All language subtitles for Hip-Hop.Evolution.S01E03.The.New.Guard.720p.10bit.WEBRip.x265-budgetbits

af Afrikaans
ak Akan
sq Albanian
am Amharic
ar Arabic
hy Armenian
az Azerbaijani
eu Basque
be Belarusian
bem Bemba
bn Bengali
bh Bihari
bs Bosnian
br Breton
bg Bulgarian
km Cambodian
ca Catalan
ceb Cebuano
chr Cherokee
ny Chichewa
zh-CN Chinese (Simplified)
zh-TW Chinese (Traditional) Download
co Corsican
hr Croatian
cs Czech
da Danish
nl Dutch
en English
eo Esperanto
et Estonian
ee Ewe
fo Faroese
tl Filipino
fi Finnish
fr French
fy Frisian
gaa Ga
gl Galician
ka Georgian
de German
el Greek
gn Guarani
gu Gujarati
ht Haitian Creole
ha Hausa
haw Hawaiian
iw Hebrew
hi Hindi
hmn Hmong
hu Hungarian
is Icelandic
ig Igbo
id Indonesian
ia Interlingua
ga Irish
it Italian
ja Japanese
jw Javanese
kn Kannada
kk Kazakh
rw Kinyarwanda
rn Kirundi
kg Kongo
ko Korean Download
kri Krio (Sierra Leone)
ku Kurdish
ckb Kurdish (Soranî)
ky Kyrgyz
lo Laothian
la Latin
lv Latvian
ln Lingala
lt Lithuanian
loz Lozi
lg Luganda
ach Luo
lb Luxembourgish
mk Macedonian
mg Malagasy
ms Malay
ml Malayalam
mt Maltese
mi Maori
mr Marathi
mfe Mauritian Creole
mo Moldavian
mn Mongolian
my Myanmar (Burmese)
sr-ME Montenegrin
ne Nepali
pcm Nigerian Pidgin
nso Northern Sotho
no Norwegian
nn Norwegian (Nynorsk)
oc Occitan
or Oriya
om Oromo
ps Pashto
fa Persian
pl Polish
pt-BR Portuguese (Brazil)
pt Portuguese (Portugal)
pa Punjabi
qu Quechua
ro Romanian
rm Romansh
nyn Runyakitara
ru Russian
sm Samoan
gd Scots Gaelic
sr Serbian
sh Serbo-Croatian
st Sesotho
tn Setswana
crs Seychellois Creole
sn Shona
sd Sindhi
si Sinhalese
sk Slovak
sl Slovenian
so Somali
es Spanish
es-419 Spanish (Latin American) Download
su Sundanese
sw Swahili
sv Swedish
tg Tajik
ta Tamil
tt Tatar
te Telugu
th Thai
ti Tigrinya
to Tonga
lua Tshiluba
tum Tumbuka
tr Turkish
tk Turkmen
tw Twi
ug Uighur
uk Ukrainian
ur Urdu
uz Uzbek
vi Vietnamese
cy Welsh
wo Wolof
xh Xhosa
yi Yiddish
yo Yoruba
zu Zulu
Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:00,092 --> 00:00:01,344 2 00:00:03,387 --> 00:00:04,805 3 00:00:02,006 --> 00:00:06,084 ["Hip-Hop" by Dead Prez playing] ♪ Uh, uh, uh, 1, 2, 1, 2 ♪ 4 00:00:06,168 --> 00:00:11,422 ♪ Uh, uh, 1, 2, 1, 2, uh, uh ♪ 5 00:00:11,506 --> 00:00:14,286 ♪ One thing 'bout music when it hit, you feel no pain ♪ 6 00:00:14,370 --> 00:00:15,835 ♪ White folks say it controls your brain ♪ 7 00:00:15,919 --> 00:00:17,387 ♪ I know better than that, that's game ♪ 8 00:00:17,471 --> 00:00:19,430 ♪ And we ready for that Two soldiers, head of the pack ♪ 9 00:00:19,514 --> 00:00:20,743 ♪ Matter of fact, who got the gat? ♪ 10 00:00:20,827 --> 00:00:22,080 ♪ And where my army at? 11 00:00:22,164 --> 00:00:23,345 ♪ Rather attack and not react ♪ 12 00:00:23,429 --> 00:00:28,756 ♪ It's bigger than a hip-hop Hip-hop, hip-hop, hip ♪ 13 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:34,679 ♪ It's bigger than a hip-hop Hip-hop, hip-hop ♪ 14 00:00:35,874 --> 00:00:38,417 [sirens wailing] 15 00:00:44,064 --> 00:00:48,192 [drum beats] 16 00:00:48,276 --> 00:00:52,172 [Shad] Hip hop's story in the 1970s was all about overcoming. 17 00:00:52,256 --> 00:00:56,050 Overcoming poverty, violence and neglect. 18 00:00:56,134 --> 00:00:59,595 But the '80s held an entirely different promise for hip hop: 19 00:00:59,679 --> 00:01:00,972 success. 20 00:01:01,481 --> 00:01:04,267 The early hits turned hip hop into a business, 21 00:01:04,351 --> 00:01:06,338 rappers into stars 22 00:01:06,422 --> 00:01:08,922 and put money in everyone's pockets. 23 00:01:09,534 --> 00:01:12,677 And it was a kid from Queens who would envision hip hop's future 24 00:01:12,761 --> 00:01:14,554 and become its first mogul. 25 00:01:14,638 --> 00:01:16,858 ["I Need A Beat" by LL Cool J playing] 26 00:01:16,942 --> 00:01:18,374 ♪ I need a beat, I need a beat ♪ 27 00:01:18,458 --> 00:01:20,051 ♪ I need a beat I need a beat ♪ 28 00:01:20,135 --> 00:01:21,922 ♪ I need a beat I need a beat ♪ 29 00:01:22,006 --> 00:01:25,967 [music playing] 30 00:01:26,051 --> 00:01:27,026 [intercom] Hello. 31 00:01:27,110 --> 00:01:28,416 Hey, it's Shad for Russell Simmons. 32 00:01:30,534 --> 00:01:32,046 ♪ I need a beat, I need a beat ♪ 33 00:01:32,130 --> 00:01:33,429 ♪ I need a beat I need a beat ♪ 34 00:01:33,513 --> 00:01:35,749 ♪ I need a beat I need a beat ♪ 35 00:01:36,383 --> 00:01:37,676 [Shad] Thanks for your time, Russell. 36 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:40,011 I'd love to start by asking you about Hollis, Queens. 37 00:01:40,095 --> 00:01:43,473 I grew up in Hollis, Queens. Um, when I moved in it was 38 00:01:43,557 --> 00:01:46,260 mostly a black neighborhood. There were few white families left, 39 00:01:46,344 --> 00:01:47,668 and the community was a lower middle class 40 00:01:47,752 --> 00:01:49,549 African-American neighborhood. 41 00:01:49,633 --> 00:01:52,787 It quickly became the heroin capital of Queens, 42 00:01:52,871 --> 00:01:55,843 and it destroyed the fabric of the community. 43 00:01:55,927 --> 00:01:58,136 And... and that was right there on our corner. 44 00:01:58,220 --> 00:02:00,306 That corner drew a lot of us to it, 45 00:02:00,390 --> 00:02:02,775 and some of us didn't all sell heroin and take heroin. 46 00:02:02,859 --> 00:02:05,853 Some of us sold weed. I was one of them. 47 00:02:05,937 --> 00:02:10,541 I was fortunate enough to escape. Most of my friends didn't. 48 00:02:10,625 --> 00:02:13,086 Eventually, I got shipped off to City College, 49 00:02:13,170 --> 00:02:14,815 which was a big deal for me going there 50 00:02:14,899 --> 00:02:18,132 to Harlem and discovering the hip hop world. 51 00:02:18,177 --> 00:02:20,095 ♪ Grandmaster Caz, you are the Cap ♪ 52 00:02:20,179 --> 00:02:22,347 ♪ So get on the mic and show 'em you're the lord of rap ♪ 53 00:02:22,456 --> 00:02:24,934 [Russell Simmons] About 1977 I saw Eddie Cheba Rap. 54 00:02:25,417 --> 00:02:28,670 And D.J. Hollywood and the Cold Crush Brothers 55 00:02:28,754 --> 00:02:32,522 and Melle Mel and the Furious 5. Them names were fantastic. 56 00:02:32,606 --> 00:02:33,497 I never seen nothing like it. 57 00:02:33,581 --> 00:02:35,759 It was the next generation ushering in a new idea. 58 00:02:37,888 --> 00:02:39,187 Everything was uncharted. 59 00:02:39,271 --> 00:02:42,458 I didn't know what I wanted except, you know, to be cool for that moment. 60 00:02:42,542 --> 00:02:44,760 And the music, I wanted to give it to everybody. 61 00:02:45,254 --> 00:02:47,957 Instead of selling drugs, I started promoting parties, 62 00:02:48,041 --> 00:02:52,625 and that was a real shift. You know, I had aspiration to survive. 63 00:02:52,709 --> 00:02:53,945 ♪ You hear my You hear my ♪ 64 00:02:54,029 --> 00:02:55,397 ♪ You hear my You hear my voice ♪ 65 00:02:55,481 --> 00:02:56,860 [Sal Abbatiello] Russell really liked to party. 66 00:02:56,944 --> 00:02:58,700 But in the day, when he was straight, 67 00:02:58,784 --> 00:03:01,211 never got high in the day. He only got high at night. 68 00:03:01,295 --> 00:03:03,956 He wasn't into today. He was into tomorrow. 69 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:05,916 Russell was always looking forward. 70 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,875 [Bill Adler] Not only was he granted access everywhere, 71 00:03:08,959 --> 00:03:13,248 but he wanted to go everywhere and he was welcome everywhere. 72 00:03:13,332 --> 00:03:15,175 [music playing] 73 00:03:15,259 --> 00:03:17,052 [Russell Simmons] I remember the first party I gave, 74 00:03:17,136 --> 00:03:20,230 Kurtis Blow performed at the Hotel Diplomat. 75 00:03:20,314 --> 00:03:22,390 I brought Grandmaster Flash downtown. 76 00:03:22,474 --> 00:03:25,101 Flash came alone and let Kurtis be his MC. 77 00:03:25,185 --> 00:03:26,508 I remember exactly what he said, 78 00:03:26,592 --> 00:03:27,893 "People in the place they base in the face 79 00:03:27,977 --> 00:03:29,729 you're about to see first place in the rap race. 80 00:03:29,813 --> 00:03:31,775 Sounds you hear so good to ear, have no fear, 81 00:03:31,859 --> 00:03:34,520 Kurtis Blow is here." It was electrifying. 82 00:03:34,604 --> 00:03:35,745 ["Christmas Rappin’” by Kurtis Blow playing] 83 00:03:35,829 --> 00:03:37,217 ♪ Don't you give me all that jive ♪ 84 00:03:37,301 --> 00:03:39,614 ♪ About things you wrote before I's alive ♪ 85 00:03:39,698 --> 00:03:43,873 ♪ 'Cause this ain't 1823 Ain't even 1970 ♪ 86 00:03:43,957 --> 00:03:48,590 I met Russell in college. Russell was a promoter. 87 00:03:49,187 --> 00:03:51,920 And so I told him about what I wanted to do, 88 00:03:52,004 --> 00:03:53,546 breaking into the music industry, 89 00:03:53,630 --> 00:03:56,189 make records, then do films and all that stuff. 90 00:03:56,273 --> 00:03:59,661 He looked and he realized, "Wow, this kid is serious." 91 00:03:59,745 --> 00:04:02,731 So, Russell became my manager shortly after that. 92 00:04:02,815 --> 00:04:04,799 ♪ Now I'm the guy named Kurtis Blow ♪ 93 00:04:04,883 --> 00:04:07,102 ♪ And Christmas is one thing I know ♪ 94 00:04:07,186 --> 00:04:09,396 ♪ So every year just about this time ♪ 95 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:11,815 ♪ I celebrate it with a rhyme ♪ 96 00:04:11,899 --> 00:04:14,032 [Kurtis Blow] After we made Christmas Rap, 97 00:04:14,451 --> 00:04:16,653 we went out to 22 different labels 98 00:04:16,737 --> 00:04:19,028 trying to sell this record. They said no. 99 00:04:19,457 --> 00:04:22,033 So, we knew that Frankie Crocker 100 00:04:22,117 --> 00:04:25,528 was the number one DJ in New York City, WBLS. 101 00:04:25,612 --> 00:04:28,849 We found out Frankie used to hang out after work 102 00:04:28,933 --> 00:04:30,492 at a club called Leviticus. 103 00:04:30,576 --> 00:04:32,911 Russell said, "Look this is what we gonna do. 104 00:04:32,995 --> 00:04:35,913 We gonna take this record and we'll pay the DJ. 105 00:04:36,303 --> 00:04:37,966 When Frankie comes in and sits at the bar, 106 00:04:38,050 --> 00:04:40,986 gets his first drink, we want the DJ to play the record, 107 00:04:41,070 --> 00:04:43,430 we gonna have a whole college crew 108 00:04:43,514 --> 00:04:46,483 in the house and we just gonna lose our mind 109 00:04:46,567 --> 00:04:49,853 when that record comes on." Russell said, "Now, let's go," 110 00:04:49,937 --> 00:04:51,396 and the DJ threw on "Christmas Rap." 111 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:55,650 [singing "Christmas Rap" intro] 112 00:04:55,734 --> 00:04:57,569 ♪ Don't you give me all that jive ♪ 113 00:04:57,653 --> 00:04:59,946 ♪ About things you wrote before I's alive ♪ 114 00:05:00,030 --> 00:05:03,730 The crowd went crazy! Whoa, whoa! Whoa! 115 00:05:03,814 --> 00:05:06,161 Everybody's dancing and doing their best move. 116 00:05:06,245 --> 00:05:07,426 Frankie's like... 117 00:05:08,418 --> 00:05:11,596 "What is this?" He got up, went over to the DJ, 118 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:13,502 he said, "What's the name of that song?" 119 00:05:14,811 --> 00:05:16,188 The guy says, "It's 'Christmas Rap.' 120 00:05:16,271 --> 00:05:18,231 It's the artist right there, Kurtis Blow." 121 00:05:18,315 --> 00:05:20,484 He shook my hand and, "Nice to meet you, young Kurtis." 122 00:05:20,567 --> 00:05:22,569 [Russell Simmons] And on Christmas morning, 123 00:05:22,653 --> 00:05:23,987 Frankie Crocker played the record. 124 00:05:24,934 --> 00:05:26,765 I couldn't believe it. I was upstairs, 125 00:05:26,849 --> 00:05:28,483 I was smoking a joint in the attic. 126 00:05:28,617 --> 00:05:30,619 "Oh, shit." I ran downstairs 127 00:05:30,702 --> 00:05:32,871 and there it was, "Christmas Rappin'" on the radio. 128 00:05:33,830 --> 00:05:35,999 Next thing I know, I was on a plane going to Amsterdam. 129 00:05:36,083 --> 00:05:38,293 The record was playing all over Europe, 130 00:05:38,377 --> 00:05:40,087 and I couldn't believe it. I'd never been on a plane. 131 00:05:40,170 --> 00:05:41,713 I had to get off the plane in Amsterdam, 132 00:05:41,797 --> 00:05:42,923 and it was Kurtis Blow and myself 133 00:05:43,006 --> 00:05:44,633 and it was like, "What do you want, Mr. Simmons? 134 00:05:44,716 --> 00:05:47,010 I knew we made it 'cause they can call you Mr. Simmons. 135 00:05:47,094 --> 00:05:49,179 I said, "I'd like some cocaine and some pussy." 136 00:05:49,288 --> 00:05:50,872 And I knew made it when he said, "Of course." 137 00:05:50,956 --> 00:05:53,208 ♪ And the drummer played at a solid pace ♪ 138 00:05:55,294 --> 00:05:57,825 ♪ And a taste of the bass was in my face ♪ 139 00:05:59,556 --> 00:06:03,818 [Bill Adler] Kurtis Blow is the first solo MC 140 00:06:03,902 --> 00:06:06,969 of the recorded era. Here comes a Christmas record 141 00:06:07,053 --> 00:06:10,233 and they're still playing it in February and March. 142 00:06:10,317 --> 00:06:11,927 Kurtis Blow had a lot of pop appeal. 143 00:06:12,011 --> 00:06:14,980 He was good looking, he was well spoken, 144 00:06:15,064 --> 00:06:18,066 he had charisma, but there was nothing about him, 145 00:06:18,150 --> 00:06:19,734 except for the fact that he rapped, 146 00:06:19,793 --> 00:06:21,753 that represented a huge break 147 00:06:21,837 --> 00:06:24,506 with the R&B that had preceded him. 148 00:06:24,589 --> 00:06:26,967 ♪ And the guitar player laid down a heavy layer ♪ 149 00:06:27,059 --> 00:06:29,417 ♪ Of the funky junky rhythm of the disco beat ♪ 150 00:06:30,923 --> 00:06:33,973 [Nelson George] Russell's big fight during the Kurtis Blow era. 151 00:06:34,057 --> 00:06:36,626 He was in the studio when they were making those records, 152 00:06:36,710 --> 00:06:38,755 and he kept saying it was too much music. 153 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:40,977 But he didn't have a lot of creative input. 154 00:06:41,061 --> 00:06:43,341 Russell really wanted to make a record 155 00:06:43,425 --> 00:06:47,303 that really reflected the sound that he heard in his head 156 00:06:47,387 --> 00:06:48,399 from the street. 157 00:06:48,483 --> 00:06:50,863 [music playing] 158 00:06:50,947 --> 00:06:52,352 [train whistle] 159 00:06:52,436 --> 00:06:55,342 [Shad] "Christmas Rap" was Russell Simmons' first hit, 160 00:06:55,426 --> 00:06:57,474 but it wasn't the hit he wanted. 161 00:06:57,558 --> 00:07:00,358 Russell wanted to make hip hop on his own terms. 162 00:07:00,442 --> 00:07:02,653 He wanted to take hip hop back to its roots, 163 00:07:03,168 --> 00:07:04,947 and he'd find the right kids to do this 164 00:07:05,031 --> 00:07:06,644 in his own backyard. 165 00:07:06,728 --> 00:07:09,075 He formed a group that would eventually become known 166 00:07:09,159 --> 00:07:11,161 as the Beatles of Hip Hop. 167 00:07:11,245 --> 00:07:17,804 [heavy beats] 168 00:07:18,617 --> 00:07:21,078 -[Shad] Thanks for the time. -Thank you. Glad to be here, man. 169 00:07:21,162 --> 00:07:23,833 [Shad] I'd love to ask you about the development of RUN-D.M.C. 170 00:07:23,917 --> 00:07:25,334 [Darryl 'D.M.C.' McDaniels] I met Joseph Simmons. 171 00:07:25,418 --> 00:07:27,218 We went to the same elementary school. 172 00:07:27,302 --> 00:07:29,228 Joe was a veteran already. 173 00:07:29,312 --> 00:07:32,288 He DJ'd for Kurtis Blow since he was 12 years old. 174 00:07:32,372 --> 00:07:34,510 He said "Yo, my brother's Russell Simmons," this and that. 175 00:07:34,594 --> 00:07:37,277 Now I knew his brother was managing Kurt 176 00:07:37,329 --> 00:07:39,748 and doing all of that. Then one particular day, 177 00:07:39,831 --> 00:07:42,334 Run found all my rhymes that I was writing 178 00:07:42,417 --> 00:07:44,252 just pretending to be the Cold Crush. 179 00:07:44,336 --> 00:07:46,713 So, he saw that. He was like, "Darryl, 180 00:07:46,829 --> 00:07:49,253 you wrote all these rhymes?" And I was like, "Yeah, it's like 181 00:07:49,299 --> 00:07:51,593 fucking school work. I'm a brainiac. Yes, I'm a genius." 182 00:07:51,676 --> 00:07:53,428 And I remember the day he said, this was ninth grade, 183 00:07:53,541 --> 00:07:56,985 he looked at me and said, "Whenever Russell lets me make a record, 184 00:07:57,057 --> 00:07:57,933 I'm putting you in my group." 185 00:07:58,016 --> 00:07:59,851 It was like he was speaking a foreign language to me. 186 00:07:59,935 --> 00:08:02,145 I said, "What the fuck did he just say?" and didn't think none about it. 187 00:08:02,229 --> 00:08:04,856 [Russell Simmons] My brother Joey was a very good DJ. 188 00:08:04,940 --> 00:08:06,274 He used to cut records in the attic 189 00:08:06,358 --> 00:08:08,360 and he cut so fast he just between the music. 190 00:08:08,443 --> 00:08:10,237 That was an amazing thing to watch him do. 191 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:12,322 Kurtis would say, "Faster than a speeding bullet from a gun, 192 00:08:12,431 --> 00:08:15,281 my disco son, DJ Run," and he would cut the records. 193 00:08:15,325 --> 00:08:17,661 He rapped also with Kurtis a lot, 194 00:08:17,744 --> 00:08:19,620 so, Joey kept honing his craft until one day 195 00:08:19,745 --> 00:08:21,738 he played me some ideas and stuff, 196 00:08:21,822 --> 00:08:24,904 and I thought maybe he could make a record. 197 00:08:24,988 --> 00:08:27,687 Joey brought his man, D.M.C. Well, he's a great rapper. 198 00:08:27,770 --> 00:08:29,619 And this DJ Jam Master Jay, 199 00:08:29,702 --> 00:08:31,707 and he convinced me that they would make a record. 200 00:08:31,791 --> 00:08:32,879 And we did. 201 00:08:32,963 --> 00:08:36,720 [heavy beats] 202 00:08:36,804 --> 00:08:39,111 [Russell Simmons] When we made "Sucker M.C.'s," everybody's saying, 203 00:08:39,195 --> 00:08:41,307 "Uh, okay then, tomorrow we put the bass and guitars in." 204 00:08:41,391 --> 00:08:44,224 "No, man, we ain't fucking with no bass and no guitar, it's done." 205 00:08:44,308 --> 00:08:45,880 And they were like, "It's done? There's no music." 206 00:08:45,964 --> 00:08:48,593 I said, "Yeah, it's done." And at the time, 207 00:08:48,677 --> 00:08:50,804 no one, no engineer, no one understood. 208 00:08:50,888 --> 00:08:52,610 I said, "No, it's done. Why would it not be done? 209 00:08:52,694 --> 00:08:53,805 It's dope, right?" "Yeah, it's dope." 210 00:08:53,889 --> 00:08:55,735 "Well, what the fuck, what do you want to do it?" 211 00:08:55,819 --> 00:08:58,059 -♪ Now scream! ♪ -[audience] Oh! 212 00:08:58,143 --> 00:09:00,603 ♪ Two years ago a friend of mine ♪ 213 00:09:00,687 --> 00:09:02,647 ♪ Asked me to say some MC rhymes ♪ 214 00:09:02,731 --> 00:09:05,233 ♪ So I said this rhyme I'm about to say ♪ 215 00:09:05,317 --> 00:09:07,895 ♪ The rhyme was Def-Jam Master Jay ♪ 216 00:09:07,979 --> 00:09:10,405 [Russell Simmons] So doing that, without music, 217 00:09:10,489 --> 00:09:11,946 without anything but the scratch on it, 218 00:09:12,030 --> 00:09:14,363 it seems like a pretty simple thing to do, 219 00:09:14,447 --> 00:09:16,951 but at the time it seemed like a very hard thing to do. 220 00:09:17,035 --> 00:09:19,251 ♪ And Jay cut the record down to the bone ♪ 221 00:09:19,335 --> 00:09:21,100 [Darryl 'D.M.C' McDaniels] Everybody's perception was, 222 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:24,806 "Nobody's gonna wanna listen to... 223 00:09:25,381 --> 00:09:28,275 empty beats with a dude rhyming about chicken 224 00:09:28,359 --> 00:09:30,341 and collard greens and St. John's University." 225 00:09:30,425 --> 00:09:32,635 ♪ I'm D.M.C. in the place to be ♪ 226 00:09:32,719 --> 00:09:35,055 ♪ I go to St. John's University ♪ 227 00:09:35,139 --> 00:09:37,356 ♪ And since kindergarten I acquired the knowledge ♪ 228 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:39,726 ♪ And after 12th grade I went straight to college ♪ 229 00:09:39,810 --> 00:09:41,979 ♪ I'm light-skinned From Hollis, Queens ♪ 230 00:09:42,063 --> 00:09:44,190 ♪ And I love eatin' franks and pork n' beans ♪ 231 00:09:44,274 --> 00:09:45,311 ♪ I dress to kill ♪ 232 00:09:45,395 --> 00:09:49,169 Run-D.M.C. did what we was doing in the parks. 233 00:09:49,253 --> 00:09:51,988 That was hip hop to me. All the other stuff was just, 234 00:09:52,072 --> 00:09:55,074 you know, on records they would take the hot R&B song 235 00:09:55,158 --> 00:09:57,977 and put some rhymes over it. It wasn't "The Message." 236 00:09:58,061 --> 00:10:02,815 It wasn't "Planet Rock." It wasn't a sample of a hot R&B song, 237 00:10:02,899 --> 00:10:06,701 and so, to the hood, it was like, "That's that shit," 238 00:10:06,785 --> 00:10:10,957 'cause it's familiar. It was different to the commercial, live... 239 00:10:11,041 --> 00:10:13,301 No, it was different to the civilized world. 240 00:10:13,385 --> 00:10:16,179 And to everybody uncivilized, it was that familiar thing. 241 00:10:16,263 --> 00:10:17,322 That's why it worked. 242 00:10:17,406 --> 00:10:20,019 ♪ Huh ha, one, two ♪ 243 00:10:20,103 --> 00:10:22,316 [DJ Premier] When "Sucker M.C.'s" came out, 244 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:24,817 it was just a new sound, period, 245 00:10:24,901 --> 00:10:27,690 like, most things were instrumentations, you know, 246 00:10:27,749 --> 00:10:29,459 all the Sugar Hill records were bands, 247 00:10:29,542 --> 00:10:31,836 and even the Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five records 248 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:35,715 all that stuff was bands. But when it came down to, 249 00:10:35,799 --> 00:10:37,926 you know, Run-D.M.C. and Jam Master Jay, 250 00:10:38,026 --> 00:10:40,703 like, it was just a drum machine. 251 00:10:40,787 --> 00:10:42,105 To just hear that, even that drum roll. 252 00:10:42,180 --> 00:10:44,432 ♪ Boom-da-da-da-da-da-da-da ♪ 253 00:10:44,516 --> 00:10:47,185 [music playing] 254 00:10:47,269 --> 00:10:48,478 It just sounded big. 255 00:10:48,561 --> 00:10:51,231 It sounded like your shoes were oversized 256 00:10:51,314 --> 00:10:53,191 and every time you walked the Earth shook. 257 00:10:53,300 --> 00:10:55,428 ♪ We have, we have, we have ♪ 258 00:10:56,695 --> 00:11:01,366 ♪ A whole lot of superstars on this stage here tonight ♪ 259 00:11:01,475 --> 00:11:03,726 ♪ But I want y'all to know one thing ♪ 260 00:11:03,810 --> 00:11:06,204 ♪ This is my house ♪ 261 00:11:06,288 --> 00:11:08,523 [Russell Simmons] Run-D.M.C. did things that made them pop 262 00:11:08,963 --> 00:11:10,562 by sticking to their roots. 263 00:11:10,646 --> 00:11:12,026 You know, the whole idea of keeping it real 264 00:11:12,110 --> 00:11:13,778 was something that Run-D.M.C. 265 00:11:13,862 --> 00:11:16,781 did because people dressed like where they were being accepted, 266 00:11:16,865 --> 00:11:18,350 and they were accepted and loved 267 00:11:18,434 --> 00:11:20,090 by the people who just were from the street 268 00:11:20,174 --> 00:11:21,369 and loved it because it was their music. 269 00:11:21,453 --> 00:11:23,621 ♪ Ah, once again, my friend Not a trend for then ♪ 270 00:11:23,705 --> 00:11:26,249 ♪ They said, rap was crap But never had this band ♪ 271 00:11:26,333 --> 00:11:27,576 ♪ Till the ruler came ♪ 272 00:11:27,660 --> 00:11:30,315 [Russell Simmons] Their costume was the hood uniform that they wore. 273 00:11:30,399 --> 00:11:32,404 The letter suits, the black velour hats, 274 00:11:32,488 --> 00:11:35,007 the shell toes, all that. That was Hollis, Queens. 275 00:11:35,091 --> 00:11:36,217 That was Brooklyn. 276 00:11:36,301 --> 00:11:39,150 You know, and so it resonated as a real outfit. 277 00:11:39,234 --> 00:11:42,314 [Nelson George] Russell had an innate understanding of that stuff. 278 00:11:42,398 --> 00:11:43,524 You know, the most important thing 279 00:11:43,608 --> 00:11:44,762 he might have done in his whole career 280 00:11:44,846 --> 00:11:46,777 was to get Run-D.M.C. out of those jackets. 281 00:11:46,861 --> 00:11:48,438 They were wearing those check jackets on stage. 282 00:11:48,522 --> 00:11:50,473 You see the pictures of them at The Disco Fever. 283 00:11:50,557 --> 00:11:53,707 Put them in the Adidas stuff and make them more street. 284 00:11:54,539 --> 00:11:56,088 That was a game-changer. 285 00:11:56,172 --> 00:11:58,322 [Kevin Powell] All of a sudden, you have a group that comes along 286 00:11:58,406 --> 00:11:59,837 who dresses the way you dress. 287 00:11:59,921 --> 00:12:01,367 You know, we were all wearing Adidas 288 00:12:01,451 --> 00:12:04,617 or Puma sneakers with fat shoelaces or no shoelaces. 289 00:12:04,701 --> 00:12:07,833 We were wearing Kangol hats and Lee jeans or, you know, 290 00:12:07,917 --> 00:12:10,251 jean suits as you called them back then. 291 00:12:10,335 --> 00:12:13,053 They dress like you, they talk like you, 292 00:12:13,137 --> 00:12:15,472 and it was explosive. 293 00:12:15,556 --> 00:12:18,050 ♪ Well, my name is D.M.C. The all-time great ♪ 294 00:12:18,134 --> 00:12:20,511 ♪ I bust the most rhymes in New York state ♪ 295 00:12:20,595 --> 00:12:23,097 ♪ Reporters claw Producers die ♪ 296 00:12:23,181 --> 00:12:25,224 ♪ They want to be down with the king! ♪ 297 00:12:25,308 --> 00:12:27,789 When I first seen that they did that, I was like, 298 00:12:27,873 --> 00:12:29,698 "Why the fuck would you do something like that?" 299 00:12:29,782 --> 00:12:32,206 You know, we had, like, thousand-dollar leather outfits. 300 00:12:32,290 --> 00:12:36,351 We had a tailor. You know, you know, no leather, no knee-high boots 301 00:12:36,435 --> 00:12:38,279 'cause we wanted to compare our self 302 00:12:38,363 --> 00:12:40,406 to what was going on, you know, to Rick James 303 00:12:40,490 --> 00:12:44,516 and Cameo, the Bar-Kays, Con-Funk-Shun, Zapp. 304 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:46,187 You know, we wanted to compare ourselves to that, 305 00:12:46,262 --> 00:12:47,972 and then when it just got down to the point, 306 00:12:48,056 --> 00:12:51,684 okay, you just got on a Kangol and some sneakers and shit 307 00:12:51,768 --> 00:12:54,979 it's like, "Come on, man, you-y'all, you just fucked the game up." 308 00:12:55,063 --> 00:12:56,940 [Grandmaster Caz] They didn't invent anything. 309 00:12:57,046 --> 00:12:59,634 They just dressed the way we dressed 310 00:12:59,692 --> 00:13:00,944 before we get on the stage. 311 00:13:01,027 --> 00:13:05,281 We were trying to be superstars, you know, with a fox tail 312 00:13:05,390 --> 00:13:08,392 hanging around your neck with seven belts, 313 00:13:08,476 --> 00:13:10,250 two chains hanging from your shit, 314 00:13:10,334 --> 00:13:13,147 two pairs of panties on this shoulder, right, 315 00:13:13,231 --> 00:13:16,827 and a patch over your eye with a fucking cowboy hat on, ya. 316 00:13:18,153 --> 00:13:21,860 A'ight? It was like, "Okay, I think we've gone a little too far." 317 00:13:23,925 --> 00:13:26,010 ♪ Who's house? ♪ 318 00:13:26,094 --> 00:13:28,388 ♪ Run's house! ♪ 319 00:13:28,471 --> 00:13:31,516 ♪ Run, Run, Run, Run, Run ♪ 320 00:13:31,933 --> 00:13:33,101 -♪ Run ♪ -[vinyl scratching] 321 00:13:33,184 --> 00:13:35,520 We going to wear Adidas 'cause that's what we always wore. 322 00:13:35,618 --> 00:13:37,387 They got all the colors and all the styles. 323 00:13:37,471 --> 00:13:39,549 Black and white, white with black stripe. 324 00:13:39,633 --> 00:13:41,801 ♪ The ones I like to wear when I rock the mic ♪ 325 00:13:41,885 --> 00:13:43,277 [Nelson George] At some point they realized, 326 00:13:43,361 --> 00:13:45,281 "We're selling a lot of sneakers for Adidas. 327 00:13:45,739 --> 00:13:47,959 Maybe there's a way for us to make money off this." 328 00:13:48,043 --> 00:13:51,690 [Bill Adler] Russell understood what these sneakers meant 329 00:13:52,131 --> 00:13:56,524 and how emblematic they were of the culture at large, 330 00:13:56,608 --> 00:14:00,067 so, he suggested to Run and to D that they make 331 00:14:00,151 --> 00:14:02,989 a song called "My Adidas." 332 00:14:04,033 --> 00:14:06,033 [Nelson George] And they got some representatives 333 00:14:06,117 --> 00:14:09,288 from Adidas to come to a concert at Madison Square Garden. 334 00:14:09,912 --> 00:14:13,165 And they asked the audience to hold up their Adidas sneakers. 335 00:14:13,249 --> 00:14:15,347 ♪ Come on, put 'em up in the air ♪ 336 00:14:16,703 --> 00:14:18,379 [Darryl 'D.M.C.' McDaniels] Madison Square Garden, 337 00:14:18,463 --> 00:14:20,271 packed, 20,000 people. 338 00:14:20,799 --> 00:14:23,009 Hold it up. What is that? 339 00:14:23,093 --> 00:14:29,832 ♪ My... ♪ 340 00:14:29,916 --> 00:14:36,455 ♪ My... ♪ 341 00:14:37,023 --> 00:14:38,146 ♪ Adidas! ♪ 342 00:14:38,230 --> 00:14:39,891 ♪ Walk through concert doors ♪ 343 00:14:39,975 --> 00:14:42,361 ♪ And roam all over coliseum floors ♪ 344 00:14:42,445 --> 00:14:44,947 ♪ I stepped on stage at Live Aid ♪ 345 00:14:45,031 --> 00:14:47,617 ♪ All the people gave an applause that paid ♪ 346 00:14:47,701 --> 00:14:49,452 [Darryl 'D.M.C.' McDaniels] Everybody had on new Adidas. 347 00:14:49,536 --> 00:14:51,287 It was nothing but three stripes in there 348 00:14:51,371 --> 00:14:54,082 and that made Adidas say, "Yo, we giving y'all a deal." 349 00:14:54,166 --> 00:14:56,667 ♪ My Adidas and me Close as can be ♪ 350 00:14:56,751 --> 00:14:59,045 ♪ We make a mean team My Adidas and me ♪ 351 00:14:59,129 --> 00:15:01,757 ♪ We get around together We're down forever ♪ 352 00:15:01,841 --> 00:15:04,258 ♪ And we won't be mad when worn in bad weather ♪ 353 00:15:04,342 --> 00:15:05,560 ♪ My Adidas ♪ 354 00:15:05,644 --> 00:15:09,021 ♪ Yo, what's the name of this jam? ♪ 355 00:15:09,105 --> 00:15:11,687 [Darryl 'D.M.C' McDaniels] It was the first time a non-athletic entity 356 00:15:11,771 --> 00:15:15,323 got an endorsement from an athletic apparel company. 357 00:15:15,407 --> 00:15:17,965 ♪ Got blue and black 'cause I like to chill ♪ 358 00:15:18,049 --> 00:15:20,508 ♪ And yellow and green when it's time to get ill ♪ 359 00:15:20,592 --> 00:15:21,848 [Kevin Powell] Run-D.M.C. was the first group 360 00:15:21,932 --> 00:15:24,570 to show the power of branding. 361 00:15:24,654 --> 00:15:27,073 They actually influenced how kids talked, walked, 362 00:15:27,157 --> 00:15:29,450 what they dressed, what they eat, everything. 363 00:15:29,534 --> 00:15:33,496 [music playing] 364 00:15:33,580 --> 00:15:35,498 [Shad] With the success of Run-D.M.C., 365 00:15:35,582 --> 00:15:37,291 Russell Simmons was beginning to realize 366 00:15:37,375 --> 00:15:40,144 his vision for the future of hip hop. 367 00:15:40,228 --> 00:15:43,340 Keep it street and make the masses come to you, 368 00:15:43,772 --> 00:15:47,051 and he would find an ally in the unlikeliest of characters. 369 00:15:47,135 --> 00:15:49,840 A white punk rock college kid from Long Island 370 00:15:49,924 --> 00:15:51,910 who became obsessed with this new sound 371 00:15:51,994 --> 00:15:53,474 coming from the New York clubs. 372 00:15:53,558 --> 00:15:56,560 [scratching beats] 373 00:15:56,644 --> 00:15:59,480 [music playing] 374 00:15:59,564 --> 00:16:01,939 [Jazzy Jay] I used to play at Danceteria every Thursday. 375 00:16:02,023 --> 00:16:04,026 Danceteria was-was one of those clubs 376 00:16:04,110 --> 00:16:08,214 that had a crazy atmosphere because it was multi-racial. 377 00:16:08,298 --> 00:16:10,593 You had blacks, Hispanics, whites, 378 00:16:11,083 --> 00:16:13,160 and I was the weekly DJ on the Thursday, 379 00:16:13,244 --> 00:16:15,426 and every week this big white dude 380 00:16:15,510 --> 00:16:17,498 just comes and stand in front of the booth. 381 00:16:17,582 --> 00:16:20,376 I mean, every week he'd stand there in front of the booth 382 00:16:20,460 --> 00:16:24,088 from the time I'd get there until the end. 383 00:16:24,172 --> 00:16:26,308 Then one day he came up and introduced himself. 384 00:16:26,392 --> 00:16:27,495 He said that, you know, 385 00:16:27,579 --> 00:16:29,760 he wanted to break into the music business, 386 00:16:29,844 --> 00:16:31,432 that he wanted to produce. 387 00:16:31,855 --> 00:16:33,639 He had a song that he wanted to do, 388 00:16:33,723 --> 00:16:36,932 so he invited me and T La Rock to help him do it. 389 00:16:37,016 --> 00:16:39,396 Me and Rick kind of programmed the beat, 390 00:16:39,872 --> 00:16:43,566 got it tight, I did all of the orchestration, 391 00:16:43,650 --> 00:16:46,652 putting everything together and choo. 392 00:16:46,736 --> 00:16:48,779 ♪ Commentating, illustrating ♪ 393 00:16:48,863 --> 00:16:51,215 ♪ Description giving, adjective expert ♪ 394 00:16:51,299 --> 00:16:52,765 [Russell Simmons] Rick, he had made a record that was, 395 00:16:52,849 --> 00:16:55,919 "It's Yours," was so dope and I remember, "Commentating. 396 00:16:56,003 --> 00:16:57,872 Illustrating, description giving, adjective expert, 397 00:16:57,956 --> 00:17:00,041 analyzing, surmising, musical myth-seeking people." 398 00:17:00,125 --> 00:17:01,792 I remember that shit like, "Holy shit." 399 00:17:01,876 --> 00:17:03,669 Must have smoked a lot of dust while listening to that record 400 00:17:03,753 --> 00:17:06,655 'cause I remember that shit. It was a phenomenal record 401 00:17:06,738 --> 00:17:08,622 and it was the only thing on the radio at that time 402 00:17:08,706 --> 00:17:10,524 and it wasn't mine and that record, 403 00:17:10,608 --> 00:17:12,426 I-I assumed it was a Sugar Hill record. 404 00:17:12,510 --> 00:17:15,599 I started calling around and Jazzy Jay told me what it was. 405 00:17:16,516 --> 00:17:18,559 ♪ DJ Jazzy Jay, Jay, Jay ♪ 406 00:17:18,643 --> 00:17:20,244 [Jazzy Jay] Russell came into Danceteria, 407 00:17:20,328 --> 00:17:21,504 begging to get his records played 408 00:17:21,588 --> 00:17:23,314 like he usually do back in those days, 409 00:17:23,398 --> 00:17:24,649 and Rick was like, 410 00:17:25,471 --> 00:17:28,027 "That's Russell Simmons." I'm like, "Yeah." 411 00:17:28,111 --> 00:17:29,279 "Think you could introduce?" 412 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:32,546 "Hey yo, Russell. This is my boy, Rick. 413 00:17:32,630 --> 00:17:34,225 Yo, Rick, Russell Simmons." 414 00:17:34,309 --> 00:17:36,020 Russell can't believe that Rick is white 415 00:17:36,104 --> 00:17:38,093 because he was sure that the person who made that record 416 00:17:38,177 --> 00:17:41,421 was black, but they hit it off very well. 417 00:17:41,905 --> 00:17:43,457 [Jazzy Jay] They sat at the bar. They talked. 418 00:17:43,958 --> 00:17:45,777 By the end of the night they was friends. 419 00:17:45,861 --> 00:17:48,025 He invited Russell down to the studio. 420 00:17:48,109 --> 00:17:50,063 [Russell Simmons] Rick had a drum machine full of hits. 421 00:17:50,147 --> 00:17:52,302 Drum machines were fairly new. 422 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:55,012 Nobody had a drum machine full of hits. 423 00:17:55,096 --> 00:17:57,765 He did. And he was a member of the band, 424 00:17:57,849 --> 00:18:00,267 the Beastie boys. He's DJ Double R, 425 00:18:00,351 --> 00:18:02,436 and he's just a kid who loved hip hop 426 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:04,576 and who had really good-good ears 427 00:18:04,660 --> 00:18:06,649 and was talented beyond belief. 428 00:18:06,733 --> 00:18:09,130 And he had the best logo I ever seen in my life. 429 00:18:09,214 --> 00:18:11,593 [Dan Charnas] Rick proposes that they throw in together 430 00:18:11,677 --> 00:18:13,240 and Russell doesn't want to do it. 431 00:18:13,324 --> 00:18:15,274 He doesn't want to be in business with some college kid. 432 00:18:15,358 --> 00:18:18,744 He's trying to get a big distribution deal from a major label 433 00:18:18,828 --> 00:18:20,566 like EMI, right? 434 00:18:21,041 --> 00:18:22,947 But Rick is very persistent. 435 00:18:23,031 --> 00:18:26,168 So, he brings in the demo for LL Cool J. 436 00:18:26,252 --> 00:18:27,670 ♪ There's no-no glo-glory ♪ 437 00:18:27,754 --> 00:18:29,228 ♪ For this story-story ♪ 438 00:18:29,312 --> 00:18:31,371 ♪ It-it rock-rock in any territory-tory ♪ 439 00:18:31,455 --> 00:18:33,045 [LL Cool J] What's up, my man? Thank you. 440 00:18:33,129 --> 00:18:34,988 Pleasure. Glad to be here, man. 441 00:18:35,072 --> 00:18:36,971 Can you tell us that story of hooking up with Def Jam, 442 00:18:37,055 --> 00:18:38,317 -calling Rick? -[LL Cool J] Every day? 443 00:18:38,401 --> 00:18:40,641 -Every day. -You know, I went to the store. 444 00:18:40,700 --> 00:18:44,704 Um, I bought a song, um, "It's Yours" by T La Rock, 445 00:18:44,787 --> 00:18:45,621 um, 446 00:18:45,716 --> 00:18:48,036 and Rick Rubin's number was on it. 447 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:52,361 His number in his dorm. 212-420-8666. 448 00:18:52,862 --> 00:18:54,026 So, I took a drum machine, 449 00:18:54,110 --> 00:18:55,489 and I went over to my man Frankie's house 450 00:18:55,573 --> 00:18:58,075 and we created this demo, sent it in to Rick. 451 00:18:58,159 --> 00:19:00,370 Um, I called Rick every day, every day, every day 452 00:19:00,454 --> 00:19:01,871 to see if he'd heard it. He hadn't. 453 00:19:01,955 --> 00:19:05,457 Finally, one thing led to another and somehow 454 00:19:05,516 --> 00:19:08,227 Ad Rock from the Beastie Boys, it piqued his interest. 455 00:19:08,753 --> 00:19:11,342 He listened to the demo and then he let Rick hear it, 456 00:19:11,426 --> 00:19:13,591 -and then Rick called me back. -[Shad] And then you go 457 00:19:13,649 --> 00:19:15,401 and you meet Rick for the first time. 458 00:19:15,485 --> 00:19:17,028 What was that experience like? 459 00:19:17,121 --> 00:19:18,262 When he first walked out I was like, 460 00:19:18,346 --> 00:19:21,140 "Oh, I thought you were black." He said, "Cool," you know, 461 00:19:21,224 --> 00:19:24,018 then we walked upstairs, went to his dorm 462 00:19:24,076 --> 00:19:25,828 and started immediately working on a song. 463 00:19:25,912 --> 00:19:29,207 We went over crosstown to Russell, played it for Russell. 464 00:19:29,290 --> 00:19:30,958 He was like, "Ah, it's the same old thing." 465 00:19:31,042 --> 00:19:33,669 Me and Rick went back in the studio and made "I Need A Beat." 466 00:19:33,753 --> 00:19:36,881 [music playing] 467 00:19:36,964 --> 00:19:39,467 [Jazzy Jay] Rick used to listen to it upstairs 468 00:19:39,550 --> 00:19:41,344 and if he didn't like it, he would come downstairs, 469 00:19:41,427 --> 00:19:43,137 pop the cassette in the car. 470 00:19:43,221 --> 00:19:46,516 I had a 1979 Chevy Caprice Classic. 471 00:19:46,891 --> 00:19:50,394 I had this sound system in there that was ridiculous. 472 00:19:50,504 --> 00:19:54,506 [heavy beats] 473 00:19:54,590 --> 00:19:56,842 [Jazzy Jay] It was like a block party on wheels. 474 00:19:56,926 --> 00:20:00,363 If he played it in my car and it sounded right to him, 475 00:20:00,447 --> 00:20:02,053 he was good. He played it in the car 476 00:20:02,137 --> 00:20:03,682 and it didn't meet his standards, 477 00:20:03,766 --> 00:20:05,768 he'd go back upstairs and keep on mixing it 478 00:20:05,852 --> 00:20:08,043 until it sounded right inside my car, 479 00:20:08,127 --> 00:20:09,404 I kid you not. 480 00:20:09,488 --> 00:20:12,274 ♪ They hear me, they fear me They hear me, they fear me ♪ 481 00:20:12,358 --> 00:20:14,694 ♪ I'm improving the conditions of the rap industry ♪ 482 00:20:14,778 --> 00:20:16,737 [Russell Simmons] When I first heard "I Need A Beat," 483 00:20:16,821 --> 00:20:18,047 it was amazing. 484 00:20:18,131 --> 00:20:21,031 I had a deal blooming already to go at EMI, 485 00:20:21,115 --> 00:20:23,619 based on the success of Run-D.M.C. and other groups. 486 00:20:23,703 --> 00:20:25,329 You know, I enjoyed working with Rick more 487 00:20:25,413 --> 00:20:27,330 than I thought having a second company made sense, 488 00:20:27,414 --> 00:20:29,625 so, I threw it all in with Rick and Rick and I went to work 489 00:20:29,709 --> 00:20:30,816 and we built Def Jam. 490 00:20:30,900 --> 00:20:32,920 ♪ When Gangbangers fighting You'll be fighting with six dudes ♪ 491 00:20:33,004 --> 00:20:35,538 -♪ Don't fight, play fair ♪ -♪ They don't fight by the rules ♪ 492 00:20:35,622 --> 00:20:37,091 [reporter] This is the office of Russell Simmons 493 00:20:37,175 --> 00:20:39,984 -of Def Jam label. -[rapper] Yeah, we wanna meet him. 494 00:20:40,391 --> 00:20:43,555 Def Jam was a very small office 495 00:20:43,639 --> 00:20:46,711 on Elizabeth street. The four of us had 496 00:20:47,113 --> 00:20:49,895 three desks and two phones that we had to share. 497 00:20:49,979 --> 00:20:52,231 And there was no air conditioning 498 00:20:52,315 --> 00:20:54,831 and there were lots of crack heads across the street, 499 00:20:54,915 --> 00:20:57,657 but it was great because all we wanted to do 500 00:20:57,741 --> 00:20:59,105 was be around hip hop. 501 00:20:59,530 --> 00:21:02,192 The Def Jam artists at the time were: LL Cool J, 502 00:21:02,276 --> 00:21:04,511 Slick Rick, the Beastie Boys. 503 00:21:04,595 --> 00:21:06,680 Rick was the visionary in terms of making the music, 504 00:21:07,081 --> 00:21:08,376 and Russell was the visionary 505 00:21:08,460 --> 00:21:10,602 in terms of where things were going to go, 506 00:21:10,686 --> 00:21:11,960 and I think that's why the two of them 507 00:21:12,044 --> 00:21:13,507 worked so well together. 508 00:21:13,591 --> 00:21:17,131 If you look at where the industry was in the mid '80s, 509 00:21:17,215 --> 00:21:18,633 Russell could foresee a time 510 00:21:18,717 --> 00:21:20,890 when it was going to be bigger than what it was. 511 00:21:21,193 --> 00:21:22,278 [Russell Simmons] Rappers represented 512 00:21:22,361 --> 00:21:25,281 the voices and aspirations of broke niggas 513 00:21:25,368 --> 00:21:28,099 that were not saleable to mainstream white America 514 00:21:28,159 --> 00:21:30,828 or black America or everyone else, we don't want to hear that shit, 515 00:21:30,912 --> 00:21:35,041 but alternative kids, the white boys who liked new, 516 00:21:35,127 --> 00:21:38,174 creative, innovative music gave rap its props. 517 00:21:38,567 --> 00:21:40,749 So, with that reality, there's a hole in the market, 518 00:21:40,833 --> 00:21:43,640 there's a white space, and so... 519 00:21:43,716 --> 00:21:46,844 we wanted to sell our shit into that space. 520 00:21:46,928 --> 00:21:48,179 ♪ Kick it! ♪ 521 00:21:48,262 --> 00:21:51,974 ["(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)" by Beastie Boys playing] 522 00:21:52,058 --> 00:21:55,186 [music playing] 523 00:21:55,273 --> 00:21:58,817 ♪ You wake up late for school Man, you don't want to go ♪ 524 00:21:59,398 --> 00:22:01,275 [Nelson George] Russell'd already been kind of in search 525 00:22:01,365 --> 00:22:04,011 for that audience that Rick kind of represented. 526 00:22:04,095 --> 00:22:07,746 Rick was a punk guy, and so, both of them saw this 527 00:22:08,342 --> 00:22:10,407 as a kind of a punk thing. 528 00:22:10,491 --> 00:22:14,607 The soft R&B stuff, they don't want us anyway, 529 00:22:15,021 --> 00:22:16,023 so fuck 'em. 530 00:22:16,107 --> 00:22:17,858 ♪ You gotta fight ♪ 531 00:22:17,942 --> 00:22:19,437 ♪ For your right ♪ 532 00:22:20,111 --> 00:22:23,243 ♪ To party ♪ 533 00:22:23,327 --> 00:22:25,949 [Bill Adler] Rick was very influential 534 00:22:26,033 --> 00:22:29,427 in helping the Beastie Boys become the Beastie Boys 535 00:22:29,511 --> 00:22:33,540 that emerged on Licensed to Ill. 536 00:22:33,624 --> 00:22:37,045 The bombastic, beer guzzling, 537 00:22:37,593 --> 00:22:39,755 comical Beastie Boys 538 00:22:39,839 --> 00:22:43,050 that blew up that group persona 539 00:22:43,134 --> 00:22:45,344 was imagined by Rick. 540 00:22:45,428 --> 00:22:47,263 ♪ Aw, Mom, you're just jealous ♪ 541 00:22:47,347 --> 00:22:48,595 -♪ It's the ♪ -♪ Beastie ♪ 542 00:22:48,679 --> 00:22:49,710 ♪ Boys! ♪ 543 00:22:52,034 --> 00:22:53,658 ♪ You gotta fight ♪ 544 00:22:54,353 --> 00:22:55,725 ♪ For your right ♪ 545 00:22:56,189 --> 00:22:58,972 ♪ To party ♪ 546 00:22:59,542 --> 00:23:01,527 [Russell Simmons] When Rick came on, he was perfect as a partner, 547 00:23:01,611 --> 00:23:03,278 because he was a rock and roll guy. 548 00:23:03,362 --> 00:23:05,239 He had no interest in playing an R&B bassline 549 00:23:05,323 --> 00:23:07,255 on a record either, or anything like that. 550 00:23:07,339 --> 00:23:10,995 We hated Michael Jackson. We hated anything pop. 551 00:23:11,079 --> 00:23:13,529 Hated pop niggas more than we hated pop white boys. 552 00:23:14,030 --> 00:23:17,139 We just hated niggas because they hated us, 553 00:23:17,223 --> 00:23:18,861 and we wanted to make sure that we made records 554 00:23:18,945 --> 00:23:20,854 that shoved it in their face. 555 00:23:20,938 --> 00:23:22,282 That was the purpose of hip hop. 556 00:23:22,366 --> 00:23:26,819 New generation, new music, our shit, keep your shit, 557 00:23:26,903 --> 00:23:29,763 and I felt that that was a kind of the fuck you attitude 558 00:23:29,847 --> 00:23:30,993 that rap deserved. 559 00:23:31,077 --> 00:23:36,186 [intro to "Walk This Way'] 560 00:23:36,270 --> 00:23:38,498 [Shad] With LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys, 561 00:23:38,582 --> 00:23:41,067 Def Jam put a whole new face on hip hop. 562 00:23:41,677 --> 00:23:43,769 But hip hop had still not fully crossed over 563 00:23:43,853 --> 00:23:47,114 into the mainstream. But that would all change 564 00:23:47,173 --> 00:23:48,758 with a single song. 565 00:23:48,841 --> 00:23:52,053 [intro to "Walk This Way'] 566 00:23:52,161 --> 00:23:54,288 [Darryl 'D.M.C.' McDaniels] Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" 567 00:23:54,372 --> 00:23:57,689 was one of the records that I heard on the tapes, 568 00:23:57,773 --> 00:24:01,256 Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation rhymed over it, 569 00:24:01,340 --> 00:24:02,309 Treacherous Three, 570 00:24:02,393 --> 00:24:05,621 [beatboxing "Walk This Way" intro] 571 00:24:05,705 --> 00:24:07,726 ♪ Yes, yes, y'all, to the beat, y'all ♪ 572 00:24:07,810 --> 00:24:10,251 ♪ On the two train going up to Lennox Ave. ♪ 573 00:24:10,855 --> 00:24:13,051 So, we were sampling "Walk This Way." 574 00:24:13,135 --> 00:24:14,409 It was originally going to be... 575 00:24:14,493 --> 00:24:17,812 [beatboxing] 576 00:24:17,896 --> 00:24:18,939 Back to the beginning. 577 00:24:19,914 --> 00:24:22,251 I personally never heard the singing, 578 00:24:22,335 --> 00:24:24,067 'cause Jay would never let it play that far. 579 00:24:24,151 --> 00:24:26,601 I never knew there was fucking singing on the record 580 00:24:26,685 --> 00:24:29,072 so Rick was like, "Yo, the name of the group is Aerosmith, 581 00:24:29,156 --> 00:24:31,271 big rock band. They went through drug problems, 582 00:24:31,355 --> 00:24:32,783 whatever, whatever." And then Rick goes like this, 583 00:24:33,258 --> 00:24:35,537 "Y'all should make the record over. Fuck you think we gonna do? 584 00:24:35,621 --> 00:24:37,080 We're going to sample the motherfucker, 585 00:24:37,164 --> 00:24:38,257 loop it and rhyme on it." 586 00:24:38,341 --> 00:24:40,554 [intro to "Walk This Way"] 587 00:24:40,638 --> 00:24:44,171 Rick goes, "No. You should do the record over as is." 588 00:24:44,255 --> 00:24:45,570 Jay, rest in peace, Jay. 589 00:24:45,654 --> 00:24:48,675 Jay goes, "Yo, that might be a crazy idea." 590 00:24:48,759 --> 00:24:50,594 Me and Run go, "Hold on, hold on, hold up. 591 00:24:50,678 --> 00:24:53,030 You're all taking this rock/rap thing too far." 592 00:24:53,114 --> 00:24:54,929 So, Rick says take the record, 593 00:24:55,013 --> 00:24:57,439 and write down the lyrics so y'all can learn it 594 00:24:57,523 --> 00:24:58,972 to do the record over, so true story, 595 00:24:59,056 --> 00:25:00,308 we put the needle on the record. 596 00:25:00,392 --> 00:25:05,082 [beatboxing] 597 00:25:05,166 --> 00:25:07,202 ♪ Backstroke lover Hot underneath the cover ♪ 598 00:25:07,286 --> 00:25:10,105 ♪ Talk to my Daddy, say... ♪ "Oh, hell, no" 599 00:25:10,189 --> 00:25:12,514 We get on the phone with Russell, me and Run was like, 600 00:25:12,598 --> 00:25:16,161 "Oh, fuck hell, no. Oh, hell, no. This is fucking Hillbilly gibberish. 601 00:25:16,245 --> 00:25:20,582 This is some fucking moonshine, country bumpkin bullshit. 602 00:25:20,666 --> 00:25:23,263 You're going to ruin our careers. Oh, fuck hell, no" 603 00:25:23,347 --> 00:25:25,712 Russell's screaming, "Fuck you, Joey, this and that D, 604 00:25:25,796 --> 00:25:27,564 you stupid motherfucker. You listen to..." 605 00:25:27,648 --> 00:25:28,943 We hung up the phone. 606 00:25:29,027 --> 00:25:30,893 It went like that for a whole week. 607 00:25:30,977 --> 00:25:33,798 A week later, Jay calls from the studio. 608 00:25:33,882 --> 00:25:35,637 You can still hear Russell screaming in the back, 609 00:25:35,721 --> 00:25:37,129 "Yo, stupid Joey!" And Jay goes, 610 00:25:37,213 --> 00:25:38,921 "Yo Russell, stop screaming at 'em 611 00:25:39,005 --> 00:25:40,811 'cause you know they're stupid, young kids." 612 00:25:40,895 --> 00:25:43,522 So, Jay just basically says, "Yo, listen to this." 613 00:25:43,606 --> 00:25:46,943 [scratching beats] 614 00:25:47,726 --> 00:25:49,524 It was like, "Yo, what's up?" Um, Jay was like, 615 00:25:49,608 --> 00:25:52,614 "Yo, we're in the studio. Rick went to Boston and brought Aerosmith here." 616 00:25:52,698 --> 00:25:56,735 ["Walk This Way" beats] 617 00:25:56,819 --> 00:25:58,200 [Darryl 'D.M.C' McDaniels] So we finally come back, 618 00:25:58,284 --> 00:26:00,245 we make the version of Aerosmith the way it is, 619 00:26:00,329 --> 00:26:03,725 came out like you hear it. It's us doing the original lyrics 620 00:26:03,809 --> 00:26:05,106 on "Walk This Way." 621 00:26:06,129 --> 00:26:08,589 ♪ Backseat lover That's always undercover ♪ 622 00:26:08,673 --> 00:26:10,486 ♪ And that's what the people say ♪ 623 00:26:10,570 --> 00:26:12,968 ♪ I said, you ain't seen nothing 'Till you're down on the muffin ♪ 624 00:26:13,052 --> 00:26:15,011 ♪ Then you're sure to be a-changin' ways ♪ 625 00:26:15,095 --> 00:26:16,555 [Darryl 'D.M.C.' McDaniels] But the crazy shit was this. 626 00:26:16,639 --> 00:26:18,515 Even after that, they finish, you know, 627 00:26:18,599 --> 00:26:20,424 we got the, we pass the demo stage, 628 00:26:20,508 --> 00:26:23,376 it's a keeper. Me and Run turn to Russell, Rick, 629 00:26:23,460 --> 00:26:24,887 um, their label, Jay and we say, 630 00:26:24,971 --> 00:26:27,265 "Y'all mother fuckers can be happy as you want. 631 00:26:27,349 --> 00:26:29,506 You better not put this out as a single." 632 00:26:29,989 --> 00:26:32,822 They put it out as a single, changed my life. 633 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:35,368 ♪ See-saw swingin' with the boys in school ♪ 634 00:26:35,452 --> 00:26:37,541 ♪ And her feet are flyin' up in the air ♪ 635 00:26:37,625 --> 00:26:39,995 ♪ Singin' hey diddle-diddle with the kitty in the middle ♪ 636 00:26:40,079 --> 00:26:41,952 ♪ You be swingin' like you just don't care ♪ 637 00:26:42,036 --> 00:26:44,375 ♪ So I took a big chance at the high school dance ♪ 638 00:26:44,459 --> 00:26:46,416 ♪ With a lady who was ready to play ♪ 639 00:26:46,500 --> 00:26:47,618 ♪ It wasn't me she was foolin'? ♪ 640 00:26:47,702 --> 00:26:48,993 ♪ 'Cause she knew what she was doin' ♪ 641 00:26:49,077 --> 00:26:50,714 ♪ When she taught me how to walk this way ♪ 642 00:26:50,798 --> 00:26:53,133 -♪ She told me to ♪ -♪ Walk this way ♪ 643 00:26:53,217 --> 00:26:54,885 [Kevin Powell] When they made the record "Walk This Way," 644 00:26:54,969 --> 00:26:56,680 it brought them into mainstream America 645 00:26:56,764 --> 00:26:59,222 in a different kind of way because now all these other kids 646 00:26:59,306 --> 00:27:00,870 beyond the black and Latino communities 647 00:27:00,954 --> 00:27:02,931 that created it and loved Run-D.M.C. 648 00:27:03,015 --> 00:27:05,979 They literally crossed over. I mean, people don't understand 649 00:27:06,063 --> 00:27:08,036 how big that was. First rap group 650 00:27:08,120 --> 00:27:09,661 on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. 651 00:27:09,745 --> 00:27:11,582 First rap group on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. 652 00:27:11,627 --> 00:27:13,545 They were the first in so many different ways. 653 00:27:13,629 --> 00:27:16,340 They just busted down so many different doors 654 00:27:16,449 --> 00:27:19,785 and yeah, that was as exciting to us as all those kids 655 00:27:19,869 --> 00:27:22,154 a generation before who sat in front of their TV shows, 656 00:27:22,221 --> 00:27:24,265 watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. 657 00:27:25,291 --> 00:27:27,407 ♪ School girl sleazy with the classy kinda sassy ♪ 658 00:27:27,491 --> 00:27:29,228 ♪ Little skirt hanging way up her knees ♪ 659 00:27:29,312 --> 00:27:31,154 We're here to jam to the best tunes in the world, 660 00:27:31,238 --> 00:27:34,007 that mean a lot to us. Run-D.M.C. is awesome. 661 00:27:34,091 --> 00:27:37,836 -It's fresh. -It's good, it's bad and it's nice! 662 00:27:38,345 --> 00:27:45,345 [music playing] 663 00:27:48,012 --> 00:27:51,233 [Shad] With "Walk This Way," hip hop had finally crossed over 664 00:27:51,317 --> 00:27:53,705 and Def Jam's vision of transforming hip hop 665 00:27:53,789 --> 00:27:56,029 into an identity with worldwide appeal 666 00:27:56,113 --> 00:27:57,557 was fully realized. 667 00:27:58,254 --> 00:28:00,801 But even though "Walk This Way" was a massive hit, 668 00:28:00,885 --> 00:28:03,910 in the hip hop underground, it was Run-D.M.C.'s early, 669 00:28:03,994 --> 00:28:06,691 stripped-down sound that inspired the next generation 670 00:28:06,775 --> 00:28:07,830 of hip hoppers. 671 00:28:07,914 --> 00:28:10,544 [heavy beats] 672 00:28:10,628 --> 00:28:12,693 [Shad] And it was a radio DJ from Queens 673 00:28:12,777 --> 00:28:14,122 who would light the spark 674 00:28:14,206 --> 00:28:17,099 and introduce a tool that would forever redefine 675 00:28:17,183 --> 00:28:18,425 hip hop music. 676 00:28:18,509 --> 00:28:20,660 [music playing] 677 00:28:20,744 --> 00:28:22,676 [Marley Marl] Oh, you made it! 678 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:23,765 What's up, man? 679 00:28:23,849 --> 00:28:25,267 Welcome to the lab. Let's go, man. 680 00:28:25,351 --> 00:28:27,310 ♪ His beats, my rhymes Combined make force ♪ 681 00:28:27,394 --> 00:28:30,067 ♪ Marley, can we hear your funky fresh scratchin' again? ♪ 682 00:28:30,151 --> 00:28:32,608 [music playing] 683 00:28:32,692 --> 00:28:34,926 [Shad] Honor to meet you. [Marley Marl] No doubt, no doubt. 684 00:28:35,010 --> 00:28:37,214 Honor to have you up in the spot. That's real. 685 00:28:37,645 --> 00:28:41,575 Um, I'd love to start with Run-D.M.C., what was your first reaction to them? 686 00:28:41,659 --> 00:28:44,619 Uh, Run-D.M.C. was definitely influential to me 687 00:28:44,703 --> 00:28:47,036 because I heard "Sucker M.C.'s" 688 00:28:47,988 --> 00:28:50,011 and I loved it. 689 00:28:50,095 --> 00:28:53,108 "Sucker M.C.'s" changed hip hop. 690 00:28:53,608 --> 00:28:57,363 When I first heard the record, I heard the grittiness from the streets. 691 00:28:57,447 --> 00:28:59,134 That's why I had to bring it back 692 00:28:59,218 --> 00:29:01,720 to the gritty sound when I first started sampling. 693 00:29:01,804 --> 00:29:04,014 [tape rewinding] 694 00:29:04,098 --> 00:29:06,535 [Marley Marl] My first set up was really real wack, 695 00:29:06,619 --> 00:29:10,479 corny little set up in the crib, but I was able to make do with it. 696 00:29:10,563 --> 00:29:13,064 My reel to reel had different drum sounds on it. 697 00:29:13,148 --> 00:29:17,027 I would have kick, white leader, snare, 698 00:29:17,111 --> 00:29:19,605 white leader, high hat, white leader. 699 00:29:19,689 --> 00:29:22,532 This was all edited together on a reel to reel tape. 700 00:29:22,616 --> 00:29:25,619 [heavy beats] 701 00:29:25,703 --> 00:29:26,996 [Shad] What's most known is 702 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:28,660 you were chopping up the break beats. 703 00:29:28,744 --> 00:29:30,438 -Right. -[Shad] So could you tell us about 704 00:29:30,522 --> 00:29:32,980 -maybe that first moment? -Well, basically, 705 00:29:33,064 --> 00:29:35,295 one time in the studio, I was sampling the record 706 00:29:35,379 --> 00:29:38,472 and when I hit the sampler and I hit the snare played. 707 00:29:39,133 --> 00:29:40,776 Then I started playing the snare along with the track 708 00:29:40,860 --> 00:29:42,386 and I realized like, "Wow, 709 00:29:42,470 --> 00:29:45,254 I could take my favorite drum sounds 710 00:29:45,338 --> 00:29:46,556 and make my own patterns." 711 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:50,989 [heavy drum beats] 712 00:29:51,073 --> 00:29:53,248 That's like, it just blew my mind. 713 00:29:53,332 --> 00:29:55,883 I was probably in a daze for a week after that. 714 00:29:55,967 --> 00:29:59,361 So I started putting different drum sounds in my sampler 715 00:29:59,445 --> 00:30:01,488 kicks, snares that I grabbed because I knew 716 00:30:01,572 --> 00:30:04,125 that they was hot from being a DJ. 717 00:30:04,209 --> 00:30:06,190 If I was the DJ last night 718 00:30:06,274 --> 00:30:08,745 and it made the crowd react the way it did, 719 00:30:08,829 --> 00:30:11,782 what I would do is take that kick and the snare. 720 00:30:11,866 --> 00:30:13,523 [music playing] 721 00:30:13,607 --> 00:30:15,419 [Marley Marl] I would put that in my sampler, 722 00:30:15,503 --> 00:30:19,673 most likely the next day, and instant crowd reaction. 723 00:30:19,757 --> 00:30:23,243 [crowd cheering] 724 00:30:23,327 --> 00:30:27,305 Marley's way of cooking it up was just different. 725 00:30:27,389 --> 00:30:29,180 You just... It just, 726 00:30:29,264 --> 00:30:31,468 no one was doing it the way he was doing it. 727 00:30:31,552 --> 00:30:34,948 He was recreating the songs like "Impeach the President" 728 00:30:35,032 --> 00:30:37,107 and taking the snare from "Impeach the President" 729 00:30:37,191 --> 00:30:39,144 and taking the kick from "Impeach the President," 730 00:30:39,228 --> 00:30:41,194 and then replaying it in his own style, 731 00:30:41,278 --> 00:30:42,779 beyond the drum machine sound. 732 00:30:42,863 --> 00:30:45,782 You know, it was like actually taking the sounds 733 00:30:45,866 --> 00:30:47,906 and making your own drum machine. 734 00:30:47,990 --> 00:30:49,879 [Prince Paul] The amazing thing about what he did 735 00:30:49,963 --> 00:30:52,692 was everybody was using standard stock drum machines 736 00:30:53,145 --> 00:30:55,584 and whatever's the stock sounds in a drum machine. 737 00:30:55,668 --> 00:30:57,248 [drum beats] 738 00:30:57,332 --> 00:30:59,504 Pretty lame if you think about it, you know, 739 00:30:59,588 --> 00:31:01,840 and-and you'd hear that song after song after song. 740 00:31:01,924 --> 00:31:03,383 When you heard a Marley Marl song... 741 00:31:03,467 --> 00:31:05,552 [scratching and sampling] 742 00:31:05,636 --> 00:31:07,387 You're like, "What is that? 743 00:31:07,471 --> 00:31:10,265 Like, where did that snare, where did that kick come from?" 744 00:31:10,349 --> 00:31:13,351 [scratching] 745 00:31:13,435 --> 00:31:15,437 And they were always distorted. You know... 746 00:31:15,521 --> 00:31:17,606 [beatboxing] 747 00:31:17,690 --> 00:31:19,433 But it was just so funky. 748 00:31:19,517 --> 00:31:23,662 He just had that sound to me that was just, like, real street. 749 00:31:23,746 --> 00:31:28,147 Marley Marl brought a, brought an era to hip hop. 750 00:31:28,231 --> 00:31:31,620 Like, some people made hot records and made a name for themselves, 751 00:31:31,704 --> 00:31:36,933 but he brought an era that totally changed the whole style 752 00:31:37,017 --> 00:31:38,835 of how records were being made. 753 00:31:38,919 --> 00:31:42,650 [funky beats] 754 00:31:44,909 --> 00:31:47,217 [Shad] Like Grandmaster Flash years earlier, 755 00:31:47,301 --> 00:31:49,514 Marley Marl was a sonic revolutionary. 756 00:31:49,953 --> 00:31:53,516 His sampling techniques changed the sound of hip hop forever 757 00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:56,574 and ignited the careers of a new guard of MC's. 758 00:31:57,372 --> 00:32:01,034 Among them, a kid from Brooklyn with a deep baritone 759 00:32:01,083 --> 00:32:03,377 who went by the name of Big Daddy Kane. 760 00:32:03,460 --> 00:32:05,629 ♪ Well, excuse me Take a few minutes ♪ 761 00:32:05,713 --> 00:32:06,646 ♪ To mellow out ♪ 762 00:32:06,713 --> 00:32:09,883 ♪ Big Daddy Kane is on the mic and I'mma tell about... ♪ 763 00:32:09,967 --> 00:32:11,552 [Shad] Thank you for coming in. 764 00:32:11,635 --> 00:32:12,866 Glad to be here. 765 00:32:12,950 --> 00:32:14,702 [Shad] I know you did a lot of work with Marley Marl, 766 00:32:14,786 --> 00:32:16,485 but how did you get your start? 767 00:32:16,957 --> 00:32:22,799 I started rapping back in '82. It's like right after junior high. 768 00:32:22,883 --> 00:32:27,050 My introduction to MC'ing started as a battle rapper. 769 00:32:27,134 --> 00:32:29,010 Eventually, I met Biz Markie. 770 00:32:29,094 --> 00:32:31,800 We battled, and I was using my battle rhymes, 771 00:32:31,884 --> 00:32:33,470 Biz sort of, you know, 772 00:32:33,554 --> 00:32:35,316 like, he couldn't do nothing there, 773 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:38,952 so, what Biz did was try to go into funny rhymes about girls. 774 00:32:40,163 --> 00:32:42,867 And then I spit some funny rhymes about girls, 775 00:32:42,951 --> 00:32:45,068 and Biz in that crazy voice, you know, he goes, 776 00:32:45,152 --> 00:32:48,738 [laughs] "That was so, that was dope." 777 00:32:48,822 --> 00:32:51,344 You know, and you know, we became friends, 778 00:32:51,428 --> 00:32:53,868 and he was like, "Yo, if you stick with me and listen to me, 779 00:32:53,952 --> 00:32:56,496 I promise you, we gonna make a record one day. 780 00:32:56,580 --> 00:32:57,873 You gonna be a star." 781 00:32:57,957 --> 00:32:59,943 ♪ So listen to the man of the hour ♪ 782 00:33:00,027 --> 00:33:02,964 ♪ Flow and go to a slow tempo and you know ♪ 783 00:33:03,048 --> 00:33:05,338 ♪ Sing ho, swing low Then yo, the show ♪ 784 00:33:05,422 --> 00:33:07,507 ♪ Will go on, as I perform ♪ 785 00:33:07,591 --> 00:33:10,176 ♪ Transformin' on stage like a Decepticon ♪ 786 00:33:10,260 --> 00:33:12,725 [Big Daddy Kane] I want to have some hard rhymes 787 00:33:12,809 --> 00:33:14,305 where, you know, you're spitting lyrics 788 00:33:14,389 --> 00:33:17,079 that's making someone want to rewind 789 00:33:17,163 --> 00:33:19,878 and listen to, you know, the last line again. 790 00:33:19,962 --> 00:33:22,673 But what I liked to do was connect words, 791 00:33:23,181 --> 00:33:25,941 real slick 'cause, like, you're seeing it. 792 00:33:26,402 --> 00:33:29,098 Now they can visualize what you're saying 793 00:33:29,182 --> 00:33:31,156 'cause of the comparison you just made. 794 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:33,419 ♪ The B-I-G D-A-double-D-Y-K-A-N-E ♪ 795 00:33:33,503 --> 00:33:34,647 ♪ I'm good and plenty ♪ 796 00:33:34,731 --> 00:33:36,745 ♪ Servin' many and any competition ♪ 797 00:33:36,803 --> 00:33:38,555 ♪ Wishin' for an expedition ♪ 798 00:33:38,639 --> 00:33:40,724 ♪ I'm straight up dissin' and dismissin' ♪ 799 00:33:40,842 --> 00:33:44,473 ♪ Listen, rappers act so wild, and love to profile ♪ 800 00:33:44,557 --> 00:33:46,681 ♪ Frontin' hard but ain't got no style ♪ 801 00:33:46,765 --> 00:33:50,091 The attitude, the way he bragged 802 00:33:50,175 --> 00:33:54,155 and then his punchlines were just so, so seriously, 803 00:33:54,571 --> 00:33:56,239 just smack after smack. 804 00:33:56,323 --> 00:33:57,699 It was like somebody just kept smacking you 805 00:33:57,822 --> 00:33:58,985 and smacking you, and every time you wanted 806 00:33:59,068 --> 00:34:02,144 to regroup and punch back, you got smacked again. 807 00:34:02,229 --> 00:34:06,378 Kane put together all the principles of a great MC, 808 00:34:06,461 --> 00:34:09,486 which was cadence, you understand what I'm saying? 809 00:34:09,570 --> 00:34:12,614 Which was, just the level of coolness on the mic 810 00:34:12,698 --> 00:34:15,313 when he delivered his stuff and punchlines. 811 00:34:15,396 --> 00:34:18,032 ♪ I give nightmares to those who compete ♪ 812 00:34:18,115 --> 00:34:20,246 ♪ Freddy Kreuger walkin' on Kane Street ♪ 813 00:34:20,329 --> 00:34:21,791 [Roxanne Shante] He made it sexy. 814 00:34:22,399 --> 00:34:25,608 He just gave it class. You know, you knew when Kane 815 00:34:25,693 --> 00:34:27,586 was around 'cause Kane was just so calm. 816 00:34:27,671 --> 00:34:29,742 He just made everything so calm. 817 00:34:29,827 --> 00:34:30,930 [Shad] Yeah. 818 00:34:31,014 --> 00:34:33,728 You know, he made it where you say what you're going to say 819 00:34:33,812 --> 00:34:35,559 and you do it lyrically, and then after you finish, 820 00:34:35,612 --> 00:34:38,657 you just drop the mic and walk away. [laughs] 821 00:34:39,057 --> 00:34:41,704 ♪ I make it real good like Dr. Feelgood ♪ 822 00:34:41,788 --> 00:34:44,233 ♪ To make sure that my point is understood ♪ 823 00:34:44,316 --> 00:34:46,665 ♪ That when it comes to this there's none greater ♪ 824 00:34:46,749 --> 00:34:50,254 ♪ Sincerely yours The smooth operator ♪ 825 00:34:51,665 --> 00:34:53,988 [Shad] So, you were part of this new generation of rappers 826 00:34:54,072 --> 00:34:56,715 but Rakim was coming up at the same time. 827 00:34:56,799 --> 00:34:58,090 What did you think of him? 828 00:34:58,174 --> 00:35:00,370 I thought that Rakim was dope when I first heard him. 829 00:35:00,454 --> 00:35:03,456 You know, I was like, "Okay, here, you know, 830 00:35:03,540 --> 00:35:06,501 we had another dope MC out." You know, I mean, 831 00:35:06,585 --> 00:35:09,004 he's one of, you know, the greatest MC's. 832 00:35:09,088 --> 00:35:11,016 You know, you know, to ever do it, you know. 833 00:35:11,100 --> 00:35:13,002 Can't fuck with me, but, you know, 834 00:35:13,086 --> 00:35:15,598 he's one of the greatest MC's to ever do it. 835 00:35:19,196 --> 00:35:21,850 [Shad] Kane can laugh today, but in the mid-'80s, 836 00:35:21,934 --> 00:35:25,520 Rakim was his only rival and for good reason. 837 00:35:25,604 --> 00:35:27,730 An enigmatic brother from Long Island, 838 00:35:27,814 --> 00:35:30,859 Rakim's rhyme style would single-handedly set the tone 839 00:35:30,943 --> 00:35:32,652 for what hip hop has become today. 840 00:35:32,736 --> 00:35:36,427 [heavy dance beats] 841 00:35:36,511 --> 00:35:38,635 [music playing] 842 00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:39,952 [Rakim] Coming up in Long Island, 843 00:35:41,081 --> 00:35:43,653 it was a little distant from, you know, the boroughs 844 00:35:43,722 --> 00:35:45,557 so we was kind of on the outside looking in. 845 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:47,225 Being on the outside looking in, 846 00:35:47,309 --> 00:35:49,686 we had to visualize what was going on. 847 00:35:49,770 --> 00:35:52,355 Especially myself, I was only in the fourth, fifth grade. 848 00:35:52,439 --> 00:35:54,107 I was too young to get on the mic. 849 00:35:54,194 --> 00:35:55,903 Nah'mean, I remember a couple times 850 00:35:55,987 --> 00:35:57,720 asking DJ's, "Oh, could I get...?" 851 00:35:58,260 --> 00:36:00,722 They would look at me like, "Yo, who let him in here, man? 852 00:36:00,806 --> 00:36:02,432 Who let him under the ropes, man?" 853 00:36:02,491 --> 00:36:04,743 I didn't know I was too young. You know what I mean? 854 00:36:04,826 --> 00:36:06,953 So it was just like a good feeling, man, 855 00:36:07,055 --> 00:36:10,122 just trying to, you know, let everybody know I had skills, 856 00:36:10,206 --> 00:36:12,227 and, you know, it took a while for me 857 00:36:12,311 --> 00:36:13,998 to finally punch through and somebody said, 858 00:36:14,082 --> 00:36:17,029 "Yo, give shorty the mic, man," and, you know, 859 00:36:17,113 --> 00:36:18,907 it was history after that, man. 860 00:36:18,991 --> 00:36:20,955 ♪ Thinkin' of a master plan ♪ 861 00:36:21,392 --> 00:36:23,786 ♪ Def with the record Def with the record ♪ 862 00:36:23,870 --> 00:36:25,705 ♪ Thinkin' of a master plan ♪ 863 00:36:25,789 --> 00:36:28,188 ♪ This ain't nuthin' but sweat inside my hand ♪ 864 00:36:28,272 --> 00:36:30,627 ♪ So I dig into my pocket All my money is spent ♪ 865 00:36:30,711 --> 00:36:32,983 ♪ So I dig deeper but still comin' up with lint ♪ 866 00:36:33,067 --> 00:36:35,707 ♪ So I start my mission Leave my residence ♪ 867 00:36:35,791 --> 00:36:37,859 ♪ Thinkin' how could I get some dead presidents ♪ 868 00:36:37,943 --> 00:36:40,262 ♪ I need money I used to be a stick-up kid ♪ 869 00:36:40,346 --> 00:36:42,710 ♪ So I think of all the devious things I did ♪ 870 00:36:42,794 --> 00:36:44,766 [Shad] And on the stylistic side of things, 871 00:36:44,850 --> 00:36:48,323 people talk about the musicality of your flow. 872 00:36:48,407 --> 00:36:51,147 People have even said that flow wasn't even really a thing 873 00:36:51,231 --> 00:36:53,246 people talked about before, so... 874 00:36:53,330 --> 00:36:55,710 -Okay. -Where did that influence come from? 875 00:36:55,794 --> 00:36:57,612 And a big influence from that, man, 876 00:36:57,696 --> 00:37:00,531 was, um, John Coltrane. 877 00:37:00,615 --> 00:37:03,553 I grew up on jazz, playing the saxophone, 878 00:37:03,637 --> 00:37:06,475 so when hip hop came out, to me it was simple. 879 00:37:06,559 --> 00:37:09,827 It was... [vocalizing beats] 880 00:37:09,911 --> 00:37:11,742 So, you know, listening to John Coltrane, 881 00:37:11,826 --> 00:37:16,192 it was more like... [singing beats] 882 00:37:16,732 --> 00:37:20,367 [Rakim] If I can rhyme like John Coltrane played the sax, 883 00:37:20,451 --> 00:37:24,756 then I know the rhythms and the intricacy of it will be crazy. 884 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:28,304 So, I incorporated it and it popped off, man. 885 00:37:28,388 --> 00:37:30,200 ♪ I used to roll up This is a hold up ♪ 886 00:37:30,284 --> 00:37:31,996 ♪ Ain't nuthin' funny Stop smiling, be still ♪ 887 00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:33,520 ♪ Don't nuthin' move but the money ♪ 888 00:37:33,604 --> 00:37:37,777 [DJ Premier] Word play, voice, delivery, flow, 889 00:37:37,861 --> 00:37:42,240 he just wasn't doing patterns that were normal to MC's 890 00:37:42,324 --> 00:37:46,028 that were making records. You know, it just was not normal. 891 00:37:46,112 --> 00:37:49,566 [Cheo H. Coker] He rhymes visually. He rhymes clearly. 892 00:37:49,956 --> 00:37:53,236 Rakim is basically doing what Hemingway would do. 893 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:57,488 Hemingway's power was the power of short, clear, concise 894 00:37:57,572 --> 00:38:00,067 visual sentences. That's Rakim. 895 00:38:00,151 --> 00:38:03,011 ♪ Me and Eric B and a nice big plate of fish ♪ 896 00:38:03,095 --> 00:38:04,804 ♪ Which is my favorite dish ♪ 897 00:38:04,888 --> 00:38:07,306 ♪ But without no money it's still a wish ♪ 898 00:38:07,390 --> 00:38:10,018 [Shad] In addition to the rhythmic musicality, 899 00:38:10,102 --> 00:38:12,782 people talk about the level of consciousness 900 00:38:12,866 --> 00:38:14,480 that you were incorporating in your rhymes. 901 00:38:14,564 --> 00:38:18,634 Oh, no doubt. No doubt. I wanted to give 'em what I knew, 902 00:38:18,718 --> 00:38:20,837 my experiences. What I learnt. 903 00:38:20,921 --> 00:38:23,698 The more that I read, the more that I learnt, 904 00:38:23,782 --> 00:38:27,637 I wanted to pass it on and it quickly became who I was, 905 00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:29,679 and the more things that I experienced 906 00:38:29,763 --> 00:38:32,307 opened people's eyes to certain things 907 00:38:32,390 --> 00:38:34,184 and it kind of made me a better rapper 908 00:38:34,267 --> 00:38:36,436 by incorporating conscious lyrics. 909 00:38:36,519 --> 00:38:39,147 ♪ But now I've learned to earn 'cuz I'm righteous ♪ 910 00:38:39,230 --> 00:38:41,274 ♪ I feel great so maybe I might just ♪ 911 00:38:41,358 --> 00:38:43,151 ♪ Search for a nine to five ♪ 912 00:38:43,234 --> 00:38:45,820 ♪ If I strive Then maybe I'll stay alive ♪ 913 00:38:45,904 --> 00:38:48,156 I remember in my Cadillac, 914 00:38:48,239 --> 00:38:50,575 coming off the road, got more money than God. 915 00:38:51,395 --> 00:38:53,642 Everywhere I go people know who I am 916 00:38:54,148 --> 00:38:58,197 and then, my sound man gets in my car at McDonald's 917 00:38:58,249 --> 00:39:03,046 and goes, jokingly, "D, I know somebody better than you." 918 00:39:03,129 --> 00:39:06,383 And he gets in my car and he puts in this guy called Rakim. 919 00:39:06,466 --> 00:39:07,717 ♪ So I walk up the street ♪ 920 00:39:07,826 --> 00:39:10,036 ♪ Whistlin' this Feelin' out of place ♪ 921 00:39:10,095 --> 00:39:11,429 ♪ 'Cuz, man, do I miss ♪ 922 00:39:11,513 --> 00:39:14,557 I kicked him out my car. I kept it. "Get the fuck out of my... 923 00:39:14,641 --> 00:39:15,976 Get the fuck..." 924 00:39:16,059 --> 00:39:19,062 We were something else. Hip hop was them. 925 00:39:19,145 --> 00:39:21,064 We were something else by then. 926 00:39:21,147 --> 00:39:22,315 [Shad] So what was on your mind at that moment? 927 00:39:22,436 --> 00:39:23,435 Am I over? 928 00:39:23,519 --> 00:39:25,343 ♪ Feelin' out of place 'Cuz, man, do I miss ♪ 929 00:39:25,427 --> 00:39:27,912 ♪ A pen and a paper a stereo, a tape of me... ♪ 930 00:39:27,996 --> 00:39:30,890 It's a time where the consciousness of hip hop 931 00:39:30,974 --> 00:39:33,816 is very, very tapped into what's actually happening 932 00:39:33,900 --> 00:39:37,793 with the people that love our music. There's a movement that's happening 933 00:39:37,877 --> 00:39:41,633 amongst the MC's that says we have to say something. 934 00:39:41,717 --> 00:39:43,778 We have to be more than, "Yes, yes, y'all." 935 00:39:43,862 --> 00:39:45,530 It has to go into another direction. 936 00:39:45,614 --> 00:39:48,032 It's changed. The game has changed. 937 00:39:48,116 --> 00:39:52,464 [groovy beats] 938 00:39:52,548 --> 00:39:56,582 [music playing] 939 00:39:56,666 --> 00:39:58,876 [Shad] Rakim and other MC's of his generation 940 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:02,256 did more than add flow and complexity to rapping. 941 00:40:02,340 --> 00:40:05,698 They also represented a new consciousness in young, black America. 942 00:40:06,307 --> 00:40:08,142 And it was a group of socially-minded kids 943 00:40:08,226 --> 00:40:10,570 at a suburban college radio station 944 00:40:10,654 --> 00:40:12,994 who would take this consciousness to the masses. 945 00:40:13,078 --> 00:40:19,962 [music playing] 946 00:40:20,046 --> 00:40:23,359 I was born in 1960, so the whole decade of the 1960s, 947 00:40:23,443 --> 00:40:25,857 as a young kid, you saw everything, 948 00:40:26,238 --> 00:40:28,781 from the assassination of the president 949 00:40:28,865 --> 00:40:31,117 and it seemed like anybody that was anybody 950 00:40:31,201 --> 00:40:34,108 seemed to be getting killed with Vietnam going on, 951 00:40:34,192 --> 00:40:37,436 the Black Panther party, which I was part of the lunch program 952 00:40:37,520 --> 00:40:38,971 that this movement had, 953 00:40:39,055 --> 00:40:41,661 wanted to look out for the neighborhood and the people. 954 00:40:41,745 --> 00:40:45,715 These things had a direct effect on our beginnings and our base. 955 00:40:45,799 --> 00:40:48,708 [radio static] 956 00:40:48,792 --> 00:40:50,595 ♪ Dance to the funky groove ♪ 957 00:40:50,679 --> 00:40:52,278 ♪ That'll make your body move ♪ 958 00:40:52,362 --> 00:40:54,063 [Chuck D] The radio station WBAU, 959 00:40:54,147 --> 00:40:56,923 which was program directed by Bill Stephney, 960 00:40:57,007 --> 00:40:58,584 broadcast out of Delphi University. 961 00:40:58,668 --> 00:41:01,877 That was the hub for hip hop music 962 00:41:01,961 --> 00:41:04,842 going out to Long Island and going out to Queens. 963 00:41:04,926 --> 00:41:07,987 I was part of Spectrum City, we as mobile DJ's, 964 00:41:08,071 --> 00:41:12,120 Spectrum, that's Hank Shockley, Keith Shockley, Professor Griff. 965 00:41:12,204 --> 00:41:14,577 We wanted to be hip hop radio DJ's, 966 00:41:14,661 --> 00:41:17,997 and we were able to get on WBAU playing other people's music. 967 00:41:18,081 --> 00:41:21,828 [vintage recording] This is Spectrum City and my name is Chucky D, y'all. 968 00:41:22,393 --> 00:41:23,812 [Bill Stephney] First and foremost there was, um, 969 00:41:23,895 --> 00:41:27,148 Chuck D who was, you know, sort of the visionary. 970 00:41:27,242 --> 00:41:30,508 And there was this one guy, who used to come up to BAU, 971 00:41:31,096 --> 00:41:35,056 who was a musician and a DJ and an MC 972 00:41:35,115 --> 00:41:38,368 and he had this hat, MC DJ Flavor Flav. 973 00:41:38,451 --> 00:41:40,328 A lot to put on a hat. 974 00:41:40,437 --> 00:41:44,424 This guy was a very unique figure and character. 975 00:41:44,508 --> 00:41:46,359 [vintage recording] What did you say your name was? 976 00:41:46,443 --> 00:41:50,946 [Flavor Flav] It's Flavor! [echoing] 977 00:41:51,030 --> 00:41:54,242 [Chuck D] Here you got two guys who was from the same neighborhood 978 00:41:54,326 --> 00:41:56,564 but were, like, totally different people. 979 00:41:56,648 --> 00:41:58,136 But, you know, we would hang out together, 980 00:41:58,220 --> 00:42:01,124 we would snap together and joke. At that time we would make tapes 981 00:42:01,208 --> 00:42:03,417 to compensate for the lack of records we had. 982 00:42:03,501 --> 00:42:05,586 And so I saw Flavor when I started making tapes 983 00:42:05,670 --> 00:42:08,273 as having a great use to introing the tape. 984 00:42:08,357 --> 00:42:10,899 ♪ We got a fresh, fresh club It's called the Flavor Drum ♪ 985 00:42:10,983 --> 00:42:13,554 ♪ We party hardy at our party until the crack of dawn ♪ 986 00:42:13,638 --> 00:42:17,597 [Bill Stephney] MC DJ Flavor Flav and Chuck record a brag and boast 987 00:42:18,029 --> 00:42:21,936 freestyle rap called "Public Enemy Number One." 988 00:42:22,020 --> 00:42:25,483 This guy named Rick Rubin hears "Public Enemy number One" 989 00:42:25,567 --> 00:42:30,479 and really just, you know, goes crazy over Chuck's voice. 990 00:42:30,563 --> 00:42:32,488 Rick calls me and says well, you know, 991 00:42:32,572 --> 00:42:36,492 "How can we get Chucky D?" But Chuck is completely reluctant. 992 00:42:36,576 --> 00:42:39,779 Rick Rubin had asked me for, like, almost two years 993 00:42:40,734 --> 00:42:43,804 to come along to Def Jam. But that didn't interest me. 994 00:42:43,888 --> 00:42:46,403 I said, "It's gotta be something that's better 995 00:42:46,487 --> 00:42:51,907 than me making records at Def Jam as Chuck D, a solo guy." 996 00:42:51,991 --> 00:42:55,411 I was more interested in making words and music mean something. 997 00:42:55,879 --> 00:42:59,091 We were clambering for power and peace because... 998 00:42:59,646 --> 00:43:01,425 there was a dynamic going on in the east, 999 00:43:01,509 --> 00:43:02,563 and especially in New York, 1000 00:43:02,647 --> 00:43:05,062 of black peoples treated like crap overtly. 1001 00:43:05,146 --> 00:43:08,750 You know, black folks who are always being looked down upon 1002 00:43:08,834 --> 00:43:11,844 and I thought that something had to be able to give 1003 00:43:11,928 --> 00:43:15,649 upward motion and strength and-and... and pride. 1004 00:43:15,733 --> 00:43:17,762 [Bill Stephney] It really took sitting down 1005 00:43:17,846 --> 00:43:20,636 and coming up with a concept that was bigger than just, 1006 00:43:20,720 --> 00:43:22,663 "We're going to be the next rap group on Def Jam 1007 00:43:22,747 --> 00:43:24,290 and everything will be fantastic." 1008 00:43:24,374 --> 00:43:29,492 You know, thinking of what was going on in England with The Clash, 1009 00:43:29,576 --> 00:43:31,549 you thought, "Well, you know, what if The Clash 1010 00:43:31,633 --> 00:43:34,384 and Run-D.M.C., you know, somehow merged? 1011 00:43:34,468 --> 00:43:36,469 What would that look like? What would that sound like?" 1012 00:43:36,553 --> 00:43:39,832 [intro to "Fight The Power"] 1013 00:43:39,916 --> 00:43:44,769 [music playing] 1014 00:43:44,853 --> 00:43:47,070 ♪ 1989 the number ♪ 1015 00:43:47,121 --> 00:43:48,748 ♪ Another summer (get down) ♪ 1016 00:43:48,831 --> 00:43:50,291 ♪ Sound of the funky drummer ♪ 1017 00:43:50,375 --> 00:43:52,961 ♪ Music hittin' your heart 'cause I know you got soul ♪ 1018 00:43:53,044 --> 00:43:54,796 ♪ Brothers and sisters, hey! ♪ 1019 00:43:54,879 --> 00:43:56,510 ♪ Listen if you're missin' y'all ♪ 1020 00:43:56,594 --> 00:43:58,299 ♪ Swingin' while I'm singin' (Hey!) ♪ 1021 00:43:58,383 --> 00:43:59,259 ♪ Givin' what you're gettin' ♪ 1022 00:43:59,342 --> 00:44:03,388 [Cheo H. Coker] Public Enemy were able to take that '60s and '70s rage, 1023 00:44:03,471 --> 00:44:06,933 put it with hip hop and articulate both 1024 00:44:07,475 --> 00:44:11,312 the rage of the past and the present and future rage 1025 00:44:11,396 --> 00:44:15,233 of a generation that's seeing police corruption and seeing 1026 00:44:15,341 --> 00:44:17,176 things that are happening all over New York City 1027 00:44:17,235 --> 00:44:19,862 and other places where police have overstepped bounds. 1028 00:44:19,946 --> 00:44:21,614 ♪ Fight The Power ♪ 1029 00:44:21,726 --> 00:44:23,516 [Kevin Powell] For someone to make a song like "Fight The Power" 1030 00:44:23,574 --> 00:44:25,702 and in the middle of the song you say, 1031 00:44:25,785 --> 00:44:28,788 "Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant to me." 1032 00:44:28,871 --> 00:44:30,957 ♪ Elvis was a hero to most ♪ 1033 00:44:31,040 --> 00:44:32,667 ♪ But he never meant shit to me, you see ♪ 1034 00:44:32,750 --> 00:44:34,168 ♪ Straight up racist... ♪ 1035 00:44:34,252 --> 00:44:35,920 [Kevin Powell] And then Flavor Flav jumps in with, 1036 00:44:36,004 --> 00:44:38,089 "Mother-- him and John Wayne too." 1037 00:44:38,172 --> 00:44:39,632 ♪ Mother [beep] him and John Wayne ♪ 1038 00:44:39,722 --> 00:44:41,450 [Kevin Powell] That's saying that I'm rejecting 1039 00:44:41,534 --> 00:44:45,137 your racist notions of what a hero is, because that hero doesn't look like me. 1040 00:44:45,221 --> 00:44:46,601 None of your heroes look like me. 1041 00:44:46,685 --> 00:44:48,905 ♪ Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps ♪ 1042 00:44:48,989 --> 00:44:50,626 ♪ Sample a look back you look and find ♪ 1043 00:44:50,710 --> 00:44:53,354 ♪ Nothing but rednecks for 400 years if you check ♪ 1044 00:44:53,438 --> 00:44:55,494 [Kevin Powell] We were like, "Wow," 1045 00:44:55,578 --> 00:44:57,171 because they were speaking for all of us 1046 00:44:57,255 --> 00:44:59,677 who didn't even have the courage to say something like that. 1047 00:44:59,761 --> 00:45:04,957 Chuck and Public Enemy represented a resistance, finally. 1048 00:45:05,033 --> 00:45:08,286 It was almost like he was, like, you know, our Superman, you know. 1049 00:45:08,369 --> 00:45:10,955 We're going to stand up and say what we actually want. 1050 00:45:11,064 --> 00:45:12,356 We're going to fight the power. 1051 00:45:12,440 --> 00:45:14,191 ♪ I'll make everybody see ♪ 1052 00:45:14,275 --> 00:45:16,313 ♪ In order to fight the powers that be ♪ 1053 00:45:16,397 --> 00:45:17,389 ♪ Let me hear you say ♪ 1054 00:45:17,473 --> 00:45:19,504 [Chuck D] Hip hop could be a vehicle for angry black voices. 1055 00:45:19,588 --> 00:45:21,875 Number one, hip hop with its use of words 1056 00:45:21,959 --> 00:45:23,905 can be a vehicle for any voice. 1057 00:45:23,989 --> 00:45:26,579 And I just thought during the time of R&B 1058 00:45:26,663 --> 00:45:29,707 and as Reagan and Bush that hip hop as an angry voice 1059 00:45:29,791 --> 00:45:33,217 could speak out against a malfeasance that was taking place. 1060 00:45:33,856 --> 00:45:37,273 Why not? You got words, you got a voice. 1061 00:45:37,357 --> 00:45:38,361 Use it. 1062 00:45:38,445 --> 00:45:39,762 ♪ Fight the Power ♪ 1063 00:45:40,202 --> 00:45:41,761 ♪ Fight the Power ♪ 1064 00:45:41,845 --> 00:45:44,193 ♪ We gotta fight the powers that be ♪ 1065 00:45:44,277 --> 00:45:45,396 ♪ Come on! ♪ 1066 00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:48,658 [Shad] The 1980s was a decade of change for hip hop. 1067 00:45:48,742 --> 00:45:52,368 It began with Kurtis Blow rapping about Christmas in corduroy 1068 00:45:52,452 --> 00:45:55,739 and ended with Public Enemy fighting the power in fatigues. 1069 00:45:56,757 --> 00:46:00,863 Hip hop was now a sound, an industry and a movement. 1070 00:46:00,947 --> 00:46:04,132 It had finally realized its potential and its power. 1071 00:46:04,621 --> 00:46:06,160 And this potential was being realized 1072 00:46:06,244 --> 00:46:08,302 beyond the borders of New York City, 1073 00:46:08,830 --> 00:46:11,893 on another coast, three thousand miles away. 1074 00:46:11,977 --> 00:46:14,795 Hip hop was speaking to a totally different reality. 1075 00:46:15,478 --> 00:46:17,105 In a place that needed hip hop 1076 00:46:17,188 --> 00:46:19,899 even more than the boroughs that birthed it. 1077 00:46:19,982 --> 00:46:26,531 -[sirens wailing] -[heavy beats] 96660

Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.