Continuing my talk with “Super Rapper” T La Rock, we discuss the origins of his name, working with Mantronik, bootleggers and unreleased recordings. T is currently developing a biopic called ‘The T La Rock Story’ with “a very powerful producer from Hollywood” named Bonnie Timmerman (who was the Casting Director on Man On Fire, Carlito’s…
Category: Interviews
Q & A’s
T La Rock Interview Pt. 1 – The Story of It’s Yours
T La Rock is so entrenched into the history of hip-hop that he actually attended Kool Herc‘s first parties. After nine years of deejaying, breaking and emceeing locally in The Bronx, as well as introducing his brother Special K of the Treacherous Three to rap, T finally decided to take the next step and begin…
DJ Vicious Lee (Def IV) – The Unkut Interview
Even though Rap-A-Lot Records is closely associated with Houston’s 5th Ward, most of the groups on the early roster were originally from New Jersey or New York, which resulted in some interesting blends of styles. The Def IV’s Nice & Hard album is a perfect example, as it introduced an upbeat, sample-heavy sound that was…
Keith Shocklee – The Unkut Interview, Part 2
Continuing my conversation with The Bomb Squad‘s Keith Shocklee, we discuss the early days of Public Enemy, park jams and some of their outside projects. DJ Johnny Juice told me about how you guys made-up a bunch of group names and then filled the spots? Keith Shocklee: What we was doing was a low-scale Motown…
Keith Shocklee – The Unkut Interview, Part 1
Long Island was the proverbial underdog in the mid-80s. While The Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens all wrestled for rap dominance, Strong Island residents would journey into the city to check out shows before returning home to deliver their own twist on what they’d witnessed. It turns out that, somewhat removed from whatever trends were dominating…
DJ Johnny Juice and Son of Bazerk – The Unkut Interview
The original Kings of Pressure Public Enemy and The Bomb Squad were ahead of their time in more ways than one. Beyond the sonic innovation and hardcore lyrical content, the crew also pioneered the kind of self-sufficient work-ethic and forward thinking that would later be repeated as part of the RZA‘s Wu-Tang master plan. The…
Pete Rock – The Unkut Interview
Here’s my interview with Pete from Hip-Hop Connection magazine for anybody who may have missed it. Even though he proved to be one of my more challenging interview subjects, I think you’ll enjoy this a little more than the million other Q&A’s he did to promote the NY’s Finest album. Robbie: You worked with Marley…
Interview Mixed Grill [Termanology, Tame One, Lord Jamar, Esoteric, DJ Crucial and Wax Tailor]
Here’s a bunch of old interviews I did for print that I never got around to posting, mainly because they weren’t really in-depth. So instead of having to hear about what ever album these guys were promoting at the time, I’ve picked out the most interesting two or three quotes and thrown ’em all together….
Manipulated Jacksons – The Are Interview
Russel Gonzalez learned from the best. In his early days, he was hanging out with DJ Premier in their hometown of Houston, and got tips on using his first sampler from Rap-A-Lot producer Crazy C. By ’94 he had formed K-Otix with local rappers Mike and D, and they made a name for themselves amongst…
Brother J Interview/X-Clan Vs BDP
Here’s one from the vaults – an interview with Brother J from the end of 2006 that was published in Modern Fix. I lost the original transcript where we discuss his production but until I get a chance to re-type it this will have to do. His comments on the BDP situation are especially interesting….
Joell Ortiz Interview
This is a little something I put together from my two brief interviews with Joell – one from his album release and something from a couple of months back. The way he’s going right now, 2008 is going to be another great year for dude. Robbie: You recently got an XXL cover. That’s a good…
Percee P – The Unkut Interview
To call Percee P – the “legendary lyricist of the subterranean” – ahead of his time doesn’t even begin to do justice to his legacy. Even though Perseverance is his first album, it was nineteen years ago that he first blessed vinyl with his brain-melting rapid-fire rap style that many still haven’t caught up to…