The Wildstyle Story #15: Live Performances Part One
Honestly, where my memory is the most vague about the group’s history is about our shows. That doesn’t really surprise me either, particularly because of two personality traits of mine. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a small struggle with the way my brain works. On one hand, I can be extremely good at focusing and staying on task. It doesn’t really matter what it is, if I want to do it or get it done, I can stay committed to it. The cost of that type of focus is sometimes blocking out a lot of other things around me. Similarly, when I’m doing something, especially something I’m really passionate about, I can often only, as they say, wear one hat at a time. It was one of my challenges when I was semi-managing artists in the early 90s. When I was out at events, representing them, my brain couldn’t even think about me MCing, so I rarely got on the mic at those events, including at iconic Chicago Rap spots like Lower Links, Avalon, Elbo Room, etc.. But, when it came to me performing throughout the 80s, I was really focused. I loved it! AND, I wanted to do my best. I was all about rehearsing and planning, but a big part of that practice was creating a comfort zone of knowing the material so well, that we could be prepared for anything, and be ready to improvise if needed.
That leads to the second thing, by the time I left elementary school, I’ve pretty much have always been comfortable being myself in front of people, and that largely translated to performing in front of crowds. But, there is also something particular about that sort of rush and/or pressure, you can look forward to, but also second-guess yourself, worrying you won’t do your best. I’m an over-thinker by design, so right before going on stage, I was the type to be pacing somewhere going over my lyrics, over and over, even if I had been saying them flawlessly for months. I also had this thing early on when I would get so excited and/or stressed before shows that my throat would tighten up and I would lose my voice and could barely speak. It would stress both my groups out, 3D Crew and Wildstyle. At first they both used to think I was playing around, but I wasn’t. I literally couldn’t speak until the moment I got on stage and BAM! I would be in my comfort zone. There was something about thinking about getting on stage that had an affect on me, but once I was in the moment…I was ready for action.
Point being, all that focus, stress, adrenaline, and everything else, apparently did not mix well for retaining memories. I have so many blank spots and only scattered memories of Wildstyle performances. Here’s the bits and pieces as I could best form them into a (somewhat) cohesive piece.
I don’t remember what our first show was, but I’m pretty certain it was a talent show. I don’t ever remember performing at North Chicago High School, where both LA and I graduated from, but across the (side) street there was Neal Elementary school, and we did at least one performance there. We also did talent shows at both Waukegan West and Waukegan East High Schools, at least once each.
Although I don’t know exactly what, or where our first show was, I do know that we performed our song “Superior Force”, and maybe also “Flawless”.
However, my earliest memory of us “performing” was an audition to be in a talent show. There was a kid, Rayfield, who we went to school with, he was younger than us, but his family were the organizers for at least one talent show back then, and Rayfield was helping secure some of the talent. So, when we told him we wanted to enter, we were told to come by his house. I remember we had a boombox and went into his backyard, and LA and I performed our song “(When You Hear These) Drums” for an audience of one, Rayfield. I likely only remember that because of the funny visual of it all, standing on some grass, and I also recall some clothes on a clothesline nearby, as we were rapping intently for one person. This was some time in 1988.
Another reason why I don’t have a clear memory about these shows is because of the frustrations surrounding so many of them. When I interviewed Madd Maxx for these stories, I asked him about his memories of our shows, and he didn’t have many, but one thing definitely stood out, being sabotaged. A lot of times, the groups that we had rivalries with, or groups who didn’t like us for one reason or another, would be the ones with the DJ in control of the music for the night, and one of their favorite tricks was to turn the reverb or echo up so high while we were on stage that we couldn’t hear what was going on so it just made us look bad. That happened to us at least twice.
Once, it happened at a talent show at Neal Elementary, and I honestly don’t know if this one was sabotage or an honest mistake. I think this show was organized by Barnett Productions, a studio where we eventually did record at later, which I described in the story, Song Breakdown: Reality. I think this talent show was for them to find a new group for their label. However, at some point while we were on stage, the echo was so heavy that we couldn’t stay on beat very well, so the crowd was confused and we were frustrated. It was simply a mess. This is also the show that I mentioned in an earlier #WildstyleStory where we threw some tapes of our demo tracks into the crowd.
Then, there was a talent show at Waukegan East. There was an audition for this one at the school, and for whatever reason, I was the only one in the group that could go. So, I showed up with our show tape, and was going to audition solo. While sitting in the audience, checking out the competition and waiting for my turn to be called, a bunch of dudes sat behind me and started harassing me. They were some of the other groups in the contest, and particularly people who didn’t like us. That dislike stemmed from a few things. One, there was always a North Chicago and Waukegan rivalry. Plus, these were all dudes making “Gangsta Rap” or their version of “Hardcore Rap”, and they didn’t really respect our style. Plus, it didn’t help that we were unapologetic in our approach and didn’t ever seek their validation. So, they were sitting behind me taunting me, throwing out insults to LA and Maxx, and asking where they were. And, back then, I was really reckless with my mouth. It didn’t matter that I was by myself and they had five or six dudes, I would respond like I had an army with me. In the midst of us trading insults, the organizers call, “Wildstyle”. I walk up to the stage and when one of the organizers sees me, he goes, “Oh, I know who you guys are, you’re good, you don’t need to audition”. But, I go, “Thank you, but I’d like to audition anyway”, so they let me go, and I proceed to do my thing, including issuing some challenges, directing them to the dudes who I was arguing with and essentially calling them out, and then jet.
Some time later, on the day of the show, we arrive to the school to find out that the main antagonist from the audition day is also the DJ for the whole event. It’s his equipment and he’s the one playing people’s music if they didn’t have a DJ. That in mind, Madd Maxx had to DJ from that same set up, which was nowhere near the stage. LA and I were on a stage probably twenty feet away from him at least, and he’s on a lower level where we couldn’t even see him I don’t think. We get on stage when it’s our turn and we start our set, I believe it was with “Goin’ 4 Self”, and all of the sudden, HEAVY reverb, and once again we are going off beat. LA and I are getting frustrated, and I yell something into the mic, and…that blows the mic out. The crowd doesn’t know what’s going on, they just think we’re messing up, so we get booed. I was livid. But, I was determined to get our shine. So, once I found out the school didn’t have a replacement microphone for the one that blew out, I agreed to go bring my two Shure SM58 mics and let the rest of the groups use them if we were able to do our full set at the end of the night, and they agreed. But, I don’t remember anything about how that set actually wound up being, but I think it worked out fine in the end. I do remember a group from Waukegan had a great set. I think they were named Fire & Ice, and the one thing I remember is them having this line about being hardcore “like Judas Priest”, and smashing a tape on the floor at that point of the song. For some reason, I also remember them performing on the floor of the gymnasium, and not the stage like we did. I speak more on Fire & Ice in the upcoming Battle Stats Part Two story.
That leads us to our Waukegan West show, which I remember being our best show ever with all three members, at least in my memory. By the time we did this show, some time in 1989, we had done several other shows, both talent shows and also performing at some House Music events locally also. Maxx was always looking to be flashy and create spectacle on stage, so one of the things he used to do was douse the center label of a record with rubbing alcohol (and some other ingredients I believe) and set it on fire, and while he was scratching there’d be this ring of fire on the record. That was usually a highlight for our show, but only when he was on stage with us. So, for this event, we made sure we were able to bring our own turntable set up on stage, but we had a new surprise this time. But first, more shenanigans…
They had waiting rooms in the basement or backrooms, and we knew where our place in order was, based on the group was directly before us. At the point when the next group should have been whoever was two groups before us, I happen to be in the hallway and I hear them call “Wildstyle”. At first, I thought they were simply giving us a “on deck” cue or something, but then I hear our show tape start, so I quickly tell Maxx and LA to come on, we’re up early. As I’m rushing to the stage, I heard the host say, “OK, looks like they’re a no show, so Wildstyle is disqualified”. I’m furious. We had worked so hard for this show. I remember I had on my white and black British Knight sweatsuit, the same one Kool Moe Dee wore on his “How Ya Like Me Now” album cover, and I think I was wearing sunglasses, in this super dark venue. I run out on the stage, grab a mic, and give a quick dramatic speech about people always trying to sabotage us, tell the sound person to rewind our tape, and we go into the zone. In my head, the show was flawless. I can remember looking in the crowd and seeing familiar faces, including members of D.B.I who also performed that night, and I recall the crowd showing us love throughout the set. I also remember LA having a big presence that night, which he probably always did, but this is the one show that I have a bunch of bits and pieces of visuals in my memory from, all of them good…at least once we hit the stage.
As for our new surprise, Maxx had his two Technic 1200s on stage, but he had his old belt drive turntable on the floor, next to the DJ table. At some point, when we hyped the crowd to check out our DJ, he had on these hush puppy shoes, and he doused those in alcohol and set his foot on FIRE! And, he started scratching with his foot on fire, using the turntable on the floor. The crowd was bugging out. BUT, to be fair, there were possibly some mixed reactions. Technically, I don’t think Maxx every rehearsed this. He definitely practiced the foot scratch, but I don’t know if he rehearsed the fire part of it, he simply knew it would work based on the “science”. Anyway, he wound up spilling some of the alcohol while he was pouring it on his shoe, so while he started scratching, the floor to the stage also lightly caught on fire! I remember having a quick moment of panic and either LA or I, maybe both of us, had to casually walk back there and lightly stamp the fire out while he was scratching. It was pretty crazy!
I remember managing a group a few years later (‘94/’95), (can’t remember if it was Brain Leakage or Mental Blokc, they may have both been there) and they did a show at the same school, and I went to look at the stage floor, and sure enough, those burn marks were still there! I suppose that’s a show that’s hard to forget.
BUT, on top of that, videotape exists of that show!!! However, I haven’t been able to get my hands on it yet, but I’m actively trying to track it down. One of the members of D.B.I had it in his hands for years and I kept putting off picking it up from him, and when I finally did, over ten years later, he had lent it to another member of the group, then he gave it to someone else, who…you get the point. But, I think I might eventually get my hands on that. I’m curious to see it for so many reasons. Primarily because it’s the only existing video of me performing that I know of, so it would be awesome to see me perform for the first time (as I’ve never even saw this video either). And, I’m also curious to how closely the video matches up to my memory. In any event, that’s probably my personal favorite Wildstyle show ever…at least that I can remember. But, there are some other key show moments also, that I’ll share in a part two soon…
