Chocolate City Raise Up!
Defiant Giants – “Rise Black Man Rise“
from Rise Black Man Rise 12″ (Washington Hit Makers, 1989)
MC Poet Nyce & DJ Dafaq – “Poet 2 Git Lyrical“
from Cold Stoopid Duckets EP (Hip Hop Productions, 1989)
So my four year stay in the District of Columbia comes to a close next week. Today’s post is my nostalgic going away party.
If you do a google search for Washington DC all you get are images of the damn capital and the washington monument, but that shit’s so far removed from the actual lifeblood of the majority of the cities residents. (And if you do a search for, say, anacostia, half of what comes up are just shots of roadside/riverside garbage piles). But yeah, what who have never been here (or even people who have on the tourist tip) might not realize is the bizarre and frighteningly segregated social dynamic between the primarily transient white folks and the black majority. And, as you’d expect some great music and musicians have come out of this environment over the years – from Duke Ellington to Chuck Brown.
But as far as traditional rap goes DC’s remained unfortunately irrelevant. That’s because the void has been filled with go-go. It’s the dominant black music in dc, has been for years and probably always will be. And that’s a good thing, because that shit cranks. What I don’t want this post to come off as is one of those whining rants where heads talk about how hip hop gets no love in the district. Because, not to overlook the landmark careers of Questionmark Asylum and Nonchalant, but the area doesn’t really need any damn rap. Would it be nice if the situation changed? Of course, I think go-go and “regional” rap can coexist comfortably, but that just is not the case right now. Nobody’s really checking for local rappers, and that’s a reality. So deal with it. My advice to aspiring DC rappers is to either join a go-go band or move to New York.
I do want to highlight two nice local traditional rap records from the late 80s that I think are worth checking out.
Defiant Giants were an X-Clanish group out of Howard University. This was their biggest hit, but they also put out a follow up, “Son of a Black Panther”, which was in a similar vein. One fourth of the group, Zulu King Paris is now better known as Malik Zulu Shabazz, who functions as a high ranking member of the NOI affiliated New Black Panther Party (no relation). Apparently he’s recorded a new solo record, but I can’t really find any other information about it.
MC Poet Nyce & DJ Dafaq, I know less about. In fact, I’m not even sure if I got the name right, the label is made up of chaotic as hell hand styles inna schoolly d vein. What I can make out is that this was recorded in Rockville, Maryland.
The four track ep consists of mostly upbeat funky shit that borders on cheesy, but “Poet To Get Lyrical” is a slice of beautiful sloppy rap production that makes paul c sound like he was mixing to a hi fi pro tools unit.
Tumblin' Erb
May 16th, 2005 at 11:42 pm
I went to school in D.C. during what most would call the golden age of hip hop, 1986 – 1990. I was miserable as fuck because D.C. cats weren’t banging hip hop at all, other than Dougie Fresh and Kool Moe Dee (both are kinda country). The only time I heard hip hop was when niggas from NY came through to expand and establish their New Jack City drug dealing moves in the District. DC niggas wasn’t having it and when DC and NY niggas clashed, that’s what drove DC’s murder rate way the eff up making it the murder capital of the world. EPMD’s Strictly Business got mad play from NY cats in DC. As an official Brookjlyn cat, I hated DC!!! Mad purty chicks though.
May 17th, 2005 at 2:51 pm
Am I an idiot, or does the MC Poet Nyce not work?
May 17th, 2005 at 4:08 pm
is that pic from Ben’s Chili Bowl?
May 17th, 2005 at 8:36 pm
poet works and yes that’s a bens half smoke.
May 18th, 2005 at 12:46 am
Yep as a man born and raised in DC i can concur that rap gets no love. DC is an anomoly in the fact it’s an east coast city with a very southern edge. Go Go is the lifeblood and a majority of heads perfer southern/west coast rap as opposed to NY. Anyways some Go Go can fucking pass as rap seeing how they do almost blatant rip offs at times (or homages what the fuck they wanan call them).
The book on DC Rap cannot be closed till DC Scorpio is acknowleged (his video HUSTLER was a staple on Music video connection) and Section 8 Mob (Who’s classic “Ketchup on my hot dog” rivals the most ignorant of southern rap).
May 18th, 2005 at 2:54 am
I’m not up on the DC scene so maybe this is an ignorant question, but would you count Blu Rum 13 in the district, or is he strictly VA?
May 18th, 2005 at 3:36 pm
yeah i actually mentioned scorpio in an earlier draft of this not sure why it got left out.
section 8 mob is some serious shit. you know if those guys are still in the area/still making music?
i have no idea who or what blu rum 3 is. aren’t they/he a ninja tune act or something?
May 18th, 2005 at 7:07 pm
Blu Rum 13 is a dude from Gaithersburg, he did a sick track on “Life from the Other Side” with DJ Vadim & Kid Koala called “It’s Obvious” so the Ninja Tune connection is there. He put out an album a few years back but I don’t know the label. I saw him with Vadim in Prague and he lit the place up. Anyway, on “It’s Obvious” he reps “That whole DC, Maryland Gaithersburg thing… ain’t nobody come from there”
May 18th, 2005 at 11:58 pm
what about team demolition? aren’t they from arlington or someshit? they still doing anything?
just thinking of TD makes me laugh.
hahahahahha
ha
May 19th, 2005 at 1:57 am
Anyone got a copy of that DC Scorpio? Yo! MTV Raps played it alot back then too, loved that song, haven’t heard it since then. Did he ever release an album?
May 24th, 2005 at 6:05 am
section 8 is still a group but a few of the members have solo material floating arround. if you’re familiar with the area hit up the benco on benning road. they will get you what you need; they got it for cheap! lol
May 24th, 2005 at 6:11 am
i forgot to mention bens chili bowl is the shit as was the dc scorpio video single – stone cold hustler… he could never fuck with fat rodney as far as the rap goes and anyone who was at the chapter III or has a old essence tape knows. speaking of rap no one mentioned “give em what they want” tony blunt… punk never well put together i sent the ac back cause the seats wasn’t leather.
May 25th, 2005 at 11:39 pm
slim – you talking about eargasms? is the solo shit tight enough to warrant a trip out there?
May 26th, 2005 at 7:49 am
i would say yeah if your a fan of scarface. the tracks that i heard sounded like some face shit. as far as eargasm that isnt the spot i was refering to. the benco is down past b st and just before g… it’s a few dudes out there slangin cd’s and dvd’s… but being that they serving that chronic it may be hard to locate a cd/dvd salesman… look arround i would say a place for sure would be pa palace.
June 5th, 2005 at 8:51 am
Yo dis ish is wack as my culo! I dun like dat shiz on da grizz, so dont let the shizzle on the wizzle get u trizzy.
November 18th, 2006 at 1:11 pm
Born and Raised in DC. Striaght out of Southeast, Anacostia, MLK. Straight old school. Let me shed some light on that bama up top from Brooklyn who was poppin off about NY niggers doign their thing in DC. He forgot to mention, how we let some NY cats bring some money down here. And then we’d set ‘em up like it was sweet and then Rob them bamas. And then the War began. THEY LOST! A rack of NY bamas gto sent back home in Body Bags. Now back tot he music. GO-GO Music is our way of life. Just like Hip-Hop is theirs. But Rap music was built off GO-GO. Heavy D stole GO-GO Beats (Mr. Bigstuff, Overweight Lover), Salt & Pepe (Mic Sounds Nice, Shake Yo Thang), Doug E Freah & Slick Rick (Gettin’ Ready, The Show), Curtis Blow (songs with Trouble Funk), Jay-Z (Overnight Senerio) He stole that joint, Kid & Play (Role With Kid & Play), and even MC. HAMMER!!!! Nelly’s “Gettin Hot In Here” he sampled and stole Chuck Brown. Even Russell Simmons tried to get a piece of the GO-GO action bak in the day by signing JUNKYARD BAND to Def Jam. So to all the young dudes out there. Never sleep on the History of GO-GO & RAP “aka” HIP HOP. They both had hard times. They both were created from Inner City homies. And they both have helped one another grow in some form.
March 4th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
I agree with all of Southeast 4life said allllot of old school rap has a lot of go-go influence Rock the Bells Kurtis blow forgot his song even grandmaster flash and the furious5, keep it real.
March 28th, 2007 at 5:59 am
i have to agree with the homie form DC …look back in the eighties it was crazy….NY cats came down and got murked …..period…the only one that had some clotu was ALPO ….and das cause he was running with the most notories man in DC at that time…..and i wont even mention his name….but yall already know…..GO-GO?….its cool….but…..we need to expand our musical preference….and i can sya that being out of DC….but one dude said it right….”if you rap join a go-go band or move”…
June 4th, 2007 at 1:46 am
Lets step it up peeps. born in dc nw – then lived ne. old school g back to peacemakers, blacklove. redds and the boys (yeah essence. eu. and trouble waz da shit back then too) but gogo waz a movement. a reason to be proud of yo city. went to the military and overseas in japan, korea, and a host of other places and gogo was present all over, but thousands of miles from da crib gogo cuts united dc md and va niggaz and honeyz on the floors at clubs and we share some shit no other hiphop city shares. like that hyphe shit in oakland. outside of dc and the eastcoast people don’t know gogo is all about – our shit – dc and gogo for life fools.
chillin in texas sippin syrup – reppin redskins – bumpin gogo – rockin northface – peace out
November 6th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Love the rant- I’ll have to put a link to it on gogobeat.com …
March 30th, 2008 at 1:29 am
d.c. scorpio – hustler part II, thanks to some dude.
October 14th, 2008 at 2:12 am
Big-ups 2 all that paved da way. Of course my earliest memories of go-go meets hip-hop was Trouble feat. Kurtis Blow. But everybody from da city knows Fat Rodney was an innovator of rappin’ in the mid-80′s. 2 dc what B.I.G. is 2 ny. JZ is 3rd, B.I.G. is 2nd cuz Rodney was1st. Bringin class 2 da mic and d brother could jone almost as good as me. Fav. line- ”I wanna girl dat think she’s like dat face looks good + her ass fat. I wanna girl thats drivin an Ac and packin a gat but I dont hv her yet wh she at?”
December 17th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
just be patient and watch how we murder rap! It’s ALLEY RAISED *F* DAT MY MONEY OVER EVERYTHING$
AND NO/ WE NOT NO BAMMA A$$ HIP HOP RAPPER’S .. GO-GO 4LIFE..IT JUST SO HAPPEN’S WE KNOW HOW TO MURDER– TRACK’S…AND THAT’S THANK’S TO GO-GO CHAMP,,BEEN THERE DONE THAT NOW LET’S GET THAT CASH FOR THE CITY..OH AND IT WOULD HELP IF YALL BAMMA’S STOP LOOKING,ACTING AND TALKING LIKE THEM!!4REAL..WHERE YALL FROM AGAIN? ASK YOURSELF THAT WHILE YOU WATCHING VIDEO’S..THE REAL CITY&/P.G NI&&A’S KNOW WHAT i’M TALKING ABOUT,, YOUNGIN’S…SO DO YOUR HISTORY AND STOP BEING GET WIT’S…WHERE IS THE ORIGINALITY? YEAH GET AT US ..AIIIIGHT ..BE EASY WE ALLEY RAISED WE DO WHAT WE LIKE AT ALL TIME’S HOW BOUT YOU?
January 2nd, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Man i am born in raised in dark city ..aka dc.ive played in several real gogo and no bounce garbage that real congo socket and pocket shit.like that ole jy or northeast or even total recall used to crank’.But the dc scence has changes i think when bands started that wack azz rolotoms shit alot of banda hopped on their nuts and thus began what these young bamas think is gogo how can u be a gogo band an play 12 timbali grooves and dont even show up with congos at your show.NOw let me address these bammas saying a son’ a son where are yall from this is dc not ny stop saying that shit man thesea youngins have made dc look bad bammas werin tight jeans with nike boots lol what happen to much lil wayne an b.e.t they confused get that shit out this city .stop the wack gogo bounce beat noise ,we need to perserve the real go go before that wack azz bounce shit hits the mainstream then people will say that gogo? its been a pleasure ,im looking for keyboard players and a tight drummer to rebuild my band of the mid 90″s we werw tight tryin to get it back.202 276 1113 miko.holla back
September 16th, 2009 at 8:14 am
First off, im n.e dc born n raised. Edgewood, Saratoga, etc (Chu, where u at??) N e way, i love go-go and all that but what i hate is the fact that bamas keep boxing dc in with it. WTF is wrong with dc nikkaz rappin? We all hustlers down here and wtf is rap? Just another hustle. If rap was sooo freakin bad, y the hell do we keep makin go-go versions of the sh_t? That sh_t make us look bad. Rap is BIG MONEY, go-go aint quite there. So i guess if a nikka tryin to get some of that money, he wrong! yall gotta open yall eyez and stop closed minded and support WHATEVER comes out of dc INCLUDING nikkaz that rap! Right now all we doing is “SITTING ON THE SIDELINE” while others is playin..WAKE THE F*CK UP!!!
May 21st, 2010 at 1:51 pm
[...] Members of the home team remember Section 8 Mob long before any Quince Orchard graduate was being heralded as the epitome of the DC hip-hip scene and then labeled a homophobe. [...]