Hip hop has become more than just a neighborhood craze.  I remember the changes I went through to get new hip hop here in Detroit when it was merely a New York thing.  I remember playing this tape that had DJ Chuck Chillout on one side and DJ Red Alert on the other side until it literally fell apart.  My first dubbed tapes of BDP's "Criminal Minded", Stetsasonic's "On Fire" and Public Enemy's "Yo, Bum Rush the Show" are still in my collection.  Now hip hop is the mainstream here and abroad.  I got a call from my man DJ Knice telling  me that some DJ from England or somewhere was looking for me to get vinyl of some of my material from the early 1990's when they used to call me Mac-10 (I'm still looking homeboy, as a matter of fact, anyone reading this that has "Soul on a Roll" by Mac-10 on vinyl get at me please!).  I got his email address, it was DJ Ivory who has a website called Heavybronx.com.  He is a member of the international Zulu Nation and has worked with hip hop legends like Afrika Islam, DJ Evil D and Sadat X.  He agreed to an interview with us and I hope this gives some insight on hip hop's global impact. 

 10)First of all, my release in the early 90's "Soul on
 a Roll" under the name Mac-10 was a local hit here in
 Detroit.  I've got to know how in the hell do you know
 about it?

Ivory) Ha Ha!  I've been digging for Breaks for over 15 years, so I got into the habit of picking up any old small label rap stuff that looks dope. Particularly stuff from the late 80's that uses old drum loops etc.  I
have a few friends in New York who are into similar shit and we call each other up to play any amazing new finds.  I got to give it up to my man Kohji from the Boogie Down Bronx who found your "Soul On A Roll" 12"
and put me onto it. That record is a banger, it has ill rhymes and the beat is def.  No disrespect to Detroit, but because the way the US scene was back then, if that record had of come out of New York on Zakia, or
Cold Chillin, or one of those labels, I think it would have blown up on the low.  We DJ a lot over here, and got kind of fed up with other DJ's always playing the same safe records when they went to an old school
set.  I always like to try and introduce the crowd to tracks they don't know, but can still rock a party because they're instant, and Soul On a
Roll is a good example of that.  Too many DJ's play the same records and it's killing shit, Hip-Hop DJ'ing was always about playing a unique original selection or records, that's what makes you stand out, but that
got lost somewhere down the line and DJ's and MTV have breeded a generation that go to clubs and will not dance unless they have heard the records before and they are big hits.  That's kind of wack to me.

 10) Now that's out the way, give us a rundown on who
 you are, where you're from and what you do. 

Ivory)I'm Ivory, one half of the P Brothers DJ sound system and production team along with my man Paul S.  We're from Nottingham in England and have produced records for Sadat X (Brand Nubian), Money Boss Players from the Bronx, Donald D (Rhyme syndicate/b-boys) as well as the best MC's in the UK.  We've DJ's with people like Marley Marl, Smooth the hustler, Brand Nubian, Maricio from Rock Steady Crew, Kool Herc, Jeru, Master Ace, Charlie Chase from Cold Crush Brothers etc.  We put out our own
records independently on Heavy Bronx records, and we also write for Big Daddy/Grand Slam magazine.

10)Your website is called heavybronx.com, what's the
 meaning of the name?

Ivory) Like I said when we DJ, we take that old school mentality of just playing good music from all types in a hip-hop style, which we see as fundamental.  We used to get a lot of US people who were over here at army bases or whatever asking us "Are you from the Bronx", because as well as the new rap records we liked we'd be cutting up breaks or playing real underground old school tracks or breakdowns from disco records or rock breakbeats or old 80's soul 12"s or whatever.  Not on some throwback retro shit but just taking that original Zulu style and advancing it for a crowd of this day and age.  "Heavy" has always been local slang hear in Notts to mean Ill or Dope.  Someone was talking about the old Brand New
Heavies album "Heavy Rhyme Experience" when we were all high one night and they joked that when P Brothers DJ or make beats, it's like giving people a "Heavy Bronx Experience"!  and we cracked up laughing, but it just kind of stuck.  Before we started putting our own records out, we found it hard to find new rap records to go and buy to play oursleves
as the early puff pastry sugary Puff Daddy sound was just coming out and also most of the underground records coming out were just corny, trying to be clever for the sake of it, but not funky, no vibe to them, no purpose.  Hip Hop going wack was actually our inspiration to put out records ourselves.  So really we just use the term Heavy Bronx as like a
sound or feeling of general heavy shit no matter where it's from,Ghostface is not from the Bronx, but his shit is definately heavy Bronx!  Most people don't understand it and think that we're mad....and they're
probably right.

 10)How did you get involved with hip hop and what about
 it grabbed your attention?

Ivory) I got into Hip-Hop in 1983.  Breaking really got me into Hip-Hop, I used to love breaking to Planet Rock.  Then some of the Zulu Nation came over to Nottingham around that time when Kurtis Blow and Bam came over here, they taught us a lot and also gave us tapes of some early jams with people cutting up beats etc which was WAY different from all the
electro stuff which is all you could really get here in 83.  Thos tapes really set the blueprint for me and a lot of Nottinham of how to do this Hip-Hop shit right.  That's why people from Nottingham come out sounding way harder than people from London which is more like a Manhatton vibe
as all the industry & media idiots are based down there.

 10) Estimate to the best of your knowledge what
 percentage of the hip hop that's making noise over
 there, mainstream and underground,is from the States.

Ivory) There is a whole generation of kids here that will only buy things from the UK as they think that the current sound of US stuff is either not good, or they can't relate to the subject matter as you don't see anyone rocking ice etc over here.  I break it down like this.....I don't care where the music comes from, a record is either dope or it isn't, end of
story!  Just because you're from the UK, doesn't mean that you should support your own beacause they're from your country.  If something is wack then say it.  How are people going to improve if they're always being supported regardless of how they're music sounds.  It sounds weird to say, but Hip-Hop music all over the world has gone wack because people are too nice now.  Back in the day there was so much pressure to come
correct that groups wouldn't even perform or even THINK about putting a record out until they were ready.  Otherwise you would get told, straight up and down "You're wack"!  End of story, bye bye.  There is some incredible music coming out of the UK, and the US and other parts of the
world, but because there is so many Rap records coming out every week, then overall the standard has dropped as a lot of these people have no business putting records out.  They're not ready.


10) Over here hip hop is a huge part of mainstream
 culture.  Every where you turn there is an aspiring
 MC.  Has hip hop conquered the mainstream to the point
 where every one aspires to be the next hip hop
 superstar like over here?

Ivory)No doubt and that's part of the problem, everybody wants to be
somebody.  I'm a Hip-Hop fan straight up and down.  I like to go to jams and watch people perform as a fan and give it up to them then step.  I hate to watch artists go to the stage or come off stage and people start rapping to them or just talking to them about what they do and how they're a
rapper or a DJ or whatever and showing no respect, I don't know where that all came from.  Don't get me wrong, Hip-Hop is a participation thing, where everyone can be part of it and "do it", but when we used to go and watch Eric B & Rakim or EPMD, you would never even think about approaching them and talking to them about how you rap like they're some kid
from down the street. 

 10) I watch a few hip hip video shows from Toronto and
 I've notice that there seems to be way more respect
 for the underground than there is here.  For the
 record, when I use the term underground, I mean people
 who in general are marketing their skills and the art
 of it (Gangstar, Dialated Peoples, etc.) as opposed to
 establishing an image.  Over here, mainstream hip hop
 is sold more because of the images, messages and
 lifestyles being portrayed.  How would you describe
 the situation over there?

Ivory) Yeah I think Europe has always been seen by outsiders as studying the art more and analyzing things and maybe appreciating them more.  That's maybe why records have more longevity here.  I think because we don't have the same powerful media brainwashing as in the US, people are more
free to judge things on there musical quality rather then feeling pressure to like a certain artist because they're hot and everyone is into them.  It is going more that way now though now, we have our own MTV generation now, so the New World Order of Hip-Hop is coming to England at a
frightening rate. 


 10) Name a few artist from here (USA) that are making
 noise over there and also enlighten us on some of the
 homegrown talent we should be on the look out for.

Ivory) Me personally, I'm feeling Ghostface, I like Rock Marciano and the UN, I think Money Boss Players are dope as hell, I like the new Raekwon track, I think the new Gangstarr LP is real dissappointing but I'm looking forward to more NYG'z shit, I'm not the biggest De La Soul fan, but that new joint "Much More" is a banger.  Over here in the UK, you should
look out for records by Cappo (His new LP "Spazz the world" is just about to drop and is Classic!), Mr 45, Scor-zay-zee, Lee Ramsay and the rest of their Out Da Ville crew, a producer called Joe Budda who produced the L Fudge LP and some other good stuff, and a new guy called ED209. Oh and P Brothers....I hear they make dope records!!  On the mass media tip, it's pretty much the same artists blowing up to the UK Pop
audience, 50 Cent, Eminem, Dre, Ludacris etc.  But none of that gets played at Hip-Hop jams here, which is probably the big difference.



 10) We appreciate you taking the time to talk to us, Is
 there anything else you would like to say to Detroit
 and the worldwide ghetto?
 Thank you for your time and insight!!!

Ivory)Peace to everyone in Detroit doing there thing and all the Zulu Nation chapters and individuals down there.  Peace to everyone around the world keeping it heavy and scientific, raising their kids right and making
records with some consequence.  Check out www.heavybronx.com for madness and if you're not into vinyl, go & download our records from
somewhere for free and save your money.  One.