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JayQuan : Peace , its an honor . Who was the first person you heard Emcee ; and what year did you start ?
Moe Dee : Dj Hollywood , actually Luv Bug Starski first , then Hollywood . And I started in 1977 .
JQ : What was the political climate on the Hip Hop scene before records were made ?
MD : My perspective is a lil different 'cus im from Manhattan . It was really crackin in the Bronx on a level that we didn't know about which is why we heard Luvbug first . Hollywood would come to the Appollo and Luvbug would come to the Renaissance on 137th & 7th ave. We heard them say slogans ; like the first time Flash & them came to the Audobon Ballroom we heard people yell " Zulu Gestapo " and we didnt know what it was . In Manhattan , and its true on some level till this day ; its a whole different mentality from the Bronx , Brooklyn & Queens , which I didnt know at the time - because you basically just know your neighborhood .The Nicky Barnes era was booming and just ending at the same time , and we were looking at the drug dealers on one hand ; but the music scene wasnt that prominent in Manhattan. We would get dressed up and go to the hotel Diplomat and parties were a version of the Dj/Emcee. It wasnt that political . Some of the free lunch programs were still goin' on - based on the last leg of the Black Panther Party . As far as Hip Hop Manhattan was after the Bronx . Brooklyn had Dj Flowers & people like that ; but we never went to Brooklyn , so we didnt hear about him until after the fact .
JQ : At the point between the Treacherous 3 forming and Sugarhill / Enjoy releasing records who did the T 3 see as a threat lyrically - specifically you , did anyone pose a threat to you ?
KMD : Nah , we didnt look at it as a threat at the time . A lot of that energy came from the Furious 5 , in fact they weren't even the Furious 5 yet . T3 didnt become a group until ' 78 and originally it was me L.A. & Spoonie G . Spoonie left because he made a record in ' 79 and I replaced him with Special K . K went to my school , I had already met him through the fast rhymes . So there was no atmosphere of threat , more trying to fit in & get a handle of what was going on . It really wasnt until ' 78 that Flash & The Furious 4 formed - Rahiem wasnt down yet . I remember when it was just the three Emcees and then Flash put Mr Ness down. I remember the night Flash premiered the backspin . That was when I knew that I was gonna take this seriously & do it for the rest of my life . Until that time I wrote rhymes , but it was more like Hollywood & Starski with the crowd participation and call & response. I wasnt really taking it seriously....they would bring music & set up in the park & I would get on and do a little something . But that night at the Audobon I went to see Starski...but they would double bill it - they had Flash from 10 - 12 and Starski from 12 - 2 ; then Flash from 2- 4 and Starski from 4 - 6 . At that time Starski was the headliner at the Audobon ; and the hottest thing as far as the club was concerned . He & Hollywood were the # 1 & 2 at the time . Until Flash came to Manhattan (this is some more friction between Manhattan & the Bronx) it wasn't that Flash wasnt valid ; but when he came it opened him up to the domination of the whole situation ' cuz we were still lookin at Starski & Hollywood as the top dogs . We heard about Flash and Herc but as far as New York went we didnt see them we didnt know what they were doing ; and nobody is rockin parties like Luvbug - so he is the top dog.
The Audobon was the first time you had the fusion of Manhattan comin to see Luvbug & Bronx comin to see Flash . I'll never forget Starski was about to get off and Creole was telling him to turn his music off - like arrogantly . He was like " its time for Grandmaster !! " . I was annoyed like who is this kid tellin Starski to get off - hes got a lot of nerve !! Finally Starski said arrogantly " we gonna take a break now , but we will be right back " - basically like we're just killin time 'cuz they're on the bill - makin a lil slap at them . I was in the front row and they turned the lights out . Creole starts this long intro over this echo chamber ...it was the first time i'd ever heard that . I call Creole the original hype man . Flavor Flav is the Grandson of him ( I do the blood line on Hip Hop ) . But he did the greatest show on Earth type of intro like aaaaarrrrreeee yyyooouuu rrreeaaddyyyyyy , and Flash dropped the bells - Mardis Gras . And in Manhattan we listened to Michael Jackson and whatever club record was out , and the Dj would rhyme over that . We didnt get into a lot of breaks besides Jam On The Groove , stuff like that . Starski had just finished doing a routine over a Michael Jackson beat , and when Flash threw on the bells ; the Bronx crowd knew what was up ; they went crazy , and the Manhattan crowd couldnt deny that somethin was happening that was different . I was shocked 'cuz not only did they intro Flash and he came in on beat , the spotlight hits Cowboy who was sittin in a chair , he just started spellin his name out....it was the hottest shit that i'd heard at that point. " The C-O-W-B-O-Y the man is bad , that you cant deny ". As simple as that was , nobody was doin it that way . Then he passed the mic to Mele Mel and it was the first time I heard metaphor . Mel did a metaphor & I said this is how I want to do this . Thats why I say that Melle Mel is the prototype of what everybody is doin today .
Moe Dee : Dj Hollywood , actually Luv Bug Starski first , then Hollywood . And I started in 1977 .
JQ : What was the political climate on the Hip Hop scene before records were made ?
MD : My perspective is a lil different 'cus im from Manhattan . It was really crackin in the Bronx on a level that we didn't know about which is why we heard Luvbug first . Hollywood would come to the Appollo and Luvbug would come to the Renaissance on 137th & 7th ave. We heard them say slogans ; like the first time Flash & them came to the Audobon Ballroom we heard people yell " Zulu Gestapo " and we didnt know what it was . In Manhattan , and its true on some level till this day ; its a whole different mentality from the Bronx , Brooklyn & Queens , which I didnt know at the time - because you basically just know your neighborhood .The Nicky Barnes era was booming and just ending at the same time , and we were looking at the drug dealers on one hand ; but the music scene wasnt that prominent in Manhattan. We would get dressed up and go to the hotel Diplomat and parties were a version of the Dj/Emcee. It wasnt that political . Some of the free lunch programs were still goin' on - based on the last leg of the Black Panther Party . As far as Hip Hop Manhattan was after the Bronx . Brooklyn had Dj Flowers & people like that ; but we never went to Brooklyn , so we didnt hear about him until after the fact .
JQ : At the point between the Treacherous 3 forming and Sugarhill / Enjoy releasing records who did the T 3 see as a threat lyrically - specifically you , did anyone pose a threat to you ?
KMD : Nah , we didnt look at it as a threat at the time . A lot of that energy came from the Furious 5 , in fact they weren't even the Furious 5 yet . T3 didnt become a group until ' 78 and originally it was me L.A. & Spoonie G . Spoonie left because he made a record in ' 79 and I replaced him with Special K . K went to my school , I had already met him through the fast rhymes . So there was no atmosphere of threat , more trying to fit in & get a handle of what was going on . It really wasnt until ' 78 that Flash & The Furious 4 formed - Rahiem wasnt down yet . I remember when it was just the three Emcees and then Flash put Mr Ness down. I remember the night Flash premiered the backspin . That was when I knew that I was gonna take this seriously & do it for the rest of my life . Until that time I wrote rhymes , but it was more like Hollywood & Starski with the crowd participation and call & response. I wasnt really taking it seriously....they would bring music & set up in the park & I would get on and do a little something . But that night at the Audobon I went to see Starski...but they would double bill it - they had Flash from 10 - 12 and Starski from 12 - 2 ; then Flash from 2- 4 and Starski from 4 - 6 . At that time Starski was the headliner at the Audobon ; and the hottest thing as far as the club was concerned . He & Hollywood were the # 1 & 2 at the time . Until Flash came to Manhattan (this is some more friction between Manhattan & the Bronx) it wasn't that Flash wasnt valid ; but when he came it opened him up to the domination of the whole situation ' cuz we were still lookin at Starski & Hollywood as the top dogs . We heard about Flash and Herc but as far as New York went we didnt see them we didnt know what they were doing ; and nobody is rockin parties like Luvbug - so he is the top dog.
The Audobon was the first time you had the fusion of Manhattan comin to see Luvbug & Bronx comin to see Flash . I'll never forget Starski was about to get off and Creole was telling him to turn his music off - like arrogantly . He was like " its time for Grandmaster !! " . I was annoyed like who is this kid tellin Starski to get off - hes got a lot of nerve !! Finally Starski said arrogantly " we gonna take a break now , but we will be right back " - basically like we're just killin time 'cuz they're on the bill - makin a lil slap at them . I was in the front row and they turned the lights out . Creole starts this long intro over this echo chamber ...it was the first time i'd ever heard that . I call Creole the original hype man . Flavor Flav is the Grandson of him ( I do the blood line on Hip Hop ) . But he did the greatest show on Earth type of intro like aaaaarrrrreeee yyyooouuu rrreeaaddyyyyyy , and Flash dropped the bells - Mardis Gras . And in Manhattan we listened to Michael Jackson and whatever club record was out , and the Dj would rhyme over that . We didnt get into a lot of breaks besides Jam On The Groove , stuff like that . Starski had just finished doing a routine over a Michael Jackson beat , and when Flash threw on the bells ; the Bronx crowd knew what was up ; they went crazy , and the Manhattan crowd couldnt deny that somethin was happening that was different . I was shocked 'cuz not only did they intro Flash and he came in on beat , the spotlight hits Cowboy who was sittin in a chair , he just started spellin his name out....it was the hottest shit that i'd heard at that point. " The C-O-W-B-O-Y the man is bad , that you cant deny ". As simple as that was , nobody was doin it that way . Then he passed the mic to Mele Mel and it was the first time I heard metaphor . Mel did a metaphor & I said this is how I want to do this . Thats why I say that Melle Mel is the prototype of what everybody is doin today .
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