Just-Ice – The Unkut Interview

Last year I had the opportunity to interview The Original Gangster of Hip-Hop himself, Just-Ice. While it didn’t exactly go as planned, it was reassuring to speak to a rapper who was exactly how I imagined him to be from listening to his records. It proved to be a baffling, frustrating and sometimes hilarious journey into the mind of the man who created ‘Cold Gettin’ Dumb,’ one of the greatest rap songs ever recorded.

Robbie: What age did you get into music?

Just-Ice: The age that I started at was…hold on, gimme a minute. Alright, here we go. I had to close down my Serato. I was in here playing some music. See, and the kinda music that I was playing? It’s not hip-hop at all!

Fair enough.

The kinda music that Just-Ice sit back and relax and play is lover’s rock.

Why not, it’s good to listen to all kinds of stuff.

What?

I’m saying it’s good to listen to different music sometimes.

Yeah, there ya go. What’s wrong with a lot of motherfuckers in the business is they only only listen to hip-hop music, and you can’t do that, because a real hip-hop person does not stick to hip-hop music. A real b-boy – not no b-e-a-t boy – but a real motherfuckin’ b-boy, he sticks to hip-hop, and I’m a real motherfuckin’ b-boy. I’m forty nine years old, I’m a b-boy to my motherfuckin’ heart, and I stick to all kinds of music. Do you know that back in the days when you go to a hip-hop party, DJ Afrika Bambaataa would actually play Elvis Presley?

Yeah, he would play all different styles of music as long as it had a beat on it.

Yo, hip-hop had nothing to do with no race, creed or colour, and definitely not agenda. It had to do with a state of thought, of being. I refuse to say a state of mind, because that shit is so limited. It’s a thought of being. If you got real hip-hop in your heart, then motherfucker, you’d better have real hip-hop records in your house. That’s how Just-Ice talk about shit. Next question.

What was the first hip-hop party you ever went to?

Like I just told you, my first hip-hop experience was very, very young. I was either eight or nine years old, trying to sneak into a Kool Herc party or a Lovebug Starski party. What people don’t understand…the most authentic hip-hop record is ‘Apache.’ Lovebug Starski is the first one to broke [sic] it out.

I didn’t know that.

Yeah I know ya didn’t, see. You can’t fuck with Just-Ice unless you fuck with the real. Me and Lovebug Starski was hangin’ out the other night. I don’t mean four weeks ago, I mean the last four or five days. Me and Lovebug Starski was hangin’ out at a big, big, big, big, big show. Just-Ice headlined that shit; Lord Finesse, M.O.P., Brand Nubians – whole leap ‘o people came ‘pon the mic.

The same show that Mob Style performed at?

Yeah, yeah, yeah! All that good shit. So what’s the next question?

At what stage did you decide to be an MC?

At what stage? I was born to be that shit! There was no age, there was no stage. As soon as I was able to identify myself as myself the lyrics just came. Next question.

Do you remember the year?

At a very young age. The voice, the lyrics, the intellect.

Did you start with a crew or solo?

Back in the days in the Bronx, in Castle Hill, it was called the Sound Masters Crew. And to this day, only a certain amount of people can touch the Sound Masters Crew, because we still have our original DJ, which is DJ Unknown. We have all – and I mean if you talk about any record which was made in the last twenty to twenty five years? We still have all the original breaks. I don’t mean when you buy breaks on an album, a collection of this or a collection of that – no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We have the original breaks, where we spent $55 to $75 for one piece of a break and we bought the whole album. And trust me – we still have those albums!

Who were the other members of the crew?

Anybody who knew about the original Sound Masters Crew, they up in the Bronx. DJ Pill, DJ D, my man Slim – rest in peace – my man Ou, my man Charlie Pooh, it’s a whole bunch of us up there. To this day in 2015, if push come to shove and a crew wanna come test? We still have all our original breaks in doubles. And trust me – Just-Ice is there for Sound Masters Crew! That’s how we started, from when i was nine years old up until the present. Hip-hop live forever, there is no bullshit with this.

From there, how did you progress to making records?

Damn, I don’t even know the motherfuckin’ year. To be honest, to tell you how it started? A club called Danceteria in New York City. On every floor, it was a different DJ. One night I went there and I went to the roof, and DJ Afrika Islam was playing there. This big, tall, skinny, ugly looking, goofy guy was standing there next to Islam, who we know now today as Mantronix. He was looking at Islam, and when I came up there he was looking at me like I was new, and I was looking at him like, ‘In all reality, motherfucker, you are new.’ Cos me and Islam were friends. There whole reason I was there was cos Islam told me to come there. After that night I touched the mic and Mantronix was like, ‘Yo, you wanna make a record?’ One thing led to another and the next thing you know – bam! I had a record deal. Next question.

Why did you stop messing with Mantronik after the first album?

Me and Kurtis never had a falling out. Where did you hear that?

I read an interview in NME where you called him a disco-

You gotta hold on a minute, my wife is calling.

[Puts me on hold and accidentally hangs up, so I call back a few minutes later].

Can you tell me about the making of ‘Cold Gettin’ Dumb’?

Ah! That was the biggest mistake of hip-hop.

How come?

We never planned the record to be like, it was a big mistake. Everybody knows that. You have to understand one thing – Mantronix was ahead of his time, so therefore he bought the SP-1200, which at that particular time in the eighties was so far ahead of hip-hop. When he was trying to make ‘Cold Gettin’ Dumb,’ he was like, ‘Justice, I can’t get this shit right.’ I was like, ‘Fuck it, I’m a great MC. When the music slows down? I’ll slow down. When the music speeds up, I’ll speed up.’

So you adapted to the beat.

It’s called ‘greatness at work.’ The only way you’re gonna duplicate that record is by sampling it. You cannot replay it! Ain’t no way in the fuckin’ world you could replay ‘Cold Gettin’ Dumb.’ I have the original, Mantronix has the original, Fresh Records has the original – nobody else has the original. What’s these motherfuckers name? Redman and…

K-Solo.

Yeah, they had to sample it, they couldn’t redo it. If I wanted to remake the record, I could redo it. Tones for tones and beat for beat, I could redo it – but I would fuck it up. If Kurtis wanted to redo it? He would fuck it up. That’s why ‘Cold Gettin’ Dumb’ is so spectacular. Can’t nobody redo it, all they could do is resample it! And as they resample it, if they not good with they lyrics? They’re gonna go on and off beat, on and off beat, off and on beat, off and on beat, on and off beat, on beat, off beat.

You did part two as well.

Did I sound like I was finished talking?!

Sorry…

That’s why ‘Cold Gettin’ Dumb’ is so spectacular when you do the shit live, because I make sure I use the original track. The only way somebody could do that record is to sample one part of it that goes on beat and then resample it. They could never, ever, ever, resample the original beat of ‘Cold Gettin’ Dumb’ because the way we recorded it is offbeat on purpose.

What about the sequel?

You know what the fuck I’m drinking right now? You have no idea what the fuck I’m drinking.

What are you drinking?

I’m drinking some ginseng juice wine. Imported straight from fuckin’ China. I don’t mean a lcikle bottle of ginseng extract or a lickle bottle of ginseng juice. I’m talking about the original ginseng juice wine liquor. God damn! See, y’all don’t about that over there. This is the kinda shit when you drink it, your bitch better be real nearby and get ready to get a good fuckin’ dicking down. You see me, Just-Ice? I’m from Jamaica. Everything we drink is straight-up roots. Smoke the good fuckin’ weed? Roots! Drink up the good liquor? Roots! Just-Ice international. Roots! Seen?

Gotcha.

As you catch your breath, I’mma light my spliff. Keep talking.

Can I ask you about your man DMX the beatbox?

Hold on, motherfucker! Hold on! Not you, motherfucker, the fuckin’ lighter. The fuckin’ lighter won’t light…there we go. Toss me a torch! Yo! We have to end this shit real quick, cos my wife is coming home. No matter how big and bad Just-Ice might seem, my wife – she like about 5′ 1″, or 4′ 11″ – nice big Puerto Rican, busty, big butt, sexual, very big woman. Not big and fat, but she’s very big breasted and big butt and very cute. When she sees me talking on the phone when she’s here? She don’t like that shit. I’m 6′ 3″, I’m two hundred and something pounds, I could bench press whatever, leg press whatever, and I’m scared of her! Trust me. As a man, you gotta understand one thing – she got the pussy! I don’t give a fuck – MC, DJ, you could be the biggest, baddest whatever – trust me, if you have a woman, and you love your woman and you be with your woman? You respect your woman.

No doubt.

I’m so fuckin’ big I let my woman call the shots, until it comes to a point where I don’t like it – then I overrule her. Only a real big man would let your woman call the shots. Only a pussy man would try to overrule his woman, because naturally man has the dominion over the woman. You let the woman do the fuckin’ thing, but as a man, if shit don’t go right then you make the final call. A big man like Just-Ice, you need a woman to balance you. Balance! You let the woman make the rules for the house, the children, the everyday things – but when it comes to the final fuckin’ rule? The man rule. But only after you don’t see that what the woman is doing is correct. So close this fuckin’ interview up, because my woman is coming home and I don’t want to have to put my foot in her ass.

How did you get down with KRS-One and Scott La Rock?

Me and KRS-One, we go way, way, way, way back. That record I made, ‘Goin’ Way Back’ was not a fuckin’ gimmick. That was a true record. me and KRS-One go back to back in the days when we was homeless. I’m not gonna go into everything, but let’s just say me and KRS-One? We buck up honeys on a hip-hop ting at a place called Broadway International Disco, up on 140-something in Manhattan, in New York City. And the DJ was Scott La Rock, alright? I was in-between homes, he had another MC with him called Jerry Lee MC [Jerry Levi] and somebody else. At that particular time I was like, ‘I’ve got nowhere to live.’ Scott was like, ‘Yo, I got somewhere for you to come to Justice if you need somewhere to live.’ I’m like, ‘Cool.’ Motherfucker didn’t tell me it was a goddamn shelter! See, me having nowhere to live was different from them having nowhere to live. Scott, at that time, was a social worker at a shelter where KRS-One was living. I had a few thousand dollars in the back pocket, but I didn’t want to spend it, so I went to the shelter. I lived there for a few days and I was like, ‘You know what? This can suck my dick! I got too many thousand dollars in the back pocket for this.’ I went and got me a condominium up in Parkchester. People don’t know what really happened between Just-Ice and BDP. I got a phone call, don’t hang up!

[I stay on hold for a minute and he hangs up on me again so I call back a third time].

Yo, I’m sorry about that man. We gotta hurry this shit up. First of all, what the fuck is your name?

Robbie.

How many kids you got?

I’ve got two daughters.

You lucky motherfucker, you. I got a daughter that just turned eighteen years old and I got problems. What people don’t realise about this real hip-hop shit, not these…what are these motherfuckers called? Oh gosh…these down south motherfuckers? There’s a big difference between motherfuckers like them and motherfucker like us. I ain’t got no problem fuckin’ with hip-hop, but we have real lives with our children, and right now I’ve got a situation going on with my child.

Sorry to hear that.

Ain’t no sorry nothin’, it’s not a bad situation – it’s a parental situation. Did you go to college?

Yeah.

Did you graduate? I did. See, and that’s another thing – people think that if certain people speak hip-hop that they’re fuckin’ ignorant. Me? I graduated high school, I went to Mercer County College, I got my fuckin’ PHD and a whole bunch of other academic collegiate scholars that I’m not even gonna speak about, because it’s not worth it. What’s the point? Just-Ice International – my mother was born in Jamaica, my father was born here in America. Blood clot no fuckin’ fake! Interview’s over. Right now, me a hang up from you and deal with everyday life problems. Trust me. Me a burn my spliff, me a take a sip of my fuckin’ Ginseng and me a deal with my fuckin’ daughter. and everything after that? Fuck it. Seen? Lickamore.

Photo: Janette Beckman

This interview is also available in the limited-edition book, Past The Margin: A Decade of Unkut Interviews, available here.