N.O.R.E. & DJ EFN are the Drink Champs. In this episode we chop it up with the legendary DJ Charlie Chase!
A founding member of the Cold Crush Brothers, DJ Charlie Chase shares his journey in hip-hop.
During the 80βs Charlie Chase played a key role in establishing Latinos as a contributing force in the early hip-hop culture that was developing in The Bronx.
Charlie shares stories of being featured in the first hip-hop movie ever made, βWild Styleβ, being inducted in the Technics DMC DJ Hall of Fame and much much more!
Lots of great stories that you donβt want to miss!!
Make some noise for DJ Charlie Chase!!! ππππππ
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N.O.R.E.
He is Drake Chans motherfucking podcast make si. He's a legendary queen's rapper. He's a great as your boy in O R E.
He's a Miami hip hop pioneer put up as d J e f N.
Together they drink it up with some of the biggest players, you know what I mean, and.
The most professional, unprofessional podcast and your number one source for drunk Chans.
Mother every day is New Year's c Listen, It's time for drink Champions.
Drink up mother Mother?
Would it good be? How many is your boy in O R E? What up?
His DJ e f N?
And this motherfuckering miller say yappy?
Our make some.
With me? And e f N started this show. We always said we wanted to give to legends, people that came before us, people that was around us, and this brother right here in a lot of ways. If he didn't exist, I don't think EFN would exist. I don't think Nori would exist. I don't think this show would exist. He's kind of like drink Chap's godfather. I don't even know if he knows this. He's the man's man DJ. When I tried to Google, how many times his name was said on our show, And I think it got to be close to like three hundred times people were just saying hip hop, and when it was invented, he was there when they were playing disco records. It wasn't even considered hip hop at that time. I'm so excited for this interview, to give this brother his flowers, to make sure that he understands how important and how much of a legend he is, because, like I said, not only me and EFN probably wouldn't be here together as friends if it was for him. But guess what, guys, everyone around here might not be here. No, not you, especially not you. So in case you don't know who the fuck we're talking about, motherfucking I want to get straight into it. I'm not even gonna like the bad day off immediately. I am a proud Latino. I am a proud Puerto Rican.
I know you are, and.
I heard said I was watching you on the interviews, and and by the way, leading up to this, everyone always they always say, man, you gotta you gotta get Charlie up here. You gotta have Charlie up here. But me, and this is a question, this is kind a pure curiosity. How the fuck did you do what you're doing? Like, because like I was so I was so happy, you know, researching everything about you. But I guess what I'm trying to say is you're the originator. You are you, You're an originator. But I'm asking you, like me and EFN, when we started this show, we had doubts and at some point, you know, we were like, are we sure? Are we gonna do this? So what I'm asking you right now is when the hip hop was originally you got to see the first parties, you got to be there. You had a doubt that this music will go that far?
Yeah, I mean remember.
Remember listen, people try to put a date on a hip hop when it started, and it's it's not fair to do.
And I'll tell you why.
For example, hip hop was a culture that was already beginning even before Hurka, when people.
Were wearing the mark next the cago.
The British walkers, the Gazales that wear all that, the graffiti on the denim on the jackets, people were already doing that.
The parties gave us a place to meet up where we get.
Now people of my life community can actually see meet up, see how how we were, how we were doing, and right then and there we'd see what you were wearing the light Dan, and then next thing, you know, that guy would go back. So the culture was already bubbling up. The parties was just a place for us. It wasn't excuse for us to get together. So now we can, we can. So the culture was already happening. So to put a date on it and to even call it hip it wasn't even called hip hop in it was the jams, you know the CNN where the people in the streets, the high schools. Yo, did you hear about this happening this weekend? Did you about flash happening this weekend? Charlie Chase up in the Bronx at one eighteen part I mean phone calls, There was no beavers, there was no no cell phone there where the mouthles on fire. And think about this.
It happened.
It happened the way it happened because it was brand new and every single day, every minute of every single day, and everything would we did was brand new. You know what that feeling is to wake up every day and it's like, Yo, this is branded. We didn't know what we were doing. We didn't know we were ruling a culture. We didn't know we were creating an industry. It was just something that was right right now. To be fair to say that I was at the very very beginning, it's not true because Heirk started into seventy three. That's when they say he started seventy five and as a disco DJ.
Disco d I was a disco.
DJ in seventy five, right, I was with my crew, Tom and Jerry.
Tom and Jerry got my notes.
Right, but.
Go.
So I started then into seventy six, and that's when I started dabbling because I always grew up appreciating and liking R and B music right and funk, and I was always at being a musician.
I gravitated that I loved it. So I was always.
Playing like the Blackbirds or really listening to all this R and B. WBLS at the time was the total black experience in sound. That was what they used to call themselves. And I was always tuned to WBLS, so I always listened to that music. I love it on top of my mother playing south Side and all that stuff in the house. So I was always submerged in music, and I learned actually to appreciate everything because growing up, there was a station in New York called w It was w A seventy seven w ABC, which is now a sports talk station. Back in the day, it was a music station that played everything. And when I say everything, everything everything. It was not like compartmentalized like today you got R and B station rocks.
They literally played everything.
So I learned how to appreciate everything and all these different styles of music. And I grew up on that station, and that's how that and there was My father was a musician, so there was always music in my house.
So that's how I got to appreciate it all.
This morning, I was researching, just doing more and more and more research, and you maybe cry this morning. I'm gonna tell you why you'll make me cry. It made me cry. But I looked and you said, you said, you said, because me, I'm black in Puerto Rican, right, so when I hang with the black people, they used to make fun of me for being with the Latinos. When I hang with the Latinos, used to make fun of me for being with the black people. But I really couldn't choose the side. And you said something, you said, yo, when you used to play this music, these people used to come up to you and say why you're playing this jungle bunny music? Like I literally, like I literally my sitters was like, holy shit, that's something that was hard for me when I was my wife is right there, my wife she right there. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. So my wife was right there and I looked and I was like, yo, his life is literally like if you didn't have your life, I might have not had my life. So I look, is that was that something that was hard to like balance you know what I mean? Because there's no blueprint to what you did. Like you are Fat Joe's blueprint. You are big Punts blueprint. You are my blueprint, but you had no blueprint.
Right.
Well, you know it's funny that you say that because my business partner Eric, when we went to New York to see the Delaya for me here and we saw your segment, but you just said to me. I said to them, it's like, bro, I feel like, you know, we shared the same parallels, like for real, for real, for real? I say, all right, I had said that to my business father at the premiere. My party is not here, and I said, man, I can appreciate what he's going through because we basically went through the same things that you were telling your storyline. That's crazy. So to answer your question right, I didn't give a fuck about what anybody thought. I really didn't. I'm now to be honest with you, the people from my age weren't the ones who really bitch in the morning. It was of a competition thing, and there was a lot of smack talking, you know, and there was people snapping, a lot of smack talking and that type of thing. But really the people who were being prejudiced against me.
At the time, Puerto.
Ricans and the black community, because.
Remember I told you it was all new.
I was one of them guys that were keep a build with people up one to two in the morning on the two when they had to go to work.
Oh kind of ship, you know, you little.
Really, all the animosity and all the hate, like all all the racism and stuff came from the older people because I was and they didn't understand it. They didn't get what was going on. I mean to be honest with you, I didn't get what was going on. But whatever it was, it was something inside of me that just made me keep doing it. So to answer the question, I didn't give a ship what anybody thought. I liked what I was doing.
I was feeling it. Plus I was getting mad attention from the girls.
I was like, that was the driver, right right, right right.
I ain't gonna lie to you, Bro, I really appreciate you. I want to tell you that, you know, thank you because a lot of people, you know, we we say that to a person after it's gone and whatever. But me researching you, I was just like, damn, like it just kept going, and it just kept going, kept going. And so many people come on this sit in the same seat as you say, and they're like, yo, do you know about Johnnie Chase? And we're always like, of course, bro, we want to on. But your class for signified man, and you're you're, you're, you're, you're literally the reason why being fin it's here because, like I said, even me and I friend like, we didn't have this. There was no podcast like us to give flowers to people, to tell people that you know, prior to that. So when I'm looking and I'm just just telling you, let's talk about the Moderate crew. What is it? Monterrey crew, the Monterrey projects right.
Right, It was a project that was around the corner from my house on Adia then ofth Avenue. They were a bunch of young kids. They I was always in the community center and we would play ping pong. This there was a place that hang out in the winter where we couldn't.
Play ping pong. Of course I do. I got this, I got the ticket, I got this.
Old man can still kick.
Away. So the montery crew they they they were always playing music.
They had this little baby speakers and stuff like that.
And I was always in that the community center, and I was always I was with one of the DJ's brother in a band, in a in a project band that we have playing instruments.
Right.
So one day I was going to the back to play some ping pong and I noticed that the.
Main community room where they throw the parties and stuff was dark.
And I'm hearing music, and I'm hearing this music that I'm familiar with, and I'm like, wait a minute, I know all this music like Jimmy Cast, the Blackbirds, all that s right.
So I'm like I'm looking through the.
Glass and it's packed and it's a hot box in there, and all like I see was the one light, you know when you take the lamp shade. You tell you looked off the shade and one of those lamps was there, and I saw that. I'm like, and then I saw a familiar face. So I walked in there and I looked at and Yo, what's going on? And it's like, nah, man, we're just jamming out here is what we do. And I'm like, yo, I know these records. You know, they would play like I said, Jimmy cast the somebody.
They're like, oh, I'm James Brown. You know records like that. And this is pre breaks. This is just their place, pre.
Breaks, right, So we were just like just they were just actually the breaks already existed. We just brought them up to speed. Remember that, for some of these breaks were created in the sixties, nobody was looping the breaks. They was looping at the breaks at that time. I have to see them loop the we're going to go to flash and that's the rise, right. So that when I went in there and I saw them doing it, I'm like, yo, man, I liked this. I was already a disco DJ with Tom and Jerry, so I said, man, I know this music. I like this music.
I love this music.
And I when I started picking their brain, and I'm like, you know what, I want to try this. I want to I want to start switching up because this is why. When I seen the crowd appreciating it and dancing to him, we were young kids at the time, you know, to me, that was yo, this is this is cool. So that kind of kind of lit the flame for me to go in that direction, just to start playing R and B and that kind of music and stuff.
And you know, so, let me ask you because when I researched, right, it says you dropped in seventy five, but it says that you got your name from chasing grand Master Flash. Yeah, but online it says grand Master Flash came out in seventy eight, right, So how could that be if you came out in seventy five.
No, Flash didn't come out in seventy eight. Clash Flash came out before that. And he'll tell you that himself. I mean, I know he was on the show. Flash Flash had perfected the quick mix theory.
He perfected in seventy six, he tells me.
Seventy six or so, seventy five seventy six, that's when he started doing it. In seventy six, seventy seven was when they started doing everybody started catching.
Yeah, I was born seventy seven, that's right.
So that's when I caught my eye on Flash.
It was around seventy. No, I didn't want a boat him because fat, I was. Flash was bigger than that was like a superhero word, you know.
Whene was when he hit that record the ground and.
I was like, this, motherfucker's cool.
You know what I'm saying.
So Flash, when I seen him doing what he was doing, I said to myself, Yo, I know some of these records that he's playing. I'm like, I can do this, you know. And I saw what he was doing, and I'm like, I know I could do this, you know. So I went back and I started practicing and trying to get it and trying to get in on fire. What you've seen in Kingwood, I was seeing Flash.
You know.
Listen, they tell you Latinos created hip hop. That's not true.
Well, we there to help develop it in the evolution. Absolutely, nobody can step that.
Away from that.
You can deny it as much as you want.
But back in the Bronx, as much as people talk shit Latinos and the Black community, we were like this. We understand. We had each other's back. We knew that we like ground Messling cast says, we knew we all had we all we got, you understand, and we were always close. I always I always have black friends, and I always had Latino friends, and I was friends with everybody.
You understand, there was a lot of Latinos that that didn't come out that weren't obviously after the Latinos later on, people realized, oh they're Latinos.
Do you know how many friends I knew that I thought was straight up black and I found out I would go visit them in the they were and they were Spanish in your house and in the house and I'm like, you're Spanish, he speak Spanish? Like oh yeah, you didn't know? No, Yeah, So that that was how so flash was was the reason that I gave myself the name.
So I'm like, what am I?
You know, I came up with all kind of stupid names you know before, Yeah, like, no, I didn't go public with this, but let's tell us of the names DJ, Snake, DJA.
Yes, I forgot some of you. But what that was the most.
Right And I'm seeing myself, damn, you know if I'm going to do this, man, I I'm I'm I was driven. I always knew that if I whatever I put my head to, I would be good at So I said to myself, I know that I'm going to be good at this, and I know that.
Sooner or later I'm going to meet for Flash.
I didn't know what to call myself.
Now.
There was a television show on TV at the time called The Chase, and the way it started was there was a license plate they said the Chase, and the car would take off.
And when I saw that.
That was when I said, that's Tony Chase right there. Because I'm chasing Flash. Flash was ahead of me.
I told Flash this, Flash, I said, I'm chasing grand Master Flash.
I said, that's the name. Well, corse Man, you know now in that time once once you know, I got Tony. Tony is the reason why I really was thrust it into that because I was I was known in my neighborhood, in the local blocks in my neighborhood, I was I was the man, you understand, but nobody really knew who I was. I didn't actually get out until I met Tony. Tony he was the one that was who was already would breakout or not. He was DJ, so he already knew everybody. He knew Bam, he knew Flash, you know all these people, and he introduced me to them. So that's all. I was basically thrown into into the pocket of that. But a lot of these people didn't even know I existed. But yet my neighborhood hip hop was well, the culture was thriving, you know.
So let me ask you, right, I remember, you know, Pun was like my best friend, right. I loved I loved Fun so much, but I remember him always being a little upset for a person saying he's nice for a Latino cheer. But it's it's who deal with, right Some some some people will say, you know, like where's Diego? Diego was was whoopy? And we were googling New York Riecans right, New yor Ricans right.
And.
We all came up. I'll say, oh, ship, I forgot part of the community, right. But let me get back to what I was trying to say. I remember Pun being disgusted that people would say, Pun, you're nice.
For Puerto Rican, for Puerto Rican. I got that shit a lot, Pun talking.
This mother falk And then I started to realize, holy shit, that telling that about me. They're like, Laurie's nice for a Puerto Rican? Is that something that I know you just said it, but I want to ask it and re iterating you had to do it this way longer than me. So how does how did that feel like? Hearing that, to be honest with you, didn't affect me. You want to know why because I didn't know any better. I didn't know.
I wasn't into it. I didn't feel like it was a racist remark.
I didn't feel anything because I didn't feel racism at that time.
I wasn't raised that way or to think that way. I didn't know what that was.
Or how severe. I wasn't exposed to the severity of racism until till later. So when I heard that I was beautiful to me there was a freaking compliment. It's like, Yo, that's coming from the black community. Yo, that's a compliments. That's showing that's showing me that I'm doing something right.
So I never really took offense to it.
Never did, you know, But to say about Big Pun, I met him one time, get out of here.
One time I was playing at Jimmy's Bronx Cafe.
Goddamn, it was like smell Jimmy's bos cafe.
And he said it was a Tuesday night.
And somebody says, Yo, Pun is here, and I'm like, oh wait a minute, I said, yo, take over.
I got to speak to one. I want to meet him. I see he's sitting there with one other cat right, He's sitting at the table. He's eating.
So I'm like, damn, I don't want to disturb I said, but I'm not going to get another chance to talk to me. And I got to get back to what I'm doing. So I go over him very politely. I said, excuse me, sir, I said, Pun, excuse me, and he's annoyed, like general life. You got to look like what the fuck you are? You know? And I said, I said, listen, I know we don't know each other. I don't mean to disturb you, but I felt that I really needed to introduce myself to you. I said, my name is DJ Charlie Chase the Cold. Because he loans up.
Of course, he got up.
He got up, he threw his arms around me.
He hugged me, said you don't understand. Thank you.
He was thanking me, giving me all kind of accolades and stuff. And I said to him, I said, yo, I just wanted to come by meet and say bro that I'm proud of what you're doing the way you represented us. And he turned to his man and he said, did you hear this?
He says, He t me, you don't.
Understanding exactly what that we spoke for fifteen minutes or sold because I had to get back, and that we exchanged numbers and I never got to see him again en after that, But that was that was It felt good to hear that coming from somebody at that point. He was already successful, you understand. And and to hear that from him, you know, I to hear it from you when when you're when you start getting my age, and you hear people giving you, perhaps with younger people who are successful, you say your So that's that's at least for me, that he's a good impres makes me feel good because damn that ship, you know, I still got a little gas in the.
Tank, right, legacy right, So it makes me feel good.
So pun made me feel good when he said that, you know, and and and and I and I really felt good meeting him. And I think his reaction was really was was my reward? You know what I'm saying, It was my reward.
Let me just tell you something, and I want to reiterate it. I said it earlier. I'm gonna say it again. Literally, if it wasn't for you and your relentlessness from what you did, I don't think drink Champs would exist. This is a real talk. This is real talk. I mean this is He's one of the most stubborn persons I know and I am too in a different way. Well, our love for each other is hip hop. And if it wasn't for you and what you did, the legacy that you laid out prior to us, you actually drink Champs father bro show, it's giving people with the flowers our show, and we wanted to give you your flowers face to face. Man. Yeah, yeah, well man, thank you.
No, man, this is dope.
And so let's let's let's talk about they're trying to rename the Porto Rican Parade after you.
No, no, okay, okay.
This year they called I thought I was being punked at first.
Okay.
They called me up and said, listen, you know, we see the way, we know that you've been doing this and the person actually the directing I was a friend of mine who I grew up with as kids. We used to work. You've care in New York City, whatever job call or you've called you called when you had the jobs and stuff. Lillian Rodriguez, she's now the chairman of the place. So I've known million for years. We grew up in the same clique, same friends. We don't like family.
Wow.
And she called me up and she said, Chase, you know, you know, we know, I know you from an years. I feel that you've never gotten your flowers, she says, I see.
She says you can get your flowers first.
So she said, you know you never got your flowers and and and she says, you've.
You've done so much, You've upped it, uplifted.
The Hispanic community so much that I just want to ask you if you if you would like to be the twenty twenty four Puerto Rican they ambassador.
Oh that's incredible. And then I said, stop sucking with me, Lilily, But she says no, no, straight up. And I was like, are you first? She said yeah. I'm like I was. I was speechless.
I always got some and I was like, yeah, I said yes, I'll do it, you know, are you kidding me?
I'm like, this comes full circle for me as much as I'm four. So I'm the ambassador.
Now there's a few other honies like Lisa, Lisa Well, I can't speak. I shouldn't be. She's mad, She's parade are there are few other people like I'm not going to stay.
Because I want to let them, allow them just.
To I don't know.
But yeah, So this year I'm going to be there.
They're they're having this big banquet at the Plaza Hotel and all the Armies honor on Friday Saturday.
Of course it's one hundred sixteenth Street.
We're gonna be up there hanging out great a Sunday and then I'm throwing well, they're throwing me a big after party from the parade in my honor, and they invite them all kind of people, celebrity kind of stuff. Man. So for that, man, So if you in town, made you guys are more than work on the come Brouck.
I'm coming just for you, yeah, man.
So that's that's a big honor for me.
It's a hugere you know, the acceptance that you feel coming from something like that.
I mean the parade is.
Look, it's the biggest parade besides besides the West Indon Parade in Brooklyn. That's the biggest parade, Bigger than the Thanks Every parade, Bigger than.
The Saint Patrick's. They parade bigger.
Three million people in attenders, five million people watching on TV.
Come on, man, how could you not?
Honestly, you should have had You should have gotten this on her a long time ago.
You know what.
I've never been the type to feel like I would be mad because of something I didn't get. You Ever see somebody who wins prizes and like, damn, I got one hundred dollars, I should have got this that it's not me. I'll bend yo, thank you. You know That's how I feel about it. Didn't it didn't get it before.
That's cool.
I'm not worried about what I didn't get. I'm really appreciateive on what I'm getting while I'm still alive.
I want to tell you a story real quick. My father made me go to every Puerto Rican Day parade. Right and by the way, my father's a foul god. He made me sell beers too. I was the little kid. Hey, back then, it was in foul to sell beers. He told me, damn all right, calm down his what's crazy? But Joe always remembers. He's like, you know, the first day I met you was at the Puerto Rican Day parade. If I had l A l A and Fat Joe seeing me, and no one wanted wanted me on their float. No, I was like, who the fuck is this guy?
Right?
And Fat Joe was like Puerto Rican Right, He's like, get your ass up here, and he move me on the float. And for anybody if you're a Puerto Rican, it's a beautiful thing, even if you're not Puerto Rican, to see that energy of the city. They shut down Madison what is it? Madison Avenue? Fifth Avenue. Fifth Avenue is one of the other that's dope. I've been able to walk the parade. You walked the parade when Pun passed away.
I was working for Echo and Loud Music and they asked my team down south to come up there. They flew us out and they had us walk the break of Fat Joe jah Remy was on the on the floor and they had us.
Our team was passing out these pun.
Towels, but they were playing one hundred percent for the first time for everybody. And the chill that Super Puerto Rican the chills when that was playing. He had just passed away. It was it was crazy, man, but it was the praise was dope.
I love I love so I'm so honored that you being honored, because that's me being honored. I'm sharing it with you.
I'm just doing I'm so, I am so pro Puerto Rican, I am so I'm gonna show you something real quick.
I'm so free, I'm so proud.
I'm so proud that everywhere I've played on the entire planet, I've taken these with me. Now, this was a gift given to me by my boy, DJ non Stop, who was the DJ for K seven and the Swing Kids, and then he was a DJ for d m X. He was DMX. He gave I went to Chicago to DJ for the rock Steady Crew and he gave me.
These as a gift.
Wow, he gave me these as a gift right here, and I take them everywhere on the planet. I rock.
Everywhere on the planet that I rocked.
These babies playing with me because I'm proud of my heritage, I'm proud of well being Puerto Rican and I show this to everybody.
I don't problem with that, you know.
So let me ask you. My my two closest Latino friends as e Fan and fad Joe, right, and they did. They didn't like when I started reggae, though.
I saw that the documentary reasons, they had any reasons, but me personally, I discovered reggae throw in Puerto Rico.
I went to Puerto Rico and I was like, what the fuck is this ship? I thought it was I called it Latin reggae. So then I went to club Roombos. Room Boxs used to be Club Fever. I remember that Club Fever. Let's just every jon I don't know Io promoted. You probably don't know what I mean, so I would go there. But let me ask you because you're the original, You're a part of the original hip hop, right, Like, were you offended when you first heard reggaeton or was this something like?
No?
How did you feel?
Like?
No?
I want to ask you.
I'm a lover of music, to be honest with you. At first I thought it was reggae because it had that vibe.
I felt it was latinos trying to impersonate a patois in Spanish and.
I did it right. He did it right.
But when.
I went to Puerto Rico early on too, and I heard it over there, and I was like, I don't know about this, guys, you know, say like, because we were here trying to make sure we maintained our respect as latinos and hip hop lyricism and all this stuff, and then I'm hearing this and I'm like, I don't know how this is going to play over here. It sounds like Latino's trying to do this, you know, patoa and faking it. But then here later on though, after he did what he did, which revolutionized everything, and just moving forward. Now the evolution of reggaeton has gotten the genre has just they've really gotten creative and I have a total different respect for it.
But back then I wasn't respecting.
So what was your first I want to know you.
At first, I thought it was reggae thron right, That's what I mean. I'm sorry, reggae music, right, And it was cool, and I'm like, and being there I had already heard it, was like, okay, it's cool, and it wasn't. It did strike me as anything new, but I started noticing that it started sounding a little bit more, it started creating a more cohesive sound of its own, right, And I'm like, okay, I'm starting I'm starting to notice it.
It didn't bother me. I kind of enjoyed it at first. What really bothered me more anybody.
It was more like the style, the way they were just like, yo, get.
Out of the eighties, you like, you know, the same what is it? Well?
The beats?
Yeah, to me, always sounded like a jack the murdercing beast, same beast, right, But I remember.
I got it when it came out. Also was much faster. It was a much faster temple, so it was very dazable and stuff. And I enjoyed it.
I really didn't. I wasn't hating on it or anything, you know.
And then of course later on, you know, when they get thrown did like normal Puerto Ricans do when people criticize them.
Fuck, we're doing what we doing, you know what I'm saying.
But when I saw what you did, and when I saw the documentary you were telling me what happened, I was like, whoa, that's crazy. And I didn't know that you were the I mean, I remember the record I remember the saw when you brought it wood equalmo in right, But when I saw the documentary, I didn't realize.
That that was the soul, that was the game change, that was.
The one that I put my own car on the line. People.
You did because yo, we could be we could be critical.
Of ourselves over here.
Let me tell you something. I received so much slack from the black community. I mean, I'm black and lat you know, so I'm gonna say it straight up. Black people were looking like, well stay Porto Rican and I was like, I've been port rinking my whole life, Like why would you? Why got state Puerto Rican? Now they're like, stick with racing peas. Yeah, I'm like Jesus, I like, I like jerk chicken too to do it on the cone whissel, you know what I mean.
But let me ask you a question, right, okay, because let's go growing up. Like like I had said earlier, there were blacks. There were people got my black friends right who were Hispanic and then never told me did you ever feel that you needed like no moments And I'm not judging or anything, but did you ever feel like at some point like sometimes you couldn't say yeah, I'm Hispanic because you were afraid that if you expose yourself, they were going to look at you differently.
My father was the Puerto Rican with the tail, fifteen thousand tattoos, earrings, he wore new ports under his shit. He played handball all day like he was the super super Puerto Rican, right Like he was like, if you looked up Puerto Rican, my father's dead like this, right, you know what I mean? So I he installed to be the proudest Puerto Rican ever. And then my mother was like kind of like the opposite of She was like afrocentric. So it was just like, all right, cool, I couldn't I couldn't choose. Like I called myself. It's a wrong word now to say it, but I called myself Nigga Egan my whole life, I'm Ningo Rekan. They're like, what's your race? Ningoregan, Like like you're not supposed to say that, right, But I've always been been that. And then I met uh, my brother, my brother's mother, my brother Cookie not Mario, my brother, my older brother who I didn't know in my childhood, and she was more Afrocentric than any black person in the world. She proved to me that she was affle Latina, that's what you call it. Yeah, but she proved to me that Puerto Ricans are black and black people are it's the same.
Latino culture for the most part, is African culture, like the food, the music.
And shortly.
I never deny that.
When you ever see people that get in an argument like so as, I would get into and argument with my black friends either like you're black and I'm like, you're fucking right with you. I know about roots, you know, I know my roots. What the fuck I mean?
I'm looking, but I understand.
Yeah.
Yeah, But by the way, how dope is hip hop? Because you know hip hop? Hip hop is smart. Yeah, if you listened, I know some dumb motherfuckers out there. We ain't talking about the dumb motherfuckers. We're talking about the smart motherfuckers. But yes, I liked what you said earlier. You was like, Yo, I'm a proud Puerto Weecan. And one thing that I knew about being proud to be something that doesn't mean you anti anything else. You could be pro Porto Weecan without being anti anything. Absolutely, I am pro black, but I'm not anti white, right, I'm pro perto weecan, but I'm not anti Cuban.
Well sometimes you talk.
You're talking about but so what I'm trying to say is so many people be offended sometimes. But again, let's let's just have a quick time with slive.
Let's do it.
Let's go do Before we go on this point, we always have to ask ourselves who benefits off the division? Because this is the thing that I always think about. Early hip hop was was a mix. You know, it was it was everybody was there if you were living under those conditions that hip white people. I mean, you could tell me you can come.
Literally, Italy was just three literally, that's this, It's just three blocks away.
So fast forward, hip hop becomes this humongous commodity, this this money making machine. Then it's picked up by the music industry, which discards what doesn't make money musically, the other stuff in hip hop, the important stuff in hip hop, and starts to make money off of it. Then all this division, like who profits off of the division? And to say you're not a part of it, You're not a part of it. You didn't do this, you didn't do that, And that's what we should all think about at the end of the day.
Because it's like what you were saying when I was watching in the interviews, you was going through the same thing that I was going through. You there's people coming up to you saying, why are you playing this this jungle music? They call it jungle bunny, jingle bunny music, jungle money music. So I imagine you dealt with this way more than me and EFN.
Yeah, and you deal with nobody understood it was.
It wasn't what it is now that it was just something the only that the young community knew about and understood.
But imagine how dangerous the older generation wasn't accepting of it. But now you have this young generation that's uniting under this culture. How powerful is that become? And how scary to whatever powers that be. Not to get into conspiracy, but I'm just saying, like you divide and conquer, you can you can monetize it. You can divide these people and say you're not a part of it. The DJ is no longer important, the B boy and the B girls are no longer important. Your Fitty's not a part of this. Only the rappers and you know all that different stuff. You know, this is a long thing. We can get into but it's something to think about.
But that's not where the real danger comes to the division.
And you don't have to worry.
About outside the outside sources. It's the internal division that's where the problem is. That's the danger stuff here. And I always say, why, first of all, rich, rich, real wealthy white millionaires. They ain't fighting and they ain't mad. So why do we have angry Puerto Rican and black millionaires? Why are you all angry billionaires?
But you got to be bad about right.
And the other thing is that you know, if if you really want to make the change, why don't we talk about the real issues here instead of fighting each other and trying to create division within us.
And I don't really engage in device of conversations. I'm not giving you.
A platform for you to to to try to create more division. I mean, we got more import these like for example, why didn't we coin the phrase hip hop?
Why is why are other people trying to register the name and that we coin? Why didn't Why didn't we do that?
Why is it that we don't have more Latino and black owned businesses within the industry. Let's talk about that, you know what I'm saying? Why is it that we don't own hip hop. Everybody else is trying to own hip hop. I'll give you an example. Look at all these shows that are coming up. They have the titles hip hop in it. They're only they only have the title hip hop in it because they know that that's.
What's going to exactly. That word is powerful.
Right, how many how many mcs did you see on shows? Right now? When you see this show, it's nothing but hip it ain't it is not really hip hop when you take away the turntables from the stage. Right, those are the real issues that we should be focusing on. These are the things that we need to come together with to help create more well wealth and more businesses for people.
We own that.
That's our We've sacrificed a lot for that. So why are we fighting against each other. I'm not with that, man, and don't. I don't give it a platform. I don't give it any credence. I don't I stay away from all of that. Man. You know how many times they try to Obviously people make it negative comments on I don't even respond. I'm like, you don't even exist, But just you know, move move on.
I want one of Charlie Chase shirts.
I'm glad you said, can you give me the bad?
Yes, I.
Got you, I got you that she looks so good and you got the Puerto Rican thing on to turn to my slip map. I'm sorry if and if he only has the one, I'm taking it.
No, no, no, no.
Actually actually texting, I was like, okay, okay.
So we're gonna play a game on our show. It's called Quick Time with Slo Guys. Can you can you explain this rules? Like how poor explaining? You never explained it. We're gonna give you two choices. This is our drinking game, by the way.
Okay, I've seen it. You're notorious with this.
So you you know you get two choices. You pick one you don't drink, We don't drink. I'm give you the second prob one you don't. If you say both, you say you don't want to choose like you say both.
Flash this Scram Joe's Up Dirt interview.
He was better than.
Wait so month.
By the way, Scram was a joy too. Was gonna throw but at the beginning he loved he loved it. Okay, so we're gonna start. Okay, all right, you got the first one by the way. I just want you to know me and E f N do not make these questions. The Columbia, we got the United Nations. We have every race here, so you know, but this is a fucking great question. I don't know which one of them came up with this one. Cool Heirk oh Graandmaster Flash.
And I'm gonna tell you why.
Okay, please cool herk okay.
He saved my life one day, physically physically saved.
We need to hear it, all right.
We were having the thirty ninth, thirty eight, thirty ninth.
Anniversary of the Cold Crush Brothers.
Wow.
We had a downtown on Canal Street. The opening app was the Roots and they weren't even known yet. There weren't no Roots, said the Roots. They were the opening app. We didn't know them. I get there now. Throughout the day I was not feeling well. I was in in these pains.
So I get there. I'm on the Sage was setting up the equipment.
I'm feeling worse now by this time it's evening, I'm feeling worse. I saw Questlove behind me setting up. You know, we introduced ourselves and everything, and I got I got really sick and I went to the back of the green room. Right and back there was DST Cool Herk. There were a lot of I mean for our anniversary, A lot of people showed up, so they were The room was filled with a lot of celebrities and stuff. Right at this point, I'm on the sofa, bent over and pain. I'm in pain and pain. Wow, and and DST says what's wrong with him? And somebody say, I don't know, man, he's in pain right now. And and and tone was like, yo, you think you're gonna be able to go on? I said, I want you, but I can't. I'm listening too much pain. And he says, yo, we need to rush him.
To the hospital.
Herk threw me in his car, drove me lightning speed all the way up to the Bronx.
To mart.
Because I said, I didn't want to go to this hospital in Manhattan. I want to be by my house, okay, So he drove me all the way to Martha Field. He dropped me off for the emergency room. I get there, I'm bent the room pain. The doctor comes over and examines me. Thirty seconds later, we got to take him to the emergency room. It's his appendix and it might rupture. They had to run me in After that, the doctor told me, you're look at you. He says, maybe another hour so you wouldn't be talking to me.
So Herk respect to her, fut, that's my brother, man. He saved my life.
Everybody else was your concerned, no doubt, but Herk was like, fuck. He threw me in a car and he took me all the way up to.
The hospital to be asking you something because we had Legs up here. And this is the first time I ever, ever ever heard anybody say this. Crazy Legs was kind of like, Hirk wasn't the first person to play hip hop?
Well, I don't know if he said to play hip hop, but.
He kind of like he says that he says that party wasn't necessarily the date, which he kind of said in the beginning, wasn't the date that started hip hop necessarily right?
And I thought I was going to receive three thousand, five hundred four million calls what the fuck? And I want to be honest, Charley Chase, I didn't get that one phone call right. Not one person said Crazy Legs is lying.
Right, Yeah, nobody did you.
This is our first time we've been talking about, right.
I thought it was gonna we were gonna get I.
Thought I was going to be whose he was gone, and I think, to be exactly said the party is terms of the day, and that there was other DJs around that before he was saying what he was doing already.
That's what he kind of more or less said.
I definitely need your opinion on that.
Well, Okay, it all depends.
I guess everybody understood the context that Crazy Legs was putting it in, right, Okay, I can get that. I can kind of see where he's coming from for that, because there are questions not taking anyway and anything away from her because he did what he did when he started, and that's the point that everybody knows that. Everybody.
It's like it's like a record comes out.
Everybody knows the popular version, but nobody really heard the joint underground version. Right. So I wasn't there. I don't know, but I know people that were there. If I wish my business partner was here because he knows he can speak to this. When the gangs were fighting and Bambarda was the one who younfied the gangs, right, he was playing music for them at the time he was, he was ready in detaining them doing this and this is pre pre uh uh cool Herk, right, So I don't know, but I think that's what maybe Crazy Legs might be referring to.
And I've heard these things. So it's really hard.
That's why I said earlier, it's really hard to put a start date on anything because the culture was always there.
So wait, so I respect based on what you're saying.
So would it be that someone could could say Van Boda would have been that figure that we're giving to cool Herk.
It could have been. It could have been, but you'd have to I guess Crazy Legs would have to elaborate more on that. I can't. I can't really speak on it because I only hear things and I can't without more information. I can't make an educational decision on that, you know what I mean. But it isn't It's an interesting point, you know, And and again, I mean, the culture was already bubbling up before before Herk was. People were already dressing the way they were dressing and doing what they weren You can't take nothing away from Herk Herku is Herky did what he did, you know, everybody. He had to hear the HERCULEOICD sound system. Bigger than Life. They called him Hurt because he was bigger than life. But you know, when I met her, he was a big dude. I mean, you know, you can't take anything away from Hurt, but you can't take anything from bad Body either.
The last time you smoke a Blunt's I wanted to see. I wanted to see if you before four Years did you.
I don't know if you were in the movie, or have you watched rerubble Kings. I think I might have.
I'm not sure it sounds familiar.
Okay, No, I just I wanted to know if you did, because I actually I didn't.
I'm gonna go back and watch because I.
Tell people people ask me, you know, they want to know more about the history of hip hop, and I feel like that dog because it predates, it goes before hip hop. It's like talking about the Bronx and New York in that era in the in the late sixties, and it goes slowly into hip hop. I wanted to see if you thought that was a good film, to kind of like explain.
I didn't even see that.
It's a great movie. Rebel, Rubble rubble Kings, the Rumble Kings.
Yes, yes, I was it Rumble or rubbles Rubble Is it Rubble rubble Kings, Rubble Kings. I saw it, and I don't remember a lot of it, man, because it was a while.
Because I talked about that that that funk band, I think the.
Gangs and and yes, yes, yes, yeah, yeah, Okay.
Well, I mean, if you get a chance to watch it, hit me on the side and tell me.
Yeah, it seems pretty I'm gonna watch it. So let me ask you how much cocaine was involved back then?
I did it.
He's like cocaine or what I probably did enough cocaine to kill. Tell elephants, you guys are hell coke.
And diego cocaine. Right, you have to talk about cocaine looking you know, like yo, they cocaine. Everyone who may cocaine back then looks great.
Now he got collagen and.
Cocaine.
Cocaine experience started.
And he hates when I say this, DJ Breakout, DJ Breakout from the four. He was the one that gave me my first hit of cocaine at the Ecstasy Ga Garage in the Bronx.
The Exstasy Garage yeah.
It was it was me we we we we were playing at the excess CI garage.
Did you have ecstasy to No?
I never with that anyway.
But so I go to the bathroom, right, and Tony to follows me because we gotta go and break.
I was in there and he was taking to hit a cocaine and.
I was curious because I had already people seen I've seen them taking cocaine, and I was like, what does that do?
Because it was you heard white lines?
This time was white Line started.
This is the time of when Curtis Look came out with crystals wrap.
So I was I'm like, how does it feeling? And he's like, you never took it?
I said no, He says here, So I took a here bum right, and not a few ship So I said, he says, here, take another one, and I still didn't.
Right, don't take another one.
I go back to DJ.
Yo.
I was like, what the hell is going on? Tony?
Tone Yo, slow down?
You know? He says, slow down.
He's like, you're not on beat?
You know what I mean. I don't know how to tell you that break our health hae. But I include him in this way. But it's the truth. He was the first to give it to me. Now, fast forward, Bro, growing up in the business, and people loved me and they were doing it.
But like, yo, you're the fucking ship, yo.
You know, like here bro lick.
And I never paid for it for years and years and years and years.
Bro to the point where I was doing it like crazy, Yo, I.
Was go yo.
But at one point it got really serious.
It was like now it's like now now I'm starting to buy it because now I'm feeling like I want to have it. It makes them feel good, and it got it got a lot of control for me.
Man, it did.
But fast forward last September, fifteen years clean me.
You know what, that's an accomplishment for me, Bro on your own to go through any kind of PODT.
I had some accountability brothers that they were there and.
Helped me out.
Man, it wasn't for them, I wouldn't. I wouldn't have probably been able to make the journey. But yeah, fifteen years now, Clean han't messed with. I still drink, you know. But the funny thing with me is that I always thought that the cocaine was started to drink because I used to drink mad Heinekens, and it was the other way around.
It was the Heinnikans that were making me.
So now you know, I stopped the blow and now I just take a drink, a tool, whatever, and I'm good man, no more god damn yeah. Yeah, but the drugs will be instrumental.
Bro in the eighties, right, and eighties were a blur. The eighties are a blur. Bro.
Look in Wilstar, who was it?
That is it?
Busy be?
That's yes in the movie.
I was like when I remember watching, oh oh, he's yeah, we're happening. I forgot this war.
When he goes back with the chicks right in the limo in the room.
Yeah, they're taking cocaine and the high champagne.
They're in the room.
He's shaping his money into b It was crazy that film that we could talk about it.
We get into the Yeah, okay.
Hold on, we'll get back to it. Hold on ready, all right, Yes, you got the next one.
Grandmaster Kaz or Almighty KG. Come on, man, Grandmaster Caz hands down.
Brother makes noise to Grandma.
Besides listen, I'm I'm biased man, that's my brother.
Nobody is ever that's the word I've been trying to use all that right.
I'm by that's that's my brother to me. He is the best I ever did it. Think about this for a second. Kazh wrote, you know he's the ghost rider on Rapper's Delight.
He wrote that he was sixteen years old, but he was unwillingly the ghost writer, right right.
He wrote that verse all the big banks hecks Hanks verse I not record when he was sixteen. Come on, it's right, cas is genius, gas Is I think the only MC that I've ever met that can flip the script on anything. You need, something, you need, something that's going to fit a white audience, He'll do it in and all you do give him a second a heartbeat, I said, okay, jes, let's go any crowd anything.
Cash is the man.
And I'm biased, But because bro right, I've dealt with greatness. I've worked with me, I heard this about I've worked with I worked with Mail, I worked with cast Jo.
You know they're all three bad, but cast of me.
Man.
It's that's my point.
And by the way, Cass still smoke a lot of marijuana. Broke we had in right hair. He kept rolling. Yeah, he's all right, boom okay, cut you got the next one.
The eighties or nineties.
Hip hope because because they had they had the more jazzy flow he had, and that by then it was established they had that thing, you know, something more the.
Graph the eighties, when you hear the music, it was we.
Were still finding our way. We were still trying to find a way. The record labels didn't even catch on until eighty three, eighty two. Maybe you know we were we were signed.
To CBS Rush or CBS Associated.
Look at that, we're damn near label mates. We started with CBS Radio for the podcast.
Right, we were the first hip hop group they signed, and they didn't know how to marketers, they didn't know how to owner, they didn't know what they hell to do with us.
They're finally with us.
And then finally when they got to handle they showed us. They said, okay, now that we got a right, let's bringing us some new blood.
Yeah, well, real quick, I'm that one saying the nineties, you don't think the late eighties like if you were to be able to change the because I feel like the rock Kims and the kras Is in the Big dadication to me, So late eighties going into the early nineties to me would be.
That right, it's sweet spot. When it comes to timelines, I'm always fucking this is the over music.
But to me the time I was always always get blurred.
But yes, if you if you really look at it from like rock Him on up, that's when when really things rock Him changed. He says he changed the game and from there on, yes, you know, so I always consider that to me, it was always nineties because it still had that feel to it to me.
Next one run DMC or Treachers three.
Treacher's three, And I'll tell you not because of my boys, not because they thought it well, we put the Churchers three was a bad motherfucking group, not taking anything away from from DMC.
Have you you've never seen them perform live?
Turchers?
You know?
When I first saw the Churches three performed was at the Ecstasy Garage, right, the house was.
Passed, definitely, we were definitely.
No doubt. They came on and they did super rapping right, No, I mean not super rapid. Call the Churches three well, I forgot the name of the of the song. It was on the other side of Spoony G's Love Wrap. Now another one something Something and they did that continuous back to back machine gun when I'm the super popping no was rocking nigga.
And they just kept going and going and going and going and going.
Now stop for almost eight minutes. I had never seen a group do that in my freaking life. They they've The skill that those brothers have is incredible. They was cohesive, they were together and they were on point.
Man.
It's like run DMC. No, I ain't they have their own m DJ You d m C DJ right?
Who me? No DMC DJ?
What do you mean? I thought you was DMC DJ. I told you who he goes on the road. It brings you the what d m C right? You don't DJ from no? No, holy shit. Steve le Belle told us a lot DMC.
Do you mean DJ DMC?
No, fucking Steve Bell, you live me.
They're from my friends, but I never DJ for them.
Okay, okay, okay, damn man. He told me that earlier.
Now. I love run DMC because they give us mad props. They give us nothing but props in love and d m C.
When we had him on the show.
I saw that.
Yeah, he made me laugh. Bro hispanic he was he was Dominican for how many two minutes, like two years? Two years he was Dominican.
That goes to show you why none of that really matters at the end of the day. Yes, okay, break dancing a graffiti. Yes, remember you can say both of us are drinking games.
You see.
You know I know it is.
You can give me questions that I can answer that, all right, Okay, Now, I love graffiti, but I was never I never had the eye for the art. So sometimes I will see graffiti and you got me doing this to try to figure out the way he's.
Written, what it's saying or whatever.
Although I love the colors, I love the way they structure everything, I was never able to really get into it because I always had a hard time reading the graph. So B Boy was more into it because remember Charlie Chase started as a bee boy DJ. You understand when I finally got acclimated with the beads and stuff like that.
Before you were part of Cold Crush, I was plinging when the team parked the park.
Across the streets from there were bee boys always showing up and representing. So the B Boy man, you know, that's a strong that's strong love in the heart man makes way back.
I respect that.
Say the next one Red Alert or kid Capri Okay two people?
Yeah, I know, but you should not remember you're posing this question to somebody who has a I know you are, but you're talking to somebody who has an emotional attachment to some of these people that you're talking to. Alert. I know Redd Alert what he used to have a nineteen inch red ass affle like this before he was really he was a DJ, but he really wasn't known he was.
Part of part.
I think it was the cosmic force of cosmic cruise something like that. I've known him since.
Then, you know, and he was always the brother that he is today, always loving, always welcoming, always you know. So yeah, that's my brother man. I you know, we still talk, We call each other, make sure we're good.
Yeah, it has to be read Alert man Oka, jam Messa J or Eric B.
That would have to be jam Master J. Because jam Master everyby I met him maybe once or twice.
We spoke Coop.
I mean, I never have anything bad to say about anything because they all showed me so much love and respect.
Jam Master J. I have a bit of a connection too, because.
We worked on that album, The Godfather's a Threat that we were on and Chuck d was the producer.
He brought us on.
Jam Mester j came to our house because Cas and I were living together. We had an apartment downtown. He came to the house, he sat down with spoke with us. Hey said, I got up, Well, we want to do this project. We want to come in. I want to bring the cold question and stuff. So we went and we did that project. We became friends. We were tired. He told me about the whole thing, the DM the run DMC experienced, how we you know, how we inspired them and all that. So, you know, I kind of and then after they passed away, that really kind of you know, it's maybe morbid to say, but it kind of reinforced that with me and him, you know, because I knew the brother man, you know.
B Street or wild Style, Wild Style. I don't know that he's gonna drink.
Come on, man, yeah, he ain't drinking at all.
You know what, just for you nor.
You've got to get something.
I guess that's the major rule.
We don't anything.
We'll have or Big Daddy kne He text me racket Okay.
I love them both. They those are my brothers.
Or Kane, but big Daddy Kane, you know, you know, it's a joke between myself and Kane. I always call him the seventh Cold Crush brother because he tells me the story about how he used to escape from his house at night to come to see us perform at Harleward when he was a young teenager. He would come to see us perform, and he loved us. And one time he escaped, he got back home and his father was waiting for him beat the livery shit out of him. And I was like, you're kidding me, Like, nah, man, this is I love y'all. And he always he always loved having a surround.
He always likes you know.
He always he asked me to perform with them one time and and and I mean that's Daddy Cane, his down man.
I mean, that's my brother. Man. I know him for Soldos for so long.
Man, you know, you know him before he had the cuts and the ship. Yeah, I ain't gonna lot.
When he was signed of Cold Chilling, you know, when he was.
A young ship. Yeah, DJ Clue or funk Flex.
Flex because I never met Clue. Okay, I worked with why.
Me and Flex were DJing together at w b l S. Yeah for about Easier and I.
Love Clue that's my brother. But DJ mister Flex is the greatest radio DJ of all time. I got it.
He reminds you of that too.
I dropping the record. I don't need him to fit. I'm not. That's not what I'm doing this for. I'm doing this because this is the real that like I sincerely enjoy listening to the funk Master Flex on the radio. I sincerely enjoyed it.
Shout out to the shout out Tolue in Flex Man and cluse my brother that's on the mixtape.
Tip from the mixtape bor Revolution, the legendary. Come on, we know that he may he helped. He helped me my career, that clue. Thank you to w b l S or kiss FM b LS.
Because I worked at BLS, got to meet I got to meet Frankie Crocker.
Freaking wow, Frankie Crocker.
As a matter of fact, when I started DJing at w b LS, Gonna make You.
Sweat Everybody Dance Now came out.
I had the first copy. I played it on the air, nobody heard it and the freaking red phone went off. Frankie Crocker put me on the Lady b was on the air, she was the air personality inside for She said, Yo, Frankie wants to talk to you.
He says, Yo, what is that record?
Who is that record? I told him this is and he said, Yo, we got to add this. So you know, I got it that I feels, you know, I met Frankie. Frankie Crocker is a legends, a total black experience in sound.
That's what I worked with.
Man, all right, DJ Premiere, Pete Rock.
Take a shot.
I'm going to have to win that one. I don't have a shot.
Cheers, cheers, Premiere, Mamajuana. I met Premiere through Guru a friends peace, great dud. We were not a friends and we we we we we we were cool and we will hang out.
I brought him to a couple of Cold Crush recording sessions.
Wow.
Wow, he came and hung out with us. That's how I met Premiere Premiere. I met him like listen, man, the thing about me and hip hop and the co christ to include you, gotta include them. I have been to countries where I have never been to in my life. And as soon as I get off the plane. I have friends, right, you know what I'm saying, and I and and that has always been with the hip hop community. Like all these guys, they they always tell it. Man, if it wasn't for you guys, you guys are inspired us. I get that from everybody. You throwing aim at me, and they've probably said that to me. Promia was that, you know what I'm saying. But now Pee Rock right, that's my mayor. So Pee Rock and I have been friends for many, many, many many years and never met until last summer. Forgot over a decade here and I've been friends talking on the phone, texting, social media, and we never met until last year when we did that thing for Flash. That's what we actually finally shook hands, embraced talk, kind of chapped it up for a minute and went that with that, What.
Did you think about the jay Z line, I'm over charging people for what they did to the Cold Crush.
Only he undercharged the Cold Crush.
You know what I'm saying.
Why didn't we get a check?
Why don't we work? He said, I didn't.
Want any money.
I want to work.
Let me do something for you, man. It was it is what it is.
I'm not going to get mad, but I was. I was happy for I would but that line is so hard, But I was happy we were mentioned by somebody like you know what I'm saying because I'm not mad.
Because when we cast, I felt like cast didn't he was cool with it, but he didn't really love love it. But then when I we visited that episode and I watched it, I was like, you know what, I think he was big and y'all up. We were saying this if he.
Was, I think it was a big Yeah, it was, and he was using you guys as an example as an example that it was was underpaid at a certain time.
He was definitely labors. We're taking advantage.
And he's not gonna he's gonna overcharge for what they did to hip hop back then, meaning using.
And I took it just like that.
Although a lot of people try to twist it and says, oh, he he needed to use a pioneering name to do this, I didn't.
I didn't see it.
And the other positive side effect is that by mentioning Cold Crush directly, any young kid that's never heard the Cold Crushing is listening to the song, is going to now go in and do their googles and learn about Cold Crush and learn about hip hop history.
Right, it was only a plus for us. It was only because you.
Know, we never had hit records. You can't remember a record that was ever because we did it. But our show was so impressive, so off the top or over the top and crazy that it was memorable. Man, people looked at us, and we want to do that.
You know your TV raps or video music box, video music gonna say that.
Of course I need to yo, that's all.
Whatever you have, absolutely, of course, man, Uncle Ralph cars one on rock Him take a shot. So don't lead the witness. I can't lead the witness. I'm sorry, excuse me. Cales want to rock Him?
I love I love rock Him. I love them both. So that's a hard one. Yeah, but I love them.
But you from the Bronx, are you gonna.
No no, no, no no.
That's a hormor for me because I love rock Him style.
I met him, we we immediately clipped.
We were friends, you know, And I like I like the teacher because he come on, he he'll say things that.
You never thought about. Is crazy. The way the clarity he brings, the things that you've always never.
Thought about is incredible. So it's hard man, So you know I got good?
Yeah, okay, by the way I need Jamie got I spilled the one by mistake's point. But let me just tell you, hold on, wait, let me tell you how good care rest one? Is? He hurt my childhood?
What the.
Bridges? And he's still my favorite rapper? How is this even he spilled the shot? Okay, so how does that even work? Like he hurt my he hurt me because you couldn't deny how great the music critic, how great he was?
The k r Rist is such a powerful performer. We did sello. We did the show called Old School throw Down three okay, where the promoter was Tyron Williams from Coaching and Records. Wow right okay, And they were pitting old groups that battled in the day and knew it groups and created battles and it was the Old School Throwdown.
Don't tell me Shannon and Krris one right, that was part of the battle. Shann got new TeV out here.
Ye had to go check out Shan talking about the Drake Kendrick.
Yeah, Shannon is talking about Drake. He kills on the social media swinter grab and he.
Going into it like, I mean, this is the when it was all going down. He threw it and I was like, yes, shit, I want to watch it. And I'm rested.
Ship.
I forgot because I stopped following everybody at one point, so I forgot. I gotta refollows. I have to refollow him.
Yeah. So when we did that concert the Old School door on three, they had us battling the Furious and then the Fields far was battling another group. Is so Shan with KRS one and so forth right, So Kris one was the closer, right, everybody did their shows. The place it was at Madison Square Garden in the in the in the paramount. It was called the Panamm three at the time. I don't know what it is now, but the six thousand seater.
Got it, the smaller version of the right.
Yes capacity, yes, yes, Shan did his thing. And when they announced KRS one and he stepped on that only did with he's such a show. I thought matisonsquir Garden was going to come down like in an earthquake.
The people went banana the shape the present and then he'll speak my will be boy on stays away.
He didn't even say a word, and he just completely almost shut the whole thing down. Man, that's the power. Chares one, no, Kris one.
We need him back. We need him back for sure. N w a Wu Tang clan.
Okay, you need to stop, man, I need to stop. He's not leading me this. Man, he's not leading me because already you know you're.
Asking me questions that I can ask. It would have to be it would have to be w Tang. And I'll tell you why I love this.
I know. I met the Wu Tang before they.
Started making records through uh gizz Gizzo used to be the Genius.
When he was signed to.
Right Tarron Williams had asked me to edit. I used to do a lot of editing because I used to work for Sleeping Back Records and they're editing because I was the manager doing the editing for them up there. So Tarro knew this and he had asked me to edit a record. Call do me by the Genius. So I edited the record. I met Genius. He was matt cool. You know, he thanked me for working on his rekingd and stuff like that. So there was yeah, absolutely, so we were at this place where they used to dupe records, I mean dupe cassettes all the time.
Square there was this building I forgot what it was.
It was around the corner from where Sleeping Bag and Cole Chilling used to be across the street, right there around the corner. And I was picking up some tape by Tendis because we had some eight ten cold course we had a show that night, and Wu Tang the whole clique was coming out the building. They were young, they were together, the whole all of them were there. No you know, and to you, they said, what's up?
Man?
We met and he said, yo, yo, fellers coming, you got to meet this guy. This is Charlie Chase, Mighty Cold Christ Brothers. So and so they were like, yoh deal. So it's gotta be Wu Tang Man.
You know what if I met you then then yet right right.
And absolutely both of the such great.
Absolutely the next one.
Biggie or Big L. Want to never met Big L. Rest in peace to both met Biggie. But this is an interesting story.
I met Biggie at the rock Steady Anniversary party when they used to have it downtown in Manhattan. Really back in the nineties. Biggie wasn't known, Biggie didn't have a deal. You know. It was Biggie Small KG from my group was Pigge always had the thing of meeting everybody.
He was that guy.
He had a big personal They love the plus he was the host at the Underground.
I was at the Underground all Latin Quarter. That's six Street fifty fifty.
Right, So he had Biggie with him. We were there.
I was DJing.
I was DJing for the uh Rock Ctatey anniversary. Can you hear what's key? I want to introduce you. Here's a new up and coming artist. He's got a deal or he's looking for a deal or something. His name is Biggie Small's. I meant he was a young kid, young kid, yo, what's up? You know yo?
Man?
Respect and the whole ship. That was the only time I have got to me.
He was cool.
He was man cool.
He was cool. You know, I mean, everybody has to be cool to you.
Everybody was cool to us.
You know, they don't have to be. But there were going to ask this question, was there ever anybody that you met that wasn't cool to you? Because by the way, we're gonna let's store him under the bus.
Now, it was nobody that wasn't cool with us. Now, if you're gonna, if you're gonna go back to the early days, everybody, we were all cool.
But it was competitive. So it was it was competitive.
So you say mey Mail wasn't cool? Bully Mail?
Who was my man?
I was the DJ.
I was in DJ for him a year. You know what I'm saying.
So, yeah, yeah, you didn't.
Okay, I posted something you look, you gotta go on my page and look it out. So here's the story behind that.
Let's go seventy eight, seventy nine, Black Door have broken up? Flash and the MC the Furious four.
Right broke up?
Right?
Which Flash talks about it.
When it broke up, they.
Didn't they didn't want to go back. I used to live in an apartment on the first floor one hundred and eightieth and Arth where you couldn't. I used to so mixtapes out the window to all the community.
Car drivers Old Jay's. They all used to come knocking to buy myselff.
Hold on, hold on because a lot of people don't not gonna know what Old J's is.
Cap Sure the cap sur okay, right?
And they had to.
They always had to bang in sound system. So anyway, you could come up to my window knock and I would open up, like, what's up? I met people won't kind of Still, One day there was a knock on my window. It was mister Nests, who now is Scorpio, mister Ness and k Creole. Now I could be confused, because again sometimes things are a blur. I'm sure it was Nests. If not, it would have been Combed. But I think it was Nests, and Creole said, Yo, man, I was surprised to see them knocking on my window, you know, like I was pre Col. Course, they weren't even together yet.
We weren't even you guys were together.
No, we weren't together yet. This was in between seventy seven. Colquurtse didn't come together until seventy nine, around seventy nine.
Eighty and Flashes already left this as the crew. Yeah, so let me expect this is where the timeline started sucking football.
I'm now again I'm an old man, but.
I'm I don't know. Yeah, yeah, Territory, knock on the window, Yo, can we come in and talk to ourself?
Sure?
Come inside, yo, man. We ain't with Flash no more. We left Flash, we left back door. We ain't going back.
And I'm like, what the fuck?
What what happened?
Now?
Man? You know there was some kind of controversy with the money, you know, and all kind of stuff they like, So we didn't We didn't want Flashes to get they say, Flashers get more money.
They were claiming that there was a deal between Himan management. I don't know.
There's always some kind of stuff.
Money, always everything up right. So I said, you're the only other DJ besides Theodore Flash. We know they can cut like that. Would you be o our DJ?
Now?
I had a crew already, you know, a young crew. What was the name of your crew? They didn't have a name. It was just Charlie Chase.
Wasn't Tom and Jerry?
No, no, no, it was Jerry.
It was after Tom and Jerry.
By way, what's the name Toma Jerry? Yeah?
Yeah, yeah.
And they talk about Graham was the Theodore who they were saying the other person was right? And Theirdore was a little kid, you know, he was a young kid, you know. So so they said we would you be our DJ? And I said, hell, your fucking let's do it?
You know. So there's a tape and you go on my page.
Well, I tell the story, the story behind the story, and you hear me cutting up with mel Ryman and mel And and mahem Ryman on there right. So I I For about the next six months or so, we were together. We were DJing, doing what we could, popping up in parks when I was with them. Now, going back to Tony, tone Tony, Tony and I have many accomplishments together. Me and Tony from when I see Tony, Tony and I were really the first black Puerto Rican duo to do anything to come together. We do. We were the ones who do the very first ever.
Ever drink Champs.
Yeah, the Champ High always. So we threw the very first MC convention ever. One of the mcs and my crew had the idea, his name was r. C. He says, Yo, let's why don't we do this. I'm like, Yo, that's a fucking genius idea. Let's do it. So me and Tony we we we got it together. We do it at the Webster one a third p a l up in the Bronx. That was the first convention ever. So that day the Furies four were supposed no actually it was a Fury five because now during the breakup was when Raheem left the Funky Four and got came into the Furious Five with us, changing their name from the Four to the Furious five.
So now they're the Furious five. They were supposed to host They can get very confusing, furious yeah.
Yeah. So they were supposed to host the battle and it was broad capacity. A lot of people showed up for this thing, and the Casanovas showed up, and they had to talk with them and told them, yo, yo, y'all gotta.
Come back, and they were like, yo, we're going back, and they went back, and I wasn't mad about it.
And then like a few months later or so, you know, uh, seventy nine eighty something like that was then when we formed the col Christ.
See you did a couple of gigs with them or were you ddaying?
Like for almost eight months or so, we never did any paid gigs, but we were always jamming, right because I guess remember at the time they have brought in Rahim, I guess they were still trying to get acclimated and gets in this stuff. They weren't doing shows like they were doing afterward, like when when they got back together was when they started doing the bigger shows. Back then, we were just jamming. They weren't really doing anything big except for high schools and stuff like.
That, you understand.
So yeah, so we would jam out go in the parks. Like when you see hear the tape that was Enforced projects up in the Bronx.
You know, that's the only recorded that's crazy that's not widely known though, no it's not. But the takers, the takers to proof.
You'll hear Melly Mills saying my name, I'm cutting to be real by Lynn uh uh Sheryl Lynn.
I'm cutting that, you know, and and that that happened. That adds to your legend, bro.
Yeah, man, so so that they have to be furious five.
That's though, God damn it, ahead, get the next one. Let's see where we're are here, Scarface or ice Cube.
I like ice Cube. I have to say ice Cub.
You know why.
He reminds me so much of the Urse with their hardness. I don't give a funns. And you know, it's like we're doing what we're doing.
The fuck y'all, you know, and that was what the Cold courses off. But I would have to say ice Cube, all right, beating nuts or Cypress Hill beat nuts. Man, I love Cypress Hip, but beat nuts on my boys.
Man, you know those are my boys.
Bro shout out to a cycle les. They performed up in the in the.
At the hard rocking Tampa about a couple of months ago. They were hanging we were hanging out, and.
So Big Pun or Coolgie wrapped. That's that's gonna be a tough one.
I don't.
Take your so this. I don't want to pike that.
Okay, you said Coolie wrapping and and who know, big big Big Pun. I'm not gonna pick between those two.
I got.
That.
I got love for both of them. Man, you know what I'm saying, Bro, just give a shot that look.
Come on, even drunk, Come on, you guys, this these fucking you guys are to the average, to the person.
You know, Fat Joe, I've definitely asked that, Fat Joe, I don't know. Yeah, I could have told you that the.
Guys we could have had it Bull coming would have came here, would have and and he would have showed a lot of himself, super rich and super Latino.
I'm not taking anything away from pit Bull I mean, listen, he's made a lot of accomplishments. No, he's he's in his own way, in his own right. Man, He's done a lot early early humble beginning, and I've seen that. I've seen the way he started and where he ended up. Now he's internationally does he's on TV, he's got young.
He literally didn't let the game change him. He literally didn't like like I mean, even me, I let the game change me. At one point I got sucked up, you know.
What I mean.
It happened and then and then and then I came back to reality.
But what do you describe?
What you What is a change? What changes you think? You give an example of that. You're not realizing that this game does not belong to you. It's the world's game. And at one point, when you platinum, you think that it's all about you, and it's actually not. You're the fucking flavor of the month.
Remember this, bro, nobody's bigger than hip hop.
Nobody's bigger than hip hop.
Nobody's But that's the problem, the artistic no, no, no, no, that is the problem. That's the problem.
But what's the solution is when you find that out? The solution is you find it out and you say, you know what, because it just happens, like you know, being in front of the public's I sometimes you don't realize that you're the seventh guy or the one hundredth guy, and there's gonna be a hundred guys after you. That that that that it's going to put in that same position, and that shit is heartbreaking. Like like I always say, but like it's hard to be the man on Monday and not wake up and be the man on Wednesday.
But that wouldn't be a hip hop problem. That would be a celebrity problem. That would be a famous problem.
I can't. I can't, I can't. I can't actually pinpoint any other problem pinpoint hip hop. I could see when I met a young MC, and if I can see it, I know you can see it. And they're so humble.
Yeah, they're just happy to be there next year.
They're like, they won't even walk over and say hi to you. They won't even give you a fucking five because they're the guy at that moment. And what they don't understand is we've been the guy for thirty years, right twenty years ago. So every fucking party that you've been to. I've kind of been there already. I get it everything that you kind of did, like you're my ougi. But I'll be looking at these these young boys you jaded, your bit Jay, this young Wriver Snappers, and They're like, you know, dude, what did you just say to me? What did you just say to me? Like I was platinum in nineteenety eight, you platinum or trying to go platinum in twenty twenty four. I've had my party and by the way, it was awesome, But listen fantastic.
Those those are my bad to cut you too, though, but those.
Are the accolades I think that have gone wrong for hip hop because because in late eighties early nineties, I can only speak for my general rational perception right or point of view better said the artist I was listening to, they were paying homage to the founders and the pioneers. Therefore the listener and us coming up were like, these are our heroes. I didn't grow up on Cold Crust necessarily, I didn't grow up on Grand Master Flash, but I felt like I did because the artists that I grew up to were saying, this is why we're here. Therefore, this is why you're here listening to us and being a part of this culture.
So this is why we're here. And so it made me dig in the crazy sort of say.
And so to me, the accolades of selling platinum or gold didn't matter. It was who impacted the culture more and who are the forefathers and the foundation of people that is that weighs way more than how many records you sold. You know what I'm saying, Like Crazy Legs, who doesn't sell any records, was way more of a bigger figure in pop then this artist that went platinum. In a sense absolutely, And that's where I think where we lost our way, No, because we don't do that anymore.
We don't, we don't. We started that picture, started to equivolate uh, success with accolades, like how you just said, like you just said, you said, you man, we didn't have hit records, but we had.
Hits hit stage shows.
You you you you tear that stage show up. So when we started to like, uh, look at it and say, all right, this is this, this is that, this is that because uh, let's just be clear. Na's first album, Ellmatic, was not received. Yeah, I know, like people are lying when they say, oh, Shmatic was Ellmatic wasn't classic.
Sales wise, it wasn't sales wise, but culturally that's the thing. Culturally what it did was phenomenal. It changed the album worry.
I can't stand you motherfucker's telling me my hot of classic legendary for my album. You motherfuckers did not go to the stall. My ship did not say, but.
You're right because the audience, the audience was broke, that culture was broke.
They had to boot leg and ship. You're gonna you're gonna help them, Yes, but that's probably true. It can be true, like the mix it because I come.
From the I'm a mixtape DJ that was putting your songs on my on my mixtape.
I hate to tell you this now, but you didn't make a dime off.
Of me putting in on This is what I'm saying.
But somehow we got here.
Yes, I'm telling you that shit hurt me. Like when people say that now, they'd be like the woll report got me through some ship. I'll be looking at you like you boot leg my shit. You ain't buy my album. I'm sorry, I wouldn't. I mean, person, I'm sorry.
Let me get the funk out you know what, Wilstefall was under that category. Whilst All it was one hundred listener thousand dollar budget movie. That movie was that everybody tries to say Russell didn't. I'm not taking nothing away from Russell, anything from Russell, but WildStar was the movie that showed everybody how this was done, because everybody that was in the movie that did what they acted actually did what they did in real life. Even the stick up kid in the movie was a real stick up.
Yeah. I'm gonna have to stand up and tell you, Charlie Chase, you guys didn't act very well.
It was a documentary.
Saw you held a documentary.
I look at I said, I don't think they're reacting. I think this is just a.
Do you know what it wants to stand up against Theodore like this is it's giddy could beat come on man. But it was a cult hit and that was all over the world, and that was the movie that introduced hip hop to the entire planet. Because when the Will style first hit that we were on it and the first stop we made was Japan. Dude, it was it was like a nuclear explosion. We were there a week. Everybody saw it was going on the first week. By the time we left, there were already people out there dressing and guys trying to break dance and all kinds of stuff. Right, I mean, listen, let me, let me show you the power of hip hop. Let me expect a story lost our tour, never been there first time. We're all touring, right, we needed translators to walk around with. So I'm walking on with this translator and there's this Japanese kid with a boombox and he recognized me. I guess because we were doing a lot of TV and a lot of press and stuff. So he recognized me and he runs up and he's talking Japanese. I don't understand up, but the translators telling me, oh, he knows who you are. He says he loves the Cold Crush. And I'm like, how do you know about the Cold Course? And he says and he told the guy says, he hits he hits play on it. He had a boombox, he hits play and he's playing a Cold Curse tape. Well fucked my head up was that this guy didn't speak a link lick of English, but he's reciting all the Cold Curse liberals.
That's crazy. That was the power of hip hop. That was the power of wild stock.
That movie said.
Yeah it was old what you said, but yo, it was it was not We're gonna We're I want to circle back to when we finished Quick Time, Kid Frost or Melimanaise, this is Latino rais.
I just wanted to let you know that Latino racism, right.
Why is the Latino racism?
I just feel like the division. Mann just take a shower.
Met both of them, mayor.
Cool so uh and they and they both had their successes, and both of them want to come together to drink Champs.
F y, I'm saying it right here on the show that both want to come together Kid Frost and Melimanaise.
I would like that on drink Champs.
I'd have to take a shower because I like to go for both my boys.
Man, Okay, I got this is some reggae. Don't ship you got it?
Okay, I gotta do it.
You gotta do it.
Man, you hate reggae, don you gotta reggaet package Diego or Donald Mar.
Donald Mar is a man too.
Damn.
I love Donald Mare.
But I met Tago, I met Tago down brother, I met him at Lehman High School in the Bronx sal.
When Tago was there.
I think so I was. I met me and Diego squadstar Beef at Leaman High School.
He wasn't performing, he wasn't performing.
I don't know it was it was.
It was a death jam thing.
Death jam was there?
Yes, yes, was there there.
We got that.
We got the choppit for a minute. We spoke man cool dude.
Man.
You know, he didn't know who I was, but you know, he.
Was so he doesn't sometimes he didn't know what I was and.
I wasn't there trying to explain it. So I told him, you know, I'm showing so from a group and everything. He didn't know me.
I was cool with that.
I'm like, yo, I like your music, I appreciate.
You man and all that.
And he was like he wasn't like so stuck up when he was man, who you know what I'm saying. I never met donal Ma, but I like Don so I would have to go with Donald Marcus.
Oh yeah, you just said this whole made a shot for no reason. No think that.
The other one.
That.
But let me ask you, I feel like he's more of an MC than a artist.
I do too. I think he's more of a hip hop artist. I believe that he's a victim of his circumstances, meaning like he had to well do certain things.
Because that's the other thing.
When I went to I went to Puerto Rico in two thousand, right before we had before what he did and everything came overy and a lot of those artists were regular.
Rais mcs, that's what they were, that couldn't.
Really make inroads, and he started. Look what they stuck when they started.
What's your man name?
The producer echo, yeah, echoes man, Yeah.
When they started. I mean that those with the influences, it was MC. And then it evolved into what like these guys want to mixtapes?
You know and all that. That's the question I want to ask you, and I know we still have to.
No, it's not about me.
At what point did it become the MC? Because the DJ was the motherfucking man, right.
Still, the motherfucking man, all right.
I knew he was gonna rightfully, so we love you, we love you as an MC, But when did it become m C coming to the forefront because it was DJ Okay, No one wanted to be a MC.
And that's that's absolutely accurate. It was all about the DJ. What made it the MC was when MC starting, he started evolving from just making announcements and just throwing little nursery rhymes here and there.
To promote the DJ, to promote the DJ. The DJ Hollywood not not well when I was Hollywood.
From what I under said, he was already DJ when I started, you know, but he I wasn't around those parties or didn't go to those parties. But the DMC evolved into something more. He would cast and I'm gonna go back to cast. Caz was one of the instrumental people who were so gifted that he was telling. They called Slick Rick the storyteller, and Cast is the original storyteller. You listen, I know about rhymes that you ain't never heard that Cas has said when he was a kid, and Caz is his mind is he's a genius. Bro. Caz had started helping. I wouldn't say he's the first one, but I witnessed with my own eyes that evolution when I started seeing people like Cas get on the mic and started grabbing people's attention with his art, with his skill, you know. And the skill was what catapulted the MC in front of the DJ, you know, because remember it was just starting with the DJ. It was all mechanical with the with the bullshit equipment that we had. We were doing what we were doing and we were making a great job of it.
It was close to it, you know, but it was hand me down stereocrip with bell drive right, terrible bell drive.
If you weren't able to cut on bell drives, you were.
Those were my first turn tables, you know what bell drives. So that was when happened.
You know, the DJ, the DJ needed I was shy. I was never a microphane person, so I needed a mouthpiece, you know, and I was and you know, my first time C was Cisco Kid from Beach Street, and so you know, that was that was what started it.
I needed a mouthpiece. Every DJ needed a mouthpiece.
And then when they were seeing other DJs bring their skill up, then that's when it started evolving. And then they came to the floor for now because people wanted to hear what they wanted to say.
You know.
I remember DJ is the back one because without the DJ starting the party, you don't get an m C, you don't get b boys and girls dancing on the dance floor right. DJ's were the ones that perpetuated the beginning of everything.
Mcs came so they was wearing spikes and it was like, yeah, uh huh, charge.
Shout out the big drink. Who was my miamc My first mcane was an artist, you know when I was DJing, he was the guy on the microphone in the beginning. Him and Weird Thoughts, Paul, I keep.
Forgetting, I keep forgetting. Your original name was Weird Thoughts. And then everywhere every time we do Underdog Fantasy, I remember that he is Weird Thoughts, Ellmatic or reasonable Doubt.
I'm not gonna lie. I'm not familiar with any of them too much.
Matic is not his first album. And reasonable doubt Jason.
For me to be honest with you, I haven't heard.
So he's saying neither. We're drinking. Yeah, we're drinking.
He's saying, I'm not gonna lie.
I'm not gonna lie, you know, Thank you, James. Okay, just for the record, I got you know, I asked a lot of these questions you did, and we're almost done, and were almost done. Maybe you don't drink King of New.
York, what do you do is like we can come up with you. Yeah?
Literally all right.
Before New Jack City, New Jack City, King of New York was with Denzel No.
It wasn't no no, no, think.
New Jack City from Walk City, right Walker.
Right right, all right, I gotta I gotta do this one.
You go ahead.
The fever or Latin quarters fever.
Brother, I grew up in the fever, man, I grew yo, that's what we ever.
Like your face this little and I feel like there was there for sure. You see his face leaves. I was literally in the fever with.
You right now?
You know what the place to go to think about this picture?
This lot of cocaine at okay, definitely a lot.
But we got to tell everybody cocaine wasn't crazy back then.
It was like with a fast drink.
It was a fashion drug.
If you had cocaine, you have status energy just.
Reference before. But it wasn't it wasn't illegal. I'm sorry, sorry, I forgot the question. What was.
The fever pictured?
This the fever you got run dmc whodini, Cold Crush, Treacher's three Furious five, Curtis Blow sometimes Russell Simmons. After they did what we did at the night at at the end of the night, I didn't go as offen as chasin JDLD, but I go everybody will go there.
That's where everybody would go and meet and drink and talk about.
The four Stories of the Night or whatever. The fever was the place to meet girls and hang on. And that was the atmosphere. You know how many said a quick story. Ronald Eisley was that right. I'm up against the wall by if you know anything about the fever.
As soon as you walk in, there was a photo booth right there in the front, right, so I was.
I was up against the wall. They're just chilling and and I and I go like this, and I'm like, there's a cat the baseball hat like this covering his eyes right, just like this.
You can't see he's covering his eyes. But you you you Ronald eyes.
He got that face you cannot mistaken, I say, Ronald, and he looked up and goes.
I said, stop that, brother, this is the fever. Everybody here's a celebrity.
Stopped.
He was telling me to because of celebrity. Yeah, yo, everybody is a celebrity. It's not gonna be on you like that. You know, and he was like he wasn't having it.
But true story, we used to have celebrities like that that came to the Fever.
Yes, and the Fever turned into Room Boss you're talking.
About in Treeman Avenue.
The original Fever was on one hundred and sixty seven Rowl. Come on, bro, I know Cetala when he had a DA well he was Italian with a DA bro with the open shirt and the necklace and all that.
Yeah, you know, I did not know that.
I didn't know Schoomball goes to DJ Yeah, what was I forgot the other guy's name. They have some dope DJs there.
Get you ready? Yeah, Bat Boys or the Beastie Boys.
Beastie Boys.
I like. I like the BC Boys, you know why because I'm a rockhead.
I love rock music.
And when they came out and they were doing what they were doing, I ate it.
Like fruit loops, bro, I just ate the whole thing up.
Man. When I met them, they they went crazy. It wasn't there a synergy.
And we talked about with Kaz and Flash with rock and hip hop at the time, because they were both these countercultures right punk rock specifically right.
CBGB's there was a Chariot downtown.
So yeah, holy shit, and this is the last one for quick Time of Slime to be getting to direct the interview. Loyalty or respect.
Respect, respect, because I've met people that I've never met in my life but have showed me more respect than a lot of motherfuckers who were loyal to me. Because what happens sometimes, and I've experienced, is people are loyal to you and after a while they become.
Too familiar with you and they can be disrespectful, and then I got to cut you off.
Respect people.
I've met people that I've met, people.
I've never seen in my life, and they show me instant respectful what I've done their They're kind, respectful, you know, they give me They would have to be respect first.
You ain't got to like me, but you're going to respect them.
Jesus, that was so great. I'm going to the bathroom. You and I got to say, my friends, win my shirt, give you your shirt and if you ain't got one for e f N, don't feel batter that one.
For f.
A folarship. Here you go right here, bro, this is you.
Man.
Let me show you.
Thank you so much, brother p Yeah, please, bro, thank you.
Man one of the tours and we're going all right. I didn't Columbia.
I didn't bring a whole lot.
So yeah, yeah we're rolling.
Yeah we rolling.
That's right. God damn it. What common sense? And Pete Rock, we donna wear it.
Don't don't take my style.
Don't you don't want you want to be kidding? Play? What time?
What time?
What cool?
What you got? What side you wear?
No, I know that's not the baby world because I don't know where she is.
I got it, got.
Yeah.
Listen, guys, it is not as a fitting session, guys.
Charlie Chase. Listen, Charlie Chase. Your shirts are exclusive. You don't got to give it to everybody. You can say something brand right now, but these guys are not worthy.
Only got I got yeah, the jem.
Shot. He just sounds sports good. That's that's that's my gave it to your old friend. Hold on, that's my nephew.
That's was just sure. Give it the twin right there, swin right there. You can't can't be that even he doesn't, but he he you guys, I got you, I.
Got you guys.
Number that come on that my nephew right there.
Yes, he's a motivational speakers, has been our shows with Grand Cardoon.
That's my friend.
What was up?
He say, Man, Sean McMurray shot.
You got shot hip yo. I'm gonna be honest. I know I said it earlier, but I want to say it again. I want to thank you as a man, as a person who has a career hip hop in a lot of ways. When I researched you and I kept I went in to jap yep and they label you as the first Puerto ricand hip hop, and that shit is so vulnerable because I always fight to say that Latinos was there in the beginning and I'm black too, But sometimes I feel like they kind of try to erase that part of history. Not very like, not like it's like a bunch of black people around. That's not that. But what I'm trying to say is it's become a thing. It's become a thing, has become.
Can add a little bit of clarity to that.
Okay, Whenever they say I'm the first Puerto Rican and hip hop, I understand why they credit it, right, there were other Puerto Ricans before me. You know, Kas's Cartner Disco Whiz. Unfortunately, you know, he got sidetracked. He had in his career early he was there, he was Kas's partner, but he was there before I was, you know, with Kaz when he was when he first started. Now, they credit me with being the first Puerto Rican DJ because I was the one who was blessed enough to have enough.
Talent that that just shot out in front of everybody.
You understand, I was the first war well known.
What I did and represented all people worldwide. Right, you understand I'm the first in that ass.
And as a DJ, which at that time would have catapulted. And there were a few of the DJs. They were like young from the neighborhood like me, you know, and they were Hispanic too.
They just never got all up. They didn't either for whatever reason it was. They didn't get out in the forefeet like I did. But yeah, I'll take credit in that aspect, But to me to be here say that I'm the actual first, No, I can't say that. I can't.
I got to give the credit where the credits.
Make some noise for that guy. I know this is a cliche type of question, and I noticed it's gonna make sense, but it might not make sense. Did you ever think that hip hop would make it this far, yes or no. I would like to hear you.
At the very beginning, when we were doing it, and I knew something was there, but I didn't know what it was except that I was just beating a lot of chicks.
You know what I'm saying.
I didn't know.
You know what was the turning point when I knew, because remember I come from a family of musicians, when rappers, the light dropped.
I said, this is where it's going. This is where it's going.
I knew that it was going to be big because now it's on a record for the masses to hear. That's when I knew it was going to be big because I knew, listen, you had to be where I was in the neighborhoods, the way people were inspired. People were showing up by the hundreds at freaking school yards till two or three o'clock in the morning, us playing two or three o'clock in the morning out there, and they were hanging out with us.
We were We were the superstars in the ghetto. Everywhere we walked, man, you know, we were the stars.
I couldn't go to Ford and Road without people knowing who I was, you understand until when rappers the light hit that opened the door for Grandmaster flashing them and whomoding them and even opened up the doors for us in the sense and everybody else that that followed. So yeah, I didn't know at first because I didn't see what was going on. I never thought about records. But when the record dropped and what year was that the recorders that I came out?
Seventy nine?
Okay, so let me just ask just I know this is was that shit called a question that you know the answer to rhetorical? Rhetorical? You don't think hip hop and right invented in Queen's a little Bit.
Oh, Queens gets massive credit? Are you kidding me?
Yeah?
Man, I don't think you heard his question?
What did a.
Because do you not think that it got invented in Queens a little Bit invented, not invented?
Okay, Yeah, that's that's that's that part.
Yeah, that's the part you ain't That's why he Yeah, yeah, yeah, I always credit Shan because Shan says hip hop started out, you know what I mean, he was saying what he saw in his neighborhood. He not he he never I don't think he ever said that.
It was.
But did he mean Queen's Bridge Park or did he mean he's just saying it started out on the.
Best part for him.
I don't we I don't know how much we talked about that one.
Maybe you might be looking into it a little bit too deep because hip hop bissed on the.
Parks right now, But that's what I'm saying. No, no, no, that's I know. I'm exactly pinpointing be any park. He could have just been exclaiming it started out in the park. We all know it started out in the park. But here's here's what I'm trying to say to you.
I suppose the first time you ever heard of hip hop it was in kind sugar Wood Park, Right, that's a real place, right.
Yeah, that's what that's That's a big that's a big part of So you.
And sugar Wood Jesus, y'all calm down. The first time you ever heard of let's not say hip hop aces great, right, the first time you ever heard of it was in sugar Wood Park. To you, that's what you think it is. So I'm asking you, isn't a possibility that you think mc shan thought that that hip hop really did event in Queens.
I don't think he thought that. I don't think because it's too far long when he came into the game for him to think that.
But I don't think when he said that he meant that it was started. No, because what I mean, it's a fact it did start out in the park, you know what I'm saying. But I think it may have been a little bit embroiled with the whole chante battle that, you know, that might have had something to do with what we remember. It was very competitive, you know, so if you're gonna talk shit, I'm gonna talk shit, you know what I'm saying. So I don't I don't think.
I know Shan. I know Shan personally. You know, we're friends.
We love Shy. He's crazy to follow him Instagram. We produce some records together.
Yeah, it was crazy because one thing I'm learning, as as we get older in this right or anybody, as as as the culture gets older, we try we tend to compact the history.
Right and Shan he came out what in the eighties, Yeah, eighties, and look.
How much when he's talking about that, he starts in seventy five. But how much happens from seventy five to seventy nine that he's talked about that is game changing. We don't We're never going to consider that as you know what I'm saying. So that's that's why I think. I think Shan knew what he was saying true, But I like that they squashed it.
Yeah, you grow up, man, you know, I mean, listen us in a fantastic you know anything about the battle?
You ever throw down? Like throw down, throw down.
I never got to the body.
I never used.
Only a stereotype. I never walked a round with.
A gun with a knife.
But no.
But seriously, Shan, he's he's a creative mind. But like what you were saying, you ever hear him on he's crazy, but he speaks a lot of he's he's an old guy off his rocker, but he's not.
He's not.
Exactly what he's saying is what confuses you.
But he's.
So we can hear exactly what you're saying.
And tears cry when he got his new set of teeth.
Was just.
Sh is on point man.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's he's, he's he's a deep thinker in a different way.
You know what I'm saying. The thing with him is like, man, fuck yo, this is what it is, you know, like a good your olf whatever, you know, that attitude?
Yeah yeah yeah.
Have you ever been at one point? For me? I just lost my love for hip hop?
Right?
It was just I'm lying. I didn't lose my love. I lost I lost what everyone was chasing. Everyone started to chase a certain dream. That wasn't it Like for me, you have to be nice, you have to be good at your craft, and and that's what it is. And now it's just about sometimes chasing money. Don't get it twisted. I like some money, of course, but then I also like my craft.
Right.
Has there ever been a time where you fro like fuck hip hop?
Sometimes? I feel like that. Now, I'll be honest with you, because I love hip hop. Hip hop is my life. I mean, you know, I'm one of the I helped create them, your foundation, you know, I'm part of the evolution, you know. So it's really it's really deep to me. And and I see what you're saying. They don't take it as an art anymore. Now, it's just the way to get a bag, you know what I'm saying. And you lose a lot when you when that's all that's on your mind, that's all you are. So I compare these people to like, like like the Olympics. You got your marathon runners and you got your sprinters. Marathon runners continue for decades and decades and decades. Then you got these guys that's just sprinters. They might last a year, two, maybe three, and then they're their career is gone. That's how that is with these guys. You understand what I'm saying. So listen, think about this for a second. There hasn't been a number one charting record on Billboard fall on Billboard for almost two years.
Now until right now with the Kendricks does Okay, So look aw long it.
Took based on negativity too good?
Right, that's crazy, that's truth and it's crazy. But think about that for a second.
Hip hop was.
Always commanding on the number one spider and all of a sudden it's not you know what changed. I think it was that people weren't respecting the art anymore. Now it's just a way to make money now. Trickley and I had a conversation one day about this force and and we came up to the conclusion and it was there was a time when my time, and a few other people's time, like like your time, you had interest in something, you studied it, you started practicing, you started practicing, you became brave enough to take it out to the public, to your family, to your friends. After that, you were brave enough to take it to the public. You did what you did, and then you were brave enough to take it to a record and do what you did. Now you make a record, and then you go back to trying to be and m C. That's crazy. It sounds crazy, but it's a fact, you know, And and and that's what that's where we're at right now. And it kills me because it's like, I don't I don't even want to produce hip hop records anymore. And now I'm looking more to doing stuff with movies and stuff like that. I'm actually right now producing a remake of a ela for uh uh uh uh uh, an analyist Grace, she said, a Grammy nominated art, Latin Grammy nominated artist. She's got an album coming out, and now I'm doing a remix for her for I Wan, which is coming out right before the Puerto Rican DA Parade, you know.
So I'm getting more too.
I've always liked different kinds of music's anyway, music anyway, so it's natural for me to just switch up and do what I gotta do. Hey, I produced Latin Freestyle. I had Trilogy, a group that was a hit for years. I wrote that Latin Love You Make Yeah, I wrote that with seeing all the guy who wrote the lyrics. I wrote all the music Amaretto clave Rocks. That was another big record. I was the producer. I didn't get producer I didn't get producer credit out of They only gave me mixing credit. But truth be told, I'm the reason why that record even exists. So it wasn't a problem for me to always switch gears and go another direction. But you're right, man, But you're right. What you're saying, what that you know hip hop? Right now?
You feel a little jaded about it.
It's like it's not the same I do because I love this culture like I love the I just told you. Carusen made two of the worst records of my child history, and he's still my favorite rapper. Yeah, because I couldn't.
Because you know what he's about. You know, he's not phony. Everybody's allowed to miss not everybody's gonna have a hit. Everybody's allowed a hit or two. That's that's just the nature of the game. But in your heart, you know where he comes from, you know where his heart is, so you respect that, and he's always going to be one of your favorites, you know.
And I respect that because you're seeing it for what it really is, for what it really is.
You know, who's your favorite Puerto Rican artist?
Puerto Rican artist?
You go racist? Right now?
Okay, well, let's go racist nobody.
If I would have to pick a Puerto Rican artist, I'm gonna be out of it.
It would be Mark Anthony.
I was going, heck the Love, all right?
He the Love is classic.
I grew up on Hector.
But Mark Anthony is my friend.
Oh damn, all right?
What about that man?
You know what I mean? The percussion brother, the percussion. I'm gonna be honest. You know what I noticed. You're a lawyalty. Yes, yeah, you based your answers based upon who you knew, how your relationships is and when I when I you know, we've been doing.
This for eight years, right, going, no, going on to nine years now.
Jesus, we are old like that. You're gonna get yourself time just trying.
To get you.
I'm gonna rewinding my time. So that is fucking How can I put this in a nice way and the best best way? That is fucking awesome, because I mean that's how I am. I'm loyal, but some people tell me I'm loyal to the fault. Has that ever been a problem for.
You, like, let me take some of these knaves off my back?
Yeah, man, no doubt. You know, people have taken advantage of my loyalty. You know, I've helped people make money, I've helped people get established and and I've gotten I'm not going to mention even you know, I'm going to get into it, but you know, yeah, of course, man, but you know what it is. I'm I wouldn't say loyal. I always say respectful to these people, and I love them, you know why, because I see where they come from with what they're doing.
You understand, they're true to this. They like this.
They respect the art, you know, and if you respect the art and you're giving it all and you're making you've got results.
I gotta respect you.
I love you for that.
I'm always going to show loyalty to you for that you know.
So now I can see that in you. Man, I can see because I know he suffers from the same thing.
Ain't nothing wrong with that.
I suffer from the same thing. It's just like sometimes I don't say no, and I can't say no. The reason why I seldomly go to New York because my number is the same. So the same bozo asshole motherfucker's called me I still pick up right, and that's a flaw. Right, I'm an idiot. I'm not saying you're an idiot or you're an idiot, but what I'm saying is being loyal to people who's not loyal to the makes you makes you? Makes you?
Yeah?
You do you regret that? Or would you do it all over?
I regret it.
If I regret it, that's me holding that poison inside. So I choose not to regret it because it's like to me, I'll just take it as a learning experience and I now I know for next time to see the signs and avoid it. You know, I'm not gonna lie to you. Yeah, at one point, I was mad like a motherfucker, you know hip hop or at the people who did that to me.
I was mad for a long time hurt, you know, and and and that was.
Part of the reason why I was addicted to drugs for so long, with cocaine for so long, because I was that was the thing that was pacifying that hurt. But you know, after years and years and years, I learned a let it go, bro. It ain't worth it. It worth it because at the end of the day, you're the one loses, not them.
You know what I'm saying, What are you gonna do? You ain't They're not going to change there all day? Are they did?
What did did you get? So move on? I listen.
I could be mad right now about a whole region ship, but I'm not.
Right now.
I've got too many positive people around me right now, I've got too many great things are about to happen for me.
Man, I gotta look forward. Let us you have to talk.
I want to go back on legacy, and we haven't touched much on the Cold Crush. Give us the beginnings of Cold Crush. How does this all evolve? How does this happen?
Because this is such a monumental group for everything hip hop. The Cold Crush was something that Tony Tone and I created.
Now let's go back.
As a matter of fact, I got my flyes, my show and Tael flies right, let's go.
There were three versions, two or three versions of the Colcus before two other versions before the final version that you know now, the Cold Curse.
Right, and you're one of the founding members of Yes to cret So Tony Tone.
I had met Tony Tone because one of the MC's which was RC and my crew, went to South Bronx High School. Tony went to South Bronx High School. RC told him about me, Yo, this DJA is nice, this Puerto Rican is nice. Under one and two, Tony was looking to create a crew. Tony was with Breakout, so he met He told him. He told ill, Yo, tell him I want to meet him. He says sure, I said, She'll bring him by. I met Tony Tone. We became friends. He got down with my crew for a little bit. I mean I got flyers where he was djaying, he was he was hanging out with us. So I always considered he got down with me because we were we were close. Listen, Tony Tone is the godfather my daughter. He was my best man at my first wedding. You know what I was saying, that's that's my brother, you understand. Me and Tony Tone got Mad Roots and Mad Love together from the beginning. So Tony Tone had this vision to create a crew. He came on with me and we were trying to work things out, you know, because he had ideas. I had this, but I already had a crew with MC's right, So the crew that I had at the time, with the MC's fly I'm showing.
You this accomplished camera or whatever he wanted.
Okay, this was uh to show you.
If you see the top of the flyer, right, it says Disco Tech Productions. That was the company that we had. Me, Tom and Jerry had that company.
Disco Tech Productions, Disco Tech Productions and Kevin Epps Presents DJ, Charlie Chase, DJ, Tony Tone DJ. Look at the MC's read them Mighty Mike h MCS almost read cat Dota rockn Rock, MC t e z A d Whipper wher whipper Whip. I feel like that's your cousin. Also the brothers DJ's mean Green, Mean Gene, mean.
G They that Theodore's brother.
Cordial Cordial Grand Master Wizard, Theodore, Robbie, Rob Kevy, cav Busy be Star skiing at right.
Now, what I wanted you to realize was that the mcs that were down with me was Dot a Rock and whipper Whip. They were Fantastic five. They were with me.
They were kazz As mcs.
They got a lot of a lot of MC's left cas and this then somehow got hooked up with me, so that we came with me. Now this was pree col curse, right. So then we decided that we were Tony Tony and I.
Tony tone was the one who came up with the name the Cold Crush.
And I remember when he walked to me and he said we were I was at this Pinjoint Pinball Spot grocery for Miles. It was a winter and he says, we would looking to create a cool he says, yo. He says, I got the name of the crew. That I got the name that I want to name the crew. And there was a flyer with red lettering that says this is another Cold Crush product. That was the advertisement on the flyer. Right advertising, So a show. It was a show another by some other people I didn't know at this They said another Cold Crushed product.
He says, I want to call it the Cold Crush Crew.
You just no. It was all they were expressing. It was a cold Crush product. They were Cold Cursse Crew. So I said, I liked that name. I said, what if we formed this group, We're going to be like family. So we're going to call it the Cold Crush Brothers. And he said, I like that.
We're rolling with that.
So then at the time you'll see here, you'll see where did you say cold Crush? Here it says col Qush somewhere. You got your notes right down at very top. I'm Donald Rock Aware, Cold.
Crush Brothers, Cold Crush Brothers, Charlie Chase, Tony Tonge, Mikey Bike November thirtieth, Cold Crush four MC's right, T boone.
T bone right, Donald Rock right, easy a D right and whip whipp whip whip Wi right to break out and the DJ breakout.
He was coming that night, right. So that was the first version of the Coal Chust Brothers right there, right before that, this was me.
And the crew.
This is before the cold This is just me before Tony copies copies.
I got goosebumps this whole time.
This is me before Tony Throne came into the picture. Just me and and these m cs that I have for now. If you know Cisco, Cisco was in the movie Beach Street. He was the m C that was that was rhyming when the female DJ was cutting Wanda d That was Cisco who lived in the projects right across the street from me.
And he was my first MC. And he was the one who put these fliers together. He was a flyer maker. He was an artist. He went to art and design and he was a supreme artist.
Art design and man. Okay, but by the way, I'm so sorry I kept handing him back the flyers. I knew you wanted to look at the fly now, I apologize that should have passed. I'm sorry that that was not that was not good the fans.
Here, I'm gonna say this has been said before, but this is it's true. Right, So we the reason the cold Course came to be was because I was always belliating about the mcson what they weren't as good as I wanted them to be. And Tony tom my brother, was like, all right, so let's have an audition. And I'm like, great, let's have an audition. We had an audition. That's South balk High School. Now mind you, for years I was trying to get cast and come on board, you know, and he was like, nah, I got a crew. I'm doing this and doing that and doing this. So when we were having the auditions, I'm like, I gotta get cast on this crew, right, So I said cash Tony Tone was the one that called him to come down to the audition, to come down, and I said, tell him that I need help picking out the mcs for my crew, and he's the expert. What I really wanted to do was so real, I mean right, So we went down. I picked A d was already down because he was Tony's friend. KG was the one that we picked from the from the audition because you know, KG had that booming voice.
Kaz and jd O show up right. We picked Ideo. We could we KG.
We couldn't really find anybody else, so we had that. So I said, Cass, now this is me and my scheming. I said, Cass, do me a favor. Let's test out the MC's going down the mic. We got four mics someone high school. Let's test out the vibe to see how these guy can hang way they get up there, and I'm like, in the fact, my fiendish plot is working. You know, they go in the MC and they and they and they're gelling. They're sounding really great. Cast comes back right, So I said, so, Cass, what do you think like that? I said, listen, man, that's when I I put him into a corner.
You say, you won't remember this, but all my children, I will swear this sack of bibles.
The conversation went this way. I said, I'm Cast. I'm like, you know, I've been wanting you to get down for years now. I'm like, you see what I got. I said, I'm telling you I have a vision I am going to make. Why know that if you get down, we are going to be the biggest ship to ever hit. What we're doing right now, we are going to eat bigger than anything. I said, all you have to do is agreed to trust me. And he thought about that shit right. He thought about it, and he said, I'll do it, but JDL gotta be down. I said no.
I said, I don't want JDL don.
Because JDL had a red reputation. He's trouble. I don't want to me. He said, Well, if JD l ain't down, he goes a loyalty JD l ain't down. Then I ain't down, and I was like cast of that to me. So I said like, fuck it, man, you know I want you this bad. Let's do this.
Cole Christ is born that day.
Wow. That was now now now a smoke now, So now the fun The part was that I had the original crew, but I didn't know how to tell the old crew that they were hired.
So now I have two crews and I'm trying to figure this out, me and Tony. Like Tony's like, Tony lifted on me. You gotta tell him, this is what you wanted.
You gotta tell him.
I'm like, damn whatever.
Fuck. Luckily got a rock and whip a whip had decided to leave the crew because they went with Fantastic five, which was cool. And then I had to finally tell Teddy and t Bowe, Yo, you know, sorry guys, but I'm forming a new crew and this this and that, and you know they they handled it well, they under like man, you know, And that was it, and that was when the Cold Quest was born and the rest is history. Man. But let me tell you, I give credits to my brother Tony Tone because Tony Tone, he saw the talent that I had. He saw what I could do, and he was like, you need a push, and he gave me the push I needed. He introduced me to everybody, you know, and that's how I got accepted from the from the rest.
Of the community.
You know, I already knew we were. I was already as far as our concern, I was in the culture already, all because I was doing what I was doing.
I had fans and all that. And what year was this?
That this all when you guys finally formed the crew seventy nine I think it was nine, and then this you guys were in this one?
What you whilst I was I think was eighty one or eighty three. I'm brew yeah, yeah. How do you think we got into the movie?
We were Well.
The funny thing was was that we weren't supposed to be in the on tour and in the movie. No, we were supposed to be in the movie, but the people who were originally supposed to go on a tour with the Fantastic Five in theoore, but they had a falling out and then they brought us up and the rest is.
History, and and and so tell us a little bit behind the scenes of this as far as uh like just like them step into you and then actually filming that scene.
With right right.
The funny thing was like, we're gonna go film a movie about hip hop and stuff like that. In my mind, I'm the music the musician kicked in. I'm showing up to the shooting in a suit and the ship and like, what the fuck you doing?
So if you look in the on the scene where I'm in the Dixie cut when the group, you see that I have a shirt on with some slacks and stuff.
You do that because I was stupid.
I didn't freaking it together.
I'm like, oh, there's a movie. I gotta show up and look fine.
And dude, I was rude to all this. I didn't know.
I was like, right, I'm keeping it real. I didn't know what the hell I was doing, you know.
So if you see in the movie, I got a shirt on, I got slacks and stuff, and you know, had to kind of make it hip hop. They threw these these these studs on my wrists I was cutting and you'll see it in the movie. Yeah, the movie was shot. It was it was a low, low budget movie. We did ship off the cuff. We this ship off the cuff right there, that basketball scene. But you're spitting too, Yeah, the basketball scene. We were We wrote all that ship on the spot. I didn't even have a lot of Cass, I need help. I don't know what to say. Kaz wrote that line.
For me, But were you doing that regularly?
Spitting?
No? I could.
I knew I could rhyme, but I never read it. It was just for the movie.
That was just for the movie. If you listen to Heartbreakers another record, I'm rhyming on that with Tony toone, you know. So, I mean if I if I ever real if I really wanted to push it, I could have pushed it in Charney and probably become an MC.
But I felt out of play man.
When you're around Graham as the cas, you feel this big when you're trying to do what he does, you know what.
I'm saying, And rightfully so. So I was happy with what I was doing. This.
The the motivating, the mode of the engine, the power behind a cold course was me and Cass, you know what I'm saying, as a genius as g and me on the past and me on the turntables, and I was also the producer and making we we had had the musical background. Cas was a natural.
He just had natural showmanship in him.
And that's that. Bro.
How did you feel when you heard the hip hop finally got accepted in the Olympics.
I was, see, you gotta really think? I was like, Yo, that's dope, it's dope. But then I also knew it was like it ain't gonna be what people think it's gonna be. And you'll see what I'm saying. Hip hop breakdancing is now a form of competition and the but it's gonna be stiff and rigid. In other words, it's not going to be a DJ cut with guys them seeing no. Like like gymnastics, you have to meet a certain uh qualification. You have to qualification, you have to benchmarks that you have to hear. So they're gonna, okay require now coming up as a backspin.
You know, like it's gonna be that's what you're going to hear, triple.
Backspin, Okay, you know definitely Looking.
Now, he's going to turtle walk and he's going to go you.
Know, it's like that's what's going to happen, and people are expecting to see this whole I'm telling you that's what it's going to be, because that's what the Olympics. But baby steps, Hey, we got in. You gotta be happy about it, you know. So I tell people look at your expectations too, because it's not going to be what it is. But my expectation is way hot, right, and minus too because I know what the future.
Whole Crazy Legs came here the next week, there's like crazy Legs not a part of it no more.
Right, Well, because the people in France all run the.
One running and they're worried crazy well.
He said, they're worried.
About that the people that are going to be be able to participate, or the athletes that are going to be able to participate, are going to be parents that can afford to send their kids.
Now this is a rich thing, you know.
Just think about it though, Like the athletes that become Olympians, for the most part, are people that either have the finances to send their kids to train the way they trade. I didn't know that, and he's That's what I think crazy Legs is worried about for for the breakdancing community that's gonna it's gonna take it away from its origid origins and then people are just gonna like, you know, parents will be like, oh, this is an Olympic sport, Okay, I'll put Jimmy into you know, Olympic breaks.
Sponsors because you have sponsors and stuff like that. So yeah, he's right. He has every right to feel it because that's what it's gonna be, because it's like that with every other sports. Gymnastics, ice, skating, all that stuff, they all fall under. They all have to meet those parameters. You gotta have a sponsor, you gotta have training, you gotta be accepted into a team, you know.
And yeah, yeah, let me ask you, do you like hip hop awards?
I like hip hop awards with you.
Be honest?
Is there a real hip hop?
I'm gonna be honest when they're real? I like him?
What's the real one?
The way you just.
Well, because think about it.
Right now, they're awarding people for record sales and and like a lot of times people are getting awarded for record sales, like the Grammys. I have no I'm not dissing the Grammys, but sometimes it's like, why did this guy get a Grammy over this guy when this guy got way better skill than he's done. His album was more than this, this and that. So to me, it's more based on sales and and and and stuff like that. Yeah, it's a little frustrating when you see like and also you know, we had a fight for our respective Remember when Jazzy Jeffer and Fresh Prince got there, they.
Didn't even get they weren't even at on TV.
It was kind of booed right when there. That's why it was boycotted. Boycotted because they wasn't considered Jazzy jeffin first Prince at that time wasn't even considered real hip hop, right because the people that did because he was commercial and again remember was speaking about it.
It was us judging us right, right, But they boycotted it on behalf of they are they were real hip hop.
And then boycotted it after afterwards. Right And by the way, I boycotted with them, and I wasn't even nominated. I think you weren't even born about with Jay No no, because there was a real thing, Dame j j No, No, that was a real thing. They was like, we're not going and I didn't go. But I don't know.
Listen, man, somebody had a break down ceiling.
Do you think it should be a Hip Hop Awards, and if there is one, would you be the person to lend that.
I would love to if they would ask me for that, no doubt. I'm gonna be honest with you. I feel that the co Cours Brothers belongs in the I mean, listen, every successful MC that I've met, platinum selling or whatever, they always say, you guys are the reason I'm doing what I'm doing because we followed you have followed you, you know, And to hear that and then it's it's it makes me feel good.
But it's like I think they would look, we don't get me.
Hope that wouldn't hurt got accepted, okay to Rock and Roll Hall of Fair Yes, and now I'm like, okay, we have a chance. I'm not in the crew anymore, but I earned my spot in that because I wish those are my brothers alone to death.
And you consider yourself not being cold crush anymore.
In my heart, I am.
I'm not.
I'm not part of the show. I quit the crew, but you started the crew.
So I feel that I deserve any accolades like the Rock and Roll ho fing because I helped put that our goog.
I didn't leave because I was mad.
I left.
I didn't leave because I was watching you. I left because I felt the group was being stagnant. They were too complacent. They were happy with what we did when I knew we could have done much better, much more, and I decided I can't do this with Joe, so I gotta go out.
And yeah, any accolades Cold Crush get you have to be a part of it, just like how when NWA and Ice Cube reached out to DC to be a part of it when they got inducted. They were like, yo, people don't don't consider don't think of you as n w A, but you are NWAS.
You're coming through and you are a founding member.
And I'm always feel part of the Cold Course regardless of what I you know, regardless of what I still support them. I still big them up into this day. I do major shows and I always give them a shout out. I always give them the credit, you know. But listen, we went together forty somebody is that's a marriage.
You can't even say them, it's you, right, it's them, because I have to. It's not anybody, one person that can take credit for what the col Course did.
It was all a collective. You understand, we did.
You know what I'm saying, Yeah, you as in you are part of that. I don't mean you solo you. You can't keep saying them excluding yourself, is.
What I mean.
Well, when I say them in the sense that you know, now they're doing their thing and I'm doing mine. That's why what I mean, not that in that sense, you know. And I'm always big them up and I'm always be happy for them there, but I am not. I can't be a part of I'm not just I'm not a part of the group. Then I have to unless they want to decide to start changing things a little bit more, and we just kind of have to sort out things between us two, you know.
Then then I would I would consider it.
But we have to start.
We have to start taking a step forward.
I can't.
I can't live in the past anymore. I got to move forward. There's so much more.
You know that.
I met him in Puerto Rico. I think it was for the rock Steady anniversary.
He was running out.
He was running out.
Somebody told him I was at He stopped, walked over to me and gave me, saidyo, pleasure meeting you and he read, yeah.
It wasn't that way.
Okay, okay, okay, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, Jesus man, I'm so honest that you came and sat down with us, man, so honored to give you your flower, so honored to tell you how much you mean and and everything that I said it in the beginning. You know about you know, you being like drink camps father, it's the truth, because yeah, I'm giving it to you.
Man.
It's no child, goddamnit.
But no.
But in old seriousness, like I want you to really know how much you are adored in hip hop. I want you to understand that this is your platform. You will come here promote Pink Toenails if we want to. It doesn't matter. You can by the way, monster let's pick up to Monster Energy. But if you know, whatever the fuck you want to promote, you want to come here, this is your house. We really appreciate what you did. Because now he's super DJ guy, I'm super Puerto Rican and like it ends there, right, But I was so excited today, Like I mean, I'll be honest, we was. We've built red you for a while, like just to chomp it up, you know, like both know me and him both been excited as fuck, because that's what we started this show for, is to make sure that people that have been in this game ten years are more do not get forgot. I appreciate that, and that's the only This is the only genre in the world that if if you have ten years or more, they say you washed up, tell me tell there's nothing there's not in rock and roll. They don't. They don't have a word washed up.
Nostage years old, this nigga is still eating blood.
It's like, and he's live.
Where did he get that vegan blood blood?
Vegan blood? I know, I ain't know, But why in our culture do we even allow this conversation to even participate to even happen.
Because we have to continue to raise up these heroes and make sure that we give them the accolades they deserve and that the youth grows up looking at them the way the heroes that they are.
You know what I'm saying.
One of my one of my favorite jay Z albums right now is four four four and he made it at forty what. I don't even know what age this nigga was, But why we can't praise us as we age?
I agree with you.
Wine gets better that the goal is aging. In fact, if you drink some wine that's premature, it's disgusting.
What the.
I'm not making this up. You ever drink premature.
Wine, it's good, you gotta die.
It's called don't drink it. But what they they say? They say, this is a Cabernet from eighteen forty four, or you can have nineteen, maybe nineteen. I'm sorry, but why in our culture we don't praise each other. So I wanted to tell you face to face, man, and man, you are appreciated, you are loved.
Thank you.
Man, We got your motherfucking back and we want to continue to support you. Thank you, because without you, there's truly nobody in this room, not chet. Besides, if it's not for you, there's probably nobody in this room. There's probably nobody in this room together. I know how hard it is being that odd ball or that the first one. Yeah, I know how hard it is. I know it. I've done it so many times, and then they tell me I'm a genius after it works. But as I'm doing it, everyone's looking at me like you idiot, what are you doing? I brung a tight shirt, kid, in my studio session. He became Pharrell Williams later, but as I was doing it, everyone looked at me and said, you're an idiot. Who is this guy? Chad Hugo was there to get it twisted, But I was the first. So when you're the first, you get shut down, you get chastised, you get criticized. Everyone says that until it works, and you not only was the first one, all on documented documented.
Yeah.
I know you say, there's other Puerto Ricans that was before you, and Latinos and Latinus whatever before you. But let me just tell you something. We hear at drink Champs. I want to give you a flowers, We want to give you a roses. We want to tell you how much absolutely you appreciate it. You are sincerely class per signified and we got your mother fucking back.
Thank you so much.
Man.
You know, let me tell you, Let me tell you something, bro.
Yes, please, I've always I always tell people this is an important platform because you guys just don't talk about hip hop. You bring in NFL athletes, NBA athletes, politicians, people from all walks of life that matter. That that people need to hear that people you feel that that you feel is important. This is an important platform. Naw yo, my crew will tell you. I don't do interviews. I stopped doing interviews years ago. E f N reached out to me two years ago. Two years ago, he says, yoh, no, you ain't even yeah, I says, yo, we would love to have you on Drink Champs. Just let us know and and and I will uh fix a slot for you.
Yes.
And for years I didn't want to do any anything, you know, And this time around, with all this controversy and everything, and I turned to my crew. I had a conversation with them, and I said, I think it's time. And I reached out to e f N and he was like, no doubt made it happen. And I'm here because this is an important It's not I'm not here because it's popular because y'all got millions of fathers now that it is an important platform with people, with people who have an important thing to say. What an important how would you say? An important agenda? They need to be here because a lot of people who don't know that are uninformed to tune in this and get in formed. Right, So this is the platform for that.
Man.
I appreciate you. No, we appreciate it.
But let's let's re itervate this before we wrap it up. I said twenty twenty four, twenty twenty four, you are the Puerto.
Rican Ambassador, Ambassador.
Ambassador, can we just call it the Charlie Chase Parade.
That's all day, Let's just call it.
Listen. I thought that that's what I thought it were. So I've been telling diego up, and you are. I'm like, yo, I just want you to know, and that's like, what's going on. I'm like, Port d Parade changed the name to the Charlie Chase Parade. So just let's ride at the room. Let's just rive the now Charlie Chase Parade. Listen, it's called the fucking Charlie Chase. Fer We can still call it porn parade on the side, on the side, but up front, we're calling it the Charlie motherfucker. I appreciate that because.
Something so I mean, we've spoken about what I've done in the past, we haven't spoken about about the future. Right so right now my partners are here with my business partners and stuff. We have a new platform now that we created. It took a few years to put this together. We basically have the same, uh, the same how would you say, capabilities of Netflix and Amazon. We have a platform now we can provide that. We've already done our first pay per view show. We can do we can do anything we want to on this platform. We are now Roku, we're getting ready to go on Firestick, and we're getting ready to go on Apple TV.
It's called black Market Media.
Black Market TV is the channel that we have on You can tune on, go to black Market dot com and you can log on that way, or if you have Roku, you can go on there for now until the other two platforms.
Right, yes, I got that.
No, it's it's not it's not like too, it's it's a platform of its own, would you Eric, Eric.
Is the guy that put it together.
Ericident Eric, Right, I forgot your So that platform is black Market Media is black Market dot black Market dot com TV, black Market tv dot com.
You'll see you go on there, you see it.
We have programming, hip hop programming, or you'll see me on their interviews.
And stuff like that.
Right now, we're about maybe ten thousands and changed viewers every month that we have slowly growing.
We just started it, you know.
So we're looking to do shows now pay per view stuff, and but our platform is so different that if you have a business and you want to have a meetings or Zoom meeting style, just like you don't need zoom. You can do it on ROCU, you can do it on on Apple TV, you can do it on on on a firestick.
But what's your what's your platform?
Black Marker, it's black Media, is black Media?
Tell it's black Media is the name of the company. But the channel is black Market TV. Black Market like Magic Marker. We got that happening right now. This is blowing up for us and getting ready.
To do that.
When the parade, we are actually going to broadcast live from our float on the float, live from the parade.
I'm going to be in my in a convertible in front of the float with my daughter. She's coming with me. The flow is going to be behind us, and we're going to be broadcasting live the whole ship, the whole thing going down on our channel.
So this is the future for us. This is going to be big. Right now.
I just told you the story and you started to hate a little bit, like not in a hey.
Come listen, Man, I'm plato all latinos bro.
Right now, we're having a conversation with the Florida Board of Education to come on board because they're considering coming out of the platform to conduct all their business on the platform. It's it's it's it's a multi level thing like you've never seen, bro, and it's all Latino owned, you know what I'm say saying. We're pushing that forward right now. Right now, I'm also producing for then uh not at least not at least that's getting ready to come out, you know. And we just we're just looking forward, man, forward and upward. That's what we're going with this. Broe listen.
And do some drops, and.
Thank you for inviting me.
I appreciate that.
Man, I want to say it again, thank you because when you look at the history you doing what you did and when it was the funniest thing is we googled the ops we we had to right and the Fat Joe pops up and they say, okay, cool, he influenced Fat Joe, and Fat Joe already says that how much you influenced them? But then then I come up after and I'm like this is so dope, Like it's.
People need to hear your story more because I didn't even know about this until the soul that I got.
Yet that's right now you're gonna come out with his autobiography and his documentary and the elementary.
But let me say it to you and again in front these people who listen to us, thank you so much, thank you, because thank you man. I truly believe that if you wasn't as resilient as you was and stick to what you was doing. Because when when when they said and I looked at and they said, man, why are you playing that type of music? I was related to that just so much. And I was just like, holy shit, And I told you, my wife is right there, and I looked at my wife. I was like, this man's life is my life. It's literal. It's literally my life in a different way, like in a different way, right, but it's literally. And I was just like, damn. And I had to tell you this face to face, man, and man, thank you so much. Man. I really appreciate that.
Thank you, and I appreciate you sticking it out the way he.
Drink Champs is a Drink Champs LLC production hosts and executive producers n O r E and dj e f N.
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