A

lmost thirty years ago in 1977, the Rocksteady Crew came to life and set a standard in the Hip-Hop culture that would echo decades later. Richard “Crazy Legs” Colón, a then youngster with the liquid motion, evolved from a crew favorite to President of the Rocksteady empire. One of the longest standing crews in Hip-Hop, the Rocksteady Crew is much more than the league of extraordinary members that compose it. B-Boys, B-Girls, MCs, producers and activists alike, individually walk this earth to respect and represent this historic army in their own unique ways…with their leader Crazy Legs still standing and still dancing, after several surgeries and herniated discs.

Catching up with Crazy Legs on the eve of their annual Rocksteady Anniversary weekend, he recalls the events from the past and what’s new with the crew for the future. The legendary Hip-Hop humanitarian drops some knowledge on what not to break in, who not to invite to your party, and what the definition of Hip-Hop really is.

AllHipHop.Com: So what’s changed this year for Rocksteady?

Crazy Legs: [sings] I’ve got a new attitude! [laughs] You know, I used to get a lot of pressure from people to like get like a big headlining artist and that’s never been what the Rocksteady Anniversary’s been about. Basically, this year I’m just saying to all of those people, “Go to hell,” and we’re gonna keep this a satellite Hip-Hop concert event. I’ve got satellite radio, and I want this to be the satellite radio of events. So that’s what it’s been in terms of my thinking and just preparing for it, but outside of that…we really try to keep the same formula every year and that has always worked for us. I think it’s one of the things that people can really count on, and what usually happens is people are usually surprised at who ends up showing up out of nowhere! And that’s the good s**t right there! That’s one of things that keeps it different every year. We don’t even know who’s gonna show up sometimes. One year it was Wyclef, another year it was Fat Joe, people just pop up like, “Yo that’s the s**t I wanna do.” So that’s basically what’s going on.

AllHipHop.com: The outdoor concert is back in Jersey again. Is New York still slipping?

Crazy Legs: You know what? Sometimes you’ve just gotta go with what works. We had our fight with New York. The New York City Parks Department is real shady, just by my dealings with them and the fact that when we previously were going to do the Bronx event; the woman went ahead and lied to her superiors and all of this other stuff. We’re like you know what, man? Jersey is showin’ love. They love Hip-Hop, the mayor’s office is very supportive of Hip-Hop, and let’s go where the love is. I think it’s New York’s loss.

AllHipHop.com: Style-wise with your clothing and the proper gear for breakin’, what has been for you the evolution of the “breakin’ shoe”?

Crazy Legs: [laughs] Well for one thing, a lot of people are under the impression that we like to break in shelltop Adidas when that is not true! Those are some of the worst sneakers to dance in. Even today, we did the WB 11 Morning Show, and I was dancing and wearing some shelltops. Normally, I would’ve worn another sneaker but I was in a rush to go through all of my sneakers. And my sneaker actually started coming off! It’s not an athletic sneaker. You know, you’ve got your Nikes out there, a really dope AirMax. I like dancing in AirMax, or the Jordan Olympics. Those are dope: a light sneaker; it’s contoured. I mean one is made for running, but still something that works. We didn’t have that type of technology back when we first started dancing. So we have more options now.

AllHipHop.com: What would you say is the worst clothing to break in?

Crazy Legs: The worst? That’s a personal preference, but I hate dancing in jeans. I hate it. That’s like my worst nightmare! That to me is the same as like dancing in a suit.

AllHipHop.com: It’s funny because now that everyone is breakdancing in commercials, you see everybody, especially girls spinning around in tight jeans.<br?

Crazy Legs: Those are stretching jeans, because maaan! Yeah, the girls know what they’re doing [laughs].

AllHipHop.com: There’d be a lot of rips and tears if they weren’t.

Crazy Legs: Yeah [laugh]. Like the guys, for me, I wear them a little bit baggier, a heavier material. Those stretchy jeans for girls, are contoured I believe, but at the same time light and stretchy. That works for a lot of the b-girls out there.

AllHipHop.com: Speaking of fashion, you had a fashion show a few years back mixing Punk with Hip-Hop.

Crazy Legs: Yeah! Punk Rock Rap.

AllHipHop.com: Did you take part in the Punk culture at all, being that’s a similar subculture like Hip-Hop?

Crazy Legs: Well when we first started hitting the downtown scene, our manager at the time in 1982, her name was Cool Lady Blue, she moved to New York from the UK. She used to work with Malcolm McLaren and the Sex Pistols, and groups like that. Her being a Punk rocker caused this fusion between Hip-Hop and Punk. She was throwing the first Hip-Hop event in Manhattan in a club called Negril. It was called “Wheels of Steel Night” at Negril. It eventually went to Danceteria, and then to the Roxy. But the crowd that was going there was pretty much a Rastafarian, Punk rocker crowd and B-oys. The way that worked out was Negril was pretty much a Reggae club, a Punk rock promoter going in there. Next thing you know, it moved to Danceteria, which had three floors: Hip-Hop, Punk, and Reggae. The Roxy always had this culture clash that the press was telling everyone to witness. You had people coming out there like David Bowie, Farrah Fawcett, and Andy Warhol. People like Laurence Fishburne used to hang out there, Mario Van Pebbles, Rocksteady, it was one of the first places New Edition performed at in New York. It became this whole spectacle that people came to watch these three cultures coming together. We didn’t know what the hell was going on. We were just chillin’ and having fun. The older people were, I guess, impressed with the fusion going on at the time.

AllHipHop.com: Now that you [Rocksteady] are grown up, do you see that light in the younger kids to carry on Rocksteady?

Crazy Legs: Yeah. The younger generation that we have in Rocksteady is schooled by us, as well as them having their own identity that always plays a role in Rocksteady. We always try to recruit people that have individuality. For instance, you have [Popmaster] Fable, the Vice President of Rocksteady for years. Fable was also into Punk, he was a Punk rocker; he was a Hip-Hopper. So diversity is good. I would prefer more diverse people because Hip-Hop now compared to the ‘70s and early ‘80s, it’s completely different. Everything is pretty much segregated, and it’s like you go to a B-boy jam or a rap concert or a turntablist event, or a graf event. When we were throwing events back in the days, every event consisted of [all] those things. It was dope; there wasn’t overkill of anything. So I think this generation is missing out big time. There are so many people who wish they grew up in the ‘80s [laughs]…even if it was just for the drinking age. [laughs]

AllHipHop.com: You were there to witness how New York had the crown for so many years, but now everyone is talking about the South with regard to Hip-Hop. How do you feel about that?

Crazy Legs: I think they have the crown as far as commercial radio, not Hip-Hop. When you say Hip-Hop to me, I think of the whole B-boy scene, B-girls, graf artists, DJs. I think of everything. They may have this industry on lock, but that has nothing to do with Hip-Hop really because how many of those artists are really into Hip-Hop? If they weren’t making records, would they be throwing jams the way it was done back in the days? Probably not, because this is an opportunity for people to make money on something that’s mass-produced. When we did it, there was no money involved and we just did it…for many, many years with and without the money. So is the South ruling Hip-Hop? Not even close.

AllHipHop.com: You’re going on record saying that too [laughs].

Crazy Legs: Oh no doubt. They’re [the South] not ruling Hip-Hop. They may be running the rap game on a commercial level, I’ll give them that…and what they do is dope. At the same time, I believe there needs to be more of a balance between all the styles of music out there. All styles of rap and party music and s**t like that, you know, but um, there are cities that are stronger for different elements of Hip-Hop.

AllHipHop.com: What’s your opinion of krumpin’?

Crazy Legs: I think they should do their thing and get their shine on. I don’t really know the history of krumpin’. We actually worked on a couple of projects with Tommy the Clown and some of his boys; we did that actually with Daddy Yankee for two shows. They’re good people, they do their thing and more power to them. There’s no, “Oh, we hate that krumpin’ s**t;” nothing like that [laughs].

AllHipHop.com: Definitely not! So how do you go about choosing who gets to participate in the Anniversary each year?

Crazy Legs: I usually reach out to people. Then we have a lot of people that just call us, because they know the type of crowd that’s gonna be there, so they know that it’s probably their core audience that buys their records on an underground level. There are people that just love Hip-Hop. Then we get sponsors. I really try to stay away from the record labels as much as possible, because record labels cause the most problems when they come in as sponsors.

AllHipHop.com: Were there ever any artists that you’ve actually turned down?

Crazy Legs: If an artist comes in that wants to perform and we aren’t really familiar with them, we have to take into consideration that the outdoor event is a free event, and there’s gonna be women and children there. There has to be a certain level of restraint when you’re on that stage. I’m not trying to control what they do as artists, but if you can at least keep in mind what you’re putting together for your show. It would be cool if you didn’t go acapella like, “Muthaf**k this, f**k you, and f**k that, this f**kin’ place!” [laughs]. You know what I mean? We have to take all that stuff into consideration. I’m not gonna say who I’ve turned down, but um we’ve had situations where label execs come up to us and say, “I’ve got [x] amount right now. Here’s the money right here. Let my artist go on for five minutes.” I’m like, “I don’t know who your artist is, you’re buggin’, and you’re insulting my integrity right now.” <br<

AllHipHop.com: This year’s big major label artist is Rhymefest…

Crazy Legs: Yup, and Rhymefest has a buzz. To tell you the truth, I don’t know much about him, but I have enough people around me that work through Fat Beats, and Q-Unique and Tony Touch; DJ’s who’ve advised me like, “Yo we recommend that you put this guy on.” I’m like, “Aight, cool. I don’t know him, but you’re vouching for him.” But then I’ll go to their websites also and listen to their music so I’m not a complete idiot [laughs].

AllHipHop.com: Rhymefest always brings Kanye West with him, so you never know…

Crazy Legs: We’d love to have Kanye West, ya know? I think that would be dope. Kanye West is pretty commercial, but has a certain appeal to the underground.

W

hen you think of Colorado, a few things instantly come to mind: high altitude, thin air, Kobe Bryant, and rehabilitation facilities. Hip-Hop music does not necessarily roll off the tongue. As it turns out, the city of Colorado Springs is the stomping ground of three MCs who would eventually come together to form The Procussions.

Driven by their mutual love for Hip-Hop, the triumvirate of Mr. J Medeiros, Stro, and Rez performed tirelessly in their hometown until they finally outgrew their surroundings. Colorado was not necessarily a Hip-Hop mecca, so they made the inevitable move to Los Angeles to increase their chances of being heard. The collective released an LP, an EP, and a couple of singles before their grind paid off in the form of a deal with the new Rawkus Records. The Rawkus signing may be symbolic, whereby the independent giant chose The Procussions to relaunch the label.

With their latest album, 5 Sparrows for 2 Cents, The Procussions take a big step toward that goal. Utilizing in-house producer/mc Stro’s percussion heavy tracks, The Procussions live up to their name while making a name for themselves. The Procussions move to the beat of a different drum. Not compromising their artistry for record sales, they are adamant on staying true to themselves, and make it known that they do this for the love, clichés be damned.

AllHipHop.com: I feel that. How long have you guys been together?

J. Mederios: We’ve been a group for eight years. We coined The Procussions name about eight years ago. Our first album came out about three years ago, and we had a single brewing for like two years before that. We’d been touring for about five years.

AllHipHop.com: This is your first situation where you have a major label backing your effort. Do you feel any pressure to meet certain expectations from the Rawkus?

J. Mederios: Not really. I wanna be honest, I mean you got two battles going on here. You got the battle to be yourself. You got the battle that magazines and websites and all these underground Hip-Hop heads have on you to fit some certain mold that Rawkus has. Those people are gonna be extremely disappointed when they hear what we’ve been working on already. We’re gonna be ourselves. Unfortunately, you know, we’re not young we’re all almost 30 years old. We’re at a point where we really want fresh ears. We want like a new look on like what music should sound like. I don’t want to live my life in tribute to something else. We’re not a cover-band, we’re not a tribute band. The only pressure that we would feel is if we try to make those people happy. We’re not interested in making those people happy. We can’t let people dictate our careers, or else I would go do something else. I did this ‘cause it was free. It’s a free feeling to be able to write what I wanna write and put that out. I mean, if I’m gonna be living under somebody else I might as well work as a waiter or something.

AllHipHop.com: That’s refreshing to hear. You mentioned being compared to other groups. I read a couple of reviews on your album where you’re compared to Jurassic 5.

J. Mederios: Oh God! I mean, I’ve noticed especially with me I get three people they say [I sound like]: they say Ad Rock, Zack De La Rocha [of Rage Against The Machine], and they say B-Real. People are obsessed with not being able to pick up something new. They have to pull from their little bag. Like some people, like, if all they know is Rage, then I sound like Zack De La Rocha, if all they know is Beastie Boys all of a sudden I’m Ad Rock, and if all they know is Jurassic 5 it’s like… and it’s really hard ‘cause if you listen to songs like “Carousel”, “American Fado”, I don’t see it, but some people see… we’d rather be ourselves. If that’s not getting across this album, then I definitely think it will on the next.

AllHipHop.com: You got Talib Kweli to guest on your song “Miss January.” Was it hard to get him for the song considering how vocal he’s been about the mistakes Rawkus made in his own career?

Stro: I don’t know of it was fabricated or not, but it didn’t seem like it was extremely hard. I think, besides the fact, whatever the situation was with his relationship with Rawkus, I think he genuinely did like the music. We had met him a couple times before, we even opened for him a couple times, and whatnot, so I think he was at least familiar with who we were, and at least what we sounded like. So, um, when it came down to it, we told the owners of the label, “Hey, send him a copy of the tracks that we think he might like being on,” and he chose two or three of them, actually, but that was the one that seemed to fit the best. It all worked out.

AllHipHop.com: The album has been out for almost a month. Are you satisfied with what it is doing sales-wise? Is it reaching the people you wanted to reach?

Stro: I don’t know what’s going on with the numbers. I sort of judge the situation as, you know, we had a first album out, how does this one really compare to the last one. And I feel like already with the cities we’ve been, we’re halfway through this tour, with the people that have hit us up on various internet sites, overall whether it’s reviews good or bad, I feel like if anybody’s paying attention to us, it’s worth it. I feel like it’s a real good situation to be in. We make music as best as we can to suit our own needs as well as what we think people might want to hear from us and so far it’s been good.

AllHipHop.com: What can people expect from a Procussions’ show?

Stro: Well, I can only tell you what people tell us from the audience. There’s a lot of energy, we have a lot of musicianship going on whether vocally or whatever interaction going on between us and the DJ or drum kit. But mostly a lot of energy, people tend to say that a lot about us that it feels like we are having a good time. We like to keep the crowd involved and have them have a good time as well. It’s sort of an aggressive party, so to speak.

AllHipHop.com: How long have you been producing?

Stro: Kinda off and on since I was 16, 17 years old. I’ve been a musician for longer than that. I started off playing trumpet, moved over into percussion when I was in Germany. I was a military brat, so I lived everywhere. I had the luxury of telling schools what I played without them having my [track] record. I did about a year at a music program in Colorado when I got stationed out there which is where I met these guys. I pretty much wanted to be a musician for as long as I can remember.

J

ust as the September 11th attacks attempted to shut down New York, Brooklyn-bred rapper Shabaam Sahdeeq’s career almost burned in the ashes. On the Sunday after the attacks, Sahdeeq, who had already been through conflicts with his former label Rawkus, was arrested and charged with armed robbery. While serving a three and a half year sentence, he saw his solo debut dropped from behind prison bars to an audience trying to “Get By.”

Since rejoining society, Shabaam is forced to rebuild a career that seemed so ready five years ago. As Rawkus’ downfall hindered so many fledging careers, Shabaam was the one artist most invested in the label’s success in When he’s not cutting hair up in Harlem, “S-Dub” is now spreading the word about his street meets backpack duality through two mixtapes, and a heavily assisted album in the works. While he’s one of the only folks that can say they worked with Eminem in ’96, Shabaam says he’s out to change his musical irrelevance.

AllHipHop.com: What have you been working on, Shabaam?

Shabaam Sahdeeq: Working on the album, it’s called The Outcome, and at the same time, I have two different mixtapes on the street. [Before that, I was] locked up. I was in jail. I had a three and a half year bid.

AllHipHop.com: What were you sentenced for?

Shabaam Sahdeeq: Armed robbery. As a matter of fact, XXL did an article on me right when I got locked up. It was under the radar, it was called “Behind Bars.” It was a robbery, and motherf**kas told on me.

AllHipHop.com: Did you rap while you were in jail?

Shabaam Sahdeeq: Hell yeah, I did. You can’t record in there, maybe if I was in a minimum security prison, they might have had the equipment. In medium and max [security prisons], they don’t want motherf**kas recording in there. I went to a couple of jails, the box a couple of times. I saw a bunch of motherf**kas, I seen Shyne and Hell Rell in Clinton.

AllHipHop.com: What do you think it’s been that has kept you relevant?

Shabaam Sahdeeq: S**t, I don’t know if I’m still relevant. People who know all the Rawkus s**t and the “Five-Star Generals” might know me, but I don’t know if I’m still relevant today. I’m really trying to get with the young folks right now. I cut hair, that is what I do when I’m not doing this rap s**t. I talk to young kids all the time and they don’t even know what A Tribe Called Quest is, so why should they remember my s**t?

AllHipHop.com: I know you’re a barber, if you could cut anyone’s hair, who would it be and why?

Shabaam Sahdeeq: What’s that n***a’s name? The dude that runs Interscope? Jimmy Iovine? Yeah, him. I’d see if I could get some love. Maybe he could throw me in the mix somewhere.

AllHipHop.com: Which album is being bumped the most in the shop this summer?

Shabaam Sahdeeq: S**t, in the barber shop mothaf**kas play mixtapes. I work in Harlem, so they be playing a lot of Dip Set. Dip Set is cool if you’re into that type s**t. Now they’re playing 50’s new mixtapes. All kinds of South s**t: T.I., Young Jeezy getting mad spin.

AllHipHop.com: What happened with your deal with Rawkus?

Shabaam Sahdeeq: Basically, me and Pharoahe Monch had the same manager. Rawkus was doing good at first. They put out a couple of twelve-inches from me, [plus] Soundbombing 1 and Soundbombing 2, and then they decided to do an album. With the album, I don’t think they had capable A&Rs that knew what the f**k they was doing, so basically I was doing me. I think that they didn’t know what to do with what I came out with. I guess it wasn’t backpack enough, you know what I’m saying? I didn’t fit into what Mos Def and Kweli was doing. My s**t was a little more street than that.

AllHipHop.com: Are you working with The Alchemist or Just Blaze these days?

Shabaam Sahdeeq: Nah, both of them blew up while I was in jail, and right now, I can’t get in touch with none of them. I ain’t mad at them, from what I heard and what I hear, they both went through a lot of s**t while I was in jail. When I was f**king with Just Blaze, he was in intern at Cutting Room [Studios] and there was a degree of hunger there.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve got two mixtapes out right now, “Lord of War” and “Strategize: The Mixtape Album,” can you come pare the two?

Shabaam Sahdeeq: “Lord of War,” to me, is put together better because we took our time and mixed it. There is a theme and that is basically the Lord of War movie from which we used sound bytes to mesh everything together. “Strategize” is more like a compilation of songs that I’d done at a time when DJ Revolution picked the best ones that he liked and he scratched them up and did his turntable thing with them. One is a mixtape-album and the other is more like a street album. I don’t consider either one of them a mixtape, because I only jacked maybe one or two industry beats. I’d rather rhyme over original beats than rhyme over radio s**t.

AllHipHop.com: What can fans expect in progressing to the album?

Shabaam Sahdeeq: Well, the album is almost done, you know what I mean. A lot of Thorotracks joints coming with that. I got Sean Price, I got Royal Flush, Cella Dwellas and I’m working on this G Rap s**t.

AllHipHop.com: What was it like dropping an album in the months following September 11th in New York?

Shabaam Sahdeeq: S**t was crazy, fam. I got locked-up the Sunday after September 11. Aaliyah died. Album dropped. I’m sitting on Rikers Island and I’m still seeing smoke coming up off the city. I was in Brooklyn House, and from there, you can see the skyline and the smoke.

AllHipHop.com: What is it that you think is missing in the current rap mix-up?

Shabaam Sahdeeq: It’s missing a medium. It’s missing Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito. It’s missing radio shows that still gives shine to a lot of different music. Halftime Radio is still there and Columbia Radio, but the rest is falling to the left. Some real, real backpacker s**t.

AllHipHop.com: What was it like working with a young Eminem?

Shabaam Sahdeeq: Yeah, that s**t was official, he was in the Rap Olympics and all that s**t. I invited him to get on the track and we did it at DJ Spinna’s crib in about 1996 I think.