AllHipHop: What was the climate within the group Rusty Waters? Was there any beef in the group? S: As far as Rusty Waters goes, it’s just like Run said. Jay was the glue behind everything. Now that Jay is gone, everybody is scattered. Ain’t nothing like it used to be. It use to be all of us hanging, running around the world, going to these different cities, all that sh*t is over. The same n*ggas that used to hang don’t speak anymore. AllHipHop: But before Jay passed, there was no problems in the group? S: Rusty Waters was cool, but Jay felt relieved when they got their deal. It was like he felt that he owed them, like I gotta get these n*ggas on. He got them out of his pocket and he was happy. He was like "Now we can start f*cking with these movies, I’m through with the rap sh*t." n*ggas didn’t even know that Jay wasn’t f*ckin with that rap sh*t no more, it was all about the movies. AllHipHop: Boe Skagz, Jay’s nephew, was absent when Jay was shot. He’s never been implicated, but what happened earlier in the day? I heard that earlier in the day before Jay was shot, they all went to get haircuts and for one reason or another, Boe was the only one that didn’t and that’s where he went the night Jay was shot, which is why he wasn’t at the studio? S: That’s true, that happened. Boe didn’t get his haircut and Randy was stressing for him to get his hair cut later. There is no question, if Boe was in the studio when that sh*t happened, Boe would be dead with Jay or the n*gga who tried to do that would be dead, no question. Boe would have givin his life for Jay just like me. AllHipHop: Why was Randy stressing so hard for Boe to get his haircut later? S: I am questioning so much sh*t now. After that sh*t I heard on the radio I’m questioning everything. I believed in Randy. I believed that dude loved Jay. Now I’m like what the f*ck is really going on? Why did he tell me that bogus story for no reason? He told me a bogus story for no reason. AllHipHop: Randy said that he chased the gunman down and that’s how the studio gun was found outside, right? Did he ever give a reason as to why he dropped it and never brought it back into the studio? S: He told me some bullsh*t about he didn’t want the police to find the gun in the studio so he put it outside. But then he told me they did find it and got his prints off the gun. He told em what happened and it could have f*cked him up cause he is a felon, but they gave him a pass. AllHipHop: So the police just gave him a pass in the biggest hip-hop murder investigation in hip-hop? S: Aye man, that’s what he told me. I heard him on the radio, I tried to call him today. All his numbers are changed, 2way, cellphone and everything. AllHipHop: Lydia sent AllHipHop a press release saying that she basically didn’t see anything. What did she tell you and how did Curtis Scoon come to be the major suspect, if she says she didn’t see anything? S: I spoke to Randy and then I flew back to New York. I called him when I got in. He told me Lydia looked him right in his face and said that Scoon did it. AllHipHop: Is that how the cops came up with Curtis Scoon being the main suspect? S: That’s what I thought. I got the million dollar question. I’ll give Randy the benefit of the doubt and say the killer didn’t know they were in the back. They shot Jay and just say they shot Pretty Tone. Why didn’t they shoot Lydia? You tell me why a man comes in and kills my man in cold blood and I’m talking about did not touch her? You answer that question for me and we can start figuring out who killed Jay. I heard so many different stories. The cops said they call her the drama queen, cause every time they try to question her she goes into tears and convulsions and sh*t. Man you don’t understand, we were all family! We flew around doing these DJ gigs and I can’t believe how these n*ggas are turning on Jay like this. They going to all these radio stations and sh*t. Why aren’t they going to the police? AllHipHop: So the building the studio was in and how it’s setup, there’s a barbershop downstairs. In order to get in, you have to be buzzed in and then go up the stairs to the studio. Someone had to buzz the door open right? S: They say the door was open because of a seminar going on. AllHipHop: How could the gunman just go into the studio and do this? The gunman must have been familiar with the building and the area, right? S: That’s real, that’s real. AllHipHop: What about Tinard Washington? I know he is locked up now for robbing some motels. He was reported as allegedly being the lookout. I don’t know how true that is, but what was his involvement with Jay? S: All of those people towards the end that ran with Jay, were all Randy’s people. None of them were people Jay grew up with. Everybody was from Randy. AllHipHop: Jay lived near some highways. I hate to say this but, why would they target him at the studio, when there is a police precinct right around the corner? S: Well Jay shot around so much, whoever did it was probably like we gonna get him now, or we may not get him. AllHipHop: Do you think he was being followed? Or was it spontaneous? S: I’ma tell you […]

You may not know who Erik “Shake” James is. But you are about to meet him. As a personal friend of the late, great, Jam Master Jay, Shake was part of Jay’s inner circle from 1988 until the Jam Master’s murder in October of 2002. Shake traveled around the globe with Jam Master Jay and actually introduced AllHipHop’s owners/founders to the legendary DJ. When the rumors of Jay’s death started to circulate, AllHipHop’s Grouchy Greg paged Jam Master hoping he would dispel what had yet to be confirmed, only to receive the tragic confirmation from Jay’s pager, but with Shake responding. After hearing Randy Allen’s interview on Hot 97, in which he seemingly told an alternate version of what happened the night Jay was murdered, Shake decided to speak his mind. Allen and his sister Lydia High, were longtime associates of Jay. Both have recently been under scrutiny from various media outlets, the subject of various reports suggesting they may know more about the murder than they are revealing. In this exclusive interview, Shake comes forward to speak about the man he called his best friend, Jam Master Jay, and what may have happened to him. AllHipHop: What was your role with Jay? Shake: That was my best friend man. AllHipHop: You also worked with Run-DMC? Shake: Yeah AllHipHop: Jay was with you the day before he was murdered, no strange behavior? Shake: We just played video games and was just hanging man. AllHipHop: The following day he went back to the studio and was killed. Who was in the studio that night? Shake: He had told me that he had to get back home because he had to turn in the Rusty Waters album. He bounced and I was speaking to him off and on. We had went to the club that night and he left his 2way in there. I went out the club and grabbed his 2way for him. He told me to grab 50 Cent’s 2way out the pager cause he wanted to speak to him about this movie thing. I spoke to Jay when they were getting their hair cuts and he told me to not call his cell phone and to call him at the studio, cause that’s where he was going to finish up the album. I gave him the number that he needed. He went into the studio. Next thing I know, may man calls me up and tells me that terrible news. AllHipHop: Who were the people that were in the studio that night? Shake: First of all, I wouldn’t be doing this but I heard Randy on Hot 97 today (June 25). The story that he told on the radio, he told me a totally different story as to what happened. He told me that they met this chick and she wanted someone to listen to her demo. Randy said that him and Mike B. (Michael Bonds) Jay, Tone (Urieco “Pretty Tone” Rincon), Lydia and the chick whose demo they were listening to were there. Somebody knocked on the door, told Lydia to get down, popped Jay and Pretty Tone gets hit off the ricochet. Randy said that he sees Jay down, grabs the studio gun and chases the gunman. He runs out the back, Mike B runs out the front. They chasing the dude and they can’t find them. I’m like why didn’t you shoot? He said that dude was gone. My whole thing is this. All these dudes say they love Jay, say they’d do this and that. All these people owe Jay more than what they doing. To just sit back and say nothing and everybody is telling a different story. It ain’t like Jay got killed by a sniper from a million yards away, it was people right there. Then I hear him say there was 60 people in the hall? So now that’s 65 witnesses and nobody still saw nothing? Dude sat right in a car, looked me dead in my face. I said, “Randy, it’s just me and you. Who did that to Jay?” He said “Shake the ngga that killed your best friend and mine is Curtis Scoon.” And then he told me that bullsht ass story. But then on the radio today he sounded like he was protecting Scoon! I’m already sitting back fcked up about this sht everyday and now I have to figure why the f*ck Randy lied to me. AllHipHop: So one minute he’s telling you Scoon did it, and now he’s saying it might not have been Scoon. Shake: What’s real is real. He sounded like he was protecting dude. He said that their beef wasn’t big enough for him to wanna kill Jay. AllHipHop: OK so what do you think about Scoon? Shake: Man, their beef is so old, it was a money thing. That sht was in 1993. That sht is old but you can’t just rule sh*t out. AllHipHop: Why do you think Randy Allen and Lydia may not be cooperating with the police? Shake: I’ma tell you like this. n*ggas always talk about that street code. As far as that goes, that’s out the window. This is Jay. They supposed to be family. Jay would take his shirt off his back and give it to them dudes. I’m not saying they wouldn’t do it too, but they not right now. When you in the streets and your grindin’ and hustling and somebody get done like that, it’s a part of the game cause you living that life. When you not doing that and your on the right path, that’s not supposed to happen. That was cold blooded murder. AllHipHop: A lot of things have been printed about Randy Allen and the authorities are now investigating him. Has there been anything different about his behavior? Shake: Everybody needs to just get on the same page and focus on who really did this to Jay. To me, they didn’t give a f*ck about Jason Mizell, but […]

While mostly the voice, it’s more. Guru is hip-hop’s best PR Man, and he doesn’t need to rent out a fancy hotel to attract an audience. On the verge of releasing their sixth album over a fifteen year reign, Gang Starr’s main purpose is to cherish the woman we call hip-hop. Guru is quite possibly the crowned vocalist of hip-hop. He’s taught us a savy way to speak, a way to drive lyrics with subtlety, and he’s ressurected the Jazz appreciation in the streets. Guru and DJ Premiere are not just “one of the best yet”, they are just that, the best. With probably a million other things to be doing, Guru carved time out of a Brooklyn afternoon to unleash the updated Gang Starr formula, dispell the rumors, and teach a few semesters of hip-hop love…and the masses are lovesick. AllHipHop.com: The famous echoing Gang Starr phrase is the “updated formulas”. In words, how did you and Preem update the methods for The Ownerz? Guru: As far as the beat tip, Premiere always evolved his style for what it is. I mean, he always his signature, having heavy drums and key changes which goes back to his love of the game when somebody’d walk through with a big ass radio, (laughing), carrying a big ass radio! But he does different things with the way he bounces his beats now: different patterns, and a different bounce, sometimes different uses of the high hat. Technically, if you’re really into knowledge of beats, you can hear the little things he does that are different. Other people may not be able to hear it. Just the way he chops a lot of samples from different things. He plays some things, but he keeps it minimal too. ‘Cuz he actually plays drums, keyboards, and bass. It feels like it’s moving, or almost as if it’s being played live. Because what he does is he hears it once in his head and then he finds the s### that sounds like it. AllHipHop: And how did you update? Guru: My style is my voice. But the flow is always changed to the beat. We listen to everything. We’re always up on what’s new and current. That’s the difference between us and a lot of groups that fell off. We just didn’t get hung up in what we were doing, we were always aware of what was going on in the scene, in the market, in our competition, whatever you want to call it – game. We definitely keep that hunger and intensity. Me, I call it sparring. I spar with a lot of younger cats. There’s a lot of cats I’m executive producing. I’m always listening to beats, so my flow adapts to the times. I might mix a new flow with an old flow and come up with a whole different flow (laughing). I started rhyming in ’77, in no way could my style now be the same as then. Nobody would want to listen to me. It’s all about perfection, being versatile. AllHipHop: I love the concept behind the title, there are a lot of heads lending and borrowing the culture, you own it… Guru: Yeah, because our style can’t be duplicated and copied. Our style is pure. We are actually the resurrectors of the New York sound. A lot of New York rappers, aside from Nas and a few others, have left the New York sound for dead. Because they wanted to compete in the market with the South and the West. I don’t you have to do that. I think you can bring it to the forefront, the New York sound. Because right now everything is bouncing, and I like that! But that’s not all I like. I think there needs to be more of a variety in the market places, more of a balance of what the clout is getting. Right now New York is a monopoly. The same records that are on the radio are the same records that are in the clubs, they’re all the same! And there’s gotta be more good s### out. And there is. Like Premiere has an XM Radio show with Marley [Marl], and they have the chance to play different s### on there, breaking records. There’s a skit on the album about DJ’s, because they’re supposed to be the ones breaking new ground. But they’re not, ‘cuz they’re scared. I got no problem with the hustle. But you can’t hustle the hip-hop culture, but you got to know about it. A lot of these cats coming into the game don’t even know who Big Daddy Kane is and Public Enemy are. It’s like when you apply for a job. You better know about that company! So in order for these cats to last in hip-hop, they better do their homework. AllHipHop: This record was pushed back a few times. I had heard that you and Premiere were unhappy with the way the original record sounded… Guru: That wasn’t it. It wasn’t done [laughing]. Please, whoever you heard that from, correct them. I hate that s###. That is the furthest from the truth, ‘cuz I’m one of the most honest people you will ever know. If that was the truth, I’d tell you. How could we not be happy with our s###? [laughing]. We get excited about our s###! The only reason it was pushed back was because of the record company was gonna put out right after the “Skills” video with no set-up, with people not even hired yet. We have people on our label, rock-n-roll and s###, not hip-hop! We’ve never been on a hip-hop label. The closest was Noo Trybe. We’ve been in the EMI system since Step In The Arena. We’re still on EMI. Chrysalis was like Pat Benatar and Billy Idol and Virgin is Janet and Lenny! AllHipHop: It’s always been “Produced by DJ Premiere, and co-produced by the GURU” What is your role in Gang Starr production? Guru: Very […]

AllHipHop: I personally consider you the original G.O.A.T [Greatest of All Time]…you were the dominant rapper in hip-hop at one point and very visible unlike some before you. MM: Black people have short-term memory. That’s just us being ignorant, trendy and going with the fad. We are a part of history. If I was a white dude and I was the first, great rapper, I would have Rolling Stones status. Overseas, its totally different. Them kids know more about the whole spectrum of rap than kids here and its supposed to be our culture. The average Black kid don’t know who we are. Now 50 Cent is the guy, but when the next guy comes out that’s more grimy than 50 Cent, he ain’t gonna be the guy no more. White people are gonna do what the ni**as do and they gonna jump on that. But the ni**gas aint holding up their end in a cultural perspective. This is our history? How can a group like Public Enemy be passé, but a group like NWA move forward? AllHipHop: You recently made history. MM: “The Message” [The Furious Five’s] was the only rap record inducted to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. That just goes back to what I was saying, nobody’s trying to make music for an intellectual-type person. They just trying to keep it on one level with the street kind of vibe. They making records like they still selling dope. Its just ni**as selling dope. AllHipHop: So where are you headed? MM: I’ve got goals. I’ve got places to go. A point to prove, basically, not to the people but the music industry. I can’t prove my point doing shows with the Sugarhill Gang [with whom he toured intensely]. AllHipHop: So what are your goals and what the hell do you have to prove? MM: The point that needs to be proven to these industry cats is that you can’t tell a man when he ain’t needed in his own game. Its like Reggie Jackson can always get a job with the Yankees. The are to the point of ignorance where they won’t allow the greats of the game to be apart of game. If I can still do it, why am I not a part of this game? I am here to take back what is mine. I know Russell [Simmons]. I know Andre Harrell. I’ve met every dude in the a game and I’m better than most. I can rhyme with anybody at anytime. If they have a top 20, I’m in there and I haven’t had a record out in 10 years. I’m an entertainer. I’m a star. They are dope dealers, pimps and the broads, they are hoes. AllHipHop: What’s your take on Run DMC? They changed things when they came out. Run DMC had that off-the-street-type look. MM: They were the first to take that route. They were the first that had that modern marketing and promotion. We only made one video. Kurtis Blow made maybe two. Afrika Bambaataa made one. They were the MTV babies. They did things more like record a company. When Russell came, he came with the Fat Boys, Whodini and LL. Run DMC spearheaded that era. To the average person, you would think that Run DMC was the greatest rap group ever but their not. They’re the most publicized rap group ever. Jam Master Jay was not the best DJ, rest in peace, not even close. And Run and DMC weren’t the best rappers. Werent even close. Where put them with the production and the amount of marketing and promotion, you got RUN DMC – bigger than life. I do remember seeing them at a club and they got in a battle and got destroyed and booed. The last thing they said was, “When we come back, we’re gonna be stars” and when they came back, they were. AllHipHop: What’s your take on battle rapping? MM: You see these rap battles and they are talking about what the other guy is wearing. Its like real stupid sh*t. You don’t even have to have any talent to do that. “You look like you got on your lil’ brother’s shirt.” We just did what we had to do and if it was better than the other guy, we won. To me, today’s battles are corny. Your whole focus is what the other guy does. That’s what kids are doing today. AllHipHop: Rappers have used your stuff like Mobb Deep redid “White Lines.” MM: From a financial stand-point, you can only like it. It lets me know, they know that we are not old the way they are saying it is. Its classic. If a Mobb Deep or a Puffy can redo “The Message” that’s just goes to show you are classic. AllHipHop: I heard you were working as a male stripper [for females] for a while. MM: You gotta do what you gotta do. AllHipHop: Mickey, ya boy, told me to ask you about your p#### collection. MM: [Laughs] I’m definitely Mr. P####. That was from back in the day. I been collecting [movies and now DVD’s] since I was about 17. Its cool and it’s a part of life. People do have sex and I like to see all that sh*t. I’m excited to meet [the female p### star] the way others wanna see Denzel Washington. AllHipHop: I hear you are a workout fanatic. MM: I just love training. The girls love that. Ni**gs like a broad with a nice body and the same with them. Young girls – don’t look at me girl! AllHipHop: What do you think about the state of the game now? MM: All people know about rap is “Oh yeah, that’s dope. That’s street. Them ni**as is street, they hard!” Hip-hop ain’t about that. Hip-hop ain’t got nothing to do with that. [Street] guys like that never said rhymes. They never even wanted to say rhymes. Its been hijacked by these cats. All […]

The Original G.O.A.T. – Grand Master Melle Mel By Jigsaw Born Melvin Glover, Grandmaster Melle Mel is more than one of the pioneers of hip-hop – he is heralded, by those that know, as one of the finest lyricists hip-hop has ever seen. While we at AllHipHop deem him the original G.O.A.T., the notion is certainly arguable with greats before and after him. But. Melle Mel was certainly one of the first true emcees that graced the small screen, the big screen and hammered the upper and underground. Under the legendary Grandmaster Flash banner, Melle Mel joined Keith (Cowboy) Wiggins, his older brother Nathaniel (Kidd Creole) Glover and eventually Guy (Rahiem) Williams and Eddie (Mr. Ness/Scorpio) Morris to construct the Furious Five. The group hit with an immeasurable impact when they recorded, “The Message,” which was released in 1982. The song peaked at #4 on the charts and it forever changed the face of rap. While the masses had grown accustomed to the classic pop of Sugar Hill, lead vocalist Melle Mel repped the harsh realities of life in “The Message,” precluding social analysts like BDP, Public Enemy and NWA for several years. Melle rapidly became the lyrical lead in the group, admired for his mighty voice and ability to chew through MC’s. He continued to express and unseen reality in son with “White Lines,” a lyrical journal about cocaine use and abuse. When Flash filed a lawsuit against Sugar Hill Records, their label, the factions of The Furious Five parted. Melle Mel defected and got a number of feature roles in the likes of “Beat Street,” a campy hip-hop classic, and cameos on Chaka Khan’s Grammy-winner “I Feel For You.” In the past years, Melle Mel has continued to record and rhyme, even though its not widely known. After this interview with AllHipHop.com, the man who would become Grandmaster, hopes you don’t think he is finished. He’s on a mission. AllHipHop.com: So, I don’t know where to start other than the beginning. How did you get started rhyming? Grand Master Melle Mel: Going to all the jams, we used to breakdance. [Kool] Herc and [Grand Master] Flash, they used to have the mic and they would say all the catch phrases and I like how the brother – Coke La Rock and Timmy Tim, my favorites – said the lil’ phrases. We used to mimic them. Just because were weren’t DJs, we just took what they did and extended it. AllHipHop: How did things get big with the Furious Five? MM: Once we started getting the rap thing together, Cowboy [FF member] was already rappin’ with Flash. Flash didn’t have a real good DJ voice anyway so he just brought out the system and anybody could get on the mic. But me and Creole [FF member] was putting together our [dance] routines before we even got on the mic with Flash. We were just showing Flash. Me and Scorpio, before his name was Scorpio, we used to hang out and we pulled him in. We used to have battles we put Raheem down with us, because he was one of the best rappers out there. And we did and that’s how we became the Furious Five. AllHipHop: When did you realize you were going to be huge and that rap was too? MM: When I first saw Herc and them doing they thing, I knew, but I didn’t think it was gonna be something that anybody would be able to do. I just thought it would be something we could do. Obviously, I was wrong. If Sugar Hill could make something simple as "Rapper’s Delight," then its something anybody can do. AllHipHop: You had more of a breakout success visibility-wise than the rest of the group. Do you see any reason for that? MM: The main reason is the record that we did a video off of, "The Message," I had the lead in that record. When they saw the video, the saw me. The other reason is, I would do my own thing. When the group broke up and everybody went with Flash, I stay making records. I was fortunate enough to do a song with Chaka Khan, appear on the Grammys and then work with Quincy [Jones]. That’s the way I got started anyway. I said the breakdancing was cool, but let me [rap]. AllHipHop: What made you go solo? MM: Because Flash and them had a court case with Sugar Hill Records and I didn’t feel that I would need to lose that time [fighting in court]. A court case can take years and that’s what happened. I said, "Let’s go get these hits." I made "White Lines" [on Sugar Hill]. [Editor’s note: This song was a huge hit and was eventually remade by Mobb Deep and subsequently sampled by a number of rappers.] AllHipHop: So, "White Line" was solo from you, not the whole crew? MM: Yeah, the song came out as Grand Master Melle Mel because the group was associated Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five. Even up to this day, I can get on stage and say Melle Mel a thousand times, but soon as I get off, they say, "Yo, Flash what up?" The name was that big. AllHipHop: So you weren’t jacking Flash’s name? MM: No, it was business. My sound was associated with the name Grand Master Flash. Flash took it some other kind of way. Whatever. He gotta feed his family and I gotta feed mine. AllHipHop: Do you guys speak these days? MM: We cordial. We don’t do any work together though, but we speak. AllHipHop: Clothing-wise you dudes had a whole different style. Some say it’s the pre-Run DMC era with some other influences like punk rock in there. MM: It was simple. We came from the ghetto and just some ni**a-sh*t. When we were hot, we tried to be star and add an era of entertainment to what we do. We weren’t trying to go […]