- 7 weeks ago
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00:00105 on the Browns Detroit Stowback for your poppin' R&B.
00:03Your boy Showtime, the czar.
00:05I'm talking with a legend, icon, man.
00:09He goes by the name of Mr. Mix.
00:10What up, though?
00:11What's up, brother?
00:12How are you?
00:13Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, Detroit.
00:16Black, blessed, and fly, man.
00:17Check it out.
00:19I forgot to say he's of the two live crew, OK?
00:21I got to say that part because this is what makes him an icon,
00:25a legend.
00:26He's been doing this for a long time.
00:27And I want to give you a disclaimer real quick, man.
00:30I'm a little younger than you, so forgive me
00:31if it sound like I wasn't completely hip that was going on.
00:35So I'm going to be sounding a little, you know what I mean,
00:36like, dang, why you don't know nothing about that?
00:38But I would just want to let you know that real quick, OK?
00:40It's all good.
00:43So real quick, first of all, how was your holiday, man?
00:45Did you enjoy yourself?
00:46Yeah, yeah.
00:47Holiday was cool.
00:48Family had a good holiday party, relatives, this, that,
00:53and the third.
00:54You know, the funny thing about it is that I've
00:56been on the low in certain aspects.
00:58I stay in Cleveland now, so I'm just right down the street
01:01from Detroit.
01:03Matter of fact, one of my buddies that go out on the road with me
01:06lives in Detroit.
01:07So I'm always up there, but I'm not really in the spot spots
01:11because I don't really know what the spot spots are.
01:14You know, you can't get caught slipping up in y'all town.
01:16I mean, you just can't be up there willy-nilly.
01:18So, you know, you just...
01:20I forgot you, man.
01:21Ain't nobody going to do nothing to you, man.
01:23I feel like you're a new icon for sure.
01:26So, listen, for people who are not hip to your history,
01:33tell us about how you joined the 2 Live crew.
01:36How did you guys meet and everything like that.
01:38Right, right, right.
01:39Well, you know, let me give some people a little history thing.
01:45People know of the 2 Live crew when the lineup of people that got
01:52nationally recognized was myself, Luke Skywalker that goes under
01:57Uncle Luke now, Brother Marquise, and Fresh Kid Ice in China there.
02:01A lot of people don't realize that me and Fresh Kid Ice,
02:06and there was another guy, we started the 2 Live crew when we was
02:09in the military.
02:12We was in California.
02:13This was way back eons ago, 1984.
02:17We both met.
02:18I was, you know, doing...
02:20I'm a musician.
02:22You know, I would say a school musician.
02:24I played saxophone from third grade all the way up to high school,
02:28so I had, you know, music acumen in me.
02:32When I got into the service, my first location, you know,
02:35that I got stationed at was in England.
02:38So, in these early hip-hop days, between 82 and 84, DJs,
02:44Africa, Bambada, Grandmaster Flash, Africa Islam, breakdancing groups,
02:50Rocksteady Crew, they would all come to London to do exhibitions,
02:54so in those early days, there was no videos.
02:58There was no MTV.
02:59There was nothing.
03:00So, you know, if you're from outside of New York, you know,
03:04I was one of those non-believers.
03:06I can't believe nobody spin it on their head and spin it on their back
03:09and this and that and all.
03:10This is all before the breaking movie came out.
03:13So, unless you was from that area, you had never seen that before.
03:17So, I just went to the exhibition just to prove the situation wrong.
03:22I just thought it was, you know, they was BSing about it.
03:25So, when I actually seen the people spin it on their head and this and that,
03:29and they had a DJ with them, you know, who was on Africa Islam,
03:33which is actually Ice-T's DJ at the time, you know, in the 80s he was.
03:39You know, and also, you couldn't see DJ scratching back there.
03:45Like I said, there was no videos to see.
03:47So, the stuff that you're hearing on some of the records,
03:49you don't know how it's being done.
03:51So, when I actually seen him, you know, with one hand on the record,
03:55another hand on the fader doing what he was doing,
03:57I said, oh, so that's how I go.
04:00My next military paycheck, I would have got me two turntables,
04:03you know, two ratchet turntables to start practicing up in the barracks.
04:08So, I got honed all my skills as I was hearing stuff from these underground
04:13hip-hop records to hone my skills to become, you know, the guy, Mr. Mix.
04:18And then, my next location, when I got to California,
04:21is where I met Fresh Kid Ice, the Chinaman.
04:25I was working in the chow line,
04:27and he was working in outpatient records in the hospital.
04:30He came through the chow line, and said, man, I hear you got turntables in your room.
04:36Because that was, back in those days, it was, you know,
04:39you would never think that somebody has that kind of setup in their barracks room.
04:44So, we hooked up, started listening to the, you know,
04:47underground hip-hop in those days.
04:51And we decided to make our own little record.
04:54We went to a recording studio and made a little record.
04:57And, like I said, we was on the West Coast.
05:00And, at that time, there were some groups with, you know,
05:04Dr. Drayden, it was called World Class Record Crew.
05:08And a couple of other people, Bobby Jimmy, which is the radio personality, Russ Parr.
05:14And a couple of other people that was making records in California.
05:18So, we, and the crazy thing about the California thing,
05:22they had all the information, the address, the phone number,
05:26where everything was all on the little label.
05:28So, we called down there and said, hey, we got a record.
05:31We want to see if we can bring it down there to you guys.
05:33Do you remember the name of the record?
05:35The name of the record was a single called, one side was called The Revelation,
05:40and the other side was called Two Live,
05:42where a lot of people know that the Two Live side is Beatbox.
05:45We went down there, took the record down there.
05:49They took it from us, and they started distributing it around.
05:53You know, meanwhile, we're still at the military base,
05:56and this is way before cell phones and all of this.
05:59So, they didn't have no way to contact us.
06:02But my mom, she lived in California,
06:05and I used my mom's address as the address for the record company.
06:08So, invoices is getting sent there, sent there, sent there.
06:12No money in the invoices.
06:14But, five months later,
06:18Luther Campbell, which everybody knows as Luke Skywalker slash Uncle Luke,
06:21he's a concert promoter at that time.
06:23He was bringing a whole bunch of underground hip-hop acts to Miami,
06:29and he had reached out to some guys in California, too,
06:33and he reached out to us and said,
06:36Hey, man, you guys' record is doing good.
06:39I got the record hot down here.
06:41I want to bring you guys out to do some shows.
06:43So, we go down there and do the shows,
06:46but it was a total culture shock of what was going on in Miami.
06:50The stuff that you hear about all of the folklore,
06:53the twerking and crazy stuff and all of that,
06:55that's been going on in Miami.
06:57So, me being raised in California,
07:01I hadn't seen any of the stuff that they was doing.
07:03It's obvious, in those early days, the early 80s,
07:06young black men wasn't really traveling around.
07:09You didn't really know what was going on in this place
07:11or that place or the other, you know what I mean?
07:13So, when we got back to California,
07:16and we came back,
07:17we went down there Labor Day weekend,
07:19so it was popping.
07:20We went back down there New Year's,
07:22it was popping.
07:23So, we felt like, okay, well,
07:26this is the only place we ever got any kind of response for our records.
07:30Let's see if we can, you know,
07:31keep this relationship up with this guy.
07:34And we ended up relocating to Miami.
07:37Got you.
07:38So, I know I took the long way to make one yard,
07:42but I had to give a little perspective to,
07:47you know, how the situation happened.
07:48So, I was so green at the time.
07:51I knew how to do my scratching and making beats and all that,
07:55but I didn't have no clue about the business stuff.
07:58You know what I'm saying?
07:59Luke really didn't know all that much either,
08:01because he was, like I say, he was doing,
08:03they had a DJ group called the Ghetto Style DJs,
08:06and they were doing parties,
08:07but they had a big following.
08:09But he wasn't making no records at that time.
08:12Me and Fresh Kid Ice,
08:13we made a record for the Ghetto Style DJs,
08:17like a collaborative record,
08:18and that record was to throw the D record.
08:21So, but I didn't want to give the record
08:24to the people in California,
08:25because I didn't feel I was being treated right with them.
08:28So, we got the record,
08:30we tried to get the record to some people in Miami.
08:32They wouldn't take the record.
08:34So, Luke ended up paying money
08:36and got the record pressed up
08:38and sent them out to the record pools at that time,
08:42and the record popped off in the market.
08:44We relocated to Miami
08:46and started building up all of the stuff
08:48that once made 2 Live Crew,
08:51the version that people know now.
08:55That's how that happened.
08:56Dope.
08:57So, listen,
08:58California,
08:59you never, like,
09:02you never wanted to link up,
09:03like, a Cube or Dre or...
09:05That was before Cube and Dre.
09:07Dre was part of a world-class record crew.
09:10Um, when they made, you know,
09:13Turn Off the Lights
09:14and all these other records,
09:15so, you know,
09:17we were, um,
09:18where we were stationed at in, uh, California
09:20was, like, 60 miles from Los Angeles.
09:23It's almost like, you know,
09:25some Detroit cats
09:26hit hooking up with some Flint cats.
09:28Right.
09:30And Detroit cats
09:31may not be looking at Flint
09:32in a particular way,
09:33and, you know,
09:34these guys from Flint,
09:35we ain't starting these guys from Flint.
09:38Saginaw, Saginaw,
09:39we ain't messing with them.
09:40So, that's what kind of situation it was.
09:44Okay, so listen.
09:46Yo, one of your biggest records,
09:47the Me So Horny record.
09:49Yes.
09:50You guys nervous at the time
09:52to put that record out,
09:53given that, you know,
09:54people wasn't making music like that,
09:56especially to that degree at that time.
09:58Did you guys...
09:58Well, you know,
09:59the funniest thing about it, my man,
10:01that was our third album.
10:03That was our third album release.
10:04We had two other albums
10:06before that
10:07that went gold.
10:08So,
10:09but that was the first one
10:11that really got
10:11particular radio play
10:14and became a platinum single.
10:17But,
10:17the funny thing about it is,
10:19just like I say,
10:20all of the underground clubs
10:22and, you know,
10:23wild and crazy spots
10:24that we was going to,
10:26we were probably like
10:26one of the few groups
10:28that was able to go into a town
10:30like, say, Detroit, for instance.
10:31We could do a show
10:32in the black neighborhood
10:34and then we could go across town
10:36and do one
10:36in the white neighborhood, too.
10:38So,
10:39we were just,
10:41you know,
10:41our group was such a hybrid
10:43of a situation.
10:45A lot of the guys,
10:46you know,
10:46we have so many different styles
10:49and types of fans.
10:50So,
10:50the Me So Horny thing,
10:52it was,
10:54you know,
10:55it's really funny
10:56how that whole thing
10:57came up out of us
10:58even actually making that record.
11:00Yeah,
11:01a little bit about it
11:02because it started out,
11:03it was a sample from a movie,
11:04right?
11:05Right,
11:05right.
11:06But the thing is,
11:07is this though,
11:07right?
11:07Okay,
11:08we're in 2025 now,
11:09so you would think
11:11that that would be
11:11a no-brainer
11:12to be able to
11:13make the record.
11:14Right.
11:14But this is 1988,
11:161989.
11:17HBO is still new.
11:20Ain't nobody,
11:21nobody's getting,
11:22DVDs ain't even out yet.
11:24You just got VHS recorders
11:27and things like that.
11:28So,
11:29what I had to do
11:30in order to make the record,
11:31I had to wait for
11:32Full Metal Jacket
11:33to come back on HBO again.
11:36Record the,
11:36record the whole movie
11:38and then take that VHS tape
11:41into the studio.
11:43That's a lot of work there.
11:45Yeah,
11:45that's exactly,
11:47that's what I'm saying.
11:47I mean,
11:48to put it in the perspective
11:49that it needs to be put in,
11:51nobody would ever have
11:52an understanding
11:53that that's,
11:54you know,
11:55how,
11:55what it took
11:56in order for stuff
11:57to be done.
11:57You know,
11:58you know,
11:58guys like me,
11:59the producers of the day,
12:00we were built for it.
12:01We had an understanding of it.
12:03But when you're talking about it
12:04to people,
12:05young people of the day,
12:06well,
12:06ain't nothing.
12:07I can pull that up on YouTube
12:08and just get the sound of it.
12:11There was no such thing
12:12as these things
12:13back in those days.
12:14Wow.
12:17That's crazy.
12:18So listen,
12:19in the 80s,
12:21what was the biggest difference
12:23you would say
12:23with DJing
12:24and producing in the 80s
12:25to now,
12:26other than like the equipment
12:27and everything like that,
12:28what do you say
12:29would be the biggest difference?
12:30The biggest difference now
12:32is that with YouTube
12:33and the internet,
12:36if you had an idea
12:38of a song,
12:39right,
12:39let's say
12:40you wanted to use
12:41this song
12:42off of this Rick James album
12:43but you didn't physically
12:45have an album,
12:47guess what?
12:48You wasn't getting it done
12:49because if you couldn't
12:50find a record,
12:51it was just a rap.
12:53Right.
12:54Whereas with YouTube
12:55and all of that,
12:56now you can type the,
12:57you know,
12:57you can type the title in
12:59and more than likely
13:00that song will pop up
13:01and you can go do it
13:02and you can exercise
13:04your idea.
13:05So producers
13:06was only as good
13:08as the records
13:08that they had
13:09in their record collection
13:10at the time.
13:11So how were you able
13:13to get the records
13:14that you were able
13:14to get
13:14because you had
13:15a connection
13:15with Luke
13:16and he was getting them
13:17or like you knew
13:17somebody?
13:18No, no, no, no.
13:18Luke was,
13:19you know,
13:20let's get this straight.
13:22Luke was a concert promoter
13:24and he was no record guy
13:27in that way
13:28as guys see him now.
13:29Yeah.
13:30I was the guy
13:31that had to do
13:32all of this stuff.
13:32You had record stores
13:34just like,
13:35what's that record store
13:36on the east side,
13:37Chatonique?
13:38Okay.
13:39You had record stores
13:40like that
13:41that had,
13:41you know,
13:42all kind of different
13:43stuff in there
13:44but if the record
13:45was out of print
13:46or wasn't being sold
13:47anymore,
13:48that's what they call
13:50crate,
13:50you know,
13:51crate digging.
13:52You're looking for records,
13:53you're hoping that
13:53you can find something
13:54that normally
13:55you wouldn't be able
13:56to find.
13:57So it was either that
13:59or if your homeboy
14:00Pops may have had a record
14:02and you go through
14:03his record collection
14:04or this or that,
14:05you know,
14:05that's the way that
14:06producers back in the day
14:08had to do it.
14:08So a lot of guys
14:09would want to come
14:10to New York
14:11because there was
14:12a lot of record stores
14:13there,
14:13a lot of diverse things
14:15that you could probably
14:15find and get
14:16to be able to
14:18do your craft.
14:21Nice.
14:22So in your opinion,
14:23in your opinion,
14:26what do you think
14:27made two live crew
14:29different from other
14:29crews out at that time?
14:31Because other than
14:32the provocative music,
14:33obviously,
14:33but what do you feel
14:34like separated you guys
14:36as a whole?
14:37Um...
14:38I would say
14:39the biggest thing
14:40is that at the time,
14:42New York City
14:43was the thing.
14:45It was,
14:46you know,
14:46that's where,
14:47you know,
14:47all of the business
14:48was being handled.
14:49If a record was,
14:51you know,
14:51thumbs up or thumbs down,
14:53it was based off
14:53of New York thought process.
14:55It wasn't based off
14:56of Miami or Houston
14:58or L.A.
14:59or Detroit
15:00or any other,
15:01or Atlanta.
15:02Atlanta,
15:02even talk about Atlanta.
15:04Atlanta didn't even exist
15:05at that time.
15:06So,
15:07um,
15:08it was the New York
15:10thought process.
15:11So,
15:11the fact of us
15:12having,
15:13you know,
15:14a DJ crew set up,
15:15gigantic speakers
15:17to where we could go around
15:18and market
15:18and promote ourselves,
15:20we,
15:21you know,
15:21we got in
15:22based on our own movement,
15:25not because New York
15:27liked us.
15:28Most of the New York stuff,
15:30they stole,
15:30you know,
15:31they stiffed on
15:31everything that came
15:33from wherever,
15:34you know,
15:35the early Eazy-E stuff,
15:37you know,
15:37stuff from California,
15:39they was dissident.
15:40They didn't get it.
15:41If it wasn't part of,
15:43you know,
15:43the Run DMC,
15:44LL situation
15:46or some of the other groups
15:47that came up
15:48out of New York,
15:49um,
15:50they just felt like
15:51it was substandard hip hop.
15:53They didn't give it
15:54a sporting chance
15:54for it to be something.
15:56So,
15:56it was like an approval thing
15:57from New York?
15:58Is that what that was?
15:59Y'all was trying to,
15:59like,
15:59bypass that?
16:01Is that what you're saying?
16:02Yeah,
16:02so in other words,
16:03we never got any,
16:04at that time,
16:05we never got any shows
16:06past Washington,
16:07D.C.
16:08Really?
16:09All of the northern stuff,
16:10we would never get any gigs
16:12because they were just
16:14stunting our music.
16:16Huh.
16:18That's crazy.
16:19I didn't know New York
16:19was hating like that,
16:20man.
16:21So,
16:21what did y'all do?
16:22Like,
16:22how did y'all,
16:23because y'all end up
16:24with multiple big records
16:26and y'all was trying to...
16:26Right,
16:27but see,
16:27but this is the thing.
16:29Visualize this.
16:30Okay,
16:30you got the United States map,
16:32right?
16:32Got you.
16:33You go from Florida
16:34all the way over to Texas,
16:36right?
16:37Then you make a right turn
16:39and go all the way up
16:40to Missouri.
16:41Then you go from Missouri,
16:42make another right turn
16:43and go all the way over
16:45to Virginia.
16:46And then go from Virginia
16:48all the way back down
16:49to Florida.
16:50That was our market
16:52along with California
16:53and a few other little places.
16:55So,
16:56we didn't really need New York
16:57because most of the country
16:59didn't have an understanding
17:01of a New York slang,
17:04New York thought process.
17:06They were more relatable
17:07to what we were doing
17:08than what was coming
17:09out of New York.
17:10And they ain't never seen
17:11New York,
17:12the slang,
17:13the people,
17:13the boroughs,
17:14none of that.
17:15We were more relatable.
17:17Got you.
17:18All right,
17:19a couple more questions,
17:19O'Genie,
17:20and I'm gonna let you
17:20get up out of here, man.
17:21Like I said,
17:21I don't want to hold you
17:22too long.
17:22Hey, man,
17:22don't get mad at me
17:24that I'm trying
17:25to just shackle you
17:26down with all this stuff.
17:28No,
17:28I just don't want to hold you.
17:29I know you a busy man,
17:31so that's all it is.
17:32Listen,
17:33the parental advisory label,
17:35right,
17:36when that came about,
17:37was it just Luke
17:37that got hit with that
17:38or was it the whole gang
17:39got hit with that lawsuit
17:41and everything like that?
17:42Well,
17:42we got hit with it
17:44based off of the fact
17:46that we didn't want
17:47to label the first album
17:48like I was telling you about.
17:50We didn't want to label
17:51it as a triple X album.
17:52We didn't want to label it
17:53like it was a comedy album.
17:56So we just put
17:5718 years old
18:02or older
18:02or something like that
18:03as the list of this album.
18:05I don't even know
18:06if we even had a disclaimer
18:07on it at that time.
18:09What happened was
18:10a little kid in Alabama,
18:1214 years old,
18:14had his mom buy the album.
18:15The mom found out
18:17what was on the album
18:18and reported the situation
18:19and then Tipper Gore,
18:21which was Al Gore's
18:22vice president's wife,
18:24was with this coalition.
18:26It wasn't just us.
18:27It was some rock and roll records
18:29and all that stuff.
18:29So they put up
18:30a coalition saying
18:31that you had to have
18:32this type of sticker
18:34to go on your records
18:35that has that type of material
18:38on it,
18:38questionable material.
18:40So that was a first
18:43in the game.
18:44You know,
18:44they would always get
18:45rock and roll guys
18:47would always get hit
18:48with different little things,
18:49but it was never
18:50nothing cemented
18:51until our situation happened.
18:54So the parental advisory sticker,
18:56you know,
18:57Luke always tried to say
18:58that he designed
19:00the parental advisory sticker
19:02and all of that,
19:03but we don't have
19:03no claims to it.
19:05You know,
19:05you never really know
19:07these things.
19:07I was doing the studio stuff.
19:09He was doing the office stuff
19:10and that might well,
19:11very well be true,
19:13but it definitely started
19:14from our first album,
19:16for sure.
19:17Nice.
19:18You talk about
19:18you did a lot
19:19of the studio stuff.
19:20How do you think
19:20your production
19:21shaped the music
19:22that you hear now,
19:23especially in Miami
19:24and in the South, man?
19:26Yeah,
19:27I would say that
19:28I'm King Tut.
19:30I was the first.
19:32I was the first one.
19:34I was the first one
19:35to have a gold album
19:36in the marketplace.
19:37Not Manny Fresh,
19:38not the guys in Texas,
19:40rap a lot.
19:41All of these guys
19:42were great with him
19:43and cool with him.
19:44I love him.
19:44Matter of fact,
19:45I knew Manny
19:46back in 86
19:47when he was doing
19:48other little promotions
19:49and different things,
19:50but he never got
19:51an out and out
19:53legitimate shot
19:53until the Cash Money
19:54situation happened.
19:56So,
19:56Cats has been doing stuff
19:57all along,
19:59and we've always been
20:00fighting the good fight
20:01to be accepted
20:03into the circle of hip-hop,
20:04but it was just
20:05so New York controlled.
20:06It was so controlled
20:08to where,
20:09you know,
20:09even though our records
20:11are selling great
20:12and,
20:12you know,
20:13they would actually,
20:14you know,
20:15run DMC
20:16when they had
20:17their different tours,
20:18they would have us
20:18come on some of their shows
20:20in the South
20:20for tour support
20:21because we had
20:22that much action
20:24going on in the South.
20:25They would bring us
20:25on a couple of shows,
20:27but they would never
20:27put us on a whole
20:28damn tour.
20:29for easy listening,
20:34check out this one record
20:35that we got a record
20:37called INBS,
20:39and Luke is talking
20:40about all of the different
20:41behind-the-scenes politics
20:42of how things are going on
20:44in New York
20:45about us not being able
20:47to get all shows.
20:48They was, like,
20:48deliberately not allowing us
20:50to get shot
20:51because our style
20:52was kind of contradictory
20:54to what they were doing,
20:55and they didn't want to really
20:56catch on as big
20:57because it ended up
20:58happening anyway.
20:59They just didn't want to,
21:01you know,
21:02you know,
21:02put us in the mix
21:03with them.
21:05You've been at this
21:05for, what,
21:0720-plus years now?
21:09You know,
21:10you could double that,
21:11brother.
21:11Oh, my God.
21:15Since 85, brother,
21:17since 85.
21:1785.
21:18So, you know,
21:18listening to right now
21:20or, you know,
21:20what's your opinion
21:21on the rap game right now?
21:22Because it's completely
21:23different than
21:24when you started, man.
21:25Yeah, let me just
21:26say it like this.
21:27You know, yeah,
21:28we come from the so-called
21:29golden age of hip-hop,
21:32and back in those days,
21:34you had to spend money
21:35to make records.
21:37You don't have to spend money
21:38to actually create
21:40the original recording now.
21:42You got so many people,
21:43you got so many
21:44bedroom DJs
21:46and bedroom producers
21:47and bedroom rappers.
21:48How you feel about that?
21:50Well, it's almost like,
21:53look at it like
21:53if you're a kid, right,
21:55and you got something
21:56to be able to,
21:56you know,
21:57you got your little
21:57Fisher-Price thing
21:58that you're messing with
21:59and you're able
22:00to make a recording.
22:01How can I be mad at you
22:03for doing the creation
22:04that you create?
22:05Right.
22:05You're not in the world
22:06competing.
22:07You're just doing
22:08what it is you're doing
22:09in your house.
22:09But what is happening
22:10now with the internet,
22:13you know,
22:13a person can do
22:14a talent show
22:16in junior high school
22:17and be viewed
22:18as like,
22:19that's a great performance
22:20like all the other
22:21performances is
22:22in the world.
22:23So it's almost got,
22:25it's the,
22:26I would say
22:27what the young people
22:28are doing right now
22:29is like a subgenre
22:30of the main genre.
22:31You know what I mean?
22:32But it's so many people
22:34that pay attention
22:35to it
22:36that it seems like
22:37this is the thing,
22:39this is the,
22:39this is the way
22:40that the stuff is going.
22:41But all of the stuff
22:43that whether it's
22:43Metro Boobin
22:44or this one
22:45or that one,
22:45whatever name,
22:47whatever producer
22:47you want to name,
22:48it's all of,
22:50you know,
22:51my,
22:52Manny Fresh,
22:53Mantronics,
22:55your man from up there,
22:57Juan Atkins,
22:58a bunch of other people
22:59from back in the day.
23:00It's all our sound packs.
23:02They just didn't have
23:03back in those days,
23:04you had to have
23:04the real machine
23:05in order to do the stuff.
23:07Now for two,
23:08300 bucks,
23:09you can get all those machines,
23:10all those keyboards
23:11and a little thing
23:12for $300.
23:13So they got everything
23:15at their fingertips.
23:18You know,
23:18they never have to,
23:19you know,
23:20hustle up these machines
23:21and learn them
23:22and this and that
23:23or whatever.
23:23So it's like,
23:24it's almost like,
23:26you know,
23:26it's like,
23:27it's like a magic.
23:28If we had those
23:29types of situations,
23:30it would be,
23:31you know,
23:32it would be hell on earth
23:33to be able to stop anybody.
23:36But that's the thing now,
23:37the young people,
23:38you know,
23:39that's what happens
23:39with technology
23:40and things that,
23:41you know,
23:41they benefit from it,
23:42but they don't really learn
23:44no real hard situations.
23:46Most of these guys
23:47don't know how to perform.
23:48They would,
23:49they don't really know
23:50what they would do
23:51in front of a crowd.
23:52You know,
23:52all of these different things,
23:54the skill sets that we have,
23:56you know,
23:56with,
23:57you know,
23:57a lot of our dudes
23:58is in their 50s,
24:00close to 60s,
24:01but they're still
24:02extremely active.
24:03It's just the thought process
24:05of how young people
24:06are interpreting
24:07how to make
24:08the records
24:09with the equipment
24:11that they got
24:11with the,
24:12you know,
24:12with these programs.
24:14They're using
24:15their own imagination,
24:16but our imagination
24:18came from all
24:19of the different stuff
24:20that's going on
24:20in the world.
24:21Their imagination
24:22is coming from
24:23what's going on
24:23that they've been
24:24from at the time.
24:25Yeah.
24:26All right.
24:26Last thing, man.
24:28You still out here.
24:29You still doing music,
24:30even though,
24:31I mean,
24:32you got it, man.
24:33You really don't have to.
24:34What keeps you doing
24:35the music, man?
24:35And talk about
24:36your new records
24:37and music that you got
24:38going out.
24:38Let the people know.
24:39You know what I'm saying?
24:39Well, you know,
24:40I got a new company
24:41called Mixed Dynasty.
24:43What I'm doing
24:43is what I'm trying to do,
24:45like what we're talking
24:45about with the young people,
24:47I'm trying to bring
24:48the 18s and 20-year-olds
24:50and some of the young people
24:52that's still at school
24:53and give them
24:54a true understanding
24:55of how to really
24:56make records.
24:58Have like a mentorship
24:59situation.
25:01Take the stuff
25:01that it is
25:02that they are doing
25:03and polish it.
25:05You know what I mean?
25:05Right now,
25:06they're going out there
25:07with scuffy Adidas.
25:08They're going out there
25:09with scuffy shoes,
25:10but they don't understand
25:11that they're scuffy.
25:12You know what I'm saying?
25:13Because they've never
25:14had anybody tell them
25:15that they're scuffy.
25:17You know,
25:17but there's some
25:18of the things
25:19like the auto-tune things
25:20and the different,
25:21you know,
25:21situations,
25:22the way that they express
25:23themselves on the mic
25:24and all of that.
25:25All of that's all
25:26well and good and cool,
25:27but most of it's
25:28out of shyness,
25:29not really knowing
25:29how to project your voice.
25:31You know,
25:31be clear,
25:32you know,
25:33they want to sound
25:34like they high.
25:35You know,
25:38the melodies is cool,
25:40but, you know,
25:40I don't know what you're saying
25:41and this and that,
25:42so it's just a polished thing.
25:44It's not a doubting thing.
25:46You can't do better
25:46until you know better,
25:47and most of them
25:48don't really want to act
25:49like they don't know better.
25:51They feel like,
25:51you know,
25:52guys like me,
25:53we're in the way
25:54where we're hating,
25:55we're slowing your situation down
25:57and this and that,
25:58but it don't be that.
25:59What it really is
26:00is that,
26:01like in football,
26:03you pass the torch,
26:04you know,
26:04everybody can't play
26:05football forever.
26:06One thing about music,
26:07you can do it forever,
26:09so,
26:09until you get in the casket.
26:11So,
26:11the torch is not going
26:12to be easily passed
26:14and when they do pass it,
26:15you want to pass it
26:16to somebody that has,
26:18you know,
26:18that's carrying the tradition
26:19of what it is
26:20that's going on.
26:21There's going to be
26:22more sub-gennas,
26:23true enough,
26:24but don't make it seem
26:25like the genre
26:26that you made up
26:27is the flat-out new genre,
26:30you know what I'm saying,
26:31because it's not that.
26:32Most of these young guys
26:34aren't even musicians.
26:36They know how to work
26:37the beat machines
26:38like they're playing
26:39a video game.
26:40So,
26:40it's a different type
26:42of cats that's doing
26:44the thing.
26:44So,
26:45what I'm doing,
26:46like I said,
26:46I got a new company
26:47called Mixed Dynasty,
26:48looking at going
26:49after the high schools,
26:50the colleges,
26:51the garter-up talent.
26:53I still do records,
26:54I still run across people
26:55that I'm,
26:56you know,
26:56featuring all new records
26:58and things like that.
26:59My own thing is called
27:00Mixed Dynasty.
27:02I go off
27:04on my IG,
27:06which is
27:06Mixed underscore
27:08two underscore
27:09live underscore
27:10crew.
27:10Then I got
27:11a TikTok page
27:13where it's
27:14DJ Mr. Mixed
27:15two live crew.
27:16People can catch me
27:17at those handles.
27:19And,
27:20I'm all for it,
27:21man.
27:22I did a Christmas record
27:23just recently
27:24and I got a new
27:25record coming out
27:26with this young lady
27:27named Rari Red
27:28out of Ohio.
27:30Got a lot of things going,
27:32but I need guys
27:33like you
27:34and other people
27:35to be able to have
27:36interviews like this.
27:38Look,
27:38I didn't know you
27:39was in Ohio,
27:40so,
27:40you know what I'm saying,
27:41you ain't nothing
27:41but down the street,
27:42so.
27:42Right,
27:43exactly.
27:43Yeah,
27:44come pull up
27:44and then we can
27:45sit down
27:46and chop it up
27:46for real,
27:47man.
27:47So,
27:48I appreciate you
27:49for taking this time
27:49to sit down
27:50and chop it up
27:50with me.
27:51You definitely
27:52put me hip to a lot
27:52of stuff,
27:53because like I said,
27:53I'm younger than you,
27:54so I knew who you were,
27:55but it was like,
27:56I didn't know your history.
27:57Yeah,
27:58yeah,
27:58no,
27:58of course,
27:59and that's the biggest thing,
28:00but man,
28:01a lot of the young people,
28:02they don't know enough
28:03of people
28:04that come from
28:05our era history.
28:06They really don't,
28:07they look at it
28:08like we're competitors
28:10more so than people
28:12that will congratulate
28:13your efforts,
28:14but they don't,
28:15you know,
28:15they don't see it that way.
28:16They feel like,
28:17you know,
28:17we hate,
28:18you know,
28:18that's the big word.
28:19I mean,
28:19it ain't never that y'all hating,
28:20it's just y'all,
28:21like you say,
28:21bro,
28:21you was an originator,
28:22so it's like,
28:24the stuff that people
28:24are hearing today
28:25is a lot of it
28:26is coming from
28:27people like you.
28:28Right,
28:28right,
28:28it's regurgitated stuff,
28:30but we were able to do,
28:31like,
28:32if we're able to make
28:32the money that these
28:33young guys are making
28:34based off of the stuff
28:35that we was doing,
28:36the same drum patterns
28:37and all the stuff
28:38that they're doing now,
28:39the stuff that was being
28:40done in the 80s,
28:41but it was being suppressed.
28:43We weren't allowed
28:44to have our,
28:45you know,
28:45creativity go
28:47all the way
28:48through the roof.
28:49It was,
28:49you know,
28:50it's kind of,
28:51you know,
28:51you had guys
28:52that was managers
28:53and different things
28:54that just felt,
28:54don't worry about
28:55trying to be extra,
28:57just do this,
28:58you know,
28:59don't be overly special
29:00with how you're making
29:01this drum machine say,
29:02do this,
29:03you know,
29:04so they have a better
29:05scope of being able
29:06to do things
29:07than what we were
29:08kind of handcuffed
29:09and shackled a little bit
29:10in the earlier days,
29:11too.
29:12So,
29:12that's why we dig it.
29:13We keep doing it
29:15because we feel like
29:16we just barely
29:17scratched the surface
29:17on what we were able
29:18to do back in the day.
29:20We love the fact
29:21that we have full reign
29:22of being able
29:23to control
29:24our destinies
29:24and all that.
29:25That's what keeps
29:25guys like myself
29:27wanting to keep
29:27doing this stuff.
29:29Appreciate you,
29:30man.
29:30Thank you for all the knowledge
29:31that you've just been
29:32spitting this whole interview,
29:33man.
29:34And like I said,
29:35man,
29:35you're in Ohio,
29:35so you ain't,
29:36you know what I'm saying,
29:36pull up.
29:37Yeah,
29:38yeah,
29:38that's nothing.
29:39That ain't nothing to pull up.
29:40I was just up there
29:40a couple of weeks ago,
29:41so,
29:42you know,
29:43shout out to Akisha
29:44for,
29:45you know,
29:46making this happen
29:47and all that.
29:47I'm very appreciative
29:48and I will be pulling up
29:50for sure.
29:51Appreciate you.
29:52Yep,
29:52yep.
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