TC graffiti from the mid-'80s, courtesy of Roger Cummings at Juxtaposition Arts

 

MORE ROGER CUMMINGS GRAFFITI PHOTOS

COMING IN LATE 2004:

I'll be doing a roundtable for local hip-hoppers' who were left out of the article to tell their story, and this will become it's own page here. I'll also be doing a Ray Seville page. He has tons of cool flyers. Stay tuned...

RECENT COMMENTARY:

"Hip Hop is my life. My wife and kids have sacrificed a lot so I could go for my dream. I've been in this game for 20-plus years. After being diagnosed about four weeks ago with Parkinson's, I decided this will be my last album. Maybe I'll get some ink and some much needed cash for my kids' college..." READ DOOMDIGI'S STORY AND OTHERS AT YOUR STORY PAGE...

"I personally felt the article fell off a little from 1993 to 1996, though. Didn't seem to be much mention of the instrumental stages that built the scene back up after a lot of the old-school cats went different directions and the majority of the UVS migrated to Atlanta..." READ SIDDIQ'S AND OTHER REACTIONS TO THE ORAL HISTORY AT D.U. NATION... Send your own stories to pscholtes@citypages.com...

Freddy Fresh and company in the Bronx in the 1980s, photos courtesy of Freddy Fresh

 

MORE FREDDY FRESH IMAGES AND STORIES

1986 flyer courtesy of Freddy Fresh

 

MORE FREDDY FRESH IMAGES AND STORIES

 

 

more photos by Melissa Cooperman at the old Franklin Theater, 1993

 

MORE MELISSA COOPERMAN PHOTOS

Graffiti by Wildstyle Cru member Peyton at Northstar Elementary School, 1985. Courtesy of Peyton at Juxtaposition Arts  

 

MORE GRAFFITI PHOTOS COURTESY OF PEYTON

Roger Dodger, Al the Gator, Denny, and Chad of KMOJ's The Hip Hop Shop

 

MORE PHOTOS COURTESY OF TRAVIS LEE

 

MORE THINGS TO SEE AND HEAR:

 

Who's-who list for the oral history, with thankyous to all participants (finishing by 2005)

 

Photos from various sources--send yours

 

Scholtes articles on TC hip hop and the old school

 

More I.R.M. Crew photos

 

Complete link index of pop references in the oral history (coming in 2005)

 

Reactions at the Non-Prophets message board, with DJ Nikoless's history of Chicago hip hop

 

Add your own reactions to the oral history at D.U. Nation...

 

COMPLETE TC HIP HOP LINKS

 

or visit...

 

 

YOUR HIP-HOP STORY PAGE

 

"I was managing the record store in Sun Ray Shopping Center on the East Side of St Paul in 1982 and 1983, feeling pretty snazzy in my first-ever Music Biz gig. It was called Music 2, and I was eventually fired for bringing East Side Hardcore Punk band Willful Neglect to California the next summer. I also formulated Susstones with a then-teenaged Ed Ackerson at this same store around the same time..." READ MORE AT YOUR STORY PAGE

 

"How can there be a history of hip-hop in the Twin Cities without Bill Blow? Ever heard of Drop Funkin' on Wide Angle Records from 1984? I was the son of extremely Caucasian Edina parents, born Bill Gaskill, who was nominated for Best Horns in City Pages in 1982 for my studio saxophone work with Rocky Robbins and Alexander O'Neil, among others. I knew TC as David Ellis, brother of Sue Ann Carwell..." READ MORE AT YOUR STORY PAGE

 

 

LISTEN TO THESE VINTAGE LOCAL HIP-HOP SONGS...

 

"We Need Some Bass" by Style Posse (Wide Angle Records, 1989) (All Wide Angle songs used by permission of the artist.)

 

"Cut It Out" by Soul Purpose (Wide Angle Records, 1989)

 

"Here's Ya Chance" by Style Posse (Wide Angle Records, 1989)

 

"Soul Purpose" by Soul Purpose (Wide Angle Records, 1989)

 

"No Rhyme Or Reason" by Style Posse (Wide Angle Records, 1989)

 

 

Play Beyond's "B.L.A.K. Culture" (featuring Slug) from 1996's Comparison (used by permission of Rhymesayers Entertainment)

 

Local MC battle champion and radio personality Delite rapped as the animated "MC Skat Kat" on Paula Abdul's "Opposites Attract." Listen below. Photo by Brian Pobuda.

 

Download "Opposites Attract," or listen to a sample at Amazon. Buy