Mixmaster Spade was to L.A. what Kool Herc was to N.Y.

[Tha_Blaq_Sinattra]

R.I.P. to the legend Mixmaster Spade who took poppin' to New York and they gave him Rappin' and DJing

P: Introduce yourself

MMS: Ah YeahThis is Mixmaster Spade the OG Compton Godfather of Rap.

P: Why do they call you the OG Compton Godfather of Rap?

MMS: Cause I was the first one from Compton to LA that started this hip hop mixing rapping thing.

P: Who were some of the people that followed in your shoes?

MMS: You hear them all the time. Quik, NWA, Totty Tee King T, Coolio. All them. All the Compton rappers from the old school. I also helped CJ Mac. It was a few.

P: How did you come up with the name Mixmaster Spade?

MMS: I was in NY. I went to school there for a short period. One of the boys in the neighborhood was a DJ. I use to go to the park on the weekends. He worked at the park. So he use to bring his turntable and mixer to the park and back then they was just mixing disco and he would like to keep the beat and keep it going and then he showed me how to do it. This was back in 78/77. He showed me how to do it and I knew how to blend. He showed me how to do it. Really scratchin wasn't really out then but if it's in your blood you can really do it. When I came back home nobody wasn't really in to DJing like that. My grandmother was kinda of wealthy she gave me some money to buy a turntable and a mixer. I came home I said mom they not doing this out here and she said ok well just take your money and do what you want to do with it. So I went and bought me a gang of clothes. I was fitted. I was in high school fitted. Went over my friends about 2 years later. We was all pop lockers then. I use to go back and forth to New York wearing them out at Pop Locking. They couldn't deal with that we was locking and poppin and they was like Djing. I went to this battle of the DJ's thing one time. It was Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Theodore and Afrika Bambataa and all them kind of cats. DJ Hollywood and Starski them cats. I was poppin in another room and my buddy said man come on, the battle of the Dj's is about to start. Dj's? So I go upstairs with him and it was Grandmaster Flash rocking one turntable with a beat machine. I was like aw, man I got to get back into this. When I came back home this time I was like I'm finna get me some turntables and I went over one of my friends house and they had 2 turntables and a mixer. What y'all doing with this? Y'all don't know nothing about this and then I got on them and they looking at me like yeah.I start (scratching sounds). They said man they all in the room like this.How you do that? Man I been knowing how to do all this when I was living in NY. I use to go over they house every other day and then they messed up I asked them to let me borrow it one day and they didn't see their equipment for about a month. I was in my house every day all day just mixing my mom said boy if you don't come out that room and go get you something to eat. I said Ma I'm alright. One day I start taping my self just to hear me practice and some of my homeboys was like listening and they started stealing my tapes and they started selling them. They was like man dude gave me 20 bucks for that tape I said what? So I started making tapes and selling them. I had a shoe box full of them one time and I was like selling them for like 5 and 10 and I was getting around making a name for myself with these tapes. I met these drug dealers right and I had a shoebox full of them. I was on a mission. I had like 30 tapes. I'm use to selling like one to each person. Trying to talk them into buying them and they listen and once they listen they hooked and become customers forever. Man dude I been looking for you man. How many you got? I said I got about 3 or 4 different ones. He said naw how many you got? I said I got about 30 something. He said give me all of them. Give you all of them? I said man you ain't got no money to pay for all of these do you? He said man give me all of them and pulled out a big wad like this. He said now make me some more and gave me a deposit. I said oh it's on. I went straight to the house I was in the room making all kind of CD's (cassettes). Next thing you know I wasn't even looking for no regular people no more. I was likeHey I got those Mixmaster Spade CD's tapestapes back then. It was history. Just to show you how far I go back me and my other homeboy named Vegas he DJ's now. He was a lowrider then he had a Vega. We use to go to the Workshop on Western. He had a 8 track player. I had some mixed 8 tracks tapes of me mixing Good Times on them. Now that's old. I had some 8 Tracks with me mixing Good Times and Roll, Bounce, Rock, Skate on them way back then.

P: When did you decide to become an artist?

MMS: Like from 78 to 79 to 80to 84. 84 I was like really into it. 84 the thing came down in LA everybody was on the corner making them dollars so I was like with them too making them dollars too and doing this. I went from making 2 or 3 tapes a day to making a half a tape a week. Cause I'm busy you know. So anyway I make a tape say a few lines. I still had the voice and everybody still loved it. So one day Totty Tee said man we finna go in the studio and make this record Batteram. I said y'all go head man I'll be through there. So I go through and kick it with them. Help them out. After that I kind of slowed up with that. I started back Djing with them. Todd said hey man come on man it's your turn to make a record man you started it. You might as well go on and bust one. I said yeah well lets do it then. Then we made Just Say No. Just Say No is a record like you know first came on the radio couldn't get it off the radio. Greg Mack will tell you no song was requested like that one I had them fairy tale rhymes too about Little Bo Peep and it was like straight home from there. I just took off.

P: Battleram was pretty much a LA record. It was a West Coast Record. That record was big out here. A lot of people didn't know what a batteram was.

MMS: You can't stop it baby. Battleram was tearing down people's houses. Everybody can relate to it because everybody was into the thing. The batterram was like a big issue around town then we came out with the song Batteram it was like ah they put it on wax then we had a street version. He had his little street version. I had my version and it kinda like pushed us and escalated us. We was always partners but we was just like doing our own thing. He was with this clique. I forgot the name of the clique. I was always by myself. I didn't need nobody I mix and scratch and rap all the same by myself. I had a couple of dudes that was with me like Grady G a few other ones.

P: Some people credit you for the singing type rap?

MMS: Harmonize rap? I take credit for that, That's in my soul.

P: Who are some of the other artists from Compton you seen coming up?

MMS: Back thenDJ Pooh, King T. I ain't actually did no work with Quik but we was affiliated like you know brushed elbows. .Eazy nem we always brushed elbows, talked, kicked it. Dre did all the songs for us. If you didn't know it, Dre did Batterram. Dre did Just Say No. Dre and DJ Pooh collaborated on the Genius Is Back. Pooh did You Better Bring A Gun.

P: What was the working environment like back then?

MMS: Call me man let's golets do it. It wasn't no money issue or none of that. We didn't really have no money. We the ones that paved the way for the cash to come in. We fought for that. Like KDAY was in there tearing down the walls for everybody else to come on thrulater.

P: How do you feel about that now?

MMS: I feel good about that but really the new school out here on the West Coast aint really like giving it to like the old ones that really paved and did the struggling for them.

P: When you went to other parts of the country how receptive was the audience?

MMS: We use to go up to Oakland. Really we was mostly West Coast and a little bit of the East Coast was accepted us. I got far as Cleveland back that way. I hear on the radio my songs and I hear some of the commercials of my song. So I know they was playing us back then. Texas, we used to tour Texas all the time. Back and forth up north and Arizona all just the West Coast really. Back in those days.

P: Who were on some of those shows with you?

MMS: Ok um, I did a show with Public Enemy, Too Live Crew. We did a West Coast vs East Coast in Denver.

P: How was that?

MMS: All the East Coast did a show one night and all the West Coast did the next night. They just called it East Coast West Coast.

P: You recently did a song with RBX and Soopa Fly and Suga FreeDog House in Your Mouth is that true?

MMS: Yeah with Snoop?

P: Yeah, How's that working with Snoop? You being a pioneer and him being of another generation of rap?

MMS: That was the easiest song I ever did in my life. I just walked in there he said man give me some of that old school. I want some of the old flavor some old school and I'm like what? He said man just say anything. Good evening Doggpoundhe was like yeah that's it. Come on lets go lets go. All he want to do is hear that (singing) I said hold on man I can do something better. I can write something right quick. "Naw naw, just do that" and Snoop wouldn't give me a chance. He like bringing new songs with old flavor, old lyrics most of his songs gotta a lot of my hooks in them. Do you want to go to the liquor.Do to ride in my 6-4. You know all them kind of hooks. He's an old school lover with the new school so that's how he wanted it so I gave it to him.

P: What do you feel the state of West Coast rap is now?

MMS: We still holding our own. We need some more unity out here. I don't see too much unity. Like in New York they support each other more. Out here is a little space. We can't really reach out and touch each other and collaborate and do things. Them dudes back East every time you look around they .like up in the Bay everybody's on everybody's record. Down here in LA they all look scattered

P: Why do you think there's a lack of unity on the West Coast? Geographically cause we're spread out? Everybody in their own cliques?

MMS: Mostly everybody in they own cliques. You can say geographically. We had that mentality we grew up in cliques anyway. Like we got crips and bloods, neighborhoods and sets so we like that's your set that's my set. We already grew up like that out here. Aint' too much clicking clicking with other cliques.

P: What do you feel your contribution is to rap?

MMS: I gave West Coast a big head start. When I came out I was doing parties doing my thing. People was like what's that? What's he doing? What are you doing to the record? I was Djing a party in Watts. I didn't want to do the party in Watts. I'm kinda like I don't know about going over there. They be shooting and gangbanging over there. I went over there anyway. I told my buddy to bring my records later and he didn't bring my records so I had a few records new ones like so I had to make them longer than what they really are. I had to mix so I was in the kitchen. Everybody else was in the other room partying. So Rough So Tough which happen to be one of my cut records. I sat there running out of stuff to play. It's time for me to start mixing. I don't have too much more to play. I put my head down and the kitchen was empty. I put my head down start mixing got into it cutting and scratching I just happened to look up and the whole kitchen was full of people all over me. One of the dudes was like "aww go head homie get down it's cool do that some more." He was like do that some more. After that Mixmaster Spade was born where I was like I'm here. Like all my homeboys in the hood and everywhere was like where you djing at? They didn't really have no cars then. They was walking to my parties. They would walk I'm talking about miles.

P: King T Totty TWere you one of the first people King T worked with?

MMS: Me and Totty T had a hit record Just Say No out and Tila had a record out a little bit after that on the radio it was Payback's A Mutha with DJ Pooh and my boy Scotty D was with them but he was also with me. He was like Spade man won't you do a song with my other little partners. Tila and Pooh wanted to hook up with me. So Tila and Pooh, King T came to my house instantly much love. I love all rappers. We all got together and went in there and done You Better Bring Your Gun in one day. It came out and that's how me and Tila became tight and Pooh. The next thing you now that's my clique, me, Tila, Pooh and Totty Tee but Todd really wasn't clicking so much. They was doing they own. I was doing my own. I ask Tila and nem to help me do The Genius is Back cause he owed me. I said man just do an intro for me. He started it off for me and I took the rest. Pooh did the beat along with Dr. Dre We had DJ Var on there RIP.

P: Do you feel West Coast rap started to take a turn when Eazy E and NWA came out?

MMS: It took a big turn when they came out. That gangsta went to the mainstream out of the neighborhoods. They put it on the big line. We had it on the county and the state line like just LA to Texas line. When NWA came out with Jerry Heller and made them major boys put them up on the videos and the nationwide distribution and all that. They took off instantly. That's the advantage they had. And of course they had Dr. Dre.

P: What are you doing now? Are you still in music?

MMS: I'm just dibbling and dabbling. If you call me I'll come. I'm really trying to do a little project just a collaboration with a lot of artists. I'm trying to call it the Return of the Compton Godfather featuring myself and every other artists and a lot of top artists I know that owe me favors.

END

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[Juronimo]

Great read, it's been posted here before.

Check this out, an interview with Afrika Islam:

http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=107141.0

That dude, like Mixmaster Spade was very instrumental in the early days of west coast hip hop.

[QuietTruth]

I love reading about Hip Hop history. Whether it's from the East or West. Interesting as fuck.!

[Wild_Elmo]

RIP Mixmaster Spade, he definitely doesn't get the credit he deserves

[Tha G In Deee]

Thanks for sharing the interview...& R.I.P. to Mixmaster Spade...

[eazye]

Thanks for sharing the interview...& R.I.P. to Mixmaster Spade...