We’re on the Radio

S1: You are now listening to Meridian Arts.

S2: The story you're about to hear is true. It takes place in the wild world of rap , and contains mature content that may not be appropriate for all audiences , like N.W.A said.

S3: Parental discretion is advised.

S4: And make it work for your baby. So my man DJ racks Grand Imperial. Once you get up on them , once you choose and show them how we do. This is the major flavored hip hop show.

S2: I'm 46 years old and a real rap aficionado. As I'm sure you know , the culture of hip hop has four major tenets deejaying , breakdancing , graffiti , and rap. I study a mall , but I'm really interested in rap , fascinated by all the impact of its writers. I've played my share of shows all over the country , and one thing that allows you is a ton of conversation about the art and history of rap. Me and my cast have closed down many a venue , arguing about where my city sits in the world and why hip hop's 50th anniversary yielded a ton of articles and interviews on the subject. Being the black rap nerd that I am. I started to notice certain cities have something about their contribution that makes them unique. San Diego is one of those cities. I tapped in with some of those close friends I've been discussing rap with over the years , and we put together this series to map out the whole thing for you. But here's the deal. This isn't the history of rap. This isn't a complete timeline , but it is what happened ? Some details will be left out if we're talking about The Fresh Prince. We don't talk about all the other fights he's ever been in. We talk about that one little fight where his mom got scared and him moving with his auntie and uncle. We talk about the important parts. Keep that in mind as you listen to this. This is about San Diego rap and the incredible way it got where it is today. You ready ? Let's go. This is the San Diego story. Diego story ? Diego story. Our last episode introduced you to jail felony , a San Diego lyricist whose diligence and hard work earned him a very successful release on Def Jam Records. But gangsta rap isn't the only thing thriving in the city. Trailblazer Oracle the psychotic alien's artistic energy is evolving our backpack rap scene at light speed.

S1: Rapper John Robinson a.k.a Reality of Ill Mannered.

S3: Everybody was ripping off what they did. From the backpacks to the shredded pants to the to the chucks , to the honcho boots , to everything they was doing. They were ahead of their time with that , you know what I mean ? And everybody else , in my opinion , kind of bit off of them.

S2: His weekly underground improv event was up and running as a springboard for local talent , similar to rap ensembles like Death Row or Boot Camp Clik. San Diego's Masters of the universe comprised of Adam 12 , matrix , Basement , Eclipse , millennium , Wes Craven , Orko and Third Rail applied a buckshot strategy , releasing a myriad of tape hiss concertos showcasing each member's individual personality and philosophies. A momentum was building and local rap was multiplying.

S3: If you know anything about Masters of the universe , they were ahead of their time when it comes to production rhyme , rhyme , scheme , fashion , dancing , anything. They were way ahead of their time in my opinion.

S2: The critical mind state track. Um hum.

S3: There was a guy named Mattis who at the time was going by C dub. There was Perry Wilkins , pink juice , there was Asia. Yep. Uh , Larry Love. The original recording was done by Steve Vicious , who's a San Diego legend. He did sultry funk and other some other songs with MC hammer and stuff like that. He did Big June song on Big June , Yung G-spot. So everybody who was in the body , um , I think cricket be , uh , I want to say even I want to even maybe saving J or felony. I'm not completely sure , but everybody who's anybody has had a song done from Steve Vicious or went through that studio.

S2: I had a cassette copy of Aztec Tribe , Diego Town and I probably have some other local tapes , but Critical Mind state , that's the first local demo that really got me. Each emcee was from a different neighborhood , which gave the demo extra movement around the city.

S5: I go by the name Larry Love infamous L Larry Love southeast represented.

S2: Whose idea was Critical Mindstate.

S5: The whole thought and concept. Everything was my idea. Just I was watching. I don't know if you remember. Pump it up with Dee Barnes. Yes , sir. She had Ice Cube on there. And I just remember , you know , she had asked him a question , uh , you know , how was it growing up in South Central ? And you just be like , man , it was critical. Everything was critical. I was like , I don't know , that word is registered with me. I was like , okay.

S2:

S5:

S6: Like the rejects are correct subliminal mind states while your brothers are still pulling grapes and you don't sweat because , you know , I got your open , Shorty pop and Cruz brothers know they gonna lose. And yo don't play the next wing. That shit's complex.

S2: Larry Love's goal with Critical Mindstate was a compilation with other emcees. His work didn't come together , but great minds think alike. The Vital Science compilation featured 19 homegrown songs , each from a different group. This isn't a new concept. Similar moves can be seen throughout the 90s with albums from The Flavor Unit , Eric Sermon , and of course , Wu-Tang. Upon revisit , Vital Signs is a wonderful exhibition of San Diego's personality cycle , not wisdoms and avant garde wordplay mixed in with gritty West Coast slappers. It's special , a sort of coming of age , a slightly specific benchmark showing that our scene was beyond merely surviving. It was enjoying its quirks.

S5: We submitted a song for it , and it made the cut on the official Vital Signs. Well , it was cassettes back then. So ? So providers. And the name of the song is called Camouflage Tactics.

S4: Who in this place is sick and tired of the lies ? These guys surprised all my brothers with the story. Eyes like flies. We come in flocks to the spots where the disjunct set up shop. Show what you got. Racket exists from all around. Oh , man. Frosty.

S5: Frosty. Well , he's icons now , but he used to be almighty society. And. But he was the one who formed the glasshouse. But that's how I got on the vital signs through Frosty's connection.

S2: Who did the beat for camouflage tactics ? Steve , we're gonna talk more about the local records that were in rotation when we come back from this quick break. Stick around. Welcome back. We're talking about the slew of local music. Floating Walkman to Walkman.

S1: A Walkman is a portable stereo that allowed the user to listen to music on cassette tapes through headphones. Right.

S2: Right. A couple rhymes become a rapper , get a couple rappers. You got a group , a couple groups. That's a crew , a bunch of crews. You got a scene. Eventually that scene's going to have records. And records should mean radio , right ? Well , in the late 90s , rap wasn't as accepted as it is now. Songs that featured rappers still had an alternate version without the rap to please top 40 stations , but we had somebody putting it on the dial for us.

S7: My name is DJ rag , San Diego , California , South San Diego , California. Born and raised.

S2: DJ rags is a young OG , a mainstay of SoCal airwaves. His name is held in high esteem nationally and on a street level. It's rumored his Raw Flavor series Yielded one of the first San Diego mixtapes to feature a young notorious B.I.G. In this interview with Chris Reyes , DJ Bragg shares his road to radio and the work of getting SD rap on the dial.

S7: I started off as a mobile DJ because my older brother Jose , um , he's he's about ten years older than me. He was a DJ. He had a mobile system. I was around like ten years old , although he didn't really like me using his stuff. Like , it was kind of like that , um , Step Brothers movie. Like , whenever he would leave , like , I'd get on it , you know what I'm saying ? Yeah.

S8:

S7: The other thing , too , is , um , he also managed a record store called Licorice Pizza. I don't know if we do. Familiar. It used to be in Chula Vista over on on H Street. He would always bring home promos of all kinds of music , but a lot of hip hop. And at that time , that's when hip hop was starting to explode. At that , it's not like today where there's like a million DJs. Back then there was only a handful , So I was doing bar mitzvahs , I was doing black parties. I was doing like chicken parties. And that's trial by fire , you know what I mean ? Because they hire you and you're in their home. So all you had were the records that you brought. So again , and it was just a it was a full on education. And again , like hip hop was always hip hop was always about like 80 or 90% of my sets.

S9: Tell me a little bit about the 90 days and your relationship with Kut father.

S7: Oh , man. Honestly , like I got emotional right now just thinking about it , man. I started on Z 90 when I was about 17 or 18. I met James D because he used to shop at our record store. The store was just like a hangout for all these , all these deejays. And it's especially in the South Bay.

S9: And this is a CNS. Access.

S7: Access. Yeah.

S1: A , C and S records was a popular independently owned record store located in Chula Vista , California.

S7: So I would be there all day just cutting , just having fun , talking music , talking ish , you know , and , um , so just I got to know James there one day. He just asked me , he's like , hey , like , you want to come mix ? He was supposed to be playing the music , and I was supposed to be throwing stuff on top of it , like little acapella , scratchy and that kind of stuff. But the thing is , James , like , I always got the , like the impression that he hated deejaying because he was always complaining. So eventually he got to the point where he was just like , okay , just DJ , just like just play. So I ended up needing to like around midnight. We knew like a lot of , like the regular people more the squares or whatever tuned out. So that's when we used to go real heavy on the hip hop. That ended up being my show , my hip hop show on the 90s. And at first , like , I never had a real host. It was just like whoever happened to be have that shift. But when Cut father came on. Oh , man. I feel like that's when it became like a hip hop show. He took it and multiplied it by like 100. Dude , that dude bled hip hop. He would start freestyling , like , in the middle of , like , I just be throwing breaks and he just couldn't help himself. He was doing , like , promos , like talking about , like , yo , this is K-Mart. And then he started and he started , like , rhyming about K-Mart , like , you know what I mean ? Like , it was like , dude , like , I'm telling you , I love cut , man. He just took my show to a whole nother level. Like we had it. We had a good relationship. Like we respect.

S9: He had such an amazing voice , though , to you. Oh , man.

S4: When are you guys gonna stop playing this music ? You know what I'm saying ? And I was like , yo , we gon keep on playing it forever , you know ? Cause we will be here forever. Do you understand me ? Look at me. We will be here forever. Ever.

S2: Ever. Ever. Marcus. Cut ! Father Telefono was a DJ , a major influence on both San Diego and Seattle's hip hop scene's rapping on some of the same producer Jake. Once first tracks. He passed away December 30th , 2020. He was 48 years old.

S9: I distinctly remember is that you guys would occasionally break a local record.

S7: I had relationships with everybody and everybody would come in and again , like it was it was like the barbershop of that time , like for DJs. But the only thing was , I can only play local guys who had vinyl when I was playing , like Mitchy Slick , little one , like all these , all these local dudes. And now you have beef with all the other local guys. You're not playing. These guys were actually putting in work. Like , I wasn't interested in playing the guy who made a couple songs to for his block or for his friends or whatever , but that's it. Who didn't really have , who weren't really trying to do it in a real way.

S9: The artist who knew that , who knew that they needed to have a 12 inch , they kind of did have , um , an advantage , right ? Like , if they knew that we had to take it that serious so that rags could get a 12 inch so that he could actually play it. Right. It would almost like , um , filter out people who couldn't who weren't taking it seriously.

S7: I mean , right , they they filtered out themselves. I mean , again , artists are artists. They're they're creatives.

S9:

S7: And so I remember when Joe Felony blew up , when he got signed , at first , when he got signed to Def Jam , the talking went up a thousand. It's very disappointing because. But you also the thing is it's a very small market. So it's a small pond of of like a bunch of little sharks. But you know what I mean. Fighting against each other. It's not like like la la is an industry. Atlanta is an industry. Miami became an industry in New York is industry , you know what I mean ? And a lot of these guys here , they think locally and even now a lot of these guys are content with being the guy in San Diego. As I do , there's there's a there's a whole world out there.

S9:

S7: Like. Not like. Oh , he was the man. Or he did this. He did that. No. Like he did like. And I feel like I did do my part , you know what I'm saying ? Like , I'm grateful for hip hop. I'm grateful for it. I'm grateful for all of it. As far as , like , high points , I mean , I continue to have high points. You know what I mean ? I love deejaying , like , my high point , I think overall is I've been able to do what I love my whole life.

S2: From Meridian Arts and KPBS. This is episode six of Wrapped Diego A San Diego Story , and our next episode , we step into the 2000. In San Diego is supplying the whole country with underground rap.

S9: I discovered a.

S10: Lot of really dope music that I don't think I would have naturally fell into if I wasn't really focused on that underground scene and parking myself in San Diego for a period of time.

S2: Diego is a co-production of KPBS and Meridian Arts post and co-creator Parker Edison. Episodes written by Jay Smith , Chris Reyes , Don Jaeger , and Stephen Fleck's extra. Special thanks to guest writer Melody Harold. Editing by Platform Collection music soundtracked by Monday Adams , executive producer for KPBS is Lisa Jane Morissette , KPBS director of audio programming and operations. Technical and operational support provided by KPBS technical producer sound designer Adrian Villalobos and KPBS producer Julio Ortiz Franco. This programming is made possible in part by the KPBS explore Content Fund shout outs , in no particular order to June Bug , spayed Filtered Souls , Almighty Society Disorder SRL , Fluoride , Tri five , Unity Clan and Moonlight Market. See you next episode.

S1: Now playing Gravity by General Black. Yeah , I.

S4: Got different piece. This piece right here is.

UU: Um , in a style , you know , it's called gravity. Gravity. You know what I'm saying ? It's gonna help. Me. Right. Now , gravity.

S4: Don't be holding me. Because I freed my flow. When I float as free. Now , gravity. Don't be holding. Me.

UU: Me. Because I free buffalo when I float fancy free now gravity. Don't be holding me. Cause I freed me.

S4: When I free. Now gravity. Don't be holding.

UU: Me because I fall when I float. Fancy like the crime rate , the number of emcees increases till it equals the.

S4: Particles of sand on the beaches. Finally it's overpopulated. Those airwaves of radios and video shows. Multiply this by the digits on your TV dial.

UU: What ? Not so many styles. They make. Or rather , they try to create , but often their attempts to captivate only add to take 23% of them by trashing their beats. Get them. Over.

S4: Over. They don't sound good when you're sober as they try to go with depth. Speaking on , they get a rap on some other irrelevant concepts. Don't get me wrong , it's.

UU: Cool to hear a song about nothing at all. Time to time. As a matter of fact , some of my favorite moves rap like that. I guess it's just how you Busta rhymes me.

S4: My mind works like machinery.

UU: I try to help me visualize the scenery. It seems to me gangsta rap and hip hop rapping , knowledge , rapping all gets the party.

S4: People's heads clap , clap. But a vulture outside of our culture came with misguiding labels and placed them on your picnic tables. All self-expression is to save the burning flame or a rose by another name. I'm serious as an incurable disease. So all you part time emcees. Please. At ease.