The Mexican Heatwave In Hollywood That Led To Me Joining A Line Up Of Top Worldwide Rap Archives Legends!
I had just returned from Los Angeles with Soul / Funk band Heatwave after a performance at the Greek Theater in Hollywood. Lead singer, the late Keith Wilder, even assisted on the photo shoot for the cover design of my first US single release and I had a crazy time hanging out with drummer Bilbo. He’s a funny little Czechoslovakian guy and after a session getting smoked out on the Mexican stuff, I was laughing so much, my ribs hurt. Those Mexicans know how to make a brew!
Anyway… a phone call came through from Energy Radio in Southampton from DJ / Presenter Russell Crewe inviting me to appear on his Hip-Hop show. It was a two-hour drive down South, so myself, my DJ Vee Dub and members of our crew stacked up the car with supplies. We used the drive to prepare for the show; by the time we got there, we were buzzing so much, we fell out of the car!
(Soul Funk Band Heatwave – Gangsters Of The Groove)
When we got to the studio, Russell was spinning the legendary Busta Rhymes single, “Woo Hah”. It’s no secret that Busta Rhymes is one of my heroes and in my top 5 favourite MC’s. The minute I heard that song, I was off. We dropped an edit of the original sample, taken from Galt Macdermot’s “Space” (1969) and me and Vee Dub got wild on the mic for an hour-long live session. We spent the rest of the weekend on Bournemouth beach checking out all the ladies …
So it was an honour later that year when UK Record Label Mo’s Music Machine licensed the radio session to be included in their Special Edition 4-CD Box Set, “The Massive Sounds Of Rap Archives” alongside UK and US Rap veterans such as Melle Mel & Grandmaster Flash, Hijack, Jungle Brothers, KRS One, Blade, Bomb The Bass Featuring Merlin, Notorious B.I.G, 2Pac & Big Daddy Kane to name a few. To stand amongst a line up of such great legends completely blew me away!
The live session sees us fooling around having fun, freestyling and joking our way through our version of “Woo Hah”. It was a memorable day that has left me with some great memories of my late DJ, Vee Dub.
The track is no longer available for sale but as a THANK YOU for being one of my subscribers I want to give it to you for free – no strings attached.
Download Born 2 B and Vee Dub Live On Energy Radio here.
If you like the track you might also consider checking out Original Olde English. It’s my latest album and it’s full of Hip-Hop tunes that I like to think would make the Rap Archives veterans proud.
Nuff respect and talk soon,
Born 2 B
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