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Frankly Speaking with The Detroit Godfather of Rap Awesome Dre!
"...rap is something you do, hip hop is something you live. You don’t have to rap to be a part of the hip hop culture..."
Ein recht interessantes Interview gab, vor Kurzem, Detroit's Rap-legend Awesome Dre DefCulture org.
Darin äußerte er sich zu seinen Anfängen, dem Erfolg seines Debut-Albums "You Can't Hold Me Back" (1989), Rap-Kollegen und zu Chuck D. (Public Enemy), welcher seine wohl größte Inspiration darstellte, selbst das Mic in die Hand zu nehmen.
Hierzu hat er auch eine sehr interessante Geschichte zu erzählen.
All dies und mehr kann man hier nachlesen:
http://www.defculture.org/history/defmy ... wesome-dre
Ansonsten hier noch einmal alles rüber kopiert, falls denn der Link irgendwann mal nicht mehr aufrufbar sein sollte:
For years the Midwest has produced some of the most lyrically talented rap acts in Hip Hop, and although the mainstream appeal has always seemed to allude to the other three coasts, Midwest artists still remain true to their Hip Hop roots by releasing top notch material. Notwithstanding, Detroit, Michigan has produced its share of incredibly talented underground artists over the years, but none more essential than Detroit Hip Hop pioneer Awesome Dre. Beginning his legacy over twenty years ago, Awesome Dre is considered the first major artist to emerge from the Motor City, and has influenced nearly every rap act from Detroit and all over the Midwest since his emergence. We caught up with the Godfather of Motor City Hip Hop and discussed his legacy as a Hip Hop pioneer.
DC: Awesome Dre, first of all I want to start by saying “What up Doe”, Yeah you know how it go in the D. It’s a pleasure to be able to be sitting here with one of the pioneers of hip hop in the Midwest. Now let’s get right into it, you’re considered the first major artist to record out of the city of Detroit, why don’t you give us a little background on how you got started.
AD: Well first of all I just want to say what up doe and thanks for having me. Well basically we’ve been doing’ this for over twenty years, and this year actually marks the anniversary that I started blowing up. I recorded my first record in the latter part of 87 and then we actually got it pressed up on 12’ in the beginning of 88. That album was called “Hardcore”, and then we also had a single called “Dean of Rap”, and “My Little Friend” which was actually the first album that we recorded in the studio in a professional atmosphere. Me my stepbrother “Brother Lonzell”, Ivan Ill, Joint, I had met with this dude who we called the detector, he was like the engineer at this studio called Wonderlove, it was in the back of a record store on Grand River in Detroit.
So we went in there and put it together without any technical or music industry knowledge. Ivan Ill had faith in us so he executive produced our first project. Back then it wasn’t as open as it is now, not many people had faith in it. They said it was just going to be a flash in the pan. We just wanted to do us, it wasn’t about the fame, fortune and glory, I mean of course when you enter something like that you want to become successful, but the main thing for us was getting our word out. Getting people to recognize our face and seeing us, knowing our name, you really didn’t care about the money because it wasn’t too many rappers that were millionaires back then, like it is now. It was just a totally different atmosphere, just some young brothers trying to get it together and move in a positive direction on some creativity.
DC: How does it feel to know that you have had such a major impact on so many artists in Detroit and throughout the Midwest in the past twenty years?
AD: Well, I’m just blessed to still be around and to be here and people reflect on it and appreciate it. For your music to stand the test of time for that many years, for your name to still ring it’s a testament, to show that your blessed and everybody don’t have that opportunity, a lot of people came out that we can’t forget about. We came up in that era back in the late 80’s when it was like a big crew of us that came out in Detroit like Detroit’s Most Wanted, Smiley, Prince Vince and The Hip Hop Force, AWOL, Kaos and Maestro, J to D, Rap mafia, B-Def and Poncho, Esham, Box, Champtown, a lot of people. A lot of them I’m still in contact with, like Merciless Amir, we still hook up and do stuff. DJ Los, Motsi Ski, we actually got some projects coming out soon. It all stemmed from us all hooking up and sticking together back in the days in the D.
DC: Looking back at your music, there’s obviously strong respect for hip hop that is evident. Can you elaborate a little on your beginnings as a rapper?
AD: Well, I started cultivating my skills back in the days; see I graduated high school in Akron, Ohio. I moved from Detroit when my mother got married to my stepfather and we moved down to Ohio. My hip hop experience started back in the days when I was water waving, breakdancing, and jitting, which I still love more than I do the music actually, because back then it was more unique, and more specialized everybody couldn’t do it, I mean anybody could grab the mic and rap but everybody couldn’t just hit the windmill no hands, you know, it was cool everybody had their own styles. See I came up as a product or child of hip hop back in the days when it was real hip hop. People now think hip hop is a style of rap, but hip hop is really a total culture that rap is a part of. Hip hop is not rap ,it’s a way of life, hip hop consists of the basic elements, which includes emceeing, deejaying, graffiti artists, artists in general, the b-boy the b-girl the dancing element the way you talk the way you dress, your philosophy, your whole way of life.
DC: So do you agree that people nowadays have it confused in that hip hop is simply just the act of grabbing a microphone and rapping?
AD: Yeah, like people say you rap hip hop or you don’t rap hip hop, that don’t even make since to me, it’s like hip hop is not a style of rap, rap is a style that’s incorporated in hip hop, rap is something you do, hip hop is something you live. You don’t have to rap to be a part of the hip hop culture, like they just took it and twisted it during the backpack era. A lot of people were considered backpack rappers and conscious rappers you know, and a lot of people wanted to consider that hip hop, but those were just separate sub genres of rap. It’s all up under the umbrella, period. Hip hop its not just rap, the R&B is hip hop, the singers are hip hop now a days, it’s like your style, I hate to say swag, cause I gotta line where I rap “I turn your swagger to a stagger maggot, after I stab you in the opposite of your back with a dagger faggot”. I aint gone keep going, cause I’m just going off on a tangent, but I want to kill that word though cause everybody using it to death.
DC: Talk to me about the success you experienced early on in your career, what was that process like?
AD: Well started grinding in 87, 88, Jorland’s Records, my man Ivan Ill he’s still holding it down he’s a lawyer now, got a family. Brother Lonzell he got groups putting movies out. A couple of cats are not with us any more, rest in peace Joint, he was one of the first co-executive producers, but he got killed a few years after the first album. We eventually hooked up with Bentley Records which was some bullshit; we ended up hooking up with some middle man trying to fuck us out of some money. But at the same time we did get connected with Priority Records, and they put out our record and Bentley did put out the classic “You Can’t Hold Me Back” video, but we already had the album finished and recorded when they jumped on board and released our video, but Priority put out our album “You Can’t Hold Me Back” and the second single “Frankly Speaking” shot up to #6 in the top 25 Hot Rap singles in Billboard Magazine.
The album made it to number 51 on the Top 100 Black albums in December 89. We were like right there above Frankie Beverly and Maze, and Barry White. That’s when we started blowing up. We were doing interviews on BET’s Rap City in with Chris Thomas The Mayor of Rap City on “The Corner”, before they moved in the basement, flying around the country kicking it with Chuck D, doing promos, but at the same time we were young didn’t know the game yet. Nowadays you can press up a 100,000 copies independently and make a million dollars, as opposed to the majors selling a million copies of your shit and you still being broke.
DC: So many artists from the Midwest in the early 90’s looked up to you, and were influenced by your music, can you tell us who some of your influences were when you first got into the game?
AD: As far as my influences, for instance, my song “Hardcore” was based off of “Rebel Without a Pause” by Public Enemy. Obviously Chuck D was one of my favorite emcee at the time. I was listening to their first album “Yo Bumrush The Show”, Boogie Down Productions first album “Criminal Minded”, and Eric B and Rakim’s first album “Paid in Full”, and then I was gone off of that Ultramagnetic MC’s “Critical Beatdown”, I was making niggas listen to that shit, and niggas was like who the fuck is these crazy muthafuckas, cause niggas just wasn’t ready for that type of shit yet. I had been listening to rhymes before Sugarhill Gang, I had crazy 12 inches cause we used to deejay and shit.
I was so influenced by these albums, that when we went in the studio to record, I called the number to the studio on each of those album covers and asked the engineers specifically what kind of drum machines they used to record with and each one of them said SP-12, so I told my man Ivan that I wanted an SP-12. I went in the studio and told Cory Blake A.K.A. The Detector” that this is how I wanted my album to sound, and it was based off of these albums. Hardcore’s lyrics were based off of Chuck D’s cadence. “Awesome Dre, coolest muthafucka since ice trays, I’m havin nice days, home is where my hat lays, ladies praised, ruckus that’s what I raise, I’m the one that suckas never faze"
DC: So PE really had probably the biggest influence on your music?
AD: Oh definitely, I thought I was baby Chuck D, cause I wrote that rhyme to Rebel without a Pause. That’s how I got my first deaI. I wrote the rhyme, and Brother Lonzell who had Alkey Records, was like that’s sweet we need to get in the studio. I was like I ain’t got no money, and he said and his mans might want to put some money behind me, so I called him up and rapped that rap with “Rebel Without A Pause” playing, and my man was like that shit is sweet. We then went to the studio, and they were robbing us blind, none of us had ever been to the studio before, but it was all good, because we were young, and it was a learning experience.
DC: Tell me how your experience coming up in Detroit and Ohio, over the years helped to impact your musical influence?
AD: When I moved from Detroit to Ohio, 93 FM WZAK used to have master mixes, just like in Detroit where they had The Wizard and Electrifying Mojo. They used to have local hip hop artists, and they used to simulcast New York radio shows, like Mr. Magic, Rap Attack, and DJ Red Alert. We were exposed to a lot of that organic pure hip hop. The Fearless Four, Treacherous Three, Crash Crew. I even fucked around and hooked up with Prince Whipper Whip, from The Cold Crush Brothers/Fantastic Five, and the movie Wild Style that’s my main man, shit his deejay Grand Wizard Theodore was the one who invented scratching, how fucking classic can you get. Shit I just talked to him the other day.
My family was musically inclined like my cousin Bootsy he used to manage everybody from Peaches and Herb, The Manhattans, all the way to The Dramatics. My Aunt Dee Dee worked at Simpson’s Wholesalers, Donny Simpson’s family. She used to be at all the parties, she took me to concerts, I saw the Mothership land at Cobo Hall, I seen Rick James throw a garbage bag full of joints into the crowd, and everybody just fired up, and the police came out and shit. She took me to see the Jackson 5 when they reunited. My grandmother used to give concerts at the age of five playing the piano, she was like a child prodigy, and she would have continued on strong had she not messed up her hand while working.
DC: What was it like to be an artist in the city that Berry Gordy helped to make famous?
AD: I literally grew up down the street from where Motown was at. I grew up on Woodrow Wilson right off of West Grand Boulevard and you could walk right outside and look down the street and see Hitsville. We’ve seen Michael Jackson over there so many times. We took it for granted where as people fly from all over the world to see the Motown museum. My mother used to be up in there while they were recording. She grew up with all them cats. The Dramatics used to come over to the crib Matter of fact Phillipe Wynne, of the Spinners, would come over all the time. One time he took us fishing at Belle Isle, and he pulls up in an Excaliber, to take us fishing, man it was cool. He had fishing rods sticking out the window cause ain’t no way you could store no whole fishing rods in an Excaliber.
DC: I noticed that several of Detroit’s early hip hop artists including yourself had a propensity for sampling a lot of funk based music, What would you say was the motivation that sparked that genre of music to be sampled by so many of those artists?
AD: Well first off, what I love about Detroit was that we had techno music, and that music was right before the rapping. That was the music of the hood, and they played that on the radio, and in the club, we were jitting to that music. We had Cybortron and all these muthafuckas coming out with Cosmic Cars, and we had Technicolor, and Metroplex Records, so we had homegrown music we aint really need to listen to nothing else, because we came up on that stuff. It was like coming up watching “The Scene”, with Nat Morris and “The New Dance Show”, with RJ Watkins, we were actually on the first episode ever of “Rap’s Corner” on The New Dance Show, so they really gave us a hell of an opportunity, I give a shout out to The new Dance Show they gave us a lot of love, A lot of people saw me for the first time on that show.
DC: Who were some of the major acts that you had the opportunity to work with back in the days?
AD: We used to do local shows back in the days, which was the shit because it would bring all of us together and it would be all the Detroit pioneers Me, Smiley, DMW, AWOL, Prince Vince, you name it. Now that’s a show that people would love to see nowadays, Boss is still holding it down too. Now, Me and Merciless Amir just did a show recently at The Bullfrog in Detroit, it was hosted by Redbone, and Lil Ms. Dottie, a Detroit Pioneers thang. Yeah I love them shows we used to do at the Grand Quarters, well it was called Latin Quarters back then. Some of the favorites that I did was when we performed with Rakim down at Kentucky State University, and at that time I met Scarface, when his name was DJ Akshun.
DC: You touched a little bit earlier on how Chuck D from PE had a major influence on your rap style, talk to us about your experience of meeting him and how he personally helped your career.
AD: The way we met Chuck D was funny, because we flew to DC to do rap city, and the limo came to pick us up, and we get in and see the limo driver got somebody else sitting up front with him and we like that ain’t cool, how you gone have somebody in the limo when you supposed to be picking us up. I heard the dude up front talking and when he looked up it was Chuck D, he got back in the back and started kicking it with us, and I was like man you one of my biggest influences, and you know what he told me? “I got your album in my collection”, man that shit blew my mind, Chuck D has my album in his collection. We kicked it some more while riding over to BET, he said he had a new song and asked if I wanted to hear it, of course I said yeah.
He gave me the walkman and let me hear, and you know what song it was, “Welcome to the Terrordome”. He was like that’s coming out in a couple of months, so we get to the studio, and I gave him one of my t-shirts, and he took his shirt off and put my shirt on. Nobody has ever done that for me. I did my interview with Chris Thomas, and got ready to leave, and Chuck D was like where you goin’ you ain’t gotta go nowhere, just chill right there while I do my interview. Chuck D was being interviewed and I’m sitting right there next to him, and then he was referring to me in the conversation, I was like hell yeah, and he’s sitting there with my t-shirt on. We filmed that shit in September 89, and Chuck D asked if I wanted to do a show on Thanksgiving with him in New Orleans. I was like fuck yeah. It was PE, 3rd Bass, Too Short, and I’m sure it had to be Cash Money or No Limit back in their very early days, but I’m not sure. And Dr. Dre and Ed Lover were hosting, we rocked the show, “Frankly Speaking” was banging.
DC: What is like when you perform in Detroit, what is the feel and the reception?
AD: Well, the only time I ever stepped on stage at Joe Louis Arena was when Ice-T was performing I was back stage taking pictures with his wife Darlene, and he was performing and called me on stage, I went out there and I ain’t gone lie I was nervous as hell, I probably was buzzed. I didn’t rap, but I was like “What’s up Detroit?” and the crowd went wild. We did get to perform at Cobo Hall this year, with my cousin Doe Dubbla, he’s coming up hard he released a double CD last year called “Stackin” and man it’s bangin’ like hell, and not just because I’m on it. He’s been holding me down for about a year, as my hype man. We had the opportunity to perform this year with T.I., Young Jeezy, Plies, and Young L.A. and umm Rick Ross was supposed to perform but he didn’t show up I don’t know what happened with that. But we showed up and we rocked it.
DC: What are some of your biggest moments in touring throughout your career?
AD: Me and my man Champtown, and the homegirl D’ Phuzion one of Detroit’s finest female emcees, were able to go on tour with Public Enemy in 99. We had DJ Carl and The Invisible Man. Being on tour with PE was the shit, kicking it with Chuck, Flav, Griff, and the rest of the crew. It was their fortieth tour. We were out there for about a month and a half. We did the whole United States, and some joints in Canada. the shit was live as hell.
DC: Now I heard that you were still touring and performing, what are some of the things your doing these days?
AD: Recently I’ve been doing some shows with Psychopathic Records, which is Insane Clown Posse’s record label. Now there shows are off the chain because they got the Juggalos, that’s their fan base, and it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen, their like the most loyal fan base I’ve ever seen. They buy the most merchandise, wear the gear, tattoos, and they support ICP’s shit. They know all of the lyrics to the songs, they live the life for real, there shows are hyped as hell. We had the gathering of the Juggalos last year in Southern Illinois, a four day event, and it was over 100 acts, Ice T performed, Three Six mafia, 2 Live Crew, They had a lot of people, this year Ice Cube is going to be performing, we’re going to be performing. We did the Hatchet Attacks out in Phoenix back in May, and various shows that they have here. They have yearly shows like the Hallowicked, and The Monsters Ball which is held the night before Hallowicked, along with The Big Ballers Christmas Party. Their fans show us a lot of love, which I appreciate a lot, cause when they love you they love you, and if they don’t then they don’t.
DC: Now you have a radio show that is totally off the hook, tell us about that?
AD: Yeah, Psychopathic gave me a radio show called Awesome World, on their Internet Radio Station, called www.wfuckoffradio.com radio station. Basically the radio station is a psychopathic outlet for their artists but I just happen to be lucky enough to be offered a show without being one of their artists but they list me as an influence, but anybody that pretty much came out after 87 88 in Detroit its only natural that they might have seen me as an influence and I’m grateful for that. So they gave me the radio station out of straight love and we been holding it down. We’re just being ourselves on the show, me and my cousin Doe Dubbla, we’ve been doing the show since December 08. www.wfukckoffradio.com airs two shows per night every Tuesday and Thursday between 9pm and 1am.
They divide it up between the artists and employees at Psychopathic Records, and a couple of outside affiliates. My show is called Awesome World, so we play a lot of my music, a lot of old classic stuff, a lot of my affiliates, new unreleased whatever we want. I’ve interviewed Killah Priest, Kokane, Mr. Serv On, Motsi Ski of DMW, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Violent J, and Shaggy 2 Dope of ICP, We have segments like “Repeat it or Delete it”. And we’re going to be putting out a Repeat it or Delete mix CD. We have hip hop horoscope, we have the sample source segment, where I play the original song, and then a rapper who may have sampled that music. I have the reggae dancehall segment. Just log on to wfuckoffradio.com and click on Awesome Dre. If you miss the show you can always stream it and save it to your computer. We did a big birthday edition back in May for me it was like four hours, we play a lot of shit for the first time that noone has ever heard, and we talk to the listeners and let them call in.
DC: Recently I checked on line and found a recent remix of your classic single “You Can’t Hold Me Back” and I noticed that you had guest appearances on the song from some other legendary Detroit emcees Big Herk, Esham, Merciless Amir, Shaggy 2 Dope, and Boss, now how did that project come about?
AD: Well the Collaboration came about through my boy Violent J. I’d already been off and on hooking up with these cats over the years. The idea was to go to the studio and have everybody spit the original lyrics to the song. Esham, and Shaggy 2 Dope, laid down their verses first, and then we pulled in Merciless Amir, Big Herk, and Boss. It actually took all of that summer to finally get the song recorded because of everybody’s schedule. Herk was glad to do it, that’s my man, he’s from my hood, he grew up not too far from me on Woodrow Wilson. Boss did the last verse the night me and Doe Dubbla performed with Motsi Ski at the “Return of the Legends” tour with Rakim and Busta Rhymes at Chene Park. We hooked up with Boss that night and she laid her track and then she came back and was like “You mind if I change up a few things in my verse” and I was like you know what Boss you can do whatever you want baby, and she freaked it too. I wanted to get Smiley on the there but we never could get her, but I would love to work with her. I’m waiting for all of us to be able to rock that song live, all together now that would be the shit. They released that song on DJ Clay’s “Let Em Bleed” Mix tape, so that’s out there buzzing.
DC: A lot of people feel like Big Herk is the most underrated emcee in the country, and he’s been holding it down steady for the D for the last few years now. What was it like to work with him?
AD: It was funny because, I had to write the song down when we were in the studio for everybody to memorize, but for Herk he was like “I don’t need you to write the words I already know em I been rappin this fuckin song damn near all my life”. “Oh yeah I got to give Herk his respect cause when I read his interviews he always mentions us, the Detroit hip hop Pioneers. A lot of people hate to mention the pioneers, and that’s important cause they act like they gone lose out from mentioning the ones that came before them, but Herk always shows us a lot of love.
DC: Well, Awesome Dre, it’s been a pleasure talking with you, this interview has been very insightful, and thought provoking. Now is there anything you’d like to say before we check out?
AD: Check me out in Awesome World on www.wfuckoffradio.com I got three different mix tapes coming out soon, I’m doing one with Rob Worth from Worth It Records, from Massachusetts him and Irish Mike, and then I’m working with B-Rob. Then I’m working with my man Tre Pound from Chop Shop, we’re doing some stuff with Psychopathic Records. I’m also putting out my own mix tape with about 30 different songs, it’s a lot of new shit, and then we’re releasing a collector’s edition from the first two albums “You Can’t Hold Me Back” and “AD’s Revenge”. Shot out to Babatunde, Free Babatunde, he the one that executive produced that AD’s Revenge and that “This is Babylon” video. Shout out to Ivan Ill for executive producing my first album. My cousin Doe Dubbla holding it down for me, Psychopathic, everything that we’ve been doing together, we’ve got the “Gathering Of The Juggalos” coming up this August 6,7,8,9. Also I’ll be performing in Ohio where I grew up, where I graduated from, Detroit is my home where I was born too, but we’re going down there, and we’re going to be holding it down for them too. We’re going to be performing in Akron, Ohio on August 1.
Keep checking me out on Myspace, www.myspace.com/awesomedrehcc www.myspace.com/awesomedreofficial . Check out all of my original videos on my You Tube channel, THEREALAWESOMEDRE you can hear a lot of the new songs on You Tube cause a lot of guys be getting a lot of my music from my radio show. If you go to www.blastmymusic.com and punch in Awesome Dre you can actually purchase a lot of my music, even the first album the Hardcore, My Little Friend, and Dean of Rap. You want to hear some real sweet shit I got a song I did for the Juggalos called “Juggalos Get Lonely Too” based on Gigalos Get Lonely Too. We got Killa Smuv who produced the shit, and Razor Ray from Motown Rage re-did the guitar, you gotta hear it I’m showing off my some skills on the song, it’s not your average ballad it’s funny, and smooth. Shout out to my mans down there in Georgia Selah, Rex, Bobby, Randy G, Snake The Great, B-Love, T-Mal, my man Lucky Seven be holding it down in Ohio, and everybody else ya’ll know who ya’ll are. Much love to all of my family and friends, especially my son “Baby Awesome”. The city of Detroit, The city of Akron, and the whole midwest. That’s how we do it, Awesome Dre Hardcore Committee, Detroit city, your mans 313 representative forever you know what I’m sayin’, and I am a product of DefCulture.
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