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Biz Markie is a rap star from the 80s. Though he made a name for himself with his freestyle rhymes and beatboxing in the early and mid-eighties, his biggest single, "Just A Friend," came out in 1989 and eclipsed the rest of his catalog. The song can still be heard by howling idiots at karaoke bars worldwide. Markie will perform a DJ set at the PSU Ballroom with guests, Revelations and Sauce Policy, on Friday, November 3rd. I called him up last week to talk about hip-hop. JIM SANDBERG.
When was the last time you were in Oregon?
Yeah? We traded him a little too early.
First thing- what are we gonna see at your show?
The event at PSU will be a DJ set. What sort of stuff are you gonna play? Is it a dance party or are you trying to educate the kids?
So will you be doing any singing or rapping?
That's fair. So what have you been listening to lately? What's some new music you like?
Well, what's on your turntable right now?
What're some of the last records you bought?
So you're DJing digital, using Serato or Final Scratch?
OK, so I do an old-school hip-hop radio show here in Eugene, what are some records I got to get for my show?
All of the early and golden age, really. I go up to '91 at the latest.
Nope.
Yeah, I play that one!
Yeah, I had a guy call me up a couple months ago asking for it, so I been playing it ever since.
Nope.
Okay.
Nope.
That's funny, I got a homeboy who keeps telling me to get Kwame, but I can't find it anywhere.
I got some big names on vinyl, you know, the D.M.C., the Eric B. and Rakim, the L.L., but any of the more rare stuff I have on the computer, like King Sun, Ed O.G., Maestro Fresh Wes or Nice and Smooth.
Yeah, man! I like that one.
Volume Ten
What's that?
Volume Ten
No.
I'll have to write that down.
Oh yeah.
Right on. I got some questions for you. First, why do you think that classic hip-hop doesn't have an audience today?
Is it really?
Yeah, I understand that. So on the new Jay-Z single, "Kingdom Come," he's saying he's back to save hip-hop…
You don't like it.
[laughs] No. But I want to ask the question.
Do you think it's going to be just one guy that's going to bring hip-hop back to that, or do you think that it's going to have to be a group like the Dipset that's gonna save hip-hop?
You heard that new Mos Def single?
It sounds pretty good, I think he's gonna have a good record comin' out.
Well, I didn't get into the rock ‘n roll thing he was doing on that last record. I liked the idea, but I think he was embracing the Fred Durst.
Yeah. So let me ask you this: It's an old question, I'm sure you've answered it a thousand times, but I want to hear what you have to say– because there's kids out here that don't know about '91, about the sampling lawsuit and how that changed the face of hip-hop and how that impacted you.
So back then it was more easygoing business environment where the musicians would more or less clear it, but it would be off the record--a verbal agreement, that'd be fine?
So it sounds like the change that was made was more to protect artists and labels that were doing the sampling.
Yeah. So I got this question for you: Derrick Beckles from Vice magazine, you familiar with Vice magazine?
In an interview, he said that there was no black retro. Do you think that's true in any way?
That's a good point.
[laughs]
I read an article recently that said that the main difference between back then and now is that back then people were aspiring for the wealth--they didn't have it, but they were talking about what they really wanted, so people could relate. But now, the rappers say they have it. People can't really relate to that in a strong way because they actually don't have the twenty-inch rims, you know, the stuff that people are rappin' about.
Yeah.
‘Cause you'd get punked, right, if you were copyin' someone's style like that.
We gonna switch a little bit here. What do you think about the new underground stuff? Over here in the Northwest it seems like there's a real big divide between the mainstream, big-time stuff like we've been talking about, the Just Blaze and the Lil' Wayne and all that, and the underground stuff like the Mos Defs and the Talib Kwelis and the even more underground stuff.
Jim Sandberg is a Journalism student at the U of O and is the host of the Jimbo Show, an old-school hip-hop show on 88.1FM KWVA, Eugene
WWeek 2015
