BACK IN THE DAY: GROWING UP WITH HIP-HOP

I remember when I was in the 3^rd grade at Prospect Elementary (E.C.), I begged my mom to stay after my Cub Scout meeting to attend a school dance. I must admit I probably looked goofy wearing my Cub Scout uniform but, oh well. As I sat and waited for the dance to start, a kid from Shaw High came in with 2 turntables, 2 big speakers, a microphone, and a crate full of records.  As he was setting up, a couple of kids came in and started going through his records to see what he had. They all started drooling over this one record, raising it in the air like it was the “Golden Ticket” from Willy Wonka. I heard someone scream, “Oh my God, you got Rappers’ Delight!” (Just showed my age… HA HA). The DJ played that record, along with Kurtis Blow’s “The Breaks,” like 10 times each and the kids loved it. I remember watching them doing a dance similar to the running man minus the arm movement. This was my introduction to Hip-Hop.

By the time I got to 6^th grade, I was a “Hip-Hop Head.” I wore baggy pants, Members Only jackets, and suede Pumas with fat laces. I even wore my dad’s grey Kangol hat several times until my little brother told on me.  I often would ask my older cousin, Reggie about Hip-Hop. He had several muscle t-shirts with the name, “Sir Jam-a-lot” ironed on them. He used to pop-lock and everything. I tried to break dance but, all I could do was the wave, half of a windmill and the earthworm.

Hip-Hop became the center of my world in Junior High. By this time, movies like Beat Street, Breakin’, and Krush Groove were playing in theaters.  I became introduced to Graffiti and Beat Boxing. As a matter of fact, because I was a chubby lad back then, my classmate would often say that I resembled Buff: The Human Beat-Box. I was mad at first because, everywhere I went, I heard, “Fat, fat, fat boys!”  I formed a rap group with 3 other classmates called “Mic Kontrol” and I beat boxed.  I even had a few beat-box battles under my belt… did I win any? Well… anyway… I started drawing graffiti with several other kids. We would get into arguments over whose work was the best or who was biting who. I didn’t care what others thought of my work because after looking at several graffiti books, I noticed that there were many styles. I had my own style. I remember buying a pair of P-framed glasses from Spencer’s in Randall Mall. I often got clowned because mine didn’t have the Playboy bunny on them… Who cares? 

By High School, I slightly drifted away from being a fully fledged Hip-Hop head to being a jock. No more beat-boxing for me… the girls were dating jocks. Even though I was into sports, I still drew graffiti and listened to my many mixtapes made by the school DJs. Among them, my favorites were, DJ Supreme, Lee Nash, and DJ Non-Stop (R.I.P. DNS3).  I was also into a lot of the local rap groups… MC Chill, Suave: The Pink Gangster, Sergio & Shakespear, to name a few. On Friday and Saturday nights, if I wasn’t at the mall trying to run game on honeys from other schools, playing sports, or at school dances, I was getting my fix from WZAK FM108. Lady Skill and Dangerous Dave always played the hits. Every now and then, Dave would play a leaked track from New York like LL Cool J’s “Jack da Ripper” or Rob Base’s “It takes Two.” Imagine having those tracks 6 months before they actually come out. I would even be up all night recording the shows. I got so good at recording you’d think the tapes were bought from a store.  

My whole Hip-Hop world changed when De La Soul, Public Enemy and NWA came out. I got a chance to see life from different perspectives. I was getting in touch with my blackness from reading “Kafir Boy” and “Malcolm X.” My 11^th and 12 grade years in Hip-Hop were a concoction of Pro-Black, Conscious, gang life where high-top fades, Africa emblems, Starter jackets, Pro-model caps, and Nike Air Jordans (if you couldn’t pay for Jordans, you got Nike Airs or Flights) were king. If you didn’t have either one of those items, you were a lame. Fat gold chains were also important. If you couldn’t buy the real thing, you went to Spencer’s In Randall Park Mall and bought the fake one and coated it with clear fingernail polish to make it last longer. There were a lot of green necks in high school… I’m just saying. I also wore Adidas Sweatshirts with the Helsinki art, sneakers like Diadora, Avia, Ellesse,  Tretorn, K-Swiss, Troop, British Knights, and Remember when Patrick Ewing was endorsed by Adidas? For Christmas, I got a pair along with the matching sweatshirt. I was working at Taco Bell and North-East Appliance just keep-up with the Joneses. Yes, that stuff was expensive.

As I look back on my life in Hip-Hop, I could honestly say that I wouldn’t change a thing.  Nope, not a thing.