In response to Mr. Magic‘s Rap Attack show on WBLS, New York’s KISS-FM mounted a counter-attack by recruiting DJ Chuck Chillout and Kool DJ Red Alert. The resulting competition meant that Tri-Borough residents were spoiled for choice in the mid to late 80’s when it came to hip-hop on the radio. Chuck was also a…
With the exception of Queen Latifah, Lakim Shabazz proved to be the most prolific of the original Flavor Unit line-up, releasing two albums and a long list of guest spots on 45 King projects during his time at Tuff City. Despite his diminutive frame, Lakim wielded “the voice of power” with authority, as he combined…
Freshco is best remembered as the being the winner of the 1990 New Music Seminar Battle For World Supremacy MC Battle who teamed up with the winner of the DJ Battle from that same year, DJ Miz. That story was covered in detail in the documentary World Supreme Hip-Hop, but there is a lot more…
Some poor sap makes the mistake of heckling Grandmaster Caz and yelling out “I’ll give you a dime if you get off the stage!” The result? A verbal ass-whuppin.
Got a major Flavor Unit interview ready to drop soon, so I’m going in extra deep (pause) on their extensive catalog. Here are ten of sure shots from the greatest collection of MC’s that New Jersey ever produced.
One of the lesser-known albums released through Aaron Fuch‘s Tuff City label was Priority One‘s Total Chaos, which featured Bronx-born MC Ron Delite and Louie Louie doing their thing with claim “Featuring Mixes By The 45 King” scrawled across the cover. As a result of internal conflicts and label pressures, the project was’t everything Ron…
Continuing my talk with Spyder-D, we discuss his relationship with Sparky-D, the saga of Kool Moe Dee ripping-off his song, record label headaches and why Run won’t talk to him anymore. Robbie: Was the Tuff City compilation of your early work an authorized release? Spyder-D: I wouldn’t be surprised if Tuff City didn’t have something…
Photo: Talib Haqq Spyder-D has quite the forgotten legacy. He was the first MC to release a record on his own label (“Big Apple Rappin’”, 1980), was sporting the pork-pie hat that inspired Run-DMC, helped “The Smurf” dance spread across America and stalked Vaughn Mason, all before 1985. He later had a song ripped-off by…
Since he was the topic of much of the Uptown interview posted yesterday, it’s only right that Dante Ross should be able to give us his version of events. This is what he just left in the comment section for those of you who already read the piece: Ok now there’s a lot of inaccuracies…
After he read my interview with Dante Ross, former Tommy Boy artist Uptown reached out to tell his side of the story: “A lot of people don’t know the reason why I was a one-hit wonder, so I just wanted to share that”. Turns out there was a lot more to his story than a…
To compliment the interview with Jonathan Shecter, here’s a classic episode of Shecky Green (aka The Sultan of Rap) and David Mays (aka Go-Go Dave) old radio show, which started The Source newsletter, on 95.3FM WHRB. Featuring Almighty R.S.O.‘s DJ Deff Jeff. Thanks to DJ 7L for passing this on.
MC Shan was an original member of the Juice Crew All-Stars, perhaps the greatest collection of MC’s ever to claim membership in the same crew. His QB anthem, “The Bridge” served as the unwitting catalyst in the Bridge Wars, following BDP‘s humiliation at the hands of Juice Crew founder Mr. Magic. Citing the numerous mentions…