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By Troy L. Smith Spring 2005 Where were you born and
raised? Harlem, New York. 135th street. 5th avenue. Riverton complex. Who inspired you to want
to be a part of hip hop?
The Treacherous 140th
street between 7th avenue and 8th avenue, that was
buck wild back in the days? Yeah. But that was where the block party’s were at, at that time. I hear you, go were the
music is at! Right, and Flash and Bam also. So Flash and Bam you seen
rocking down in Harlem or ya’ll had to go up to the Bronx? Up in the Bronx, and that was 123 park for Flash, Bronx River and T- Connection for Bam. But Hollywood was the very first. I just liked the way he rocked the crowd, and the way he was controlling the crowd. Also his record selection. Hollywood was very much in control. He made it look like the D.J. was in control, and the m.c. was actually window dressing. Was there every a time you
tried out m.c.ing? No, and the reason is I never liked my voice.
Darrell and I met when we were like five years old. We grew up together in the Riverton Complex. So from my research
Darrell C and you already had a D.J. crew before y’all went over to
the Lincoln projects to get on with the Crash Crew. Yeah, basically, it was a bunch of us that used to roll to together, Darrell, Butter Bean, Gerald C, Dary, Jay Boy. We used to call our selves the Divine 9. There was a bunch of D.J.s and one D.J. that m.c.ed also. So how did ya’ll
formulate with the Crash Crew? What happened was, the first time they came out, Darrell already had a reputation, because of his system and records. We were never the type that would just stay in Riverton, we were everywhere. So when the whole thing was going down, they came to Darrell and said they wanted him down with them, because they had a new group. Like I said Darrell had the records, and he had the set in the house. So it was like a natural thing. Plus they came to our complex as well, to chill, so we already knew who they were. So did you and Darrell and the rest of your crew from Riverton have a name before ya’ll merged with Crash Crew? We were called the Divine Nine. It was mostly me and Darrell that went to the Crash, then later John came over and Butter was always coming back and forth, because the music didn’t really matter to him. But with me and Darrell the music started coming first. Do you remember the relationship Darrell had with the other D.J.s such as Bam, Flash and Theodore and other guys in the industry? Everybody loved Darrell. Darrell was one of those likeable type cats. He was out going, he was the type of guy that would make you laugh. When we used to be on the road he used to be messing with everybody, playing pranks. (Yoda’s laughing.)You know what I mean? But when it was time to be serious, and we doing shows, competition was stiff. So nobody as far as other D.J.s were taking anybody under their wings. Our feeling was when we come to do a show “we coming to crush ya’ll.” With Theodore they were like our nemesis. We used to try and out shine them. Cold Crush and Treacherous Three were on a lot shows with us. So with all those groups,
who went on first mostly? Well all of us used to have three and four shows a night so we wanted to be in there and out. But on the most part we all wanted to close.
No I was never a part of the routines, by this time we are doing shows and I was mostly backing up Darrell, and the five best m.c.s would be out there. Also you must remember that Crash Crew was twenty members. We had like six, seven d.j.s, and like eight m.c.s, as well as security and others. So by this time I am just there helping Darrell with the records and keeping cats off his back. Back then you had the saboteurs who wanted to reach over your shoulder, bump the needle and s--- while you are d.j.ing. So now who were the six
d.j.s? L.S.D., Mace Gee used to d.j. he also used to make the speakers, the Mace Monsters. 45. was a d.j.. Matter of fact G- Man was a d.j. before he rhymed. Yeah I heard G- Man usde to carry the equipment back in the days before he m.c.ed, but I guest everybody carried equipment in the crew at one time. Exactly, back in those days everybody E.C.ed (Equipment carry.) So who were the other
m.c.s after the best five? We had Fly Guy, Disco Dave. My man Jeff Onion used to get on sometimes. A lot of times we use to practice right down in the basement of this lady’s candy store that was right on 135th street and 5th avenue. It was a game room down there. She let us practice, because it was good for her business. People be in there watching and listening and buying what ever, but no problems. The block was in there. So who are all those people at the end of the record?(Hi Powerered Rap). T Were there times Darrell
gave you pointers? Yes I learned a lot from watching Darrell. I was reckless, I was the type of cat that wanted to do the old wild back spinning, and other crazy stuff. He was the one that taught me to take my time, and sit down and make the record ride, as far as bring the breaks back and forth, to keep the beat on time. I just want to go in there and tear it up. Darrell said “no, no take your time, chill.” So did you and him ever battle inside the house, going head up trying to make each other better? We never really battled but we would do the back spinning, by him being on one table and I on another, and we would see who would mess up first. That was always fun for us. Did you and him ever go
record shopping together? Always, any d.j. would tell you the second best thing about being a d.j. is to hunt for the record. The first part is just rocking the crowd. The second part is the hunt for the record. Digging and going from store to store, the little out of the way shops in the village that nobody ever seen or heard of. Catching somebody throwing records in the garbage. Going to your boys moms house and raiding their records. What is the longest you
and him might spend in a day searching for
records? Like six hours. So did ya’ll have a specific day like Saturday morning before a party, ya’ll go record shopping? Wednesday, Thursdays, right before the weekend. By about noon, because nobody really had no jobs back then. By the evening we were back uptown or home. So Disco Dave and Mix
Master Mike used to go with ya’ll also? Nah, Just Darrell and Me or some one else with Darrell. Or me by myself, because that d.j. competition will have you not wanting anybody to see what you got. So there were times you
went and found you some joints by your self? No question, and I would bring it back to the crew and they would be like oh s--- where did you get that from? (Yoda’s laughing.) So as a whole on Crash Crew do you remember any records that ya’ll bought out that might be classics today. Like say Freedom, it was said Bam was the first with it, he found it first. Well by the time we got out and started really putting in work all the standards were all ready out. It was just about making those records our own. Putting our signature on what was already there. Like say Freedom, although Bam broke the record, we put our signature on that. When you hear Freedom you think Crash Crew or Furious.
Well I can’t say yes or no on that one because I don’t know. But he was cool with Darrell C. But when we first did our show up in T- Connection, Bam made Crash Crew part of Zulu Nation. How is that, why? Basically because we were up there and we were the only cats from Manhattan. It was our first time up there in the Bronx as far as performing. You know how the Bronx is things tend to happen, you way up on Gun Hill road. Cats might have wanted to step to us, and we was getting ready to do our thing, but we found out everybody had mutual friends. So the beef wind up not escalating. So after that Bam put us under the Zulu Nation banner. It is ironic that you said you would later talk to Pow Wow about doing a story about Whiz Kid because, that night when I was in the crowd, Pow Wow was on the mic doing his thing, and Whiz Kid was d.j.ing and he was unbelievable, he was tearing up Bounce Rock Skate. Glad to hear that about Pow Wow. He is my favorite m.c. of Zulu. Yeah him and Ikey Cee. Ikey is cool but Pow Wow is the best to me, then Lisa Lee. Oh yeah, a lot of people slept on Mr. Biggs. I think what it was, was
he didn’t say enough. He didn’t get on the mic a lot. As far as the
tapes that I have, that’s why I say that. Pow Wow told me that Biggs
mostly played the door collecting that money. How far did you go to
collect your records? If we were on the road I definitely hit the stores out of town. How far have you traveled
with the Crash Crew doing shows? All over the United States. I never went with them out side of the country. But I have been out of the country with other groups. I also road managed Rob Base and E.Z. Rock, plus other stuff. I am going to get back to
that. What are other places that you liked to shop for your records here
in New York? I always liked Down Stairs record shop. You talking about the one
that use to be on 43rd street and now moved to I think 39th
street and 6th avenue? Yeah. Also Rock and Soul. Over on 35th
street and I think 8th avenue? Yeah they been around for awhile also. Those two were pretty much my favorite. Then there's Colony that also had vinyl and they was good, but too damn expensive. Over on 49th street and Broadway. Downtown in the Village there are a lot of good places too. Like around the N.Y.U. area. Or where Vinyl Mania is at also. Well Vinyl Mania is more towards the West Forth area. Over there you will find a lot of records shops. Yes sir. You can spend a whole day just going from shop to shop. So today is a whole lot
different shopping for vinyl, opposed to back in the day? Yeah. Meaning the places to
shop, it is more record shops today to shop at? Yeah but it ain’t more records. So everybody pretty much
got the same thing? Yeah, and now it is a bunch of represses. A lot of cats aren’t making vinyl of their joints and there isn’t any real original music that you would want to buy now. There ain’t no real hot beats. If I want to hear something somebody sampled I just get the original and cut it up my self.
I mean its good because a lot of people don’t have the originals. Like a lot of my originals I don’t have any more, so its cool I am cool with that but, some of them are missing stuff, some of them are not pure like they use to be. Like there might be a beat off of stuff. You talking about the
represses? Yeah the represses and some of the super disco breaks. Did you and the Crash Crew
ever battle anybody? The main one I remember was the battle with Master Don and the Def Committee. Yeah how did that go down, because I hear different story’s? I have Master Don got on the mic and tore it up, then I got another one that said nobody was really there, cats were free styling on the mic. Cats were free styling, but it started with Don and Darrell on the turn tables. What set it off for them was when Don said F--- it and grabbed the mic. (we both start laughing.) He took it to the next level and said he can m.c. too. But for us the most infamous battle that never happen was with Flash vs. Crash. Over the Freedom record,
right? Yeah, and there were a whole bunch of flyers out that we was supposed to battle them. But the night of the battle they weren’t in town. That was the biggest battle that should have happen that never happened, because there was always controversy behind that Freedom record. Even on the tours certain individuals used to get mad when Crash Crew did Freedom on the road. They felt that we shouldn’t do it because it wasn’t a Sugar Hill record. I thought you were going to say because they felt theirs was better. In actuality I like High Powered Rap better, although Flash Freedom would come on right now and I would hum along. But I guess that comes with me being from Harlem. HPR would be played all over Harlem for ever, during that time. Who was your distributor at the time? Other than Mix Master Mike taking us to every mom and pop store, as well as us selling out of the trunk of our cars and at all of our party’s, we had a distributor in Queens called GP records. It was a big record store out there. How did you get with Rob
Base and E Z Rock? I was their road manager, they also came from Lincoln projects. They were cats that were under us. Darrell C was originally their road manager. With the blow up of Rob Base, Darrell said lets put the Crash Crew back together. Every one came back except Barry B- Stro, only because he moved down south. Now Darrell wants to get on the mic, so he is writing rhymes and we come out with two cuts, one is called “The Real Hip Hop” and other one was called “Champagne Flights.” A lot of cats felt we went away from the Crash Crew style, which was the harmonizing. We made the mistake of doing what a lot of other people do when they come back into the game, we tried to sound like what was out at the time, which might have been that whole, thug gangster type, of style. Instead of being the pioneers that we are and trail blazing the way. But I have to say I am happy that we got back together and started doing shows again. So what separated ya’ll
at that time? Life, brothers were some what moving on doing other things. Weren’t they under
contract to Sugar Hill? Man everybody ripped that contract up. Nobody was honoring it. Nobody was doing nothing for Sugar Hill. Reggie ended up going solo with Rob Base new manager at that time, Kurt Hamilton. He did a few solo things one I remember was something with HBO. Other cats got jobs, all this was because the music wasn’t fun anymore at Sugar Hill. Why was that. First of all nobody was eating, second they tried to take creative control. Also we wasn’t getting paid what we were suppose to be getting, nobody knew about royalty’s. Were you signed under
Sugar Hill Records? No. But I still did shows with them and got paid at the end of the night. Who was Rob Base signed
under? He came under Profile, but his first cut “D.J. Interview” was under Mike and Dave’s label. Why did Mike and Dave stop
doing their thing? That party at the Savoy Manor took a lot out of Mix Master Mike. Talking about the shoot out? (tape 73.) Yeah somebody got hurt and died, and it took a lot out of him. So Dave tried to do it
himself? No! What Mike did, Dave followed. I thought it was the other
way? Naw, Mike is the oldest, and he was the business man. Dave wanted to be the m.c., while Mike worked the door and did all the deals, the payrolls. Its funny because he was very nerdy looking but very professional. What was Mandiplite’s
association with ya’ll? He was from The Lincoln project also. He hung out with us. But he latched on to Flash and the Furious Five, and he became somewhat of a promoter. So why would everybody start out with Mike and Dave and then break out once they made their hits? Was Mike and Dave just a spring board for everyone else? It wasn’t done on purpose, that is just the way it went down. Positive K, his first joint was on Mike and Dave label. Boogie Boys they first joint also. So Boogie Boys broke right
out after their first cut?
Yeah, I heard they were second best if not the best when it came to promoting and producing shows in New York. Next to them would be Donald D and his brother B- Fats. To me I would say Mike and Dave, But Don and B- Fats were big too. But to me the majority of party’s going down in Harlem were a Mike and Dave production. Whether it be Celebrity Club, Randy’s Place, I.S. 201, Audubon. Mike and Dave even way down town to the Grand street Ballroom on the lower East side. Alright I am going to give you some D.J. names. I wan’t you to give me a rating on them and your thoughts on them. Darrell C- 8 half to a 9. he was good at keeping the beat, he had a lot of m.c.s behind him, so when routines are being done you have to be on time, so you don’t throw your m.c.s off. He also had a knack for throwing the right records on before the actual show, so the m.c.s wouldn’t be just standing there. His scratching was on point. The crowd often lost their mind when he was on. I remember one time in Long Island he lost it! Disco Dave and G- Man were right in the middle of a routine and Darrell was feeling his self catching the “Get down” part of Bounce Rock Skate, over and over, and just shining, and leaving the m.c.s out. I remember Dave saying slow it down. The crowd was loving it cause Darrell was catching it. I loved Darrell, he was my brother. He went over sea’s with Bam and them the very first time they went over there. He actually went with them when Bam took Phase, Dondi and Futura and all these other cats. In the early nineties after all the b.s. that went down at Sugar Hill, they asked him to go on tour again as a d.j. He always stayed a float, keeping his art work going, you know. So Darrell C and you, left with the Crash Crew to go with Sugar Hill to do shows, who would d.j. for Mike and Dave when they did their shows? Jomo? Yeah Jomo, other cats like Barry Bee. E.Z. Rock started d.j.ing with them and other cats. Master Don? Don definitely a 9! Don was one of the fastest d.j.s. I remember him cutting up Funky Drummer in Kennedy Center, 1111, 2222, 3333, 4444, hit hit hit hit. That’s something somebody would do with a pause button, and he is doing it with turntables. I would have loved to seen that, and hear it. I will never forget that. I gave him instant props. I used to also see him rock at the Dome at Colonial Park (145th street. Brad Hurst avenue.) He used to lose it. He used to rock that beat box too, he was nasty with that. Not too many people had that at that time. His was a higher level compared to Flash’s beat box. Krazy Eddie? I would have to give him a 7. I never really caught him doing anything spectacular. He had a real good crew behind him. I’m a tell you something, a lot of guys I never seen live, but Theodore, Jazzy Jay, Islam and I have to say Krazy Eddie, are the only D.J.s that I can say that I can hear through the tapes, as if I was there. That was how good they were d.j.ing. I have a tape (114.) I’ll let you hear it one day, were Krazy Eddie sounds like he is using 3 turntables. He is cutting the whistle from Spoonin and the beat from Love Rap, and a third record. (don’t know the name.) I’m like how the hell did he do it. somebody said it was a plate, Ed said it wasn’t. O.C.? I would give a 7 to O.C. he is a better producer than D.J. Barry Bee? One of the nastiest, underrated, slept on d.j.s Yeah I got a couple of
them tapes were he is killing it. Yo Barry is the illest, yo I give him a 9, 9 and a half. Barry is up there. You have to remember that Barry is from Lincoln behind us. He used to come up to the house wanting to practice, talking about “I got this new cut”. “I am going to cut no beat”. No beat! Yo
Barry was ill. I ain’t going to say was, because he still doing his
thing. He is definitely one who is slept on. Back when he was down with
Devastating 3 thing with Kid West, Magic Dee and Baby Flash. Barry used
to tear it up. Another kid name Sugar Rock used to rock with them also.
I remember Barry ripping it in Lincoln park. Back then he was one of
those cats that always wanted to get on. Funny you say that because he always seems like a shy laid back dude. I am always asking him for a interview he just smiles, saying “I don’t really do interviews.” I be like “yeah alright, I catch you sooner or later.” All that shy s--- goes out the window. Barry’s laid back, but when it comes time for him to do his thing, Barry’s a monster on them turntables. Chill Will? I don’t really remember Will d.j.ing back in the day too tough. I know he was around with Doug E Fresh from the beginning. But I don’t really remember his style too much from back then, but in recent years we have done a lot of stuff together. But he still has it, as far as rocking the party’s and the shows. I really can’t rate him. So you seen a lot of Barry
with Devastating 3, then with Doug, or both? Barry started with Devastating and Doug snatched him from them. D.J. Spivey of Johnny Wa
and Rayvon? (Yoda starts laughing) that’s an ill cat. That’s another cat that be like “just give me the tables”, and he still like that. Spivey is like the ultimate B- boy. You see him cutting up the records, the next minute he is on the floor B- boying. Him cutting up for Johnny Wa, Rayvon and E- man was just window dressing. That just made him stand out even more. I give Spivey like an 8. Ronnie Green
You know he did d.j. for Jeckle and Hyde? Yeah but I didn’t see him during that time. So what would you give him as an m.c.? He had the voice and he used to come out with some slick s---. So I give him an 8 as an m.c.! Artie Art? I give him a 7. D.J. Easy Lee? 7, I never really seen him do his own sets. Everything was always routines and shows. I never really seen him get loose at a party, where it was his time to shine type of thing. Reggie Reg of the Treacherous Three? I only seen him rock once, before he bounced. But I heard he was a hell of a d.j. and a nice party rocker. I just had the pleasure of meeting him not to long ago. Pernelleo? (Yoda starts laughing.) Pernelleo and Disco P! That’s his little brother? Yeah, Parris is his little brother that rocked with him. Pernell is nice. He was kind of under rated. His crew and other things never transpired for them to get that far. They came out of Saint Nicholas projects here in Harlem. In fact that is how the Boogie Boys got their record deal with Mike and Dave. They battle Pernell and his crew for a contract to do that record “Rapping ain’t a thing.” Cats slept on Kid Delight, he was nasty. I give Pernelleo a 7. Donald D of Harlem? As a d.j. I give him a 8 because he could definitely rock a party and keep it moving. Him and that whole Sapphire Crew, they kept it going, doing the block party’s and s--- like that. Well Sapphire Crew was
more like the Cigar Mob, a gang or brothers just hanging out making sure
everything was cool. (or trouble makers.) They was like a Crash Crew, Poison Clan, Cigar Mob type thing. Everybody fell under that banner of the Sapphire Crew. You had B- Fats, Donald D even if I am not mistaken Kool Kyle the Star Child and Love Bug have rocked with them. D.J. Randy of the Harlem World Crew? Randy was nice I give him a 7 or 8. he was like that party rocker guy. He could keep it flowing. He would keep it flowing at intermissions and all that s---. Keep people dancing and entertained. So the natives didn’t get restless. So how was it dealing with
him on the promoting end? Basically with Crash Crew when we did a show we had our own promoter. We didn’t trust nobody to do nothing, so when we did shows we made sure we had enough flyers to give our little teams to promote and do what they had to do. We always felt somebody was going to try and sabotage us because we were the man, the top dog at the time.
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D.J.
Yoda of the Mighty Crash Crew.
D.J.
Hollywood and Love Bug Star Ski. I used to see them rocking in the 140th
How
did you and D.J. Darrell C meet?
So
what part would you play when you and the Crash Crew would do, say
Harlem World? Would you open up the crowd before Darrell C and the Crash
Crew would get on, or would you also be apart of the routines?
hat’s
all Crash Crew Poison Clan members. Debbie Deb played the door for us
some time, 45. you know already who that is, Buzzy Buzz was security.
There were a lot more names shouted out, but by the time the record was
complete the names were cut down. Names like Stan the Man and so many
others. It was such a long time ago I just don’t remember the names.
But it was everybody from the Poison Clan as well as my name.
Well
Reggie Reg told me that Bam gave Freedom to Darrell C, because he liked
him.
So
how do you feel about those Super Disco Breaks and other stuff like it,
that have been out here for the younger cats that didn’t grow up
putting in work digging like you did?
No.
it wasn’t like that, everybody was still around doing shows with Mike
and Dave. It wasn’t like they record a joint and then break out. When
Boogie Boys got signed Kool Ski had already left the group, Delight had
actually got that deal. I also managed him before he passed. But a lot
of people don’t realize, Mike and Dave put a lot to the game.
I
can’t really grade him as a d.j. because I seen him more as a m.c.,
Captain rock. As well as do the summer tournaments at King Towers basket
ball games and he was an m.c. at times with Charlie Rock and them at
Harlem World.
But
ya’ll still had to go through Randy to rent Harlem World that night?
Peace
and blessings to the family’s