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DJ Bonds & DJ Breeze Breakdown The History of Club Elements & 90’s LA Hip-Hop | SWAY’S UNIVERSE
Sep 21, 2021
Back in the 90’s Club Elements in Los Angeles was at the epicenter of hip-hop culture and was responsible for some of the biggest artists to come out of that area. DJ Bonds and DJ Breeze were at the forefront of all of that and came to talk to the Sway In The Morning team about the documentary.
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DJ Bonds & DJ Breeze Breakdown The History of Club Elements & 90’s LA Hip-Hop | SWAY’S UNIVERSE https://youtu.be/NxILCJlrkqg
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0:00
Man, I tell you citizens, I I swear I
0:03
sometimes I think about it AC, Tracy.
0:06
Mhm.
0:07
You know, it's at one point I've been
0:08
about three points in my in my career
0:10
that I was like, okay man, I did what I
0:12
have to do with radio and then you know,
0:14
this is okay, cool man, I could ride off
0:16
into the sunset and I'm happy.
0:18
Mhm.
0:18
And then something will call me and
0:20
bring me back to the table and and then
0:22
I wonder, why am I back doing this?
0:24
And it's for moments like these.
0:27
Moments like the one that's happening
0:29
now
0:30
is when that answer is revealed to me.
0:34
Because if I didn't have this platform,
0:36
I wouldn't have be able to put the
0:38
spotlight on some of my friends who have
0:41
done some pioneering milestone vanguard
0:45
events in hip hop culture
0:48
where the story has never been told. I
0:51
talk about it often. I see a lot of
0:54
documentaries, I see a lot of
0:56
conversations
0:57
and I see a lot of void and gaps in
1:01
these conversations because folks don't
1:03
have the information, they don't know.
1:06
And it ain't like we had, you know, the
1:08
internet at the time of, you know, when
1:10
some of these things were taking place.
1:12
Especially it was a regional divide that
1:15
was happening between publications and
1:17
um and and culture, you know, in
1:20
regions. And so there was a lot of
1:22
things happening in the south at the
1:23
same things were happening in the
1:25
southeast.
1:27
But also there was a lot of things
1:28
happening in the northwest at the same
1:30
things same time things were happening
1:32
in the northeast. But if the magazines
1:34
didn't cover it, you wouldn't know. So
1:36
there's a big gaps of history, just
1:38
little nuanced things that took place in
1:40
California
1:41
um that people wasn't aware of. And I
1:44
take great pride in bringing up these
1:46
two gentlemen. Um these two kings of the
1:49
culture I call them. These dudes have
1:52
been selfless throughout their whole
1:53
time, at least as long as I've known
1:55
them since the early '90s. They've been
1:57
selfless and they've been committed and
1:59
dedicated to this culture and the entire
2:01
culture, not just the MCs that chart on
2:03
the Billboard, but the MCs that you may
2:05
not know of that are doper than some of
2:07
those guys and or women that are
2:09
charting on the Billboard. The DJing was
2:12
always the cornerstone and highlighted.
2:15
The dance has always been cornerstone
2:18
and highlighted. The art has always been
2:21
highlighted when you came into their
2:23
space. The space was created for those
2:26
people who may not have the
2:28
establishment behind them, but just love
2:30
the culture. It was a safe space. I
2:32
remember King Tech and I used to when we
2:35
were doing the Wake Up Show on Saturday
2:37
nights
2:38
in Los Angeles on 92.3 The Beat. And
2:42
man, sometimes I'll be doing the show. I
2:44
think he used to get over around 1:00
2:45
a.m. or something, you know, we'll do
2:46
the show for like 3 hours and in the
2:48
third hour, I'm waiting to get off the
2:50
show
2:51
so I could run to this club
2:54
called Elements.
2:57
Club Elements was the place. It was the
2:59
Mecca in LA for all things hip-hop. And
3:03
the people who ran it, man, was just
3:05
they were just givers. They were just
3:07
servants of the culture.
3:08
And 20 some odd years ago, they had the
3:12
brilliant idea of man, let's just
3:14
document this stuff. Why? I don't know
3:17
what happened to it, but 20 years later,
3:20
they're able to accumulate all of this
3:22
different footage and these
3:23
conversations to tell you about a time
3:26
and era that you may not be familiar
3:28
with, but you will watch and be happy
3:31
that you looked and tuned into it cuz it
3:33
answers a lot of questions about hip-hop
3:35
culture. The documentary is called Where
3:38
We Are Where We're From, the Elements
3:40
documentary available on demand and all
3:43
the digital platforms.
3:45
And I have the directors with me right
3:47
now and good friends, man. The one and
3:50
only DJ Bonds and Breeze are with us
3:53
from Elements. Fellas, what's popping?
3:56
Hey!
3:59
What's good, brother? Salute you, king.
4:01
Salute the whole team. All the citizens.
4:04
Salute.
4:05
Come on, man. Hold up, man. Before we
4:07
even start this conversation, man, let
4:09
me rock this trailer real quick.
4:12
If you go to uh the Good Life, you go to
4:14
Project Blow,
4:16
uh you go to Unity, I wanted to be about
4:18
that part of LA. Elements comes along,
4:21
they provide a whole another platform.
4:24
Okay, out in LA, they really doing it.
4:27
Elements was the playoffs. We had other
4:29
open mic spots we would go to, but
4:31
Elements was raw.
4:32
If you were
4:34
an underground hip-hop artist, your team
4:36
was not on point if you didn't run
4:38
through us.
4:39
You know, we just had some fun. We're
4:41
trying to give LA something. You know
4:42
what I'm saying? Just DJ
4:44
Elements Entertainment.
4:46
Sometimes you don't realize how special
4:48
something is. We just wanted to
4:50
represent where we were from.
4:52
Welcome to Los Angeles.
4:53
Come on, man. I mean, let me get these
4:55
guys a round of applause, man.
4:57
These guys a round of applause, man.
5:01
Yo.
5:02
go ahead, man. Yeah.
5:04
When have I don't When have I seen y'all
5:06
last?
5:08
It's been too long, brother.
5:09
I I I remember
5:10
chopping it up at the show like in
5:12
Phoenix or something like that, man.
5:14
It's been a long time, man.
5:15
It's been a long time. Breeze, what
5:17
about you?
5:19
I don't think I've seen you, brother,
5:20
since you were in Reseda.
5:22
So.
5:25
You know.
5:26
That's how long that's been, you know
5:27
what I'm saying? Straight up.
5:29
It's been over 20
5:30
You took
5:32
Yeah, man. It's been a minute.
5:34
You know, and we've been just watching
5:36
you soar and cheering for you over here,
5:37
so you know.
5:39
Definitely Definitely cheering you on,
5:40
brother.
5:41
Man, you know, it's interesting. Well, I
5:43
had the entrance and we're all from the
5:45
same tribe. DJ Bonds, you know, and
5:47
these guys don't just do that, man.
5:49
Bonds, I remember you being in the
5:50
community and and and talking with kids
5:53
and and then Breeze also photographer,
5:55
but also just, you know, they always
5:57
done community activism. We We think we
5:59
were all that minded. And I remember
6:02
leaving for a New York and
6:04
and
6:07
and getting all kind of backlash from
6:09
it, right? And thinking, "Hmm,
6:11
okay, this is my destiny. I love
6:13
backlash. I got to show people." It was
6:16
always about showing proof because of
6:17
who we all were um coming up in the
6:20
'90s. It was like, "Y'all have no idea.
6:22
We're more hip-hop than y'all."
6:25
You know, and
6:27
when people talk about the Tunnel and
6:29
different clubs on the East Coast, we
6:31
talked about in LA, one of the places we
6:33
talked about was Elements. Can DJ Bonds,
6:36
why don't you go first? For the those
6:38
who are tuned in, break down Elements
6:40
and and what was what made it so special
6:44
at the time that it was, you know, that
6:46
it was founded?
6:49
I think it was special cuz it was a
6:51
place where you could walk in, you'll
6:54
see four turntables set up, you'll see
6:56
myself and my man DJ C-Minus on the
6:58
turntables. You'll see a cypher in front
7:01
of you of people breakdancing, not
7:03
breakdancing but house and grooving,
7:05
shocking out, you know, freestyle
7:07
dancing basically as well.
7:10
You go out to the back patio, have a
7:11
smoke and see some incredible MC battles
7:13
happening right there in the back patio.
7:15
Then you walk up to the bar and, you
7:17
know, how how that is shorty, you know,
7:19
all at the same venue, you know, which
7:21
is kind of for underground hip-hop, I
7:23
don't care what city you in, that's kind
7:25
of unheard of. So, we were throwing
7:26
something special. All elements were
7:28
there in one room celebrating and, you
7:30
know, really doing the craft and and and
7:33
honing the craft. And so, it was every
7:35
week every Sunday. And yeah, a lot of
7:39
times the battles you guys would do on
7:41
Saturday nights spilled over to our
7:43
club. You know what I'm saying? Where
7:46
like, you know, I heard you on the radio
7:47
last night, I got you. And then on
7:49
stage, on site, just you know, people
7:51
would get at each other, man. It was
7:53
crazy, man, how we were just all It was
7:55
a synergy at the time between radio
7:58
Yeah, it really was a synergy, man,
8:00
between radio and the club and
8:02
uh the record stores and then
8:04
everything. It was a It was a incredible
8:05
time.
8:06
You know, um in this documentary, you're
8:08
going to see a lot of incredible people
8:10
that ran through Elements and then also
8:13
uh ran through Project Blow. You know,
8:15
Breeze, can you you know, the Good Life
8:17
Cafe, you know, it's still kind of I
8:19
think vague to a lot of people outside
8:21
of LA. Why that movement what that
8:23
movement was
8:26
and who came through it and why was it
8:28
important at that time, too?
8:31
Project Blow was
8:34
the ultimate workshop if you were an MC.
8:37
That's where you wanted to be. And that
8:39
was the place where you can
8:41
see not only, you know, maybe your
8:44
neighbor go freestyle, but also
8:46
Mikah 9 would come through, Abstract
8:48
Rude would be there. And so you had
8:51
access to legends as well, you know, and
8:54
it was
8:55
uh for those that don't know LA, it's
8:57
very geographically spread out. So,
8:59
Project Blow is in South LA. So,
9:02
if you're going south of Wilshire, it it
9:04
all changes. For those that live in LA,
9:05
they know what I'm talking about. It The
9:07
neighborhood starts to change. So, not
9:09
too many
9:10
people You got to be a little brave to
9:11
come out to Project Blow.
9:13
You know, but so a lot of people didn't
9:16
really go to it. We were more north of
9:18
that, but they were they were always a a
9:21
staple in hip-hop long before we were
9:24
doing our thing through the Good Life
9:26
and then eventually to Project Blow.
9:29
Freestyle Fellowship.
9:32
Yeah, man.
9:33
You play a little bit of this right
9:34
here. You play a little Seven Seal.
9:36
Be advised to
9:37
Ooh.
9:39
Be advised
9:58
Freestyle Fellowship, um, so important.
10:01
Yeah.
10:02
You guys, I wasn't in LA when Project
10:05
Blow, um, was happening. I was coming to
10:07
LA to experience it, right?
10:10
Um,
10:10
Right.
10:10
Ava DuVernay, HB, came through Good
10:14
Life. Yeah. You know, um,
10:17
a lot of amazing people came, um, up
10:21
through Project Blow, Good Life Cafe.
10:23
One of the things you guys talk about,
10:25
this documentary is so important. I I
10:27
and I I'm I'm hoping, you know, I I wish
10:29
we had more time to speak on it.
10:31
Elements lasted from what year to what
10:34
year?
10:36
Uh, roughly '98-2002,
10:38
about about 4-year span.
10:40
About 4-year span. And when you look at
10:43
this documentary, one of the things that
10:45
I always talk about is, uh,
10:47
that kind of I didn't know how to cope I
10:50
didn't know how to deal with is that we
10:51
would make a lot of friends that came
10:53
from a lot of places. A lot of folks
10:55
would come to town, come on our show,
10:56
we'd throw Elements, you know, you know,
10:58
it was a a part of the the tour as well.
11:01
And then, you know, um,
11:03
when you would see them other places,
11:04
they never really fully told the story.
11:07
And so, it was a lot of misconceptions
11:10
about, um,
11:11
what LA was. And you guys kind of break
11:13
down the
11:15
the dichotomy in LA and the layers to
11:17
the different type of artistry. Can you
11:19
speak to that? Do you feel like LA hip
11:21
hop to date has been properly documented
11:24
and represented? And can you speak to
11:26
the kind of perceptions that people had
11:28
of what LA hip hop was when they first
11:30
came?
11:32
Freeze, you get that?
11:33
I
11:33
But yeah, I mean I don't I don't think
11:35
it's been properly documented, which is
11:37
part of the part of the inspiration for
11:39
us, you know, saying what we did. And I
11:41
and I want to make it clear that, you
11:43
know,
11:44
you know, LA is known for gangster rap,
11:45
but and and but that's not all we're
11:48
we're about.
11:49
And that's what we wanted to make clear
11:50
with the film. That's not all this this
11:53
city is about. It has an enormous amount
11:55
of organic culture that has never been
11:57
talked about. Do we love that stuff? Of
11:59
course it is. We grew up with, you know,
12:01
Compton's Most Wanted, Above the Law,
12:04
you know, NWA, of course. We grew up
12:06
with all that. And if you're you're from
12:07
LA,
12:09
you know, if you're black and brown,
12:10
you're going to be gang affiliated in
12:12
one way or another, whether it's through
12:14
your family, through school, or
12:15
something. So, it's part of our culture,
12:17
but we just wanted to emphasize really
12:19
that that's not what all we're about. We
12:21
have some incredible incredible artists
12:23
out here that are still relevant to this
12:25
day.
12:26
And you can still see the influence of
12:29
that LA underground to this day. So,
12:31
we're just like, yo, we just wanted to
12:32
shine light on on, you know, the other
12:36
part of LA that doesn't get shined on.
12:39
Mhm. Absolutely. B Bizz, you want to
12:41
jump in?
12:42
No, congratulations. Hey, you guys, it's
12:44
Heather. Thank you so much and thank you
12:45
for your work in doing this because I I
12:49
always laugh with Sway. I remember going
12:52
out to LA a few times, but some of my
12:54
earliest memories and where I was
12:55
confused about LA and hip-hop, I
12:58
remember being in this club in in Los
13:00
Angeles and it was packed, it was
13:02
crowded, and Tim Dog, F Compton, came
13:05
on. I was like, yo, let me get into a
13:07
corner. It's about to be a riot.
13:10
But instead,
13:12
every they were all singing, "F
13:14
Compton." F Comp and I was like, "Wait a
13:16
minute."
13:17
Yeah.
13:18
How are they doing this? I I didn't
13:19
understand how I was in LA and everybody
13:22
was singing, "F Compton." So, that kind
13:25
of blew my mind. Two nights later, I
13:27
went to a club that was like it put me
13:30
in this whole mood of like
13:33
um the Rican Poetry Cafe, Lyricist
13:35
Lounge. It was beads. It was locks in
13:38
the hair. It was It was you know,
13:40
dashikis. And I was like, "How come
13:43
nobody is talking about this? Like, I
13:45
don't I remember thinking that. How come
13:48
I don't see this in videos? I thought
13:49
this was only in New York." So, thank
13:52
you guys for somebody like me who lives
13:54
and breathes hip hop, you know,
13:56
especially during those times um for
13:58
kind of It sounds like I haven't seen it
14:00
yet, obviously, but it sounds like you
14:01
guys are touching on all of that because
14:04
here in the East Coast, I can tell you
14:06
we did not know. Like, I just didn't
14:08
even think you can play Tim Dog in LA. I
14:11
didn't think that makes sense. I didn't
14:13
think that it was places like, you know,
14:15
Lyricist Lounge or, you know, poetry
14:17
spots. Like, I didn't I didn't know
14:19
that. So, thank you um for your work and
14:22
kind of just educating all of us in
14:23
this. Thank you so much.
14:25
No, thank thank you. First of all, it's
14:27
just an honor to talk to both y'all.
14:30
Oh, wow. Thank you.
14:32
but for a long time. But to touch on
14:34
that,
14:35
it was and
14:36
there was a lot of that being pushed in
14:38
the media.
14:39
You know, in in mainstream thing. And
14:41
and So So and Big touches on that how
14:44
you had this whole push with the Biggie
14:46
and Pac thing.
14:47
But if you really, you know, were part
14:50
of the scene, you knew like that's not
14:52
us. We're We got We got so much love for
14:54
the East Coast that, you know, Jeru the
14:57
Damaja can do a show in the middle of
14:58
downtown LA and sell it out. And that's
15:02
that's that was like you said, that's
15:04
what was really going on. You have this
15:06
thing being pushed in the media, but
15:08
that that was the real LA.
15:10
You know, and it and it always has been.
15:12
So.
15:13
Mhm. Tracy, you want to jump in there?
15:15
Yeah, absolutely. I'm so grateful
15:17
um to have you guys on the show. I'm
15:19
curious
15:21
because when it comes to, you know,
15:25
capturing but also um depositing into
15:28
the rise of of underground hip-hop
15:31
artist, if that artist does eventually
15:34
catch a mainstream lick, was it
15:38
difficult for you to at all embrace
15:41
that? Because there's so many folks,
15:43
especially fans, who will really love an
15:45
artist when they're only known to them,
15:48
right? That kind of makes
15:50
Right.
15:50
special and intimate. And then once
15:52
everyone know Even if like your favorite
15:54
song, you know, there's been times for
15:56
myself where I'm like, "I hope this
15:57
doesn't become the single."
15:59
Cuz I want this to be like that
16:01
exclusive like only we know this song,
16:04
which shows how much we only know this
16:06
artist. And then everyone gets their
16:08
hands on it. It's like, uh
16:10
it kind of um dilutes the magic. Like,
16:13
did you have to kind of shift your
16:16
perspective on that?
16:18
I don't think so. I think, you know,
16:20
with artists like Dilated Peoples or
16:22
Jurassic 5, you know, as as they
16:26
got signed to a major or as you see
16:28
different videos come out, you're you
16:30
know, there's a pride. There's a pride
16:32
there of like, "Oh, that's us. We made
16:34
it, too." kind of thing. So,
16:37
um it was, you know,
16:39
I can't it put it really into words, but
16:42
the way I would best describe it is just
16:44
a extreme pride for knowing that those
16:46
folks not only made it, but to be quite
16:48
honest with you, you know, Brother Ali
16:50
is still doing it. You know what I'm
16:51
saying? So, you know, there are uh these
16:54
these moments uh in our our culture that
16:57
it seems they keep going and going and
17:00
going. And And LA's definitely part of
17:02
that. Uh shout out to Hieroglyphics as
17:04
well, because talking to Tajai at a
17:06
Hieroglyphics uh about a week or two
17:08
ago.
17:09
Um there's just love between the Bay and
17:11
LA, too.
17:12
Uh between crews of of Living Legends
17:14
and Hieroglyphics. And so we just
17:16
champion, you know, basically, you know,
17:18
our our culture and our style, the
17:20
underground, you know, from uh LA to the
17:22
Bay and just West Coast, you know,
17:24
California, you know, just in general.
17:27
Got it.
17:27
That's an interesting question though,
17:29
Tracy, bec- and I and I totally get it.
17:31
I I think our mentality and I you know,
17:35
and then you guys can speak to it. Like
17:37
in LA at the time, when we came
17:40
down from the Bay, we we
17:42
kind of had our we had already
17:43
established ourselves in the Bay Area
17:45
and and and for really breaking artists
17:48
and it helped bring major artists to the
17:51
West Coast because of the size of the
17:53
market with the Bay and LA.
17:55
But prior to coming to LA, we did that
17:57
heavy. So, artists like Nas or Akonelli
18:00
or Big before Big became Big or Akonelli
18:03
or or or whoever, Common, you know, we
18:06
could I can name a ton of artists.
18:08
When when those artists, you know, by
18:10
the time we came to LA, you had the
18:11
joint, you had, you know, Westside
18:13
Radio, you had Friday Night Flavors, you
18:15
you know, Baker Boys, uh Choxie Miners,
18:18
you had all of these
18:20
extensions of the culture working in
18:23
unison. So, it made it even more
18:25
powerful for the movement. And so, and
18:27
you had elements, and you had other
18:29
clubs that were popping up or other
18:31
venues and people who were doing events
18:33
and it all worked in unison. So, when
18:35
you saw the Alcoholics
18:38
reach mainstream success or you saw King
18:41
T or somebody from the culture, you felt
18:43
like great. We want to make sure we have
18:46
proper representation there, too. Not a
18:49
knock on those who's making it. If it's
18:51
a Father MC or whatever, they do
18:53
something totally different, that's fine
18:54
for them. But we want to make sure these
18:56
true spitters get in position. And it
18:59
took
19:00
all of that synergy.
19:02
It It wasn't one thing. It took all of
19:04
that synergy to make it happen. So, it
19:06
took all of that for Jurassic 5 to get
19:08
signed
19:09
to um Interscope or for Dilated Peoples
19:12
and all of these groups, Planet Asia.
19:14
These groups would literally come into
19:15
our shows and going to their shows, to
19:18
their stages, and A&R people call us,
19:20
"What do you think of this guy? We heard
19:22
him on the show, or we saw him on the
19:23
stage at Elements. You should sign that
19:25
guy."
19:26
You know, he might not You know, right?
19:28
And so, it it it it took all of that.
19:31
So, when people made it, the way I saw
19:32
it was, "Yeah, another one of the good
19:34
guys
19:35
in position."
19:38
That how y'all felt?
19:40
It's true. It's true. It's true. I mean,
19:42
but there was also I I definitely agree
19:44
with that, but we touch on this on the
19:46
film, too.
19:48
And you saw this, there was an
19:49
independent thing movement, as well,
19:52
where you had ABB Records, you had
19:54
Stones Throw Records, you had uh Good
19:57
Vibe Records, you had Rawkus on the East
19:59
Coast.
20:00
So,
20:01
but well, like, for example, when
20:03
Dilated got signed to Capitol, they were
20:05
already Dilated, you know? And that's
20:08
what made it dope is it was it was a
20:11
similar situation to Wu-Tang, where it
20:12
was like, "We don't need the major.
20:14
The major needs us." And I remember
20:16
vividly Bonds and I, we were working at
20:19
Fat Beats LA, and we did uh Dilated
20:22
Peoples in-store at midnight, and the
20:24
place you you couldn't move. We were
20:26
sardines. It was that packed. And I
20:28
remember the A&Rs from Capitol being
20:30
there
20:31
and being like shocked. They were like,
20:33
"Wow, we didn't know, you know, they
20:35
were like, wow, what did we sign?"
20:36
They're like, "We definitely signed
20:37
something that was great here." And so,
20:39
we definitely felt that pride, like
20:41
Bonds was saying, like, "Yo, this is
20:43
this is they're repping our city, and
20:45
they're repping us. They're repping the
20:46
voice that isn't really heard." They're
20:49
So, groups like Dilated, J 5, Self
20:51
Scientific Fellowship, they were the
20:53
voice of the unheard, especially in our
20:55
city.
20:56
Absolutely. Let's name some of the names
20:58
that came through that Elements stage.
21:00
You know, when you when you watch the
21:01
documentary, and let's start with Let's
21:03
start with Medusa.
21:05
Let's
21:05
us with Medusa.
21:06
a flyer.
21:10
Now, we mentioned some of them, you
21:11
know, from Def Rhymes and Loot Pack and
21:14
Ras Kass and Planet Asia.
21:16
Uh you know, Exhibit, Get Busy
21:18
Productions.
21:19
Uh you know, we had you know, we would
21:21
do these um
21:22
we had a weekly obviously, but somehow
21:25
some way, you know, we talked about it
21:27
in a documentary, we fell into being
21:29
able to produce bigger shows and
21:31
concerts. Um and probably my my favorite
21:34
would be Live at the Barbecue, where we
21:37
booked the Stretch & Bobbito show and
21:38
then added on to it. So, the Stretch &
21:40
Bobbito show had uh De La Soul, Common,
21:43
Talib Kweli, Black Moon, Biz Markie,
21:46
Lord Finesse,
21:48
um it it it had that and then we added
21:51
on Jeru the Damaja, uh Souls of
21:54
Mischief, The X Ecutioners, The Beat
21:57
Junkies.
21:58
Uh we had Aceyalone, Abstract Rude. We
22:00
had like this incredible lineup and it's
22:02
like, you know, sitting back 20 years
22:05
later like, man,
22:07
that that show was off the chain. You
22:09
know, that was just pure talent-wise,
22:11
you know what I'm saying? No no
22:12
pay-for-play, no you know, you give me
22:14
100 bucks I'll let you get on or you
22:16
know, none of that, you know what I'm
22:17
saying?
22:18
You couldn't do that, right?
22:20
Mhm. Nah. Nah. Nah. You can't pay me to
22:23
get You know, if you wack, you're not
22:24
getting on my stage, man. You can't pay
22:25
me no amount of money to get on my stage
22:27
if you wack. So, nah, we wasn't doing
22:29
that.
22:29
Yeah. Nah, we we we this was
22:33
it was a pure time for all of us. Like,
22:35
we were
22:37
committed 110 to culture, you know, and
22:39
it it just didn't seem right to charge
22:41
people to play their songs on the radio.
22:43
It didn't seem right. Like, it's like
22:45
you was going against the rules. You was
22:46
going against the culture when you did
22:48
that. These guys are being fairly modest
22:50
to me, though. Um that that L & M's
22:52
movement was really partially uh part of
22:55
a lot of people's beginnings and
22:56
careers. And when he mentions, you know,
22:58
like Jeru, Mos Def and you know, other
23:01
folks like that. You know, they didn't
23:04
have many places to go.
23:06
You know, but when they came to LA, they
23:08
had many places to go. A lot of their
23:11
buzzes, even Wu-Tang Clan, Wu-Tang Clan
23:13
came to the Bay before they came to LA
23:16
and we had Rifkin keep them out there
23:17
for 30 days and like man, just let us
23:19
soak let them soak up the energy, then
23:21
take them down to LA, soak up the
23:23
energy. You know, a lot the mainstream
23:26
radio wasn't going to be playing, you
23:28
know, protect your neck.
23:31
You know,
23:33
that wasn't going to happen. And so with
23:35
us in position and the Mike N the Don's
23:37
and the King Gills and the Julio G's and
23:39
the Easy-E's and the Chuck D's and the
23:41
See Minus's and the Baker Boys and the
23:43
Big Boy, you know, all these different
23:45
folks were and this is before he was in
23:47
Morning. So all these different folks
23:48
were in position and it took that to
23:51
really elevate um these artists um the
23:53
way it was. So I want to say salute to
23:55
y'all. Well done on the doc, man. By the
23:57
way, man, you know, I was eating popcorn
23:59
like, thank you.
24:04
You know,
24:05
Yeah, DJ Revolution.
24:08
Okay?
24:08
Yeah, and I want to say thank you to
24:10
you, brother. You used to show us so
24:12
much love as well
24:13
back then. I would come through with our
24:15
flyers and you would just be like, yo,
24:17
get on and and do your thing. And you
24:20
would you would put me on like he did
24:23
you you didn't announce it. You were
24:24
like, you get on the mic and you
24:25
announce your show and and that was just
24:27
love, a lot of love. You didn't have to
24:30
do that, you know what I'm saying? So
24:31
salute to you as well, brother.
24:33
Oh, so I remember you giving me chills,
24:35
man. I don't know if you remember that,
24:36
man. We should have took more pictures.
24:38
Um and I had to do it cuz you you guys
24:40
know what it was like. Radio was a key
24:43
component to a lot of this success and
24:45
we didn't have any access to it. And so
24:46
when we all start getting in position, I
24:49
never knew how long it would last cuz we
24:51
had been through it in the Bay and it
24:52
was like, once we came to I don't
24:53
think we came to LA in '94.
24:56
Started '93, '94 on the beat and it was
24:59
like, oh we got to do this before
25:01
the time run out.
25:04
You know, they that you know, the reason
25:06
why we let I know this we talking about
25:07
this documentary but all this stuff was
25:09
happening at the same time. They
25:10
mentioned um Fat Fat Beats LA. When I
25:13
first the first time I ever did anything
25:15
for MTV when they wanted to meet me and
25:17
see me I made them meet me at Fat Beats
25:19
LA.
25:21
You know, and they brought a camera and
25:23
started filming me doing News Reports
25:25
and Evidence from Dilated Peoples
25:27
happened to be there
25:29
just, you know, digging in the crates,
25:31
you know, and
25:34
ain't that something? And and that's how
25:35
the rest is history. This documentary
25:38
citizens, I I want to encourage
25:40
everybody to um check it out. Um
25:43
I want to have you guys come on the show
25:44
but I want to sit down and do something
25:45
with you in person. Um when we get a
25:47
chance, you know, DJ Revolution DJ Left
25:50
Revolution from the Wake Up Show, he's
25:52
doing he did he did Was he the music
25:53
supervisor?
25:55
Oh, man, he was he was our composer. He
25:57
did 60-some beats. He he man so my he
26:01
stayed to save us. He came through. When
26:04
I got that quote for that sample the
26:06
first time I was like, ain't no way. I
26:08
was like, ain't no way I could pay all
26:09
this money for all these samples. So, he
26:11
came through and he made original beats,
26:13
60 original beats. And then on top of
26:16
that he made basically the theme song
26:19
with us with Planet Asia, you know,
26:22
called Elements. And
26:24
uh man, it's it's one of those things
26:26
where you get a chance to hear one of
26:28
your favorite MCs talk about, you know,
26:30
how we used to get down back in the day
26:32
on a beat produced by the homie. It was
26:35
just, man, so much pride in that song
26:37
right there.
26:38
So, that's on Spotify, that's on all the
26:40
different Apple Music and all that. You
26:41
or if you go to
26:42
elements.dilatedpeople.com it's right
26:44
there, you know, all the different
26:46
links, you know, to watch doc, yep,
26:48
listen to songs and you know, get to
26:51
know us a little bit more, you know.
26:54
elements.doc.com.
26:55
Rog G produced on it too from the crew.
26:58
This is amazing, man.
27:00
out to Rog G.
27:00
Shout out to Rog G. Rog G, salute,
27:02
brother.
27:03
Absolutely, man. And it's it's amazing
27:05
that you guys were able to really
27:07
document this. I'm proud of you. I'm
27:09
proud of it.
27:11
Um looking forward to seeing you all.
27:13
What's going on with you now? What are
27:15
y'all doing now? Bonds, what you doing?
27:16
Freeze, what's what's popping? What
27:17
y'all doing now?
27:19
Man, I'm a project manager for a
27:22
nonprofit. You know, I've been doing the
27:23
education thing for forever. So, you
27:25
know, back then those concerts, some of
27:27
those there was footage by little kids
27:30
who had just got out of juvenile hall
27:31
and they were like in programs where
27:33
they put a camera, you know, in their
27:35
hands and some of that the fire footage
27:37
is actually a kid who just got out of
27:38
juvenile hall. That kind of thing. So,
27:40
I'm still in education. I still help,
27:42
you know, push educational equity for
27:44
black and brown youth
27:46
uh in California. So, if you're an
27:48
African-American
27:49
uh superintendent or administrator in
27:51
the state of California, then I'm I'm
27:53
the guy behind the scenes trying to push
27:55
for the educational equity in California
27:57
for you. So, that that's what I do.
28:00
That's my
28:00
Hey, man, y'all y'all follow him at DJ
28:03
Bonds 007. DJ Bonds 007. I like that.
28:07
Freeze, what about you?
28:09
Uh recording engineering. I I you know,
28:13
just focusing on that production.
28:15
Uh got a 12-in on vinyl coming out in
28:19
November with uh 2Mex of the
28:20
Visionaries. So, look for that. But uh
28:23
been recording a lot of artists in LA
28:25
lately. I really
28:27
always love the recording aspect of
28:29
that. So, I'm focusing on that and
28:31
I mean, we're also Bonds and I, we're
28:33
back in the lab. Expect future work.
28:35
This is There was a lot of stuff that we
28:37
didn't get to put in the film. A lot.
28:40
A lot. A lot.
28:41
expect expect future work. So, we're
28:44
we're still in the lab putting other
28:46
stuff right now. So, expect, you know,
28:48
that's what we're doing right now.
28:49
Okay. Um let me let me ask you this
28:51
before I let you go because
28:53
Yes, sir.
28:55
couple people I want to I want to ask
28:57
you guys to break down this significance
28:59
in history. Even if y'all never heard of
29:01
these folks, citizens, I just want you
29:02
to know who they are. One of which
29:04
because she was so powerful and and
29:07
conscious and unique
29:10
um from the time I first met her. I
29:12
remember meeting her at I went to go see
29:14
The Alkaholiks perform and I don't even
29:16
know what
29:17
club or venue it was at right after one
29:19
of the Wake Up shows and I walked in I
29:22
just saw this woman on stage who was
29:24
making sounds. She was rapping in
29:27
sounds. I didn't know what was going on
29:29
like is she What is that? I didn't know
29:30
if it was a machine and then it was and
29:33
she was freestyling and coming back on
29:35
the one and just I had never saw anyone
29:37
with her style or uniqueness what she
29:39
did with her voice and even her look,
29:41
Medusa. Talk about Medusa and her and
29:44
her role in LA hip hop.
29:47
That is LA royalty right there. Mhm.
29:51
LA royalty. Um
29:54
It's it's crazy. Uh she's
29:57
she's the only one I I've seen I've
29:59
personally seen who draws like
30:01
celebrities going to Project Blow.
30:04
You know, whenever she's performed
30:05
there.
30:07
Um
30:08
she's like the unsung queen of LA hip
30:12
hop.
30:13
So, that that's that's pretty much sums
30:15
it up for me right there. She's she's
30:16
royalty.
30:17
Down to earth, cool as hell.
30:20
Yeah.
30:20
And
30:21
uh you know, she spit every once in a
30:23
while she'll just start singing on you.
30:24
And all of a sudden you got some Aretha
30:25
Franklin coming out of, you know, a
30:27
herself. She's just gifted and talented,
30:30
salute, you know, Medusa.
30:32
Medusa. Okay. Now, also I'mma take you
30:35
back.
30:36
Um
30:37
Mhm.
30:39
I'mma take it Well, you know, King Tech
30:40
and I we all kind of we came up MCing
30:43
and DJing but dancing, you know what I
30:45
mean, as well. And um
30:48
man, LA had a ill ass freestyle dance
30:52
movement that was happening at HP. It
30:54
was like, "Who are these mother These
30:56
dudes are ridiculous." You know, and um
30:59
Yeah.
30:59
And it was clubs Was it a club called
31:01
The World
31:03
in LA? Or was it Or
31:04
It was World on Wheels, you
31:06
World on Wheels, but then then Was it
31:08
the Orbit in LA?
31:10
There was Orbit, yeah.
31:11
Orbit. Okay, so I can't think of what
31:14
club I went to
31:16
and I saw the Scheme Team.
31:19
Break down who the Scheme Team are and
31:22
their significance.
31:23
You got to breathe.
31:25
Man, the Scheme Team are
31:28
innovators. They are innovators.
31:31
Okay, so
31:32
before I saw the Scheme Team and the
31:35
Soul Brothers, everybody was pretty
31:37
much, you know, breakdancing and getting
31:40
into like Hammer Hammer MC Hammer type
31:43
of like
31:43
like Hammer. I had the Hammer pants on.
31:45
Yeah. So
31:47
and then I remember I remember seeing
31:49
the video for Ain't Saying Nothing,
31:51
which was Divine Styler, and his dancers
31:54
were the Scheme Team.
31:55
And when I saw the Scheme Team, they
31:57
were doing things that nobody was doing
31:59
at the time as far as movement, dance
32:02
style, even the way they dressed was so
32:05
different. We're talking like just pants
32:08
that are sprayed up and down with all
32:10
types of graffiti or hieroglyphics or
32:13
whatever it was.
32:14
And they they
32:16
you like back then, if you saw those
32:18
guys, people were like, "Yo, what what
32:19
What's up with these guys?" That was the
32:21
Scheme Team. They were like the
32:22
different dudes as far as dance, along
32:25
with the Soul Brothers who used to back
32:27
up Def Jeff.
32:29
And these guys were prominent in LA, and
32:32
you would see them at Orbit, you would
32:33
see them at another club called United
32:35
Nations.
32:36
United Nations.
32:37
see them at Unity Grill. Rest in peace,
32:39
Big Ubi.
32:41
Um Yeah, and I remember I remember this
32:44
one particular memory. I saw Gang Starr
32:47
for the Step in the Arena tour at the
32:49
Hollywood Palladium.
32:51
Sold out. If you If anybody knows
32:52
Hollywood, it's about 2,000 people you
32:55
can or 4,000, I'm sorry, 4,000 people.
32:58
About 90% of that crowd that night was
33:01
dancers, and you literally had about 20
33:03
dance cyphers going on at once. Along
33:05
with the Scheme Team, the Soul Brothers,
33:07
and all these dance crews that were in
33:09
LA. And I I I At that time I wish we had
33:12
a cell phone because it If I described
33:16
it to you, it it sounds very surreal.
33:18
And I I'm not exaggerating when I say
33:20
there were about 20 circles going on at
33:23
once.
33:24
And of course when Gang Starr came on,
33:26
everybody just went nuts.
33:28
So, that was LA. And and you know, we
33:31
barely touched on
33:33
on on that LA culture.
33:35
answer
33:35
Yeah, we're we're barely touching on on
33:38
anything. So, there's still a lot there
33:40
on the surface, and that's why I say
33:42
expect future work. So,
33:44
I think you got
33:44
was an It was an incredible movement,
33:46
man. I still have my tickets up from
33:47
that night.
33:48
Oh my gosh, that's me. NFT it, baby.
33:50
Let's get this money. All right, um
33:53
facts though
33:56
Well, I Well, I got you. I don't know if
33:57
y'all got to go somewhere else, but I'm
33:59
I might as well ask you these questions
34:00
while I got you.
34:01
No, no. We here, man. We here.
34:03
Okay. And a lot of some of the you know,
34:05
a lot of stuff See, the the
34:08
the United Nations, man. That's where I
34:09
saw them dance, bro. That's where I saw
34:11
them dance, United Nations. And their
34:14
style used to be like Oh my gosh, it was
34:17
Man, I I immediately took pieces of bits
34:19
of that cuz we used to club a lot in the
34:21
Bay, club towns in 330 rich. And we
34:24
would sit down We would sit before hours
34:26
and just dance and dance and dance. I
34:28
was biting their whole I took
34:29
their whole
34:30
Come on, man. I was smooth, baby.
34:33
Um
34:34
That's Okay, so I also want to um
34:37
Carmelita Sanchez.
34:39
The way when we came to LA, one of the
34:42
first people to greet me,
34:44
and I want to say well, she was
34:45
Delicious Vinyl at that time. So, when
34:46
you bring up that Jeff, he was on
34:48
Delicious Vinyl. Um and I remember
34:51
coming to LA for some event, you know,
34:53
as radio guys, Tack and I, and it was
34:55
like, okay, LA was always a great
34:57
experience, you know, wow, that's, you
34:59
know,
35:00
LA. And I remember her greeting me at
35:01
the event at the door. And I was like,
35:04
hey, um you know, I'm Swaye from Swaye
35:06
and Tack Wake Up Show. She was like, no,
35:07
I know you are. Come on, follow me.
35:09
And from that point on, Carmelita became
35:12
our sister, and she was a major part of
35:14
the Wake Up Show
35:15
um
35:17
in LA, and partially because she was a
35:20
major, now that I look back, she was a
35:22
connector, right? She was one of those
35:26
people that connected a lot of folks.
35:28
Can Can y'all speak on a Carmelita
35:30
Sanchez and and and her presence in LA?
35:34
Go ahead, Vance.
35:36
She um you know, you say connection, and
35:39
that's all facts, man. She um was crazy,
35:41
as you know, I used to go to Unity. I
35:43
didn't realize it till like later on
35:45
when she said it, but she was at the
35:46
door, like, you know what I'm saying?
35:48
Working the guest list and the door.
35:50
She's just a part of that culture and
35:52
that scene in LA. So, from, you know,
35:55
seeing her at Unity, then seeing her at
35:56
the Wake Up Show,
35:58
and uh just just just such a a force,
36:02
you know,
36:03
uh um behind the scenes. There's There's
36:04
this, you know, you have obviously have
36:06
your MCs, you have the people that are
36:08
on stage, but you also have the people
36:09
behind the scenes that make things kind
36:11
of happen, right? And, you know, for
36:14
those who know, you know, and and uh
36:16
behind the scenes, you know, it is a
36:18
community. We We are friends, you know
36:20
what I'm saying? We do try to put this
36:22
culture on, and and Carmelita's
36:24
definitely one of those who uh were the
36:26
champion for for the culture, for
36:27
pushing records and and getting stuff
36:29
played on the radio and doing her thing.
36:32
From Delicious Vinyl and she was at a
36:34
couple places though. I I know it wasn't
36:36
just Delicious Vinyl. I know there was
36:37
one more that I am missing but
36:39
definitely a treasure for LA.
36:41
Okay. Uh man, it's
36:43
so many corners that they touch on in
36:46
this documentary. We're talking about
36:47
where we're from, the Elements
36:49
documentary and it's telling the untold
36:51
story of of LA hip hop, West Coast the
36:55
West Coast movement and
36:58
I don't know if I could, you know,
36:59
emphasize enough. A lot of artists
37:03
like a Ja Rule the Damaja, like a Gang
37:05
Starr, like a Wu Tang Clan, like a Nas,
37:08
like a Biggie, like a Craig Mack. A lot
37:10
of artists who were from other places
37:13
like a Goodie Mob,
37:15
you know, like a Outkast. A lot of
37:17
artists from other places
37:20
really broke in LA and the Bay, on the
37:24
West Coast.
37:25
A lot of those artists weren't breaking
37:27
in their own cities. I know it for a
37:29
fact because their labels was calling
37:31
us.
37:32
And the artists would call us and they
37:33
couldn't really make it in their own
37:35
city. How often you hear about that,
37:36
man? I had to go somewhere to get it to
37:38
come back and share it. You know, they
37:39
couldn't make it in their own city. You
37:41
couldn't necessarily get on Hot 97 or
37:43
BLS or whatever those stations were. You
37:45
might have got on WNWK
37:47
or
37:48
what's the one
37:51
New York New York University radio or
37:54
Columbia, all these different stations
37:55
but you couldn't get to
37:56
Right.
37:57
Everybody wasn't getting on Hot 97.
37:59
Mhm.
37:59
You know what I mean? Like I don't care
38:01
what they say, everybody wasn't getting
38:03
there. They came to Cali and they got on
38:06
that stage at Elements and saw a packed
38:08
house of people who loved them and
38:09
actually bought their music and bought
38:11
tickets so they got on the Wake Up Show
38:13
and and when it was syndicated, you
38:15
realized, "Damn, one play on this show
38:17
is going to go to 27 markets in five
38:20
different countries.
38:21
Let me get to LA, you know, and so it's
38:24
a lot of those stories about Elements,
38:26
about
38:28
you know, um good life, unity, you know,
38:31
about, you know, uh
38:34
the joint, you know, all these different
38:35
radio shows, West Coast radio, all these
38:38
different things that were happening,
38:39
Friday night flavors, all these
38:40
different things that were happening. A
38:43
lot of untold stories, so I want to say
38:45
salute to y'all for telling the telling
38:47
the story, telling the story of LA. Um
38:50
through the through the lens of
38:51
Elements. Congratulations, man. I'm
38:53
proud of y'all. Um proud to be a part of
38:55
the history.
38:57
Thank you so
38:57
I I I must have missed the text when
39:00
somebody said, "Sway, come do an
39:02
interview." I missed it. I'm sorry,
39:03
Bonds.
39:07
It's all good. We we going to get you on
39:09
camera soon though, cuz this next
39:11
project's going to be fire. So, hey,
39:13
just uh you know,
39:15
as soon as you see that text, it's
39:16
coming through.
39:17
Okay.
39:18
It's coming through, brother.
39:20
I love y'all, man. Citizens, hit them up
39:21
at DJ Bonds007 and at DJ Breeze. Uh
39:25
Where We're From, the Elements
39:27
documentary. Well done, fellas.
39:29
Congratulations. Enter some of those
39:30
film festivals and
39:32
win some awards for us.
39:34
All right.
39:34
We will definitely do. Thank you so
39:36
much.
39:37
All right. All right. All love, man.
39:38
Take care, family. Peace. All right,
39:40
man. Proud of that album.
39:44
I know it probably seemed kind of um
39:47
esoteric and cryptic. I'm not sure
39:49
because the conversation got to be a
39:51
really real insider, but I don't want to
39:53
tell it all. I want you to watch the
39:54
documentary, citizens. Where We're From.
39:56
It's all real life. Um the Elements
39:59
documentary out of LA. We're going to
40:01
come back and do a little Celebrity
40:02
Wire.
40:03
Yeah, man. So much is going on.
40:06
Nicki Minaj, the drama continues.
40:23
Hey.
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