26 Rims
I have been so involved in the fight to abolish the death penalty some may believe I have deserted hip hop. This couldn't be furthest from the truth, can never do that. The way I juggle the two, makes me the most difficult person to be around or live with. I get caught up like I'm serving state time with no parole, locked in the hole, no visits.
While fighting the death penalty, the corrupt criminal justice and just struggling to maintain day to day I have been working hard to complete a project that has been five years in the making. For the past five years I have been putting together what will be my first full length solo CD "305375" (The Voice of the Voiceless).
Besides the album and fighting in the struggle I do a lot of reading and writing. Speaking of writing, I failed to mention that I am finishing up my second book. My first book "Whatever it Takes" didn't get published but I still haven't given up on it. My second book "I Am Hip Hop" is the first of a 5 book series of books for children and teens about the true history of hip hop. We always have to look out for the young ones. I was actually inspired by the late Stanley "Tookie" Williams to reach out to the kids. Tookie was executed by the state of California in 2005 after he earned five Nobel Peace Prize nominations and four Nobel Prize Nominations for literature. An amazing accomplishment seeing he achieved this from solitary confinement on San Quentin's death row.
As with my activist work I take what I contribute to the hip hop culture very serious. See hip hop just as the revolution is not just something you do, it's something you live. I would like to share some of what I have lived.
I met hip hop a long time ago 1978 to be exact. I never let it go, from the first time I caught a view of what it was all about. It wasn't till the early 80's that I really got involved in hip hop, first as a break dancer, then an MC (rapper) later on. I was inspired by brothers and sisters that it's a shame most people don't know of today. The old school brothers and sisters that started it all. One of them brothers happens to be a good friend of mine, Almighty Kay Gee of the Cold Crush Brothers.
I don't remember exactly when I met Kay Gee for the first time but we go back some. I haven't seen him in a minute, but he is no doubt with me where ever I go. I had visited Kay Gee back in 2003 in the Bronx to chill and also to interview him for a radio show I was hosting at the time called "Hip Hop 101". A year later I transcribed the interview to include it in my book "Whatever It Takes". I came across this interview this morning and it had me thinking about my brother. I hopped on to his web-site hiporhop.com to see what he's been working on and shot him an e-mail. Reminiscing about my brother got me thinking it would be a good idea to share this interview and here we are.
Kay Gee is a good brother, a founding father of hip hop that should not be forgotten. He should be known and respected by all who claim hip hop. Think about it, Kay Gee was rapping before rapping was ever on a radio. What he was doing along with a hand full of others is now a world wide phenomenon. It's a multi-billion dollar industry now. One would think all the originators would be on the payroll somewhere for something. I'm saying they made the blue print of what is the number one source of entertainment today. What do you think Kay Gee thinks about this all? Read on.
(This interview has been transcribed from a recorded interview. Though there has been editing so to fit properly within this story, all questions and answers have been well preserved).
"X": I want start off by first going into your background a little so everyone can get to see that you are the true school, one of the founding fathers of rap. Can you share when you actually first started rapping, around what year did you first touch a mic?
Almighty Kay Gee: I started MC'ing around 1974.
"X": Do you remember what other rappers were out at that time if there were any?
KG: There was actually a lot. You had the Furious, with Grand Master, there was Davey D, Kevie Kev (form the Fantastic Five), the Funky Four, there was just a lot of krews starting up.
"X": Were there any MC's out back then that you recall inspired you to get on the mic?
KG: There are two that it boils down to. DJ Hollywood, his tapes back then were hot. And also Melle Mel. (Of Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five).
"X": Can you state how important you feel it is for a rapper coming up today to learn, and to know the history of hip hop?
KG: It's really just like anything else. You go to school and you learn America's History. The same thing goes with anything you get into in life, you have to first learn of the beginning of it. To understand the true culture and the meaning of the words hip hop to many kids coming up today rely solely on what is being played on the radio. One should go to the local library, or book store and study hip hop, and begin to get an understanding of the whole culture as it is made up of many elements. Hip hop is not just about Mc'in. Once you get to know all of the other elements of hip hop, break dancing, graffiti, Dj'ing and beat boxing, (the fifth element), you start to fully understand the culture as a whole, and in turn you just become a better artist.
"X": Do you feel that the Old School gets it's just do as far as recognition, or do you feel the industry as a whole has turned it's back on those who started this all?
KG: I believe we get recognition, but at the same time old school cats that are still nice on the mic today are pushed out of the game, only because they cannot be controlled. It would be like a son trying to control his father. This is one of if not the main reason why old school rappers that are still active aren't out in the mainstream. Think about how difficult it would be for someone working in hip hop today, to tell one of the guys that invented what you do, how to do something. In the industry they like to have their foot in your back when it comes to the creative process. Working with someone that started it can prove difficult, they are not going to get that. A fact of life is, the creator of something is not always the one that will reap all the benefits.
Let's take Jackie Robinson for example. He broke the color barriers to become the first African American in baseballs' Major leagues. Now he wasn't making near the kind of money players get today, but he keeps his recognition. Yea the creator of something is not always the one that will reap all the benefits.
"X": Do you think that theres an age limit for someone to be doing hip hop, some cats seem to think you hit age 26, or 27 your through. Do you believe that?
KG: No, it's like this-I'm like Micheal Jordon. I just just turned 40, and I'm still nice with it. I can still break the best of them in half, it's in my nature. You have cats in their 60's still making hit's, look at Johnny Cash. There is no age limit to when you can MC. You're not out of the game till you let the media and people making remarks such as that at 27 your career is over push you out of the game. Music is music and if your making good music it don't matter ya age.
"X": What do you think about Gangsta Rap?
KG: My whole theory to gangsta rap is, gangsters don't rap. Wanna be thugs rap. I never heard John Gotti on the mic. If I would have heard that, that would have done it for me.
"X": What about straight up hardcore, like a cat that came straight up off the streets, but he changed, and he's talking bout where he came from and what he's been through to make that change, what about something like that?
KG: Hip hop is a vehicle that is driven by images. Images that you create with your words. See most of these cats, they're not rhyming about their life, they rhyming about somebody else's life. They may wish it was their life, but it's not. As for the few that are actually talking about there lives, it's whatever. There are more things to talk about. There are a lot more things you can talk about without projecting all the negativity. There must have been some good in your life to talk about, you was born right?
"X": OK, what about those that rap about their achievements in life at least materialistically, those people may consider Bling Bling rappers, what's your take on them?
KG: Well there's an audience for it. Due to MTV and BET there is now an audience for it. People just tend to want to live a life that is really a fantasy. You got cats with mad bling, a dope ride with spinning rims, and they turning the corner and parking in front of the projects where they live.
"X": I have been in many discussions and heated debates on this next topic. Seeing I'm sitting here with one of the creators, what is your definition of a freestyle?
KG: Ah, a freestyle-is when you're on the stage-with 5 or 6 other guys, and it's your turn to rock the mic, that's a freestyle. It's not determined by whether your coming off the top of the dome like most people think. See I have seen those who have made this an art form because they are really good at it, such as Super Natural, and Craig G, people that made that art form fashionable. They made this art form fashionable because they do it so well, you would swear they had to have written this. Now you got the cats that try to do it, and they sound redundant. They just say the same thing over and over again, often repeating themselves rhyming on the same word. A freestyle is when you with a few other cats and when it's your turn, you get yours, that's a freestyle.
"X": Ever since the Movie 8-Mile, there has been a wave of mic battles. I'm sure you have seen them, they're all over even on MTV. What do you think of these battles compared to battles you been through back in the day?
KG: There is no comparison. There was a lot more at stake back in the day. Now a days most bigger battles are fake. Back in the day was like the gladiator days.
"X": Taking it to the other side. I run a recording studio, and to me it seems most cats come in very prematurely. Can you give an idea of how much work you used to put into your rhymes and performance? Did you write ya rhymes the night before a show?
KG: Basically we used to practice everyday. I remember a point that we practiced from 12pm to 12am for an entire year. Intense practicing. Let me tell you, till this day I can have been away from the Cold Crush for years, and still get on stage and perform. That's just how hard we practiced. Rhymes are tattooed on my brain.
"X": So let me ask you, are you out of the game, or are you still playing?
KG: Oh no, when it comes to the music, I'm still very much in the game. I'm producing, I have mad tracks, I'm still rhyming, I think I'm going to rhyme till I die. I don't think I'll ever stop rhyming. It's what makes me happy, it keeps me whole. And producing, I have always loved it, it's my biggest past time right now.
"X": I was listening to some Cold Crush Brothers this morning. I still have originals. Is there anywhere cats can go to get some Cold Crush classics, you have a web-site right?
KG: Yea no doubt, you can go to hiporhop.com there's like 12 Old School Cd's available, they are all good, and you can get some live Cold Crush as well.
"X": Aight no doubt get up on hiporhop.com and register and become active with the roots of hip hop without question. In closing Kay, can you tell people the importance of learning the roots of the hip hop culture, knowing where this all evolved from?
KG: Hip hop has a history, and in order to become a part of something, you should learn where it came from. You want to know about what your getting into. You don't want to go out into the snow without your mittens, cause your bound to get frost bitten. If your confronted with a question about the origins of what your doing, and you can't answer it, that would show that your not really about it, about the culture. You should be in the know. Learn the history about what your doing and what your trying to be a part of. This should be done before you start preaching that you are a part of the culture.
"X": In closing, is there anything the people should as far as what your doing, what can we look forward to from Kay-Gee?
KG: Yes sir just stay on my site I have some projects that will be available there as well as in all stores. Productions credits will be seen as well. I'm still here, I'm not going nowhere, Hip Hop is my life. You haven't heard the last of the Almighty Kay-Gee or the Cold Crush Brothers.
Find out more about Kay Gee on his website www.hiporhop.com
