What’s up y’all? Due to technical difficulties (like my drunk ass didn’t read the instructions on my newly purchased recording device), my interview with “Reggie” I mentioned last issue is postponed. And just to clarify, “Reggie” is his legal middle name that he went by as a youth and that’s the name we used to call him back in the days; people know him by another name now.
This issue, I want to discuss the divisions in hip-hop as they pertain to fans and artists in the Northwest. I’ll do my best to provide a historically accurate assessment, since I was there and I have seen a split occur first-hand.
The Pre-Historic Era: 1979-1982
During this period a great deal of Northwest acts were influenced by East Coast artists and producers—for no other reason than that the upper eastern seaboard (New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia) were the only areas representing hip-hop on a retail level. The big independent labels were Sugar Hill, Enjoy, Paul Winley Records and Tommy Boy (Tommy Boy released an extremely influential “Planet Rock” 12-inch by Afrika Bambataa and the Soul Sonic Force, who were deeply influenced by the German Euro techno stylings of the group Kraftwerk). As far as I remember, the only two major labels that were fucking with hip-hop at the time were Mercury (Kurtis Blow) and Jive, who released Whodini’s first 12-inch “Magic’s Wand” and the following album back in ‘82. Hip-hop fans and artists in the Northwest had no choice but to be influenced by that music, because in those days all you had was shit coming in from back east. We had three radio stations that would play the latest Crash Crew 12-inch or the latest Sugar Hill offering, as well as the latest Tommy Boy release and Whodini’s contributions. KFOX in particular had Nasty Ness’ “Fresh Tracks” radio show, in which the 206 radio pioneer would play the latest Grandmaster Flash song as well as more harder to find hip-hop goodies of the era. KNHC also played hip-hop and still is a radio station out of Nathan Hale High School in Seattle. Then there was KTOY out of Tacoma. If you lived in Seattle, you had to have a good antenna to even hear it. During this period the only hip-hop group out of Seattle that was really making noise and doing shows on a regular basis was the three man crew from the Central District that called themselves the Emerald Street Boys. It’s also important to note that local noisemakers and up-and-coming national hip-hop noisemakers Vitamin D and R.C. are direct descendants of the Emerald Street Boys. Vitamin D being Sugar Bear’s younger cousin and James Croone being not only local producer R.C.’s older brother, but the father of local MC Damian Black—who is on his way to really leaving a permanent mark on this here 206 thang.
The Second Wave: 1982-1986
Around this time hip-hop fans and artists in Seattle started to show differences in hip-hop taste. There was a faction of artists and fans that were more in tune to the live band oriented stylings of producer Sylvia Robinson and her Sugarhill cohorts. Records by Funky Four Plus One, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were good examples of the Sugarhill Sound, in which a live band would usually replay some old R&B or disco tune and the Emcees would spit random lyrics on the song. Often there were no choruses in the songs. On the other hand you had the techno-hop movement, represented by producer Arthur Baker and his work with Soul Sonic Force. Tthere was also a great deal of hip-hop from Los Angeles, with groups like Uncle Jams Army, Egyptian Lover, Dr Dre’s first group the World Class Wreckin Cru, etc. On the local front, I think it is safe to say that Sir Mix-A-Lot was more influenced by the techno-hop side of things, while groups like Emerald Street Boys, Silver Chain Gang, Deputy Rhyme, Frostmaster Chill & Sir Lover took their influences from more of a Melle Mel and Kool Moe Dee aesthetic—meaning they had an emphasis on lyrics, as opposed to just making you dance.
The Golden Era: 1986-1992
This was probably the most influential period in hip-hop. In about 1984, a young emcee out of Queens, New York by the name of LL Cool J hit the scene and really influenced a great deal of the younger local artists, including MC Willin (from Ready & Willin, DJ Funkdaddy’s first group), Silver Shadow D (who at the time was in a group called Duracell) and even Kid Sensation, to a certain extent. On the other hand, you still had groups like PD*2 and Frostmaster Chill & Sir Lover that weren’t as influenced by your Run DMCs or whatnot as the younger cats. During this period, Music Menu on Rainier Ave was the place to be to cop all of the tapes (and occasional vinyl) of all the local groups that were actually doing shit. Groups like Incredicrew (DJ Supreme’s first group), Ice Cold (now Merciful Supreme from the group Dread I) LSR, Chilly Uptown, the Seoul Brothers and Peace Team Posse! (both groups produced by DJ Punish), Brothers of the Same mind, Criminal Nation, High Performance from Tacoma and Vitamix out of Portland, Oregon.
The Big Split:
1992-Today
In my opinion, there is one album that really caused a division amongst folks in the 206. That album is “Down & Dirty” by Vallejo, California representatives E-40 & the Click. I distinctly remember cats that used to dig on Public Enemy and Ultramagnetic MCs now shunning those in favor of the sounds coming from the Bay Area. Bay Area groups like Too Short, 415, Totally Insane, RBL Posse, Mac Mall, Mac Dre, and Sacramento acts like CBo and Brotha Lynch Hung were extremely influential here in the Northwest. On the other hand you had groups that were more influenced by more “traditional” hip-hop sounds like Ghetto Chilldren (who, in my opinion were like a cross between De La Soul and KMD). I was always the type of cat that didn’t discriminate. If it was dope, it was dope. But I knew alot of cats around here that wouldn’t give groups like Pete Rock & CL Smooth a chance. On the flip, I knew cats that didn’t appreciate the unadulterated dopeness that was Spice 1’s debut album back in ’92, therefore causing a split.
In closing, on positive note I am proud to say that we’re starting to see more unity and networking amongst the different styles these days. You got hood music cats like 151 & Skuntdunanna reaching out to more hip-hop oriented producers like Vitamin D & Jake One. I’m seeing more diversity in subject matter across the board, with cats like Greyskul representing for the more “underground” scene in a quality fashion. There will always be differences in opinion and taste, but unity and support is the key for a healthy scene in the Northwest. For any local artists and groups I may have forgot to mention, my bad, just charge my brain and not my heart.
Peace, Samfry
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