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So I got the idea for this theme when I had an exchange with a friend on Twitter. Having been involved with or been witness to many of the same incidents as my friend, I decided to share some stories about various artists who I've had some less than favorable experiences with over the past 18 or so years in radio. And no, I won't hold back as far as naming names. LOL.
Here we go with story number one.
So there used to be this club in downtown Santa Cruz. It was called Palookaville and it had a really good run from 1994 to mid 2000 or so. When they opened up, they had the vision to be an alternative to the most popular club for live music in the area, The Catalyst.
Now Palookaville had little bit of a slow start but about a year or so in, they really started rolling. They were booking really huge acts from many different genre's. Something that really set them apart from the Catalyst though was their willingness to book regular Hip Hop shows, both local and national.
Simultaneously during that time, I was dj'ing on two different stations. I was co-hosting the Wyse Up Show on KZSC in Santa Cruz with my man Jason D. And I was hosting my own show across the bay in Salinas on KHDC. In addition, I was spinning live A LOT at parties and events. At the risk of sounding egotistical, I really was holdin' it down for Hip Hop in Santa Cruz & the Monterey Bay.
So it was only natural that I basically became the automatic dj whenever Palookaville had a Hip Hop show. I shared the stage with everyone from Tha Alkaholiks to Dilated Peoples to Xzibit to Run DMC to Sugarhill Gang to The Roots to Goodie Mob to Salt N Pepa to Digital Underground to KRS One to Common to Camp Lo to De La Soul and on & on & on. I really was livin' the life.
So anyway, while most of them were friendly, accessible, etc. there were a few that were just assholes or, in some cases, bitches.
Now there is one story out of the many that really jumps out as being the one where I got the most heated. And it goes like this.
I was booked to be the house dj for the night. The headlining act was Foxy Brown. Now she had just released her second album and was touring to promote it. A year and ahalf earlier, when her first album was out and the local commercial station was stuck on stupid as far as playing her music despite her single "Get You Home" doing well on video channels, I was the one who really pushed the stronger tracks from the album in the mix every week.
So when I got the call to spin at the club on the night she was coming through, I thought it would be a great chance to cash in on my support by getting some "radio drops" and a pic for the archives. I should have seen the writing on the wall though.
As I got to the club around 5pm for sound check, there was a crisis happening. Apparently transportation to and from the hotel for Foxy Brown was never set up and they needed a way to get her and her 3 member crew to the club. Being the good guy I am, I volunteered to go pick her up. At the time, I had a 1994 Chevy Blazer with blacked out windows. Granted it wasn't a huge Suburban or Expedition (This was pre Escalade) but it was more than good enough for her 3 minute ride from the hotel.
When I got to the hotel, she took one step out of her room, saw the car, walked back into her room, and refused to leave until the club rented either a full size van or limo to take her to the club. Uh, okay. The club scrambled and found a van.
Fast forward 4 hours later. Proving that her drawing her power wasn't near what it was thought to be, the club is, maybe, a quarter full. I'm on stage spinning and it's time for her to come on.
I exit the stage and she does her 20 - 25 minute set. She comes off stage and falls into a couch in the backstage area looking, shall we say, "not right".
I quickly run back on stage and throw on a record. I make sure it's a long one so I can handle some business with her backstage. I grab her album, my recorder, and camera.
Backstage, I step up and ask her if she can record a quick drop for my radio show. She responds by telling me that she can't do that without permission from her label because it might piss off other stations in the market. Now remember, I'm the only one in the market at that time who's playing her shit.
I let that slide and ask if I can get a picture with her then. She tells me that she's not camera ready so no pictures. So basically she's saying she was ready ready to go on stage, regardless of the crowd size, and perform in front of the public but she can't take a picture.
This was where I lost it. I was heated beyond belief at her disrespect of my support and let loose. I made it clear to her that no one else was playing her shit in the market and, of the hundreds of other artists who I dealt with regarding drops & pics, she was the only one who came up this bullshit reasoning. Basically she wasn't worried about pissing off the sole supporter in the market as long as she didn't piss off the dj's who weren't playing her records. I liken this to building a house without a cement foundation.
Anyway, I stormed out of the room back to the stage and, as I did so, passed her manager. He only saw the storm that was happening and had no idea how it started. He followed me back on stage and tried to find out what happened. I ran down the entire scenario and made it clear that as a result of her disrespect, she had just lost the only support she had in the market.
The manager, obviously seeing the damage that was happening, tried to go and smooth things out with her backstage. While I give him credit for trying to calm the situation, he sort of threw gas on the fire. When I walked backstage, He had taken my record with him. When he came back about 5 minutes later, he told me all she was willing to do was sign it. He handed me the album with her scribbled signature on it.
I know you're probably saying to yourself, what is so important about radio drops and pics? Well since college dj's don't get paid yet put in 10x more work on our shows than most commercial dj's do, getting drops to use on our shows and pics for our archives means a whole lot. It's what keeps us supportive of artists long after they have fallen off the commercial radar. College dj's are the ones who start thousands of careers for artists and, numerous times, are the only ones who ever support some artists. So taking 2 minutes to record a drop or 10 seconds to take a picture is building a cement foundation to a career.
But here she is disrespecting a dj showing her support. And that right there is the reason I've never played any of her records since 1998 when this happened.
She's released a few albums over the years. They've sold maybe 4 copies. She's been in trouble with the law a few times. And radio basically ignores her. Obviously I'm not the only one she ever shit on.
That's my Foxy Brown story.
Coming soon, stories about KRS One, Salt N Pepa, Phesto from Souls Of Mischief, and more. Stay Tuned.
6:40 AM
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