Interview with Brooklyn's DJ Chips
DJ Chips at The Bird, December 2017
I was lucky enough to catch your talk at The Bird in December but for Rappfox’s readers who aren’t familiar with DJ Chips, tell me a bit about yourself.
First, let me thank you for this opportunity to enlighten people about Brooklyn’s founding fathers DJs. Let preface by saying how I got the moniker Chips. It was given to me by this guy name Ray Wiggins who was a football player in my social studies class in high school. He kept calling me “Mr Chips” because I kept getting all the answers right. LOL. It comes from a movie called “Goodbye Mr Chips”. I just took the mister part off later.
I spent most of life growing up in Brooklyn and was always surrounded by music. A lot of my musical tastes come from mom and sister. I later branched out on my own. I also played marching percussion for many years with St Rita’s Brassmen and the NY Skyliners drum and bugle corps, which is a whole other animal by itself. But knowing how to play the drums definitely helped me with DJing. Knowing how to keep the beat is crucial to being a successful DJ. After the Brassmen disbanded I threw myself into DJing.
Well, for those who are unfamiliar with Brooklyn legendary DJs. I was part of the first big wave or predecessors who laid down the influences that birthed the beginning of hip hop. A lot of the sampling comes from those records I was playing when I was DJing in the 70’s.
I sort of fell into DJing when I was in high school. It wasn’t like I saw someone do it and said I want to do that. I had been collecting records since I was real young. So my friend Ray Wiggins told how to hook up two turntables to a receiver-one plug into phono. Plug the other one into auxiliary. Turn the control knob to switch back and forth. I was into stereo equipment as a young teenager. My first crew was the Grandmasters with Killer (Larry B) and Rapp 3. I came up with the name. Since I had the most records and had a good sense of what records kept the crowd dancing. I became the DJ. We were just trying to make some money in the beginning. After two parties we broke up. Later we got our chance to play at a big time gig with two premier DJs-Plummer and Larry D. This was a famous jazz club called Jimmy’s in Manhattan. My sister was dating this famous promoter. She told him about me. He said he’d give us a shot. It wasn’t a stellar outing. However, we did rock the crowd with our subpar equipment.
I came up a new name for our mobile DJ ensemble that I named FANTASIA. I was the DJ. Then there was Larry B, my MC, Action Jackson-chief engineer and Jimmy G-The Everything Man. Brooklyn was already known for its famous DJs like, Grandmaster Flowers, Ras Maboya, Plummer, QJ Simpson, Smith Bros. Soul Bros, Ash The Hyper Freak, Count JC, Mike The Magician, Black Arrow, Ron Yates etc. I could go on forever. Brooklyn had more bonafide DJs than the Bronx back then. Probably in all of the five NYC boroughs. FANTASIA broke into the ranks during this time of the mobile DJ titans. It was a magical time.
You have to understand during that time period if your sound system was terrible, the crowd would let you know it. It was paramount that you had a good sound system. It didn’t matter if you did tricks or played good records. Your set had to be tight back then. Brooklyn DJs were know known for having incredible mobile sound systems with awesome bass. Brooklyn was way ahead of the Bronx in this DJ category, and also beat mixing too. We were scratching too. Except we didn’t let the crowd always hear us scratching the record back and forth when we were mixing. Later on we did.
I was cutting up breaks back then. We all were during this time. I played Bra by Cymande. This record came out in 1972. It has one of the most famous party breaks off all time. I didn’t have a cueing system in the beginning. I learned where to place the needle on the dark grooves of the record where the break part was. You needed two of those records to rock the crowd right. The party people loved Bra. I also rocked little 45 records with break parts before the 12” record came along.
FANTASIA was known for its incredible sound system. My trademark was manipulating the sound system. I had total control over all the various speakers we had. Couple that with my quality mixing and keeping the crowd dancing. It was a winning combination. I avoided playing any wack records after a great one. I knew how to build up the dance crowd to climax. Break them down and build them up again. The dancers went home happy and satisfied. I prided myself with being consistent at my gigs. Most of my practicing came at The Promoter Manor. I would come back the next day and practice new mixes and records without the crowd being there. It was the club we were stationary at for about a year. I also had a little set up at home too. I wish I had recorded myself more. However, I did document my tenure than my contemporaries. That’s why I think I stand out. I have proof. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be doing this interview for you today.
You are one of the many DJ’s who was present/involved in the Brooklyn block parties when the culture/genre we now call Hip Hop was birthed, tell me about that time and the influences.
Block parties were huge in NYC in the 1970’s. The biggest block party was the annual West Indian Day parade in September on Labor Day back here in the States. That’s where all the great and fledgling DJs would bring out their equipment to play. But you also got the chance to see the most Brooklyn popular DJs like Grandmaster Flowers, Maboya, Plummer, Gregg Myers, Shango, Soul Bros, Mike The Magician, Ash The Hyper Freak, OJ Simpson, John Crummey, Dagger, Electrified Sounds, Frankie D, Smith Bros etc. These were the titans of sound. There was never any violence during these events. Primarily because people wanted to hear good music and dance. It was real safe for a DJ to bring out his equipment to play outdoors. The music put people in a good vibe. At the West Indian parade you would hear reggae, soca, calypso, salsa, afro-beat, funk, disco, r&b, also some jazz and rock. All these musical genres influenced Hip Hop beginnings. And this parade didn’t happen in all the other boroughs. You had to come to BROOKLYN, yo!
When I got to play at the festival it was phenomenal. FANATSIA had a wall of bass speakers. FANTASIA had an incredible sound system. We had combined with our good DJ friend, Norman, aka Black Arrow. I would smack the crowd with funky records, R&B, and a little disco. I didn’t play any fluffy disco records. Or watered down commercial stuff like the Bee Gees. The African American experience during the disco era was TOTALLY different from which you might have seen in Saturday Night Fever. I was playing Bongo Rock, Apache, Drummer’s Beat, Give It Up, Turn It Loose, The Mexican, Let’s Dance, Crown Heights Affair cuts, It’s Just Begun etc. All the records that later became B-Boy classics before the term Hip Hop manifested itself in late 70’s. Back then you had free style dancers and hustle dancers. So as a DJ you had to know how to satisfy both groups. I was excellent at that. I also went for a more visceral sound. I went for hard hitting tracks to really hype the crowd. But I could also be subtle too. Overall, I would say the Caribbean experience with sound equipment influenced a lot of Brooklyn DJs.
First, let me thank you for this opportunity to enlighten people about Brooklyn’s founding fathers DJs. Let preface by saying how I got the moniker Chips. It was given to me by this guy name Ray Wiggins who was a football player in my social studies class in high school. He kept calling me “Mr Chips” because I kept getting all the answers right. LOL. It comes from a movie called “Goodbye Mr Chips”. I just took the mister part off later.
I spent most of life growing up in Brooklyn and was always surrounded by music. A lot of my musical tastes come from mom and sister. I later branched out on my own. I also played marching percussion for many years with St Rita’s Brassmen and the NY Skyliners drum and bugle corps, which is a whole other animal by itself. But knowing how to play the drums definitely helped me with DJing. Knowing how to keep the beat is crucial to being a successful DJ. After the Brassmen disbanded I threw myself into DJing.
Well, for those who are unfamiliar with Brooklyn legendary DJs. I was part of the first big wave or predecessors who laid down the influences that birthed the beginning of hip hop. A lot of the sampling comes from those records I was playing when I was DJing in the 70’s.
I sort of fell into DJing when I was in high school. It wasn’t like I saw someone do it and said I want to do that. I had been collecting records since I was real young. So my friend Ray Wiggins told how to hook up two turntables to a receiver-one plug into phono. Plug the other one into auxiliary. Turn the control knob to switch back and forth. I was into stereo equipment as a young teenager. My first crew was the Grandmasters with Killer (Larry B) and Rapp 3. I came up with the name. Since I had the most records and had a good sense of what records kept the crowd dancing. I became the DJ. We were just trying to make some money in the beginning. After two parties we broke up. Later we got our chance to play at a big time gig with two premier DJs-Plummer and Larry D. This was a famous jazz club called Jimmy’s in Manhattan. My sister was dating this famous promoter. She told him about me. He said he’d give us a shot. It wasn’t a stellar outing. However, we did rock the crowd with our subpar equipment.
I came up a new name for our mobile DJ ensemble that I named FANTASIA. I was the DJ. Then there was Larry B, my MC, Action Jackson-chief engineer and Jimmy G-The Everything Man. Brooklyn was already known for its famous DJs like, Grandmaster Flowers, Ras Maboya, Plummer, QJ Simpson, Smith Bros. Soul Bros, Ash The Hyper Freak, Count JC, Mike The Magician, Black Arrow, Ron Yates etc. I could go on forever. Brooklyn had more bonafide DJs than the Bronx back then. Probably in all of the five NYC boroughs. FANTASIA broke into the ranks during this time of the mobile DJ titans. It was a magical time.
You have to understand during that time period if your sound system was terrible, the crowd would let you know it. It was paramount that you had a good sound system. It didn’t matter if you did tricks or played good records. Your set had to be tight back then. Brooklyn DJs were know known for having incredible mobile sound systems with awesome bass. Brooklyn was way ahead of the Bronx in this DJ category, and also beat mixing too. We were scratching too. Except we didn’t let the crowd always hear us scratching the record back and forth when we were mixing. Later on we did.
I was cutting up breaks back then. We all were during this time. I played Bra by Cymande. This record came out in 1972. It has one of the most famous party breaks off all time. I didn’t have a cueing system in the beginning. I learned where to place the needle on the dark grooves of the record where the break part was. You needed two of those records to rock the crowd right. The party people loved Bra. I also rocked little 45 records with break parts before the 12” record came along.
FANTASIA was known for its incredible sound system. My trademark was manipulating the sound system. I had total control over all the various speakers we had. Couple that with my quality mixing and keeping the crowd dancing. It was a winning combination. I avoided playing any wack records after a great one. I knew how to build up the dance crowd to climax. Break them down and build them up again. The dancers went home happy and satisfied. I prided myself with being consistent at my gigs. Most of my practicing came at The Promoter Manor. I would come back the next day and practice new mixes and records without the crowd being there. It was the club we were stationary at for about a year. I also had a little set up at home too. I wish I had recorded myself more. However, I did document my tenure than my contemporaries. That’s why I think I stand out. I have proof. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be doing this interview for you today.
You are one of the many DJ’s who was present/involved in the Brooklyn block parties when the culture/genre we now call Hip Hop was birthed, tell me about that time and the influences.
Block parties were huge in NYC in the 1970’s. The biggest block party was the annual West Indian Day parade in September on Labor Day back here in the States. That’s where all the great and fledgling DJs would bring out their equipment to play. But you also got the chance to see the most Brooklyn popular DJs like Grandmaster Flowers, Maboya, Plummer, Gregg Myers, Shango, Soul Bros, Mike The Magician, Ash The Hyper Freak, OJ Simpson, John Crummey, Dagger, Electrified Sounds, Frankie D, Smith Bros etc. These were the titans of sound. There was never any violence during these events. Primarily because people wanted to hear good music and dance. It was real safe for a DJ to bring out his equipment to play outdoors. The music put people in a good vibe. At the West Indian parade you would hear reggae, soca, calypso, salsa, afro-beat, funk, disco, r&b, also some jazz and rock. All these musical genres influenced Hip Hop beginnings. And this parade didn’t happen in all the other boroughs. You had to come to BROOKLYN, yo!
When I got to play at the festival it was phenomenal. FANATSIA had a wall of bass speakers. FANTASIA had an incredible sound system. We had combined with our good DJ friend, Norman, aka Black Arrow. I would smack the crowd with funky records, R&B, and a little disco. I didn’t play any fluffy disco records. Or watered down commercial stuff like the Bee Gees. The African American experience during the disco era was TOTALLY different from which you might have seen in Saturday Night Fever. I was playing Bongo Rock, Apache, Drummer’s Beat, Give It Up, Turn It Loose, The Mexican, Let’s Dance, Crown Heights Affair cuts, It’s Just Begun etc. All the records that later became B-Boy classics before the term Hip Hop manifested itself in late 70’s. Back then you had free style dancers and hustle dancers. So as a DJ you had to know how to satisfy both groups. I was excellent at that. I also went for a more visceral sound. I went for hard hitting tracks to really hype the crowd. But I could also be subtle too. Overall, I would say the Caribbean experience with sound equipment influenced a lot of Brooklyn DJs.
How have you seen Hip Hop evolve over the 30 or so years?
Well, in my humble opinion I think the 90’s was the “Golden Era” for Hip Hop. I say this because of the different styles and approaches the genre took. You had political, straight up hip-hop, humor, gangsta, jazz etc. I think the gangsta part started getting too much push by the record industry. Violent episodes came along with it. And like all music genres, Hip Hop became commercialised too. It lost its original essence. In the beginning it was an underground phenomenon that had become mainstream. If you play a cut from the 80’s and a cut from now, there’s a big difference. I would say an 80’s hip hop jam would get people on the dance floor more quickly than the current style.
What is YOUR opinion of where the culture of Hip Hop is currently at?
Everything has its moment in the sun. Hip Hop is no different. This not to say it’s not still thriving. However, back in the States I think the genre is stuck in neutral I think coming to Perth gave me a refreshing picture of what Hip Hop is supposed to be. I witnessed people having a good time with the music at my gigs.
I’m not feeling the musical production with that harmonic voice gizmo they all seem to be using. It annoys me. If one artist uses it doesn’t mean you have to. Be original. Get your own sound. The record companies are at fault for churning out these “One shoe fits all” formats. I just recently listened to two new rap artists on iTunes and they both sounded the same. Plus I don’t hear the New York sound anymore or any variety. How many times do I need to hear the N-word and profanity? I was with my nephew over the holidays. Some rap song came on and the chorus line was the N-word over and over again. Really? Whatever happened to being a true lyricist? Time to take it to another level. How about being different than everybody else? Like I said that’s just my observation.
What’s been done in the genre has been done. If you need to constantly use profanity and the N-word in your songs probably means you have a limited vocabulary or not much to say. But, hey, that’s just me.
And trust me, I’ve heard great Hip Hop. So don’t try and bamboozle me or tell me I’m hating. I know good music. Kendrick Lamar’s Butterfly album is probably the best of the lot. It has some old school flavour in it.
I hear a lot today about the current state of Hip Hop. Not all of it is good on social media here in the States. However, I love the Hip Hop community in Perth. You guys try at least keep the true essence of what it’s supposed to be. The B-Boys I played for at The Bird need music for them to do their moves. Not sure if today’s Hip Hop is producing music for them to bust a move to. Maybe a new generation will veer off any do something else. Actually G-Dep was my last favourite rapper. I liked his voice style and flow. He was different. But he wound up in jail. Sad. So much promise. I still follow Public Enemy though, which is my top rap group. They keep it funky with a social statement. Chuck D will always be the voice of rap in my opinion.
Well, in my humble opinion I think the 90’s was the “Golden Era” for Hip Hop. I say this because of the different styles and approaches the genre took. You had political, straight up hip-hop, humor, gangsta, jazz etc. I think the gangsta part started getting too much push by the record industry. Violent episodes came along with it. And like all music genres, Hip Hop became commercialised too. It lost its original essence. In the beginning it was an underground phenomenon that had become mainstream. If you play a cut from the 80’s and a cut from now, there’s a big difference. I would say an 80’s hip hop jam would get people on the dance floor more quickly than the current style.
What is YOUR opinion of where the culture of Hip Hop is currently at?
Everything has its moment in the sun. Hip Hop is no different. This not to say it’s not still thriving. However, back in the States I think the genre is stuck in neutral I think coming to Perth gave me a refreshing picture of what Hip Hop is supposed to be. I witnessed people having a good time with the music at my gigs.
I’m not feeling the musical production with that harmonic voice gizmo they all seem to be using. It annoys me. If one artist uses it doesn’t mean you have to. Be original. Get your own sound. The record companies are at fault for churning out these “One shoe fits all” formats. I just recently listened to two new rap artists on iTunes and they both sounded the same. Plus I don’t hear the New York sound anymore or any variety. How many times do I need to hear the N-word and profanity? I was with my nephew over the holidays. Some rap song came on and the chorus line was the N-word over and over again. Really? Whatever happened to being a true lyricist? Time to take it to another level. How about being different than everybody else? Like I said that’s just my observation.
What’s been done in the genre has been done. If you need to constantly use profanity and the N-word in your songs probably means you have a limited vocabulary or not much to say. But, hey, that’s just me.
And trust me, I’ve heard great Hip Hop. So don’t try and bamboozle me or tell me I’m hating. I know good music. Kendrick Lamar’s Butterfly album is probably the best of the lot. It has some old school flavour in it.
I hear a lot today about the current state of Hip Hop. Not all of it is good on social media here in the States. However, I love the Hip Hop community in Perth. You guys try at least keep the true essence of what it’s supposed to be. The B-Boys I played for at The Bird need music for them to do their moves. Not sure if today’s Hip Hop is producing music for them to bust a move to. Maybe a new generation will veer off any do something else. Actually G-Dep was my last favourite rapper. I liked his voice style and flow. He was different. But he wound up in jail. Sad. So much promise. I still follow Public Enemy though, which is my top rap group. They keep it funky with a social statement. Chuck D will always be the voice of rap in my opinion.
What do you have planned as DJ Chips for the future?
I want to be able to continue to educate people about Brooklyn’s great legacy setting the seeds for Hip Hop to flourish. But not just about Hip Hop. Also about all the great music that came out of that decade. So many great DJs came out of Brooklyn I had the privilege to see and hear. At least get the opportunity to mention them in my talks or lectures. The party crowd back then was really receptive to hearing new things back then when I was DJing.
I would like to be able to still bring the music that I played to a whole new generation that missed out on it. I would like to pass on my knowledge of great dance music where Hip Hop got its influences from.
Basically Hip Hop relies a lot of on funk. Take away the funk and you have watered down rap music. As George Clinton said, “Fake the funk and your nose will grow”. LOL.
So many great DJs came out of Brooklyn I had the privilege to see and hear. I can honestly say if it wasn’t for Brooklyn DJs like Grandmaster Cameron Flowers, Plummer, Maboya, QJ, etc. and their major contributions to the DJ genre. I would not be here telling my story. Flowers paved the way for a lot of DJs. Unfortunately, his legacy gets pushed in the background. However, at least I’m getting the opportunity to mention him in my interviews or lectures. He would like that.
Will we be seeing you back in Australia anytime soon?
Well, from the reception I have received, which was very positive. I would say yes. They would love for me to come back next year. I really enjoyed watching the people have a good time to the music I was playing. A lot of good dance music never made it over to Perth. However, great music endures no matter what decade it is. I just want to bring back that good music that people can dance and enjoy themselves. I don’t want to be placed in a box as being a disco DJ or hip hop DJ. I want to be recognized as a badass DJ that does it all. People can check out my website DJbrooklynlegend.com. I think I’ve only scratched the surface with what I have to offer.
FANTASIA’S-DJ CHIPS-“The Electric God”
Thanks for your time.
I want to be able to continue to educate people about Brooklyn’s great legacy setting the seeds for Hip Hop to flourish. But not just about Hip Hop. Also about all the great music that came out of that decade. So many great DJs came out of Brooklyn I had the privilege to see and hear. At least get the opportunity to mention them in my talks or lectures. The party crowd back then was really receptive to hearing new things back then when I was DJing.
I would like to be able to still bring the music that I played to a whole new generation that missed out on it. I would like to pass on my knowledge of great dance music where Hip Hop got its influences from.
Basically Hip Hop relies a lot of on funk. Take away the funk and you have watered down rap music. As George Clinton said, “Fake the funk and your nose will grow”. LOL.
So many great DJs came out of Brooklyn I had the privilege to see and hear. I can honestly say if it wasn’t for Brooklyn DJs like Grandmaster Cameron Flowers, Plummer, Maboya, QJ, etc. and their major contributions to the DJ genre. I would not be here telling my story. Flowers paved the way for a lot of DJs. Unfortunately, his legacy gets pushed in the background. However, at least I’m getting the opportunity to mention him in my interviews or lectures. He would like that.
Will we be seeing you back in Australia anytime soon?
Well, from the reception I have received, which was very positive. I would say yes. They would love for me to come back next year. I really enjoyed watching the people have a good time to the music I was playing. A lot of good dance music never made it over to Perth. However, great music endures no matter what decade it is. I just want to bring back that good music that people can dance and enjoy themselves. I don’t want to be placed in a box as being a disco DJ or hip hop DJ. I want to be recognized as a badass DJ that does it all. People can check out my website DJbrooklynlegend.com. I think I’ve only scratched the surface with what I have to offer.
FANTASIA’S-DJ CHIPS-“The Electric God”
Thanks for your time.