Videos: Juice Crew
The Juice Crew was a hip hop collective of largely Queensbridge-based artists in the mid- to late-1980s. Founded by producer Marley Marl and radio DJ Mr. Magic and housed by Tyrone William's Cold Chillin' Records, the Juice Crew would introduce New School artists Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Roxanne Shanté and Kool G Rap. The crew produced many answer records and "beefs" - primarily with rival radio jock Kool DJ Red Alert and the South Bronx's Boogie Down Productions - as well as the "posse cut", "The Symphony".
Marley Marl started his career as Mr. Magic's sidekick and DJ on the influential radio show Rapp Attack, the first exclusively-hip hop music program to be aired on a major radio station, New York's WBLS-FM; the show would be instrumental in spring-boarding the careers of the group's various artists. The crew derived its name from Mr. Magic's alias, "Sir Juice".[1]
As a record producer, Marley Marl began the Juice Crew's long tradition of answer records with their first release - 1983's "Sucker DJs (I Will Survive)" by Marley's then-girlfriend Dimples D., a response to Run-D.M.C.'s "Sucker MCs" - but this initial effort failed to provoke much of a reaction, and was a whimper compared to what was to come.
A chance encounter in 1984 between Mr. Magic, Marley Marl and manager Tyrone Williams and 15-year old rapper Roxanne Shanté resulted in their breakout hit "Roxanne's Revenge". A scathing attack on UTFO's "Roxanne, Roxanne", the song became so popular it not only garnered a response from the original group (with the help of a young female rapper claiming to be The Real Roxanne) but inspired dozens of imitators in a series of records known as the Roxanne Wars.
Keeping his attentions to his Queensbridge public housing project, Marley's next artist was his cousin MC Shan. Shan's second single, 1986's "Beat Biter", went after local Queens superstar LL Cool J for allegedly stealing Marley's music. What was significant about the 12-inch release was not its intended single however but its B-side "The Bridge", which proved much more popular, finding not only considerable radio play but the ire of Boogie Down Productions. BDP, an upstart rap group from the South Bronx led by rapper KRS-One, took offense to a contested interpretation[2] of MC Shan's lyrics: they understood Shan to be claiming Queens as the birthplace of hip hop, when it in fact originated largely in the Bronx. Adding to the beef was an ongoing feud between Mr. Magic and his arch-rival Kool DJ Red Alert, who played a similar role in supporting Boogie Down Productions' nascent career - Mr. Magic on the other hand derided their early efforts. BDP launched the first attack with "South Bronx", which was premiered live in concert after an MC Shan performance of "The Bridge". Shan and Marley responded with "Kill That Noise", released on MC Shan's 1987 debut Down By Law (the first full-length release from Tyrone Williams newly-formed Cold Chillin' Records), calling out KRS-One's attention-grabbing methods. The battle was widely regarded as having been won however by KRS-One and the BDP Crew, with the diss track "The Bridge Is Over". Nonetheless, the so-called "Bridge Wars" would be drawn-out over a number of proxies.
The Juice Crew began to expand around this time, most notably with the inclusion of two high school friends from Brooklyn, rapper Big Daddy Kane and "human beatbox" Biz Markie. Biz had already collaborated with Shanté for 1986's "Def Fresh Crew" and found success with his Marley-produced debut "Make The Music With Your Mouth, Biz", which also introduced Juice Crew singer TJ Swan. In February 1988, Biz's album Goin' Off was released by Cold Chillin', which had just signed a five-year distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records. By the following year, Biz would become a national celebrity with a hit single ("Just A Friend") in the US Top Ten. Big Daddy Kane went on to become not only one of the biggest selling but most respected and influential rappers of his time. Kool G Rap, together with musical partner DJ Polo, was met with similar critical acclaim, albeit less commercial success. The other artists added to the Juice Crew/Cold Chillin' roster were Masta Ace and Queensbridge up-and-comers Tragedy the Intelligent Hoodlum and Craig G.
To showcase both his expanding crew and evolving musical productions, Marley Marl released in 1988 the label-showcase In Control Volume 1. "The Symphony", with its sparse drum sample, simple piano melody and back-to-back line-up of lyrical heavyweights (Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane), made an indelible impression on hip hop, and is widely regarded as the quintessential "posse cut". The Juice Crew rode out the decade firmly at the top of hip-hop.
Marley Marl spent the early 1990s as a producer, including work with LL Cool J in 1990 on Mama Said Knock You Out. It would be the last year he would contribute to a Juice Crew member's album. 1991's In Control Volume II (For Your Steering Pleasure) featured appearances from LL Cool J and Chuck D but also featured little of the original crew and many unknowns who would never be heard from again. Cold Chillin' Records struggled in the early 1990s, and less successful acts like Masta Ace were dropped.
In 2009 they recorded a tribute to Mr. Magic, "Mr. Magic Tribute".
[edit] LegacyThe Intelligent Hoodlum, later known as Tragedy Khadafi in the 1990s, played a personal role in shaping the lyrics and imagery of Capone-N-Noreaga and his younger cousin Havoc of Mobb Deep.[citation needed]
As Nas said in an interview in 1998:
Growing up in Queensbridge it was Marley Marl and The Juice Crew that gave rap niggas like myself hope that there was another life beyond our hood... He made us believe that although we came from those wild streets, we still had a chance to change our lives.[3]
2000s QB's Finest sought to honour this heritage with "Da Bridge 2001", an all-star update of MC Shan and Marley Marl's classic, this time joined by Tragedy, Mobb Deep, Capone, and Nas.
In 2007, the feud between the Juice Crew and Boogie Down Productions was officially laid to rest when Marley Marl and KRS-One released the collaborative album, Hip Hop Lives - a quasi-sequel record to Nas' Hip Hop Is Dead.
The Vapors, a biopic about the Juice Crew directed by Furqaan Clover and starring Cuba Gooding Jr. as Marley Marl and Keke Palmer as Roxanne Shanté, began production in February 2008. Although right now the movie is on hold due to money issues.[4]
The groups legacy has been preserved outside the industry in that the title "Juice Crew" is the official street name for references to the unrivaled team of hydration specialists serving the University of Virginia football program in Charlottesville, VA.
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Marlon Williams (born September 30, 1962), better known as Marley Marl, is an American DJ and record producer, who is considered one of the most important and influential hip-hop producers in the history of hip hop.
Marley Marl was the house producer of the Juice Crew, known for The Bridge Wars, a feud with Boogie Down Productions seen as one of the earliest and influential hip hop beefs. The Juice Crew included Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Roxanne Shanté, Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, MC Shan (his cousin) and Masta Ace, and produced many songs for outside artists including King Tee, LL Cool J, and Lords of the Underground. He was also an important figure in the careers of Eric B. & Rakim, producing their first hits "My Melody" and "Eric B Is President".
Marley Marl was one of the pioneers of . He was the first to sample a breakbeat and reprogram it, which he did with The Honey Drippers' "Impeach the President" breakbeat on the MC Shan single "The Bridge" from 1985. This was an extremely important feat as it completely changed the way hip hop beats were made, as well as other sample based genres. In his early records, Marl mixed James Brown samples and synthetic beats in a fashion previously unheard of, for the most part.
Marl started his career working for Tuff City Records. He debuted as an electro producer, with a track called "Sucker DJ's" in 1983 like a response to Run DMC's hit called "Sucker MC's", performed by his girlfriend Crystal Smith under the nickname of Dimples D.The next year, Marl also recorded a diss response to "Roxanne Roxanne" by UTFO, in the voice of Roxanne Shanté. In 1985 released his first own track, "DJ's Cuttin" under the pseudonym NYC Cutter. Soon however, Marl's records became more sample heavy, as can be seen by comparing the MC Shan LPs Down By Law (1987) and Born to be Wild (1988); the rhythms became less electronic, with drum machines becoming more prominent.
One of hip-hop's first superproducers, Marley Marl was an early innovator in the art of sampling, developing new techniques that resulted in some of the sharpest beats and hooks in rap's Golden Age. His trademark raw sound became from triggering short samples loaded in 3 Korg SDD-2000 sampling-delay units through the trigger out of the Roland TR-808. As the founder of Cold Chillin' Records, Marl assembled a roster filled with some of the most prominent hip hop talent then working in New York: MC Shan, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Roxanne Shanté, Kool G Rap & Polo, and Masta Ace. His production work for those and many other artists generally boasted a bright, booming, and robust sound that—along with his ear for a catchy sample—helped move street-level hip-hop's sonic blueprint into more accessible territory. Most important, though, were his skills as a beatmaker; Marl was among the first to mine James Brown records for grooves and also learned how to craft his own drum loops through sampling, which decreased hip-hop's reliance on tinny-sounding drum machines and gave his '80s productions a fresh, modern flavor.
The end of the '80s is often referred to as hip-hop's Golden Age, a time when the form's creativity was expanding by leaps and bounds. Marl's Juice Crew was an important force in ushering in this era thanks to its advances in lyrical technique and the distinctive personalities of emerging stars like Biz Markie and Big Daddy Kane. With business at Cold Chillin' booming, Marl put out the first full-length release under his own name in 1988 (he'd previously recorded the single "DJ Cuttin'" in 1985 with the alias NYC Cutter). In Control, Vol. 1 was mostly a showcase for various Juice Crew affiliates to strut their stuff, notably on the larger-than-life posse cut "The Symphony." Marl scored his greatest crossover success in 1990 by helming LL Cool J's Mama Said Knock You Out; bolstered by Marl's state-of-the-art production, the album restored LL's street cred while becoming his biggest seller ever, making Marl an in-demand remixer. 1991 brought the release of In Control, Vol. 2, which unfortunately displayed signs that the Cold Chillin' talent pool was being depleted.
After working with TLC on their 1992 debut, Marl remained mostly quiet for a few years; 1995 brought the release of House of Hits, a retrospective of his best productions over the years. Splitting off from Cold Chillin', Marl spent several years in a legal battle over money and ownership rights that, in 1998, finally resulted in his being awarded control of all the songs he'd produced for the label. In the '90s, Marl's status as a high-profile producer was restored thanks to his work with artists like Rakim, Lords Of The Underground, Queensbridge's own Capone-N-Noreaga, Da Youngtas and Fat Joe. In 2001, Marl put together another compilation of original productions with guest rappers for the British BBE label, titled Re-Entry.[1] In 1994, Marley Marl was referenced on Biggie Smalls' track "Juicy" as being one of his early influences.
In September 2007, Marley Marl received an award from the Berklee College of Music for his contribution to music. Marley Marl has also been a legend as a radio deejay along side Mr. Magic in the 80's on a show called Rap Attack on WBLS New York. Marley took the torch to start his own radio show called Private Radio, later with Pete Rock and K-Def. The radio show was called Future Flavas that was an online station and radio show that bounced around from New York radio stations like Hot 97, Power 105.1. Now Marley is currently back where it all started, WBLS, with his radio show called Golden Era Radio. Marley is still touring the world deejaying, playing his brand of funk for fans of Golden Era hip hop. He is also in the works of producing a film called The Vapors. The film will be based on Marl and the Juice Crew in the late 80's the golden era of Hip Hop.
He and KRS-One released Hip-Hop Lives in May 2007 with Marley Marl as the executive producer.[1]
On June 5, 2007, Marley Marl suffered a heart attack. He was released from the hospital a few days later on the 8th. According to an interview in The Source, he blamed the heart attack on stress brought on by his worries about being a good father.
In 2008, Craig G and he released a collaborative album titled Operation: Take Back Hip-Hop.[1]
Marl's music has had influences on RZA, DJ Premier, as well as Pete Rock, who is also a longtime friend.[1] Marley Marl is also a legendary DJ member of the worldwide DJ organization, The Core DJ's.
[edit] Discography
Main article: Marley Marl production discography
[edit] Albums* In Control, Volume 1 (1988)
* In Control, Volume II - for your steering pleasure (1991)
* Hip Hop Dictionary (2000)
* Re-entry (2001)
* Hip-Hop Lives (2007) (with KRS-One)
* Operation: Take Back Hip-Hop (2008) (with Craig G)[edit] Compilations
* House of Hits (1995)
* Best of Cold Chillin' (2001)
* Marley Marl's House of Hits (released 2007)
* Hip Hop's Hero w/ Nikal Fieldz (released 2010)