|
It was a Sunday, Easter
Sunday mind you. The people were rushing to church, and the kids were
decked out in their new pink dresses and shirts with vests. While the
rest of the city was hunting Easter eggs and gobbling down big meals, me
and my right hand man were sitting outside the Escape Ultra Lounge
seeing who could do the best rendition of the classic Five Minutes of
Funk by Whodini. After waiting for several hours and through a fire
alarm scare where they had to evacuate the club (witnessing the forty
year old damsels in distress trying their best to look 29) we finally
were escorted in through the VIP where we were greeted by brother
Carmello, the manager and hype man for the classic trio, Whodini.
Minneapolis Liberator: So as pioneers of Hip Hop what do you say Whodini
contributed to the culture?
Jalil: What Whodini brought to Hip Hop culture was that we dressed to
impress. We put the style into the Hip Hop outfits. When cats was just
wearing sweat suits we brought the proper attire. We brought the silk we
brought the leather. Outside of that, Whodini brought the originality to
the music. Before we started, everybody was always using somebody else’s
Jams. It’s repeating now, but we brought the originality to the music.
The third thing is, remember when everybody had dancers? We started
that. We brought the dancers behind the rappers to the game. We took the
basics from Hip Hop on the streets and traveled with it on the road. We
added on to that by going platinum, with our style actually the first to
go platinum, then Run-DMC, then the Fat Boys. Those are the things we
brought to the game. We also bring a strong sense of unity to the game
by staying together. So for those that are looking they can see the
unity that we brought to the game. Now days groups are quick to break
up. We also brought a science to the game of conceptual raps, to show we
were conscious of what we were doing and that we were not just running
our mouths. Whodini brought those things to the game. We also brought
something else to the game where we don’t hog each other on the
Microphone. We are not just saying our names and stuff a thousand times.
That’s the magic of Whodini.
Minneapolis Liberator: What was a key component to Whodini’s mainstream
success? Now people are saying crossover this, crossover that, but
everybody just seemed to love Whodini. What was it about Whodini that
made that possible?
Jalil: Conceptual raps, a good basic image, and strong music. Those are
the things that contributed. Something called crossover, be mindful,
that music is music, and if you dancing and like the rhythm of what
someone is saying, that’s music. So crossover is somebody else’s
terminology, you know. Crossover implies going commercial, and if you
get caught up in that remember that these days underground music is
commercial. It’s commercial to be a gangster so we just made music that
walked a finer line with concepts and good rhythm behind it. So in short
I guess you could say that an educated consumer was our best customers
Minneapolis Liberator: So how would you all say the industry has changed
since you all were on center stage back in 1982?
Ectasy: I think the style and how everybody is representing themselves
has changed a lot. The subject matter of what people are talking about,
what was considered pop music has changed. A lot of the basic form of
Hip Hop and all is still the same. The creativity, you know what I’m
saying, making people dance, making people move. Whodini always tried to
give you a little more a little extra for your money. We not only tried
to give you the musical aspect but the visual aspect to go along with
it. So, you know people that seen a Whodini show back in the day, the
love is still there because of the extra effort we put in to try and
make it a little bit different and give you a little bit more, trying to
expand the game, you know. Our thing was “I’m gonna’ eat today and I
wanna’ eat tomorrow. So I ain’t gonna’ do nothing wrong and we were
really trying to pave the way for everybody, that was just our mind
state. Now I think it is a little bit different where they are getting
away from that ‘cause a lot of old school rappers are not on the scene
right now and you’re loosing that little bit of wisdom that was passed
down to us, that we have to pass down to the next generation. They’re
missing that. Basically I think the music is still on the edge but like
back in the day when we did our song “I’m A Ho” that was on the edge,
and we had the hardest time trying to get radio to play that music, but
now look at what’s happening, and what we are dealing with. Look at the
changing times. I want the artists of today to realize the most
important thing that is missing is the pride; not just in the music, but
in the culture.
Jalil: Back then there was originality to what you were doing. There was
only one Run-DMC, only one Rakim, only one LL Cool J, only one Whodini,
only one Big Daddy Kane, only one KRS-One, only one Public Enemy.
Although you had a couple copy cats come later, these days it’s easy to
copy somebody and they don’t care if you copying the pattern of
somebody. Another way the game has changed, all the look-alikes, the
copying of styles and every thing. Another way the game has changed is
that the money has increased so much that the love for the game has
really died and now it’s all about the dollar bill. But this has been
predicted in the last days and times and being that Hip Hop is a part of
the last days and times that we livin’ in, then what can we expect but
the game to be like that. Another way that the game has changed is that
we have adopted this low life pimp mentality into our music and act like
that is part of the Hip Hop culture, which it is defiantly not. Nor is
killing, you know what I’m saying. They are twisting the facts. Those
are a few ways that I can say that Hip Hop changed. Another way it has
changed is that the radio and video shows should be ashamed of
themselves. Video shows play what’s on the radio and radio plays what’s
on the video [shows]. Nobody is bringing any kind of ingenuity to bring
something new. If this guy’s record isn’t a hundred percent but just
sixty-five percent is finished maybe somebody should still get to hear
it, give him some light. You got enough time to give play to somebody
new or encourage somebody else don’t just lock in that same fifteen and
let them just repeat themselves. We see the same videos over and over
and over, you mean nobody else is making a video? Give the small guy a
chance just to be seen. Maybe he got something artistic in him that will
make the music sound better. But the industry is shooting them down,
making them feel like they never had a chance. These are all ways that
the game has changed.
Minneapolis Liberator: I don’t know if a lot of people know it, but you
all were one of the first or the first groups to go on a world tour.
What was it like pioneering that trip and how were you guys received
bringing this new urban musical form overseas.
Jalil: Let me give credit where credit is due. Sugar Hill actually broke
a lot of ground running around the world… and I mean around the world
literally. So the credit first would have to go them. Curtis Blow did a
hell of a lot himself. Curtis Blow also ran around the world and put the
finesse to it, so did Africa Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force with
Planet rock, so did Grandmaster flash and the Furious five. Now what we
did with Run-DMC and so fourth we did it repeatedly. And how was it? It
was lovely. It was three God sent cats from Brooklyn that ain’t never
really been nowhere running around getting they thing off. We
appreciated it. We learned a lot about the craft in itself, and not just
from Hip Hoppers, from bands. From Midnight Star, you know. From Prince.
Man that’s one of my mentors. And other guys we did the menials
sometimes they would put you in menial slots with other cats and let you
do your thing and you learn a lot being the small man on the totem pole
sometimes. So running around the world has been a real advantage to us.
To had done it at an early age was a bigger advantage to us, but it also
made us appreciate what we do more. |
|
Our Sponsors
(please check
them out.)
|
|
