When Hip Hop Grew in Brooklyn

Michael Bishop

Description

This is a story about Brooklyn—about a young man who grew up in a neighborhood called Crown Heights. It is a story of an ordinary kid who fell in love with music; first the music he heard at home, then with the music of the streets. This street music had been bubbling up around the city for nearly 10 years before the kid discovered it at a block party one summer evening. It was loud, infectious, and alive. The crazy thing was this music was really familiar but different at the same time. This crazy new kind of music grabbed the boy’s attention and lit a fire in him that would never be put out. This music didn’t have a name but later became known as Hip Hop.

Sujets

• Musique
• Musique
• Music
• Michael Bishop

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 14 septembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665555173
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

WHEN HIP HOP GREW IN BROOKLYN
 
 
 
 
 
 
Michael Bishop
 
 
 
 
 

 
AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: [phone]
 
 
 
 
 
 
© 2022 Michael Bishop. All rights reserved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
Published by AuthorHouse  09/02/2022
 
ISBN: 978-1-6655-5518-0 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6655-5516-6 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6655-5517-3 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022905082
 
 
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
For my brother Joe, my best friend Martin and Big Billy Davis all gone too soon
And for my mother Rosie, to whom I owe so much
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Prologue
 
Chapter 1       Fun Times in Crown Heights
Chapter 2       School Days, Block Parties, and Jam Crews
Chapter 3       Hip Hop Circa 1983; Rap Battles
Chapter 4       Crack Capsules, Strange. What in the Hell are Those Small Plastic Capsules with the Different Color Caps All Over the Streets Now?
Chapter 5       Merging with New MCs/Crews, Basement Rap Sessions, Block parties in Brooklyn
Chapter 6       Times are changing, Crews from New Jersey, More MCs
Chapter 7       Relationships, Drama, and a Recording Contract
Chapter 8       Radio and video shows, new rap acts and records
Chapter 9       The late 1980’s – Don’t Leave Your Hood
Chapter 10     New Rap Sessions, City Kids Foundation, Schooling the Young Talent
Chapter 11     Jay Ellis’s office, Time Warner, Laughing our asses off
Chapter 12     Elektra Records, A&R people, making beats, sampling techniques, nightclubs, management, etc.
Chapter 13     Loop searching and creating; creating a promotion package for the group
Chapter 14     Shopping a New Demo, Performing
Chapter 15     1990s - losing artists, new management, new artists moving on
Chapter 16     Switching artists, merging with other rap acts and people, Hot 97 FM
Chapter 17     Death of a manager/friend, and an artist that walked away
Chapter 18     Moving forward with new replacement artist and finding new management to help us get signed
Chapter 19     An artist leaves for school, Management takes another career route, two known Hip Hop artists die, working with a Brooklyn legend
Chapter 20     Creating other financial options, Wu-Tang Affiliates, Redevelopment of a neighborhood is starting to take place
Chapter 21     911, running into old musical friends, meeting R&B artist, the loss of a family member
Chapter 22     The loss of the friend who got me started in Hip Hop
Chapter 23     Gentrification - So this is how the hood finally gets, so called “better”
 
Epilogue
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my big sister Donnetta Johnson and her partner and my friend, Yuri Marder, for their endless encouragement, and support in the construction and editing of this book. To my mother, I know that your tireless spirit and nurturing heart inspired me and demonstrated time and time again that hard work, kindness, honesty and faith are the right way to walk this earth. Also, mom - thank you for buying my first DJ set back in 1982. I thank my family, and all of the residents at 704 for putting up with all the loud noise we made while creating this music.
& SHOUTOUTS
To my brother Joseph Bishop aka MC Kid Command (RIP), my friend Valerie Cadogan from Sterling Place Brooklyn - years ago she convinced me to write a book, Sidney Poitier - for your heroism and inspiration, Martin Smith AKA MC Marty Mart aka Marty G (RIP), KC aka King of Chill aka Kreepy Clown, MC Cool C, Darrell C, DJ Mel, DJ Hassan, Cut Master DC, MC Ronnie G (RIP), DJ Swift and the Cold Cash Crew, Johnny D, G Kool, MC EZ Rock, Grand G aka DJ Skill, MC Shast & Romma, DJ Paris aka Master P Legend of Rock, Milk D & DJ Giz, DJ Pledge, Bill Parros – Mad House Mgmt, Tony Birch – Big Fun Mgmt (RIP), DJ Premier, DJ Eddie Cleverhand, DJ Shawny D, Glenn Erwin –Eneonycity Music, Wendy Day & Rap Coalition, Precise, MC Fatso, Heads or Tails, COINS, IBM Dancers, IOU Dancers, City Kids Foundation, Music Factory – Fat Stan, Beat Street Records, Sting International aka DJ Shawny Dee, DJ Goldfinger, Down Stairs Records, Birdel’s Records, Rock & Soul, Seals Sporting Goods (Corner of Nostrand Ave & Park Place - BKLYN NY), Jeanne Souders – Jungle Media Group, Mellow from Park Place and her street team, Shazzer, Lonnie Plaxico, Eric Wyatt, Dayne Carter, DJ Mel - aka DJ Undisputed, DJ June, DJ Dave Diggs, DJ Jazzy Joyce, Connie Yin aka DJ ConStar, DJ Em-Lo, Bruce Cadogan, DJ Frankie D, The Nut Crackers, Marathon Sounds fet. DJ HaBoogie aka DJ Hassan, William Davis - aka Big Bill (RIP 2021 - I’m going to miss you homeboy, thx for your support and guidance over the many years), Donna Davis (Thx for having me play my first house party at your house back in 1983), Brother Ashaad, Sista Najaah Imani-El, Nikki and his family from Park Place Brooklyn, The whole Warner
Communications/Time Warner Crew at 75 Rockefeller Plaza in NYC, from 1988 to 1997, Freddy Haiss (thanks for the 1 st pass editing), Mello Lin for your enthusiasm, The Allegra School of Music and Arts.
& POSSE SHOUT-OUTS:
My Cousins -Darrell, Derrick aka G-Man (RIP), and Wayne aka Puff - and the Franklin Ave Posse, the Washington Ave Posse, the Nostrand Ave Posse, My cousin Will aka Pop - and the Bedford Ave Posse, and Kevin Samuels (RIP).
& FINAL SHOUTOUTS:
To the Bishop and Myers family, Crown Heights Brooklyn, and all others who I have crossed paths with along the way who have offered me an encouragement or kindness, thank you.
& NIGHT CLUB SHOUTOUTS:
Bentley’s, Palladium, Red-Zone, China Club, The Building, The Octagon, Nell’s, Underground, Union Square, Red Parrot, Latin Quarter, Sugar Hill Club, Q-Club, The Ark, Tunnel, Level 10, Frank’s Lounge, B-Square, 21 Hudson, Dean Street Caffe in BKLYN NY, Maria Davis Events, 95 South, Dean Street Caffe, Sound factory, Shadow, Justin’s, Club Cheetah, WetLands, etc.
FOREWORD
It was a Monday afternoon in late 2018. Due to a fortunate and rare three-day break I have while working behind the scenes on Maxwell’s 50 Intimate Nights Live Tour, I’m back home in Southern California. I’m with my two sons whom I just picked up from middle school in Torrance. We head for the library.
While they’re immersed in their homework, I see a text come through from Michael Bishop. I knew he had been writing a book about Hip Hop in Brooklyn. He wants to know if I would be interested in writing a foreword for it. “Absolutely. I’d be honored,” I reply. As a warm sensation comes over me in a series of flashes, I take a ride back in time: There’s the day I met Michael in the Atlantic Records warehouse where we both worked, deep in the basement of 75 Rockefeller Plaza. We stood across from each other at a large, wooden craft table with six other guys, boxing up stacks of promo 12” records and cassettes for Phil Collins, INXS, or one of the other top Atlantic artists of 1988. The promos were sent to radio stations and record stores, via what is now known as snail mail.
Even though the work was boring and repetitive, we made the best of it. There were a lot of jokes thrown around the room, guys dissing each other, and all of us listening to a lot, and I mean a LOT, of music. The stereo, which sat on a wall shelf, was never off for the nine hours a day we were there. Michael, myself and others in the warehouse who were budding musicians and producers would play our cassettes of what we were working on through the big sound system, a throwaway of Atlantic’s CEO Ahmet Ertegun or President Doug Morris, after one of their frequent office renovations. Michael and I compared some of our tracks. We both liked what we heard. Our friendship began.
There were the long, fun weekends in the late 80’s that went by in a blink. I would take all of my musical equipment from my Washington Heights apartment and set up shop at 704 (his family residence), as we made beats and recordings around the clock, with little or no sleep. We would go into work at Atlantic on Monday morning feeling like kings, after living our dreams since Friday night and being proud of what we created.
There was that time when in the middle of our recording at 704, I instinctively jumped under my utility table that was holding my music gear and computers, “duck and cover” fashion as I learned in grade school. Gunshots had just rang out – more than 20 for sure – coming from two guys in a gun battle, feet away on the sidewalk outside.
Then there was the story Michael tells later about what happened at the music store when we went to collect his own means of production, followed by another sleepless weekend for me at his place as I hovered over his then top-of-the-line Ensoniq EPS-16 sampling keyboard. I was determined to master that thing and uncover every bell and whistle it contained, all while working with his group Heads or Tails.
Then there was that invincible feeling while listening to one of our tracks we just created with MC Cal B from Brownsville, called