![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image001.jpg\")
\n Interviewed Winter of 2008<\/h3>\n
B- Fats- No problem. Thank you also.<\/p>\n
B- Fats- I was born in El Peso Texas. I was raised in Wilmington North Carolina. When I was about 10 years old my family moved to Harlem New York. The first place we moved to was 304 7th avenue. Drew Hamilton projects is where we ended up which was right across the street from 304. I have 4 biological brothers, two passed away, and one sister.<\/p>\n
B- Fats- My mother was always involved with the music industry. My mother was a singer and she had a couple of groups she sang with.<\/p>\n
![\"B-Fats\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image002.jpg\")
<\/h5>\nB- Fats- No she was with Otis Blackwell. He was the cat that wrote a lot of hits for Elvis Presley. Let\u2019s make sure with this.<\/p>\n
(B Fats calls his mother Mrs. Vee Bowden on a three way.) Ma how did you get together with Mr. Otis Blackwell?<\/p>\n
Mrs. Bowden- Well I started with Otis Blackwell when I was a teenager. ![\"B-Fats\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image004.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
I recorded for 3 major labels, King, Mercury and another.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Bowden- Yes I was very young at the time. I had a record out that did pretty good. It was so long ago. Even before my son was born I had my own 5 piece band. Vee Vee and the Superb\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Bowden- Yes I did. And many times he wanted us to record with him but it never worked out because we were signed under another label. He tried to get us out of the contract but it never worked out.<\/p>\n
![\"B-Fats\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image006.jpg\")
<\/h5>\nMrs. Bowen- I guess because I was so musically incline. See I love music and the keyboard is beautiful. So I love to play, I also write and produce. I also produced the singing group SWV<\/p>\n
I started them out when they were in high school. How it started with them is because I worked in Foster care and I heard one of the girls singing and so I told her I liked the way she sounded. I invited her over to the house and she bought one of her friends that she felt could also sing and I sat them down by my key board and I gave them the harmony notes and they hit them. They sounded very good so I started teaching them voice lessons. The next thing you know they were a group and the first song I wrote for them was Take your Heart off the Shelf and give it to me.<\/p>\n
![\"B-Fats\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image008.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Mrs. Bowen- No I had a friend by the name of Mr. Brown and he worked for BFW and he was drummer. After my husband died I wanted to get them into something constructive. So Mr. Brown said send them over to me and let me see who can play the drums. It started off with one of the kids doing the drumming and later I got another son a guitar. I bought Donald a Bass. And before you know it we had something going. Those boys were 13, 14 and 15 years old doing block parties, community centers and birthday parties. Right in the projects it would be jammed pack with people listening to them play. I even had them on boats. I would have to sneak them in and sneak them out because they were under age but they were hot. They would rehearse right in my living room.<\/p>\n
B- Fats- We use to live on the second floor so people use to climb in the trees that was next to our window and sit their in the tree to watch us practice.<\/p>\n
![\"B-Fats\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image010.jpg\")
<\/h5>\nB Fats- Bands sort of played out. The Band originally was doing great. A lot of promises as usual from all types of people. We actually played with groups like Crown Heights Affair and other top bands from New York City. Because back in the days bands are what did block parties and not some d.j. So we patterned behind guys like Kool and The Gang, Earth Wind and Fire, War and any other funky bands. We did a piece of anybody that was popular. ![\"B-Fats\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image012.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Mrs. Bowen- Their were many people that came. And they were shot down! (We both laughed.) There were so many people; I didn\u2019t know who was who. Some would say the children were too young and we had to go to court for permission to record them. No one wanted to kick out that money because during those days you had to go to court for a child under 18 years old.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Bowen- Yes you still had to go to court.<\/p>\n
B Fats- It was really about accounts. So money could be transferred into young people\u2019s accounts and they were able to access that account when they became a certain age.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Bowen- Exactly, so a law was passed so the parents could not steal the children\u2019s money. So when a child got to a certain age he wouldn\u2019t be broke.<\/p>\n
B- Fats- It was but it wasn\u2019t really enforced until that young boy Macaulay Culkin from the movie Home Alone went through that situation with his parents.<\/p>\n
B- Fats- It started from the band era. Bands basically started to pattern behind a new fad that came in call Disco. When hip hop first started it was really Disco hip hop thing if you can remember. Talking to beats that were one forth beats. \u201cI am a d.j. and I like to move and I make you wanna\u2026\u201d that was basically during a disco era. And being a band member who got caught up into the transition I can remember hearing Fat Bat Band as well. But keeping it on me I remember during the transition there was a gentleman name Mr. Larry Dee who had a GLI mixer and some B12 turntables and he lived right about us on the 20th floor. Larry always loved what we did with the band. On a occasions he would allow me to travel with him as he did this thing called d.j.ing at parties. The job that I played at that time was just help him get into the building. And then there was another guy name Markie Dee that lived in the building on the 10th floor and I use to get in trouble with him. See I was a nerd growing up I didn\u2019t do the gangster thing. All I wanted was more cake, more cookies, \u201ccan I get more milk!\u201d I was the kid that other kids would take my lunch money. I was also a cub scout. So when I started dealing with Mr. Larry it kind of put me in contact with Markie and I started to come out of my shell. Markie was already hanging with Mr. Larry and me and Markie are about the same age. Markie one day invited me up to Mr. Larry house and when I went into Mr. Larry\u2019s apartment he had these two turntables that were sitting there along with a mixer. And I watched Markie play with this thing and I was like oh s—. (B Fats laughs.) I got cool with Larry\u2019s daughters who were Fay and Cathy. But I started coming to see Mr. Larry by myself. And he allowed me to fool around with them. Now I am fooling around with them and from my experience as a band member it was like an instant identification with what I wanted to do. I just knew that this song mixed to this song. It was just natural for me. It wasn\u2019t anything I had to really learn. And Mr. Larry acknowledged my ability to do some great things right before his eyes in such a short time to where as he started allowing me to spin on his sets. It got to a point were he would set up and I was the d.j.! So me and Markie had a falling out over that because Markie felt like, \u201cdamn I bought you up here and now you the man!\u201d Brother I use to sing in the band. So we knew how to say give the drummer some and that was what band members do as well as the, \u201cclap your hands come on.\u201d My brother was playing the drums so when we were doing breaks I would incorporate the same behavior that I had from the band to spinning these records. I use to do it to the point were when we threw our parties in the 1970\u2019s at Drew Hamilton and it was a quarter people would go crazy when we use to do this thing. We use to say the corniest things like, \u201cpeople in the back and people in the middle.\u201d But that was one of the things that got implemented by a circle of brothers like me Love bug Starski, my brother Donald Dee, Al Bee. And The Disco Four wasn\u2019t even born yet.<\/p>\n
![\"B-Fats\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image014.jpg\")
<\/h5>\nB Fats- Al Bee goes back to the Band with me. Al Bee use to play Congo\u2019s in the band. Guys like Country and Mike Gee of the later Disco Four were probably on crate and speaker detail at that time. \u00a0There was a time where you could always bring the music out at any time of the day during the summer months. Just find the right street lamp and plug it up. The speakers of that era was Cerwin Vega speakers 115 inch was in it with a tweeters in it. You take that one speaker along with a Macintosh power amp with the tubs in it and you get off. (B Fats laughs.) It was a beautiful thing. It was the era of Disco so a lot of stuff like Kool and the Gang and Fat Larry\u2019s Band \u201cCheck out the avenue\u201d got played. Also have to include groups like Earth Wind and Fire, ah man I could just go on and on. ![\"B-Fats\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image016.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
B Fats- Yes Mr. Larry was old enough to be my father. He was older cat who was on the level of Pete D.J. Jones. I can remember being in the company of Pete when I was a young man. To be totally honest I was naive to the fact that there was more then me and Mr. Larry that existed until Mr. Larry started doing gigs with other D.J.s that were in the same room or on the same venue. That\u2019s when I met cats like Pete D.J. Jones, The Disco Twins.<\/p>\n
B Fats- Yeah we use to go out there and see the Twins set up on top of the park house roof!<\/p>\n
![\"B-Fats\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image018.jpg\")
<\/h5>\nB Fats- I would say about 1977 or 78. In Queens I believe the most popular skating ring was I believe Spin Easy. I say that because I really dug that spot when I would go out to Queens. But as far as Larry Dee he was like the best kept secret. Larry was not the type that was flashy. Larry had the station wagon and Cerwin Vega speakers and I just thought he was the greatest. Some of the spots we would do were like Smalls Paradise, The original Savoy Manor in the Bronx on 149th street. I have done the Savoy a thousand times.<\/p>\n
B Fats- No not me and Larry, but the Band did. My brothers and I did amateur night at the Apollo.<\/p>\n
![\"B-Fats\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image020.jpg\")
<\/h5>\nB Fats- I am by 2 or 3 years older but me and my brother were very close, very close. In fact the whole Sapphire crew was built around me and my brother. We were very big coming out of Drew Hamilton projects. We already had a following from the band. So to make that transition to d.j.ing it just broaden our horizons as far as pulling crowds that were actually paying to see us now. I remember there was a time we were d.j.ing and the band was playing. One of the main places we would have something set up like that would be the Renaissance Ballroom.<\/p>\n
Troy- That place was like an extension to your house! Because I heard you and your brother had that place from day one of hip hop.<\/p>\n
B Fats- We lived in there.<\/p>\n
B Fats- She did not like it. I can remember when our band was ending and my mother fought hard against that transition. She did not like the fact that we were not playing guitar and drums etc and she spent all this money. She didn\u2019t like the fact we were not playing any more and going upstairs to Mr. Larry. She did not like it one bit. I remember coming home one day with a pocket full of money. It was only a hundred dollars but back in those days it was like having a grand! She said how did you get it? I said d.j.ing.<\/p>\n
B Fats- She use to punish us crazy but the difference with me I didn\u2019t play with my moms. When she punished me she punished me and that was it.<\/p>\n
B Fats- Well the beautiful thing about was the Renny would be closing down at that time any way, because it would be from about 4:30pm to 9:30 10:00 at night. And that was because it was an after school thing.<\/p>\n
B Fats- Right<\/p>\n
B Fats- Man I had to go or that crazy woman would be downstairs waiting! (Troy laughs real hard.)<\/p>\n
B Fats- Ain\u2019t no need to be trying to act gangster. \u201cN—– what? I gots to go! I holler at ya\u2019ll later.\u201d (We both laughing.)<\/p>\n
![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image022.jpg\")
And I know towards the end you and The Disco Four slowly departed from each other.<\/h5>\nB Fats- Well Greg Marist aka Greg Gee sort of took the crew in a different direction then what I was looking to do. I would also have to admit that when the Disco Four was coming together my interest was still mostly on me though.<\/p>\n
B Fats- Right, so The Disco Four is an extension of what I did and they launched off my back but on the same note The Disco Four took on its on identity. And that was only from the Sapphire Crew. The Disco Four was originally apart of the Sapphire crew.<\/p>\n
B Fats- Sapphire Crew was a bunch of cats and females that loved to hang out.<\/p>\n
B Fats- Exactly.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Go to Page 2<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n B Fats- But see back in those days it was a whole different aura. It isn\u2019t what it use to be. I see the kids sort of getting back to it with the dance crews. But that balling and shooting s— was not what we were about. (B Fats chuckles.)<\/p>\n B Fats- I can\u2019t remember who came up with that name. I think it was either Al Bee or my brother Donald Dee. It was B Fats, Donald Dee and The Sapphire crew and they ran hard with that.<\/p>\n B Fats- To be honest Donald Did what I did to Markie. I use to go up to Mr. Larry house now Donald is going up there. (B Fats is laughing.) I would come up in the house and I wouldn\u2019t like the fact that he is up there, and I didn\u2019t bring his ass up there! (Now Troy is laughing.)<\/p>\n B Fats- Exactly, it got to the point were you knew you couldn\u2019t kick him out because parents were parents in them days.<\/p>\n B Fats- That\u2019s right. So Donald just sat back and watched what was going on and eventually Donald started doing his thing. And because Donald is my brother and we both have talent that was given to us through our mother it was just inedible that he would be able to do what I do. Between me and him we just rolled together. It wasn\u2019t a planned thing it just happened.<\/p>\n B Fats- That came a little later. We still are talking about the 70\u2019s with Doug and Love Bug.<\/p>\n B Fats- Well Kurt was just in the hood, and Kurt would carry crates and be at the party shaking his head and just hanging out and just being apart of The Sapphire Crew. Then all of a sudden you didn\u2019t see Kurt any more.<\/p>\n B Fats- No he did not. Then you didn\u2019t see Kurt any more and then when we did, Kurtis Blow was born. So the next question would be did he rock on the mic with me and Donald? Occasionally, but with no experience he sounded horrible. So Donald and I didn\u2019t get what Kurt was doing and I guess that came from our experience with the band. Even though hip hop was fresh we knew what the s— should have sounded like. Now Star Ski was one of those cats that showed up at the Renaissance a very young man and he attached him self to me and Donald. Me and Star Ski became very close and still to this day we call each other up if its just to say I Love you man!<\/p>\n B Fats- We got it through Willie Gums.<\/p>\n B Fats- Yeah he had this crew behind him called Willie Gums and The Rolls Royce Movement. Now Willie Gums use to hire us off the band tip first. The Rolls Royce Movement use to pick us up with our band equipment in vans and we would do their block party. They use to take us all around. Matter fact when Operation Helping Hands Phase Piggy Back was born in the 70\u2019s we use to practice in their first office that was on 145th street and 8th avenue which was next to the bar called The Blue Note and it use to have the little strippers in there because I remember we use to pop the door open and run. (We both laugh.) We also use to throw parties in there. I also have to mention Mr. Chicks who had Colonial Park and he was one of those older men who worked with the youth.<\/p>\n B Fats- Exactly, he was another gentleman who was very instrumental in our growth and keeping us out of trouble and keeping us focused. We also had the drum core where I was in a marching band. That was right up on a 142nd and 143rd street and 7th avenue.<\/p>\n B Fats- Well I was na\u00efve to it but Willie was an old hustler and he was getting cake, that\u2019s how it had to be because I remember the record shop on 7th avenue right next to Apple Town which was next to the Nova movie theater which was right on 145th street and 7th avenue. I remember even selling records out of his shop when I was a kid.<\/p>\n B Fats- He was community orientated but I can\u2019t remember him having any special place for people my age to come to to chill. We use to hang out at his record shop. His thing basically was a promoter. He was one of the early promoters who made some nice money with what he did with Willie Gums and The Rolls Royce Movement. I would have to give him promoter status as far as block parties and dances and stuff.<\/p>\n As far as The Renaissance Willie Gums had started this thing up once he came over to Drew Hamilton Projects and experienced the Drew madness, which was only a quarter. So he got the Renaissance Ballroom and he charged a dollar.<\/p>\n B Fats- Exactly, now once we got to the Renaissance we charged a dollar and we would be open from Monday to Thursday. On the weekends we would do our own thing in Drew Hamilton. During the week Willie Gums Rolls Royce Movement had the after party joints.<\/p>\n B Fats- The ending of the era of Band music and the start of hip hop. That\u2019s what happened in the Renaissance ballroom for us. That\u2019s where it really got serious. It was experienced in the streets prior to The Renaissance with the bands slash turntables and a mixer and a few words of throw your hands in the air and a little bit of yelling on the mic. But it got real serious for us when the Renaissance Ballroom started coming to life. B Fats- I can\u2019t remember making tapes in the Renaissance era.<\/p>\n B Fats- No mix tapes weren\u2019t that big of a thing during that time. I do remember the pause button tapes.<\/p>\n B Fats- Right. It started because we started to encounter groups like the Furious Four\u2026<\/p>\n B Fats- Yes<\/p>\n B Fats- You want to hear something crazy? I heard of Hollywood back in my era but I cared nothing about what he did because what I was doing was significant. Because I was bringing crowds and I was selling out parties. Hollywood, The Pete D.J. Jones the Eddie Cheba B Fats- Yes and that is real what you just said and I have to conclude on that, that that was how it was. Hollywood did what he did and Reggie Wells did what he did but you know in Harlem in a radius of 125th street to 155th street that was B Fats, Donald Dee and The Sapphire Crew world.<\/p>\n B Fats- We had no relationship with Mike and Dave but Darrell Cee that was my boy. Darrell was real cool. But other then that I had no relationship with any of The Crash Crew.<\/p>\n B Fats- No, the Crash Crew basically did there thing over by them on 135th street at The YMCA and I.S. 201. They stayed East bound.<\/p>\n B Fats- We never battled The Crash Crew. But there was a crew that I can\u2019t remember right now from over by the Battle Grounds. We use to go up to the battle grounds on 150th street and Amsterdam Avenue and that is where we use to get it popping at.<\/p>\n B Fats- We never battled Don because Don was like right next door. We on 143rd he is on 147th !<\/p>\n B Fats- Don was arrogant. He was one of those cats where as when he tried to come out he tried to just bully his way into the scene. I will be very open with you that was not who I was. I was not a gangster cat. When I say s— like that happen it was like, \u201cout of mind, keep it moving.\u201d<\/p>\n B Fats- Well you are right we are talking about the time zone where hip hop is really stepping to its next level of birth. The Renaissance is over because there were too many situations of violence. I use to watch cats get shot right in the Rennie, I would also see cats get thrown right off of the balcony. What really bought it on was the Angel dust era! When the dust came along it caused a lot of problems. I didn\u2019t start strapping up until I got my first little girl friend in the Renaissance. Her sister was connected to a big hustler from that era which from time to time bought beef. So I strapped up. And it wasn\u2019t just because her I strapped up, but because that d.j. thing became a little violent thing.<\/p>\n B Fats- We later moved downtown to 125th street between St. Nichols and 8th avenues to place we called Randy\u2019s Place. I was the first cat to open that place up with hip hop music. Randy was a type of person who knew what I was doing with the music. He was also a friend of my mother. The place was actually a bingo hall but when we started having parties in there and we started calling it Randy\u2019s Place.<\/p>\n B Fats- Well Randy started to deal with other promoters once we had made the place hot with music and the crowd. Other promoters would reach out to him wanting to host in his club slash bingo hall. I can remember being in Randy\u2019s Place one night and their being this d.j that was playing that night calling him self White Flash. I\u2019m sitting on the side smoking that marihuana and I was lucky to get out of there that night. Them boys tore that spot up!<\/p>\n B Fats- Exactly, the Casanovas. They had a real problem with this dude calling him self White Flash being as they were backing up The Grand Master Flash. They went to step to him and all hell broke loose and they were shooting at everybody that came out that front door. Police all over the place! It was just a wreck, and that is what ended Randy\u2019s place. He had about a 2 or 3 year run. I guess it is safe to say he got cocky because he started to mess with other promoters which probably lead to the inevitable of violence where as the Casanovas ran up in there which lead to the closing that was sparked by that night. And when they say Casanova\u2019s all over they wasn\u2019t fooling because there were many there that night.<\/p>\n B Fats- That place came to us threw Randy once again. He was the one that gave us that connection. He was the one that introduced us to this older lady that was very creepy and scary looking. She actually lived in the facility down there. It was no longer being used so we cleaned it up. We threw some stuff down in the basement and used the ground floor to party. It was nice until they started shooting and tearing it up in there too.<\/p>\n B Fats- They shut that down so fast it made your head swim. I don\u2019t even think that had a good one year run.<\/p>\n B Fats- Coming up on it at that point. By that time I had a young brother hanging up under me a lot by the name of Ronnie Dee. Who happens to be Bobby Robinson of Enjoy Records son. Ronnie was talented on the mic.<\/p>\n B Fats- Ronnie was staying over on 119th street between 7th avenue and Lenox Avenue with his uncle Pooche Costello who worked over at the record shop and played on some of the early rap records by Bobby Robinson. So I had just started driving my 98 Oldsmobile and I use to go over to his house and pick him up. He was nice on the mix so when ever I would d.j. I would let him rock with me. Then my man Country who was carrying crates at the time grew up on 138th street he started grabbing the mic. Then Greg Marius started grabbing the mic,<\/p>\n B Fats- I can\u2019t really confirm who went first but I think I met Troy through Greg. Mike Gee grew up in the same building with me. We were friends from kids. I can remember Greg Gee just hanging out. He never showed any interest at the time. But Troy, Country and Ronnie and I became a click were we would get down on a tray bag together and get smoked up. You know what I mean. We would all be in Harlem World all f—ed up! Then me Ronnie, Country and Troy started selling the Coke that was when the Disco Four formed. Once they started making records they never included me in that part. And I think Greg was the orchestra of that. B Fats- Well they were split, I had Ronnie Dee Mr. Troy and Country. Those 3 hung up under me crazy because those were my smoke partners. See because of everything we went through growing up Donald never got high. That was never his thing. Greg never got high so Greg and Donald had more of a relationship then me and Greg at that point. We met Greg up in A.J. Lester\u2019s Men store on 125th street, a block away from Bobby Robinson\u2019s record shop. Greg in fact gave me my road experience because he had his 98 before me. So I have to give him credit for me getting my license.<\/p>\n B Fats- Troy was the filling in the cake. What I mean by that was he was our best battle rapper.<\/p>\n
\n <\/strong><\/p>\nTroy- See at first I was wondering why you were co signing this thuggery, but now I understand.<\/h5>\n
Troy- So where did that name the Sapphire crew come from?<\/h5>\n
Troy- So how did your brother Donald get involved?<\/h5>\n
Troy- \u201cYeah I am the big brother now get your ass out of here. I don\u2019t want to see you in here no more!\u201d<\/h5>\n
Troy- That\u2019s right. \u201cDon\u2019t leave your brother, and I will bust your ass if I heard you did something to him!\u201d<\/h5>\n
Troy- Who were the first to start attaching them selves to you and your brother?<\/h5>\n
![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image026.jpg\")
![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image024.jpg\")
B Fats- I would have to say cats like Kurtis Blow and Love Bug Star Ski. Love Bug had already had a knack but he broke with us. Meaning he was struggling to do what he do but once he started hanging with us and got put on the bill at the Renaissance Ball Room with us that was when he really was born. Their were cats like D and D Express. Back in the day Spoonie Gee, Doug E. Fresh and Kev Ski from Manhattanville of The Family. Teddy Riley came later on. ![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image028.jpg\")
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![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image032.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTroy- What about Master Don and The Def Committee?<\/h5>\n
Troy- So how did Love Bug or Kurtis Blow approach you and your brother?<\/h5>\n
Troy- At this time Kurt didn\u2019t even have a name yet?<\/h5>\n
Troy- How did you guys get the Renaissance?<\/h5>\n
Troy- Damn he had a lot going on because I didn\u2019t know he was tied into that.<\/h5>\n
Troy- Did he have a team in King Towers known as Chicks All Stars?<\/h5>\n
Troy- What was the whole deal about Willie Gums.<\/h5>\n
Troy- So what was he trying to accomplish with this Rolls Royce Movement? Did he have some type of after school program and other things to help the neighborhood?<\/h5>\n
Troy- So in Drew Hamilton projects you would have a party in the community center and it would be jammed packed?<\/h5>\n
Troy- So before you guys got up in there what type of music was going on in there?<\/h5>\n
![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image036.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTroy- I am a big collector of the tapes from your era. I have only 3 tapes of you guys and none of them have all of you guys together. I have no tapes of you guys at The Renaissance, just Zulu crews up in there. What was the deal with that?<\/h5>\n
Troy- So tape decks weren\u2019t that big during that time.<\/h5>\n
Troy- So The Disco Four was started by you and Donald?<\/h5>\n
Troy- Did they come to the Renny before you put the group together?<\/h5>\n
Troy- So what were your thoughts when you would see these guys or D.J. Hollywood and you guys were just as talented?<\/h5>\n
![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image038.jpg\")
all those cats didn\u2019t mean anything to me. And that might sound arrogant but\u2026<\/p>\nTroy- I feel you because a lot of guys I talk to as far as on a level of you guys, all felt you were always in your own circle and \u201cyou guys can\u2019t touch this nobody we got this on lock!\u201d \u201cYa\u2019ll n—— is nice with that type of hip hop, yeah good for ya\u2019ll!\u201d<\/h5>\n
Troy- The Crash Crew was also in the very beginning of hip hop in Harlem what was your relationship with Mike and Dave and the rest of the crew?<\/h5>\n
Troy- So Mike and Dave never tried to book anything in The Renaissance?<\/h5>\n
Troy- So it never came to you guys, \u201cLet\u2019s go battle them?\u201d<\/h5>\n
Troy- What about Master Don and The Def Committee?<\/h5>\n
![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image040.jpg\")
Troy- I bring that up because I remember you telling me you guys were cool and then you would be beefing and then you would be cool all over again.<\/h5>\nTroy- Well didn\u2019t you say that once you guys started getting even more popular you had the pistols on you?<\/h5>\n
Troy- Yeah well you right cats did start to really show off and it was typical for some one to act tougher then what they were to gain attention. What was the next Club?<\/h5>\n
Troy- So why did you leave out of Randy\u2019s Place?<\/h5>\n
Troy- You are referring to The Casanovas?
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<\/h5>\nTroy- So you and your brother stepped from there and went further downtown to 106th street I believe to a senior citizen home across from the Castle hotel and started doing party\u2019s over there?<\/h5>\n
Troy- The brothers don\u2019t know how to act. (We both start laughing.) You guys are getting closer and closer to the white neighborhood and they still getting wild.<\/h5>\n
Troy- Was The Disco 4 started by this time, or coming up on it?<\/h5>\n
Troy- Well how did Ronnie get on with you because I know he didn\u2019t live in the projects over by you being as his father was really getting it at one time?<\/h5>\n
Troy- Greg actually came after Mr. Troy?<\/h5>\n
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<\/p>\nTroy- Well from what I heard you and your brother were split by the emcees! Some of the emcees would go with you some of the emcees would go with Donald D. Then one day the emcees said we have to make up our mind.<\/h5>\n
Troy- So Mr. Troy was very gifted on the mic before he went in? I ask you that because a lot of people said Mr. Troy was nice with his.<\/h5>\n
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Troy- So being as you rocked at Broadway so long I am pretty sure you had to remember the battle between The Crash Crew and The Fantasy 3 over the records On the Radio and It\u2019s your Rock?<\/h5>\n![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image048.jpg\")
Troy- Can you give me or us the low down because both crews say they won!<\/h5>\n![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image050.jpg\")
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B Fats- I got hired through the manager Gusto that ran The Roof Top. We knew each other for the majority of our life. To take it further back Mr. Willie is a friend of mom dukes. (B Fats mother.)\u00a0 Now Mr. Willie a lot of people don\u2019t know is the real owner of The Roof Top. How I got up there was when Broadway International was popping my brother Donald would come up and I would allow him to spin. But on the low because I really wasn\u2019t aware of it but Donald was doing studio work. I had to give my brother credit for first stepping into the studio. As he was doing it he was messing with Grand Master Flash, The Mercedes Ladies, D.J. Hollywood etc. They also grabbed a cat named Kurtis who was the owner of a label called World to World. World to World was the first label The Wop was first released on, and eventually sold to Spring Posse. World to World was also the first label to break Rob Base. His manager was Kurt Hamilton. So Donald was doing this studio work and came up with this record called Donald\u2019s Groove. When the Groove record started clicking Donald use to rehearse a place called The Roof Top! I went with Donald up to the Roof Top because he asked me to be his D.J. when he took this crack at performing. I was like we stepping to some hold other s—! I was like what you rapping!? When Donald\u2019s Groove first came out I wasn\u2019t feeling it. But never the less money was money. His first little show off of Donald\u2019s Groove was at The Roof Top. Gusto would let Donald practice with the girls because the Roof Top had another building to the right of the skating rink. That building was the office along with the recording studio. So during the practicing Gus and me gained a relationship. So because of that studio guys like a young Teddy Riley would come up in there doing things. So with me up there being a spectator while Don was doing his thing that studio thing grabbed my interest. Greg Gee was already there. What he was doing I am not sure. But I know that a year later I was running the studio.<\/p>\n![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image054.jpg\")
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B Fats- I toured for about 2 years with that record. I went up and down the east coast with that record. I can remember being on the west coast and I bought red outfits and at the time I didn\u2019t know anything about no gangs. I remember being at this hotel for this show called Jack The Rapper. Donald put me up on it, we went there to L.A. for that twice. Some brothers approached me and said, \u201cYo dogs you need to go upstairs and take that red outfit off.\u201d I\u2019m saying to my self what the hell you talking about, but then another kid comes over and tells me the same thing. Man that hip hop thing was crazy I remember John Amos from Good Times wanted to be rapper for a minute and I recorded him. He would come from Jersey and me and my brother would record him in the studio.<\/p>\n![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image060.jpg\")
B Fats- Yeah so like I said the Wop kept me on tour for like 2 years and I remember seeing Eddie Murphy\u2019s brother Charlie and his friend on tour with us. One would sing while the other rapped. It would be me, Heavy Dee, Alison Williams, Oran Juice Jones and Russell Simmons hanging out although I wasn\u2019t on Russell\u2019s label. I was the opening act for Vesta for about 3 months. It would change up and for a few states I was in acquaintance with Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince. Will Smith. We were on tour for about 2 months straight.<\/p>\n![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image062.jpg\")
Troy- You ever tried to push up on Vesta while you were playing with her?<\/h5>\n![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image064.jpg\")
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B Fats- Well today I find myself after all I have been through as far as the transitions of life I am becoming more of an activist for young people as far as giving them something to look at. I am finding that a lot of organizations are reaching out to me such as The Harlem Children Zone. \u00a0See the killings in the neighborhood are just getting ridiculous. We just lost a young boy by the name of Scotty. He got killed up on the avenue at 13 years old. He was suppose to be going to get a pair of sneakers and lost his life. Scotty is in directly connected to my family because of the fact that me and his moms grew up together in Drew Hamilton. So when you grow up with some one for some many years it\u2019s as if one of your own kids were harmed. So I have seen this outreach thing happen with me because I am becoming more Godly orientated. I am in the process of getting to know God better.<\/p>\n![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image070.jpg\")
B Fats- Thank you. So with that I stand up with just a different out look on life. Today I look at my grand children I just feel I have no time to be playing any games with the time God has given me on this earth. So I find my self talking more then ever to the youth. I am talking to the boys as well as the girls. I am doing a lot of Christian related work.<\/p>\n![\"B](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/clip_image072.jpg\")
B Fats- Yeah, yeah so it\u2019s like the old roots are still up, but in a gospel type fashion now. So yeah we play in the church and we praise God together. I am starting to get popular again from the work I do at the Rucker games. Both my sons are D.J.s so they keep me current. I remember being on a boat ride and Reggie Wells said to me dam man what you trying to do to me! I said what? He said dam n—– you eating my a\u2014up here! That\u2019s me. I will hit you with the old school but there is a lot of good new music out. The only difference between me and a lot of other d.j.s is that I am totally orientated on some knowledgeable music that is safe for my youth. I am not going to play anything that says suck my —-, kiss my —!<\/p>\n