WEBVTT - Introducing Louder Than A Riot 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:15.956 Pushkin. 0:00:20.396 --> 0:00:21.596 Hey everyone, it's justin. 0:00:21.836 --> 0:00:22.116 Today. 0:00:22.156 --> 0:00:25.356 We're sharing a fantastic episode from another podcast, we love, 0:00:25.596 --> 0:00:28.596 Louder Than a Riot. If y'all don't know about this show, 0:00:28.836 --> 0:00:32.276 let me put you on game MPRS. Louder Than a 0:00:32.356 --> 0:00:35.356 Riot is an award winning narrative hip hop podcast that 0:00:35.396 --> 0:00:38.396 connects the stories of the biggest artists and innovators in 0:00:38.436 --> 0:00:42.476 the genre to socio political changes we're going through right now. 0:00:43.556 --> 0:00:46.596 This season, Louder Than a Riot is tackling the connection 0:00:46.796 --> 0:00:51.316 between hip hop and misogyny. Hosted by the great Sidney 0:00:51.356 --> 0:00:55.036 Madden and Rodney Carmichael, this team is digging into the 0:00:55.156 --> 0:00:58.756 unwritten rules of rap that have marginalized Black women for 0:00:58.836 --> 0:01:03.116 decades and highlighting the rule breakers who refuse to play nice. 0:01:04.116 --> 0:01:06.436 In this episode, you're about to hear, Louder Than a 0:01:06.516 --> 0:01:10.996 Riot tells the story of the first female mc mc 0:01:11.236 --> 0:01:14.516 Shah Rock. She's a rapper from the Bronx and former 0:01:14.596 --> 0:01:17.516 member of the Funky Four plus one More who laid 0:01:17.516 --> 0:01:20.636 the foundations of rap as we know it. But even 0:01:20.676 --> 0:01:23.476 though she's a pioneer, Shah's name often gets left out 0:01:23.516 --> 0:01:26.356 of conversations around the history of hip hop. Why is 0:01:26.396 --> 0:01:29.556 that because decades ago, shah Rock had to deal with 0:01:29.596 --> 0:01:32.756 the hurdles that so many women in rap still face today, 0:01:33.516 --> 0:01:37.516 getting tokenized by her peers and played by the industry. 0:01:38.556 --> 0:01:40.876 You're about to hear the story from the people who 0:01:40.916 --> 0:01:45.196 lived it, interviews with shah Rock herself, along with rappers 0:01:45.276 --> 0:01:51.916 she inspired like DMC, also historical experts like author Clover Hope. 0:01:51.956 --> 0:01:56.316 This episode is a meditation on legacy. Who gets afforded 0:01:56.356 --> 0:01:59.396 a legacy in hip hop? Who gets left out? And 0:01:59.476 --> 0:02:03.516 how can you reclaim a legacy stolen from you? We 0:02:03.556 --> 0:02:05.636 hope you enjoyed this episode as much as we did. 0:02:05.836 --> 0:02:08.476 You can listen to more episodes from Louder than a Riot, 0:02:08.476 --> 0:02:11.716 from Mprmiter Music, wherever you listen to podcasts. 0:02:12.996 --> 0:02:16.996 A warning before we begin this podcast is explicit in 0:02:17.076 --> 0:02:21.116 every way. Okay, So yeah, So this is the Bronx 0:02:21.276 --> 0:02:28.836 Music Heritage Center. It's giving very much Bronx after school, 0:02:29.076 --> 0:02:37.836 painted piano, drum set, community center, vibes, posters everywhere, good crowd, 0:02:38.196 --> 0:02:41.716 Q Crawd. We're the younger people in here, definitely here. 0:02:43.196 --> 0:02:46.076 I'm here with my producer Monos Sandrasan to see a 0:02:46.116 --> 0:02:49.276 Bronx hip hop legend. There's a small crowd in the 0:02:49.276 --> 0:02:53.436 community center. Grandmaster cast of the Cold Crush Brothers is 0:02:53.476 --> 0:02:56.276 cutting it up on the turntables. As we make the 0:02:56.356 --> 0:02:58.596 rounds to get a sense of who's here, we see 0:02:58.636 --> 0:03:00.316 an older white man in the front row. 0:03:00.796 --> 0:03:05.276 What's her name? Charles tell Rat and what do you 0:03:05.316 --> 0:03:07.876 know about Sha Rock? I was really into hip hop, 0:03:07.916 --> 0:03:09.036 but I got into it later. 0:03:09.156 --> 0:03:09.956 I didn't know about her. 0:03:10.596 --> 0:03:13.796 I thought Jane was the first question, but y'all. 0:03:13.676 --> 0:03:14.756 Rock was the first. 0:03:14.916 --> 0:03:17.476 Kaz bathes out the music and people start quieting down. 0:03:18.036 --> 0:03:23.716 The woman of the hour takes the stage. 0:03:24.076 --> 0:03:26.516 Her name is mc shah Rock. 0:03:26.996 --> 0:03:28.956 We are so happy you have on the same the 0:03:29.076 --> 0:03:31.276 first female EMC is they were. 0:03:31.756 --> 0:03:36.036 Were for those of you. 0:03:36.196 --> 0:03:39.276 Jall's got on big shades, gold hoop earrings, and a 0:03:39.316 --> 0:03:42.716 black leather jacket. The way she commands the room, you 0:03:42.796 --> 0:03:44.956 can definitely tell she was raising the Bronx. 0:03:45.236 --> 0:03:48.876 I was the first female EMC to help move hip 0:03:48.916 --> 0:03:54.996 hop culture with little or no resources. I set the 0:03:55.236 --> 0:03:58.356 blue print and I say that humbly, but y'all gott 0:03:58.356 --> 0:03:59.156 to know the truths. 0:03:59.796 --> 0:04:02.116 Y'all gotta know the truth, especially when we're talking about 0:04:02.116 --> 0:04:04.636 the Bronx, and especially when we're talking about the history 0:04:04.676 --> 0:04:05.236 of the Bronx. 0:04:05.516 --> 0:04:07.876 Y'all gotta know the truth. There were other female them 0:04:07.916 --> 0:04:10.316 seeds that came out in ninety seventy nine. I'm the 0:04:10.316 --> 0:04:13.036 first female I'm see to have a record deal, authentic 0:04:13.116 --> 0:04:16.436 female mobc to have a record deal. The first MC 0:04:16.716 --> 0:04:22.596 was national television Saturday Night Live. Yeah, I'm not small, 0:04:23.236 --> 0:04:26.156 but I'll take some questions. But hold on. 0:04:26.716 --> 0:04:29.676 If you haven't heard of MC Shahrock, member of the 0:04:29.716 --> 0:04:32.676 Funky four plus one more and the first female MC, 0:04:33.476 --> 0:04:36.836 You're not alone. There's some specific reasons why. 0:04:38.156 --> 0:04:38.396 See. 0:04:38.476 --> 0:04:41.236 Some people get a raise from history, but Shaw was 0:04:41.236 --> 0:04:46.316 never in it to begin with. Part of the reason 0:04:46.636 --> 0:04:48.876 was because she was laying the foundations for hip hop 0:04:49.356 --> 0:04:51.516 before it was even really being documented. 0:04:51.916 --> 0:04:54.276 Yeah, but the bigger reason is because she was treated 0:04:54.316 --> 0:04:58.116 like an accessory and an afterthought. This season is about 0:04:58.116 --> 0:05:00.276 how hard it is to be a woman in rap today, 0:05:01.036 --> 0:05:02.636 but imagine what it must have felt like to be 0:05:02.676 --> 0:05:06.316 a woman doing it in the genre's infancy. Now. Shallrock 0:05:06.516 --> 0:05:09.556 was no stranger to the spotlight. During her heyday in 0:05:09.676 --> 0:05:12.356 nineteen eighty one, she and her group the Funky four 0:05:12.436 --> 0:05:14.876 plus one became some of the first m seeds to 0:05:14.876 --> 0:05:18.276 bring hip hop to the mainstream when they took center 0:05:18.356 --> 0:05:20.476 stage on Saturday Night Live. 0:05:20.716 --> 0:05:22.996 The next Group are among the best street rappers in 0:05:23.036 --> 0:05:23.516 the country. 0:05:23.596 --> 0:05:25.876 Please welcome my friends from the Bronx, the Funky Four 0:05:25.956 --> 0:05:26.796 plus one more. 0:05:27.516 --> 0:05:31.636 That night should have submitised SHOT's legacy, but it didn't. Instead, 0:05:32.236 --> 0:05:33.836 it led to her group's downfall. 0:05:34.236 --> 0:05:36.436 They wouldn't talk to me, They didn't want to say 0:05:36.436 --> 0:05:39.956 anything to me. They was like, really fall back. I 0:05:39.956 --> 0:05:44.276 mean there was really no conversation, but like, why would 0:05:44.316 --> 0:05:45.716 you do that? Shot Rock? You know? 0:05:48.316 --> 0:05:51.276 And the reason why Shyd's story is really where all 0:05:51.316 --> 0:05:52.556 these double standards started. 0:05:54.516 --> 0:05:56.956 I'm Rodney Carmarchael, I'm Sidney Madden and. 0:05:56.956 --> 0:06:00.316 From NPR Music. This is louder than the riot. 0:06:00.316 --> 0:06:03.356 Where we confront the double standard does become the standard. 0:06:04.316 --> 0:06:07.396 On every episode this season, we tackle one unwritten rule 0:06:07.396 --> 0:06:10.676 of hip hop that affects the most marginalized among us 0:06:10.716 --> 0:06:14.036 and holds the entire culture back and one then. 0:06:13.956 --> 0:06:16.356 A new generation a rap refuses to. 0:06:16.316 --> 0:06:21.116 Stand for On this episode, breaking down legacy, who gets 0:06:21.156 --> 0:06:23.436 to leave one in hip hop and who gets. 0:06:23.316 --> 0:06:26.716 Left out from her rap crew, rejecting her to a 0:06:26.756 --> 0:06:30.236 twenty five year legal battle mc shot rock takes us 0:06:30.276 --> 0:06:35.316 through her fight to be remembered. Rule number two, Baby girl, 0:06:35.716 --> 0:06:37.476 your only funky is your last cut? 0:06:52.956 --> 0:06:56.076 All right? Said, I've been dying to ask you this. Oh, Mike, 0:06:56.476 --> 0:06:58.556 who is your top five dead or lie? 0:06:59.316 --> 0:07:06.396 That's mad hard But okay, I mean for me, Missy's 0:07:06.436 --> 0:07:08.516 on there, Kendrick's on. 0:07:08.556 --> 0:07:10.916 There, Big is on there. 0:07:12.556 --> 0:07:14.876 But you know what, you know what always seems so 0:07:15.116 --> 0:07:18.276 unfair about this question to me? It makes me think 0:07:18.276 --> 0:07:22.076 about all the biases that go into these lists, Like, 0:07:22.956 --> 0:07:25.076 you know, I know, of course everyone has their. 0:07:25.036 --> 0:07:27.716 Own taste, but you're saying it feels like there's something 0:07:27.716 --> 0:07:29.596 more than tastes reflected in these lists. 0:07:29.676 --> 0:07:33.636 Yes, exactly, it's implicit bias that's used as a way 0:07:33.636 --> 0:07:35.716 to cover up the fact that the people making the 0:07:35.796 --> 0:07:40.676 lists think that men are just overall better at rapping. 0:07:41.476 --> 0:07:43.196 And if there are any women on the list, it's 0:07:43.236 --> 0:07:46.196 usually just one token one, you know, and it's always 0:07:46.196 --> 0:07:48.316 the same usual suspects. 0:07:47.836 --> 0:07:50.476 Lauren, Missy, cam. 0:07:50.556 --> 0:07:54.516 Nikki exactly, But what about Jean Gray or Azalea or 0:07:54.596 --> 0:07:58.516 Rhapsoy or Megan. And that's why reimagining the cannon of 0:07:58.596 --> 0:08:00.836 the Greatest mcs takes real work. 0:08:01.796 --> 0:08:03.916 We talk to somebody who's doing exactly that. 0:08:04.356 --> 0:08:07.996 When you're thinking about carving out history and the people 0:08:08.036 --> 0:08:11.756 who are in power, it's men, and men get to 0:08:12.356 --> 0:08:15.516 tell these tall tales basically about what they did, and 0:08:15.596 --> 0:08:19.116 men get to create history for other people as well. 0:08:19.436 --> 0:08:23.036 That's Clover Hope, a long time hip hop journalist whose 0:08:23.036 --> 0:08:26.276 bylines range from Double xl and The Source to The 0:08:26.276 --> 0:08:27.636 New York Times in Vogue. 0:08:27.756 --> 0:08:30.716 But even as a revere critic Clovid, Miss Shahrock story 0:08:30.876 --> 0:08:31.756 was brand new to her. 0:08:32.276 --> 0:08:36.156 I certainly even as a hip hop had who was 0:08:36.236 --> 0:08:41.956 writing about it for like, since I was twenty and 0:08:42.676 --> 0:08:46.596 in it, since I was like thirteen, Like, I didn't 0:08:46.636 --> 0:08:49.436 know a lot of these stories about the young girls 0:08:49.476 --> 0:08:52.636 who were part of creating this culture. I knew the 0:08:52.756 --> 0:08:58.636 date of hip hop being created and the names of 0:08:58.676 --> 0:09:02.196 some of the early you know, like Grandmaster Flash, and 0:09:02.276 --> 0:09:03.156 I didn't know her name. 0:09:04.716 --> 0:09:06.796 That was a big motivation for Clover to write The 0:09:06.836 --> 0:09:10.796 Motherlwe one hundred plus women who made Hipbob. It's like 0:09:10.836 --> 0:09:13.716 a reimagined Kennon that finally puts women front and center. 0:09:14.436 --> 0:09:17.196 Shahrack is one of the first profiles in the Motherland. 0:09:17.796 --> 0:09:21.716 Clover writes that Shaw is considered, quote, the first prominent 0:09:21.756 --> 0:09:25.836 female mc clover says she wanted readers to know Shah's 0:09:25.876 --> 0:09:29.316 story because it's been hidden for so long. And that's 0:09:29.356 --> 0:09:32.956 the case for many rappers, but for Shah, the reasons 0:09:32.956 --> 0:09:36.236 behind that erasure reveal how bias is built into the 0:09:36.236 --> 0:09:37.476 foundations of hip hop. 0:09:38.036 --> 0:09:40.476 I wrote a line in Theyer that I always go 0:09:40.596 --> 0:09:44.396 back to, which is that history is what a dominant 0:09:44.396 --> 0:09:45.076 group decides. 0:09:45.076 --> 0:09:48.636 This fact, Shah herself is a living testament of. 0:09:48.636 --> 0:09:52.356 This history has been changed over the years, and I 0:09:52.436 --> 0:09:55.796 see it in hip hop culture, but I'm not one 0:09:55.916 --> 0:09:57.196 to allow that to happen. 0:09:58.396 --> 0:10:00.556 When we called up Shah, she was sitting at a 0:10:00.636 --> 0:10:03.236 kitchen table in Texas. It's a long way from the 0:10:03.276 --> 0:10:06.436 Bronx where she got a start, and back then, Sha 0:10:06.636 --> 0:10:09.356 wasn't thinking about legacy. She was focused on how having 0:10:09.396 --> 0:10:13.076 fun outside her corner of the Bronx was giving birth 0:10:13.116 --> 0:10:16.756 to hip hop. And as a teenager she discovered breakdancing. 0:10:17.356 --> 0:10:20.996 She rocked the oversize sweatshirts and lee jeans. She was 0:10:21.036 --> 0:10:21.916 becoming a b girl. 0:10:22.556 --> 0:10:26.236 The first person that I saw breakdance was friends of mine, 0:10:26.356 --> 0:10:29.556 you know that had went to junior high school with me. 0:10:30.036 --> 0:10:32.116 You know, they taught me how to break dance. They 0:10:32.116 --> 0:10:34.836 taught me what it was to you know, up rock, 0:10:35.156 --> 0:10:37.236 what it was to you know, just hit the beats, 0:10:37.276 --> 0:10:39.396 you know, whenever you hear that certain break beats. 0:10:39.516 --> 0:10:43.036 Shot traveled all over the Bronx, every part Jam, every 0:10:43.076 --> 0:10:46.196 house party, anywhere DJ's was spending breakbeats. 0:10:46.836 --> 0:10:49.676 The circles was always male dominated when it came to 0:10:49.956 --> 0:10:53.316 be boys, and to me, you know, as a b girl, 0:10:53.436 --> 0:10:55.756 I was sort of like a tomboy, you know, of 0:10:55.796 --> 0:10:59.316 growing up and so you know when you've seen it, 0:10:59.436 --> 0:11:02.356 I mean it's just like a feeling that you knew 0:11:02.356 --> 0:11:03.596 that you had to be a part of. 0:11:03.796 --> 0:11:06.196 Yeah, something big was happening in the Bronx and b 0:11:06.396 --> 0:11:08.716 girling that was SHOT's way in, you. 0:11:08.716 --> 0:11:11.756 Know, gave you like a feeling like you I mean, 0:11:11.796 --> 0:11:14.236 like you could you could just like take on the world, 0:11:14.356 --> 0:11:15.956 you know, because it was I don't know, it was 0:11:15.996 --> 0:11:18.676 just like a crazy feeling where it was like it 0:11:18.836 --> 0:11:21.756 just empowered you as a woman. I know it did 0:11:21.836 --> 0:11:23.756 for me as a young teenager, and I'm quite sure 0:11:23.796 --> 0:11:25.636 it did it, you know, for you know, the young 0:11:25.676 --> 0:11:26.956 guys that was out there at the time. 0:11:27.836 --> 0:11:31.356 At the time, she'd also been zabbling in poetry, but 0:11:31.436 --> 0:11:33.996 se I wanted to do something bigger with it. She 0:11:34.116 --> 0:11:37.756 wanted to rap and in show's day being a rapper 0:11:37.876 --> 0:11:41.356 and being part of a crew. One day, Shall was 0:11:41.436 --> 0:11:43.396 stopped by a young man passing out flyers. 0:11:43.716 --> 0:11:47.276 He said, listen, you know we're having an audition. Would 0:11:47.316 --> 0:11:50.076 you want to come in audition for MC? I saysue, now, 0:11:50.236 --> 0:11:50.516 why not? 0:11:50.916 --> 0:11:53.316 Sean had to take a bus uptown to the basement 0:11:53.396 --> 0:11:55.716 of a three story house where a dude named DJ 0:11:55.876 --> 0:11:59.756 Breakout and a manager named Jazzy D were conducting the audition. 0:12:00.476 --> 0:12:02.916 On the bus ride there, she rode up first rap 0:12:02.996 --> 0:12:06.516 ever and recited it over and over, and then, standing 0:12:06.556 --> 0:12:13.476 in front of the manager, Shahrock went in, I'm. 0:12:13.316 --> 0:12:15.916 Showing rock and I can't be stopped for all the 0:12:15.956 --> 0:12:18.156 fly guys who want to hit the top. I could 0:12:18.196 --> 0:12:20.436 do it for the ones that are strong, and I 0:12:20.436 --> 0:12:22.356 could do it for the ones that are right or wrong. 0:12:22.636 --> 0:12:25.236 But I'm listed on the column that's classified, and I 0:12:25.236 --> 0:12:28.756 could be your nurse, and I'm qualified to talk about respect. 0:12:28.956 --> 0:12:32.196 I won't neglect my strategy. It's for you to see, 0:12:32.276 --> 0:12:35.116 so don't turn away by what I say because I'm 0:12:35.156 --> 0:12:38.676 on I'm bed when I'm talking to you, and the 0:12:38.796 --> 0:12:40.596 manager loved me, you know, he was like. 0:12:42.196 --> 0:12:42.396 Yo. 0:12:43.196 --> 0:12:45.916 She spit fired the crew like that. She rocked around 0:12:46.036 --> 0:12:49.596 so much they named a shot Rock right on the spot. 0:12:49.876 --> 0:12:52.636 Shah officially joined up with the Funky Four in nineteen 0:12:52.676 --> 0:12:55.436 seventy eight. She was the only girl in the crew 0:12:55.956 --> 0:12:57.916 and her presence was felt immediately. 0:12:58.556 --> 0:13:03.036 What did your male counterparts think of your early raps? 0:13:03.556 --> 0:13:06.556 I was always a secret weapon. A lot of other 0:13:06.796 --> 0:13:11.236 groups were scrambling trying to find female mcs that can 0:13:11.276 --> 0:13:13.116 be able to deal with Shahrock. 0:13:13.476 --> 0:13:18.076 There was really no competition during that time, especially for Shahrack. 0:13:18.596 --> 0:13:22.476 That's Raheem, another original member of the Foky Four. Raheem 0:13:22.516 --> 0:13:25.796 auditioned for the group after Shah had already joined, and 0:13:25.796 --> 0:13:28.236 with Raheem joining the crew, the Fanky four were locked in. 0:13:28.396 --> 0:13:32.956 It was KK Rockwell Keith, Keith, Raheem and MC Shahrock. 0:13:33.876 --> 0:13:36.596 Raheem says he always looked at Shahrock like a sister 0:13:37.116 --> 0:13:40.956 and from day one he respected a technique, her style. 0:13:41.796 --> 0:13:44.996 Her poise, her delivery. 0:13:46.316 --> 0:13:49.996 Knew immediately when you heard her, as soon as you 0:13:50.116 --> 0:13:54.676 heard and this is Shahrock, and she made sure that 0:13:55.596 --> 0:14:00.356 you knew, whether you were a man or a woman, 0:14:00.916 --> 0:14:04.676 if you were an MC, that you you couldn't get 0:14:04.676 --> 0:14:05.116 with him. 0:14:05.396 --> 0:14:08.396 Yeah, but peat this. He also says she served a 0:14:08.556 --> 0:14:11.556 very speciific purpose to the group with. 0:14:11.556 --> 0:14:12.596 A female. 0:14:13.756 --> 0:14:14.356 In the group. 0:14:15.436 --> 0:14:20.316 You know, obviously that's to calm the wolves down. 0:14:20.476 --> 0:14:25.276 And we needed that during that time period because if 0:14:25.316 --> 0:14:29.236 we didn't keep the audience suits that we entertained in 0:14:29.356 --> 0:14:33.956 the Bronx during the seventies, there was gonna be a problem. 0:14:34.436 --> 0:14:36.476 There was gonna be a shootout, there was gonna be 0:14:36.596 --> 0:14:37.996 a stabbing, somebody was. 0:14:37.956 --> 0:14:38.716 Gonna get robbed. 0:14:39.556 --> 0:14:42.236 Yeah. The Bronx was hip hop's birthplace for a reason. 0:14:42.716 --> 0:14:46.156 The earliest rap crews originated from gang culture and sometimes 0:14:46.556 --> 0:14:48.436 those tithes bled over into the party. 0:14:48.956 --> 0:14:51.356 So basically, se I was seen as a dope MC, 0:14:52.076 --> 0:14:55.156 but also seen as a token even by members of 0:14:55.156 --> 0:14:57.676 her own group. And that was really spelled out when 0:14:57.676 --> 0:15:00.556 the group had some lineup changes and rebranded as the 0:15:00.556 --> 0:15:03.596 Funky four plus one more and guess who is the 0:15:03.596 --> 0:15:07.156 plus one? So why did they call it Funky four 0:15:07.236 --> 0:15:08.956 plus one instead of Funky five? 0:15:09.276 --> 0:15:10.676 What was the plus one? 0:15:10.916 --> 0:15:14.476 Because that seemed to differentiate you as you know, as 0:15:14.516 --> 0:15:16.396 being like the woman on there. 0:15:16.436 --> 0:15:18.356 I think the reason why my manager did do it 0:15:18.396 --> 0:15:21.276 is because, you know, he didn't want to have like 0:15:21.356 --> 0:15:25.076 the Furious five or the Order the Furiest or the 0:15:25.076 --> 0:15:27.516 Funky five or whatever. He just wanted, you know, me 0:15:27.676 --> 0:15:30.396 to be stand out. So when they say the plus one, 0:15:30.796 --> 0:15:32.876 you know, it's like, Okay, we have the Funky four, 0:15:33.036 --> 0:15:35.836 but we got somebody else. The plus one. 0:15:35.836 --> 0:15:39.116 Plus one could mean you're the most important member, but 0:15:39.196 --> 0:15:41.876 it could also mean you a footnote. But it was 0:15:41.916 --> 0:15:44.836 shy Rock whose innovations helped the Funky Four stand out 0:15:45.276 --> 0:15:48.236 and lay the foundation for where rap was going next. 0:15:48.676 --> 0:15:51.716 You gotta understand rap. It had been around for a minute, 0:15:51.796 --> 0:15:54.876 but still sounded damn there prehistoric at the time. 0:15:55.116 --> 0:15:57.916 Seventy eight was the critical and the most important year 0:15:58.036 --> 0:16:01.436 of MC's within hip hop culture because that was the 0:16:01.556 --> 0:16:06.156 year that the MC's set the example of how you 0:16:06.196 --> 0:16:10.796 may see an MC ronniey today because the MC's were 0:16:10.836 --> 0:16:14.676 not rhyming like that. They were not rhyming in the format. 0:16:14.316 --> 0:16:14.516 You know. 0:16:14.636 --> 0:16:18.156 And I was a part of the MC's that made 0:16:18.396 --> 0:16:23.996 that format for future mcs. And I should say that 0:16:24.036 --> 0:16:27.276 I was the female MC that helped make that format 0:16:27.356 --> 0:16:28.716 for the future MCS. 0:16:28.956 --> 0:16:31.796 People were bumping these tapes, listening to the blue brand 0:16:31.916 --> 0:16:35.436 of rap. It must have been like stumbling upon a 0:16:35.436 --> 0:16:39.316 new language, one that was made just for you, discovering 0:16:39.316 --> 0:16:43.156 new pathways for sound, with every break being sixteen bar verse. 0:16:43.636 --> 0:16:46.796 These originators were laying down a new framework for music. 0:16:47.596 --> 0:16:51.116 The possibilities were endless, and shot play with all of them. 0:16:51.396 --> 0:16:55.436 My manager he went and found out how to buy 0:16:55.476 --> 0:16:58.396 this this instrument, and it was called the Echo chain. 0:16:59.196 --> 0:17:02.596 And so whenever I used to say a rhyme or 0:17:02.636 --> 0:17:05.916 I would say, like shah rock rock, rock, rock rock, 0:17:06.036 --> 0:17:09.796 you put the echo on it rock. Or when I 0:17:09.796 --> 0:17:13.396 don't say yes yes y'all, yes, yaw yes, yaw yes, 0:17:13.476 --> 0:17:18.236 yaw yes y'all, it would repeat every last word of. 0:17:18.116 --> 0:17:20.836 My run that I would say, Now, this is the 0:17:20.836 --> 0:17:24.196 way we wanted none And at the same time, that's 0:17:24.236 --> 0:17:27.156 with your mind. It's the same identical beat one time 0:17:27.516 --> 0:17:28.596 as we possessed. 0:17:28.276 --> 0:17:29.716 To be gonna make you want to run. And I 0:17:29.756 --> 0:17:34.396 became so synonymous with the New York City on cassette 0:17:34.436 --> 0:17:37.076 tapes or when I was rhyming in the echo, changing 0:17:37.116 --> 0:17:38.916 people was like Okay, let me run out and get 0:17:38.916 --> 0:17:39.636 this echo chain. 0:17:40.716 --> 0:17:42.876 People all throughout the city called win or what y'all 0:17:42.996 --> 0:17:45.956 was doing, even guys who would eventually pop up all 0:17:45.956 --> 0:17:48.156 over those all time goat lists. 0:17:48.316 --> 0:17:50.956 So I heard a funky four plus one. I heard that, 0:17:51.556 --> 0:17:53.956 and then on that record was this girl. 0:17:54.356 --> 0:17:57.796 Now that's DMC of Run DMC, one of the most 0:17:57.796 --> 0:17:59.636 influential rap groups of all time. 0:17:59.836 --> 0:18:03.676 And since it was a girl, the voice was so distinctive, 0:18:04.956 --> 0:18:15.276 but it sounded stronger, more grounded, more versatile, more unique, 0:18:16.156 --> 0:18:19.596 more impressive than all of the dudes that. 0:18:19.596 --> 0:18:21.196 I had heard up to that point. 0:18:22.076 --> 0:18:23.916 It was just a different energy and they were all 0:18:23.916 --> 0:18:25.076 switching off and wrapping. 0:18:25.596 --> 0:18:27.436 But when it got to the part where they. 0:18:27.396 --> 0:18:31.756 Said, shy rock, don't stop, just turn on your mic 0:18:31.836 --> 0:18:32.796 and you're ready to rock. 0:18:32.916 --> 0:18:35.436 And this person, I don't want to just see a girl. 0:18:35.836 --> 0:18:38.876 This person just went when the sun don't shine, the 0:18:38.996 --> 0:18:41.836 rain don't stop. But we got sounded caught punk rocket, 0:18:41.916 --> 0:18:44.076 Just get up out the chaders, I have fuck, We're 0:18:44.196 --> 0:18:44.716 to DJA. 0:18:52.116 --> 0:18:53.956 I heard a rhyming over. 0:18:55.316 --> 0:18:58.636 The break beat seven minutes of funk, and it was 0:18:58.956 --> 0:19:01.236 it was just the craziest thing that ever heard. And 0:19:01.276 --> 0:19:03.236 I heard a lot of people do it, but there 0:19:03.316 --> 0:19:07.716 was something about the way Shahrock delivered her rhymes that 0:19:07.916 --> 0:19:11.556 was just the pro to type to be. She was 0:19:11.596 --> 0:19:15.196 already dominant, the echo chamber just made her invincible. 0:19:15.756 --> 0:19:19.076 Shaw's influence can be heard all over those run DMC records, 0:19:19.716 --> 0:19:22.636 like Run's House from their album Tougher Than Lother. 0:19:23.396 --> 0:19:23.796 I don't know. 0:19:24.236 --> 0:19:34.996 DMCs the most rock, So shah Rack has real influence 0:19:35.036 --> 0:19:36.956 on the art and science of MC. 0:19:38.036 --> 0:19:40.116 But as the Funky four plus one more we're about 0:19:40.156 --> 0:19:42.836 to get their big break and introduce hip hop to 0:19:42.876 --> 0:19:45.796 the rest of America, she was about to see how 0:19:45.836 --> 0:19:48.516 being that plus one could be a minus. 0:20:10.356 --> 0:20:13.756 By eighty we were signed to sugar Hill Records, you know, 0:20:13.796 --> 0:20:16.436 in June of eighty And with that said, you know, 0:20:16.556 --> 0:20:20.876 our first song that we put out with sugar Hill 0:20:20.916 --> 0:20:23.156 Records would call That's to Join. 0:20:28.436 --> 0:20:28.596 Rock. 0:20:30.476 --> 0:20:33.676 So Sha Rock was the Funky four plus one secret weapon, 0:20:34.196 --> 0:20:36.756 and when sugar Hill Records got hipped to him, the 0:20:36.876 --> 0:20:40.676 CEO of the label, Sylvia Robinson, latched onto Shatrock's talents 0:20:41.036 --> 0:20:41.956 and her innocence. 0:20:42.796 --> 0:20:45.596 I was seventeen going on eighteen. But the crazy thing 0:20:45.636 --> 0:20:49.356 about it is that my mother didn't even sign you know, 0:20:49.516 --> 0:20:53.556 my my contract for me, my sister. She wasn't my 0:20:53.836 --> 0:20:58.116 legal guardian, but she signed my contract for me, you know, 0:20:58.276 --> 0:21:01.636 because I wanted to do it so bad. But yeah, 0:21:01.636 --> 0:21:04.516 I was seventeen. I was seventeen at the time, seventeen 0:21:04.596 --> 0:21:06.556 going on eighteen at the time that I signed to 0:21:06.596 --> 0:21:07.516 sugar Hill Records. 0:21:07.676 --> 0:21:10.076 Since Shaw was under age, she had a sister signed 0:21:10.396 --> 0:21:12.116 and she didn't want a mom to talk her out 0:21:12.156 --> 0:21:15.356 of it. So wait a minute, was your sister signing? 0:21:15.476 --> 0:21:16.796 Was that? Was that legal? 0:21:18.516 --> 0:21:21.276 Nope, they didn't care. 0:21:21.876 --> 0:21:25.476 Okay, of the strength of that's the joint. Sylvia Robinson 0:21:25.556 --> 0:21:28.196 sent the group out on their first tour. They were 0:21:28.236 --> 0:21:30.276 each promised to make five hundred dollars a show. 0:21:31.236 --> 0:21:34.876 What Silver Robinson did with this first sugar Hill tour 0:21:35.356 --> 0:21:38.276 is that she wanted everybody you know that was under 0:21:38.276 --> 0:21:40.716 her label at the time. She wanted to take us 0:21:40.756 --> 0:21:44.956 on like this major tour around the world, you know, 0:21:45.196 --> 0:21:47.956 to be able to, you know, let people see what 0:21:47.996 --> 0:21:51.156 sugar Hill Records was doing. And so the idea was great. 0:21:51.236 --> 0:21:54.716 I mean, we hit every major city that you could imagine, 0:21:55.236 --> 0:21:58.956 every arena, every place that we played at was sold out. 0:21:59.156 --> 0:22:02.956 When you going to places like Wisconsin. You go into 0:22:02.996 --> 0:22:07.036 places like Chicago, Florida, you know, places that we never 0:22:07.076 --> 0:22:11.036 even been before, excepted you know, rapped within hip hop. 0:22:11.116 --> 0:22:13.396 Like it was like like it was something new to them. 0:22:13.396 --> 0:22:16.556 They were going crazy. You know, It's like they treated 0:22:16.636 --> 0:22:19.676 us like we were like the Jacksons. I was like, listen, 0:22:20.076 --> 0:22:22.516 you know what we made it. People are loving what 0:22:22.556 --> 0:22:24.476 we do, something that we created. 0:22:25.356 --> 0:22:27.476 And as the tour was coming to a close, the 0:22:27.516 --> 0:22:30.796 Funky Four plus one got another call from Sylvia Robinson. 0:22:30.876 --> 0:22:32.996 Miss Robinson called us out, you know, on to it 0:22:33.076 --> 0:22:38.996