us
like we can answer our own record!! That’s how the Real Roxanne came
about and she needed a DJ so we snatched up Howie Tee. And we started
going back to the hood to snatch people up. Kangol started a production
company with Howie Tee & that’s how Whistle formed.
I
started rappin’ more on that album. Doc
I
did most of the production , and didn’t get credit for that !!! We
were signed to Full Force productions and it was etched in stone.