Beat This: A Hip Hop History (1984)

(police sirens)

♪ ("Renegades of Funk" by Afrika Bambaataa
& Soulsonic Force) ♪

♪ From a different solar system
many, many galaxies away ♪

♪ We are the force of another creation ♪

♪ A new musical revelation ♪

♪ And we're on this musical message ♪

♪ To help the others listen ♪

♪ Improve momentum and ♪

♪ seek the electronic chance ♪

♪ - Like
- Astrology ♪

♪ - Like
- Technology ♪

♪ - Like
- God's Creation ♪

♪ - Like
- The Zulu station ♪

♪ - Like
- To the nation ♪

♪ - Like
- Destroy all nations ♪

♪ - Like
- Militants ♪

♪ - (Like
- Down in sand ♪

♪ - (Like!)
- Through changes, ♪

♪ nothing stays the same ♪

♪ Oh renegades ♪

(music)

(Narrator) "The Renegades of Funk -
Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force.

Well, good evening and welcome to another
GBE—a Gary Bird experience—

as the funky forces of the universe
come together

for us to bring another set of
Big Apple jams your way.

In a few minutes my engineer Jonathan E
at Master Control and I gonna go

looking for something perfect,
the perfect beat for you,

especially if you are up at Planet Rock,
The Bronx, or the Zulu Nation,

as in dance formation tonight.

Speaking of dance, have you heard about
he WLIB breakdance contest?

You have a chance
to win a trip to the mother country;

the place that sent Afrika Bambaataa
into a galaxy far, far away.

Who knows? You could be on your way

into the land of the pyramids,
checking it all out."

♪ ("Planet Rock - Instrumental"
by Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force) ♪

(Narrator's voice fades in)
"...planets, especially Venus and Jupiter,

can be seen in the sky
not long after sunset.

With the glow of twilight
still lingering,

and a dash of near-sightedness,
and some good old human imagination,

and some well-intentioned people
will even claim 'it's shooting off sparks,

it's as big as a basketball, it has
landing lights', and so on.

Hard to believe?

Well, the most frequently reported
UFOs on record

are the planets Venus and Jupiter.

IFOs, once you know a little about the
autokinetic illusion and the night sky.

July 24th, 1948.
An Eastern Airlines flight is en route

from Houston to Atlanta, when suddenly...
(otherworldly electronic noise)

The flight crew, all intelligent, trained
observers, reported the—"

(cut off by strange beeps and sounds)

(banging on timpani)

(robotic voice)
"I am the funk overlord.

I have come to take control of your life.

Who controls the present,
controls the past.

Who controls the past,
controls the future.

Funk!"

♪ (upbeat electronic music) ♪

So this is how Bam sends 'em
to the street, hip hoppin',

lookin' for the perfect beat.

♪ (upbeat electronic music) ♪

Rappin', scratchin', breakin', shakin',
the success of hip hop is in the making.

♪ (upbeat electronic music) ♪

On TV and on radio, you hear and see it,
wherever you go.

♪ (upbeat electronic music) ♪

Graffiti began on the walls,
and now it's sold in stores and malls.

♪ (upbeat electronic music) ♪

From uptown to Fifth Avenue,
the journey took a heck of a crew,

from a neighborhood and a street scene,
all around the world to the silver screen.

♪ ("The Hitler Rap") ♪
♪ Hi there people, you know me ♪

♪ I used to run a little joint
called Germany ♪

♪ I was number one
The people's choice ♪

♪ And everybody listened to
my mighty voice ♪

♪ My name is Adolf,
I'm on the mic ♪

♪ Gonna hip you to the story
of the New Third Reich ♪

♪ It all began down in Munich town
& pretty soon ♪

♪ Word started gettin' around ♪

♪ I said to Martin Boorman,
I said "Hey Marty," ♪

♪ "Why don't we throw a little
Nazi party?" ♪

♪ So we had an election,
well, kinda sorta ♪

♪ And before you knew it,
hello new order! ♪

♪ To all those mothers in the Fatherland ♪

♪ I said "Achtung baby!
I got me a plan." ♪

♪ "Whatcha got, Adolf?
Whatcha gonna do?" ♪

♪ I said "How about this one?
World War Two." ♪

♪ To be or not be ♪

♪ Oh baby ♪
♪ Can't you see ♪

(music fades, record scratching)

All that scratchin' is makin'
me itch!

♪ (mixed-up music) ♪

♪ Duck Duck Duck ♪
♪ Duck Duck Duck ♪

What once was in the underground
has now, by elements, been found

like anywhere you see fresh meat,
the culture vultures come to eat.

Now with hip hop on his lip,
Malcolm McLaren begins his trip,

how he went to the Planet Rock
and came back to Britain in future shock,

'cuz though he thought punk was the top,
he found the groove was in hip hop.

♪ (hip hop music) ♪

(Malcolm McLaren)
I was, uh...

working with a group called
Bow Wow Wow.

I came over there because they were
selling some RCA records

and I was looking to put them on
in a hole in Manhattan somewhere,

but the terrible thing was I was really
stuck for a responsible

and interesting and exciting
kind of opening act.

And nothing was happening in New York.

Then a friend of mine introduced me
to a guy who I met on the street,

somewhere down 5th Avenue.
He told me about an incredible scene

that was happening not in Manhattan,but
out in a suburb known as the South Bronx.

He said if I liked,
I could come on a Saturday night

to a big party where I would see something

that couldn't possibly have
ever existed in England.

And, I decided to actually pitch up
with him on Saturday night.

Upon arriving, the party

—unknown to me,
I thought it would be indoors—

was actually out in the open,
in a wasteland,

surrounded by these huge
fired out condominiums.

There, in the midst of it, was about
thousand kids and I couldn't believe it.

I was very, very worried being
the only white guy there and

the cab driver signaled me
to put my dollars in my socks.

(stammers, laughs) Nevertheless,
I escorted myself across the road

with this guy, made my way through
the crowd, pushing and shoving

until I got to the decks where
the music was coming from.

Shook hands with this huge fat guy,
who later became known to me

as a guy called Afrika Bambaataa.

And what I witnessed was a various
group of different young kids,

who were popping in and out amongst
the decks, messing about with records.

What l saw was extraordinary,
because the sound

coming out was totally inarticulate.
It was a load of rough noises

that sounded a little like a guitar,
but sort of like a concrete chisel sound.

And the sound, I realized,
was actually coming from the way they were

messing with their hands on the decks,
moving records backwards and forwards.

They weren't just doing it with
one record, but with two,

and they were mixing across one
to the other.

In fact, it was making music
out of other people's music.

♪ (mixed music plays, repeating) ♪

As time went on and I stuck around
for an hour or so,

the crowd was extremely volatile
jumping into pitch battles at times.

But at one point or another, people
would move to the side,

and a group of kids would start
freaking out in the middle,

doing all this incredible
gymnastic dancing.

♪ (distorted, choppy music plays
over beat) ♪

What McLaren saw was called "hip hop",
energy and motion that you could not stop.

Demanding all of your imagination
if you were to share in the celebration.

It wasn't enough to just be good,
you had to be super bad,

'cuz when you hit that floor,

your reputation was just about
all you had.

(McLaren) I think hip-hop is
being in control of your body,

that's the whole art of it,
understanding that

you're much bigger than you are,
a demo of your prowess.

if you're penniless,
the one thing you can do

on Madison Avenue is spin on your head
and show all the white honkies

moving out of the Chase Manhattan Bank
on their lunch time and say

"Beat that, and if you can't, here's
my cap. Give me a few dollars."

(train moving, faint commotion)

But the story of hip-hop doesn't belong
in New York, LA, or London, that's wrong.

The true story begins in devastation,
bad housing, gang wars, and desperation,

in the Bronx ghetto, or Planet Rock.

Let's take a minute - turn back the clock.
♪ (hip hop music) ♪

To the first hero of the hip hop groove,
the man who made the people move.

♪ (hip hop music) ♪

From Jamaica he came with
a sense of rhythm,

and what he brought to the Bronx
was a sound system.

Music he played made life work,
and made him a legend:

Kool DJ Herc.

♪ (hip hop music) ♪

When Kool Herc have a party,
everybody be there.

Lot of people say I'm fun, big fun.

That was the talk for the whole weekend
or the whole summer,

"Where did you party?"

"I was partying with Kool Herc, man.
Ghetto block party, you know,

tennis court, disco...
a lot of other things, too."

♪ ("Space Cowboy" by Jonzun Crew) ♪

I like to buy my records...
right over here.

But now it's not there no more,
called "Sounds and Things."

There used to be a ballroom up there,
I used to play, matter of fact,

I play up there for the transit authority
dinner, one time, and...

Mario Cuomo was there
before becoming governor.

Basically, right here.

A place called "Galaxy 2000."

They had a big shootout here one time.

Same time I played at Bronx River.

I came back,
I'd seen the canopy knocked down,

the fire escape was let down,
and I knew something was wrong.

The Bronx is on the uplift.

A lot of places are being rehabilitated.

I think there's still more
that could be done - a whole lot.

All those unforgettable promises...

From the South Bronx
when the Carters came over.

Made out of iron, right?

Well, I never left the Bronx,
and I love the Bronx.

I don't wanna leave.

♪ (upbeat funky music) ♪

What Herc did was throw down the sound
of forgotten heroes, like James Brown,

and separate the good stuff from the junk,
with the emphasis on a lot of funk.

And in the middle of a funky sound,

Coke La Rock, his rapper,would go to town.

The music was hot, very loud,
with participation to excite the crowd.

Then Herc would drop a mighty blast
with a golden oldie from music past.

(motor rumbling)

Sedgwick, 1520...

over 10 years ago...

Ooh, look at that medallion,
what happened to that?

It got stolen.
That was my badge, like a sheriff.

Place was packed.

How was it?

It was pretty good.

Everybody showed up,
had a good time.

Everybody put on their best that day.

All of the sudden—
I don't know, all of the sudden...

Something happened, made it so that we
didn't get into the parties no more.

I got injured. I got stabbed.
Fatally stabbed, though.

And that just put a hole
through the whole thing.

I walk right into it, and I just...

I didn't know where the knife came from.

I just literally walk into it.
I was hit four times.

The last of them pierced my hand,
and it went all the way through.

It shouldn't have happened.

And that does draw me a show,
you know?

I just stopped. I stopped playing for—
I didn't accept a gig, I wasn't...

I was not out in the public eyes
too much.

That was the rise of a lot of DJs.

Herc wasn't on the scene,
this is our chance.

And a lot of them dashed in and
capitalized on it.

DJs and the music that they used to come
to hear at my party was all over now.

Kool Herc is not a stepping stone,
he's a horse that can't be rode,

and a bull that can't be stopped,
there ain't a disco I can't rock. Rock on.

It could've been on my obituary -

that this was the guy who started this,
this was what he did.

♪ (Hip-hop music) ♪

Though he may be a fallen hero,
all will forever say

that in the history of hip hop,
he was its number one DJ.

You see, Herc had started something
that not even his enemies wanted to stop.

Kool DJ Herc had launched the birth of
a movement called hip hop.

In the middle of Savage Skulls and on
the top of the hill with the Seven Crowns,

the gangs were in the Bronx
and they were seriously getting down.

It was little Vietnam, where even the
police watched out for raids,

and where the baddest of them all was a
street gang known as the Black Spades.

And from them emerged a boy
who became the adopted father

of the hip hop generation,
a Zulu, Afrika Bambaataa.

I got into street gangs, the Black Spades.

I was in a lot of other groups
before I became a Spade.

I once belonged to Savage No Mans...

and um,

but Spades was one of the groups
that I really loved a lot.

There was a lot of unity in the group.
[clears throat].

It was one of the most hated groups
in the whole city

cause all it was about was um,
trouble and stuff and aesthetic.

But it was one of the most organized
Black youth groups.

As for, if you mess with them,
they would mess with you.

Plus in that year, 1975, um,
one of the brothas that was close to me,

that lived with me for about two years,
by the name Solsky,

got shot by the police on Pelham Bay,

with some other members of the Spades.

And um, he died and this other member died
and one survived.

♪ (hip hop music plays in background) ♪

(Gary Bird resumes)
The violent death of Bam's best friend,

marked for him the end of the line.

And he went back to a vision
that once had occurred

inside of his youthful mind.

A way to fight, yet maintain peace.

An impossible situation,

unless you could create something powerful

like his memory of the Zulu nation.

[People chant over
the sound of hip-hop music on TV]

I say violence is necessary.

Violence is a part of America's culture,

it is as American as Cherry Pie

American calls for Black people
to be violent.

We will use that violence
to get ourselves up.

[voice fades to hip hop music]

(Martin Luther King Jr)
"Will they be able to sit down together

at the table of brotherhood?
I have a dream...

One day..."

(KKK member)
"Basically, uh, my goal

in the clan is to bring about
a unification

of all of the Anglo-saxon, Protestant,
American citizens

into a bond of unity to counter-act
the philosophies of the minority and..."

There are many people feel
that it is useless and futile

for us to continue talking
peace and non-violence

against a government whose reply is only

savage attacks on an unarmed,
defenseless people.

[radio static]
♪ (hip hop music) ♪

We are not human beings
unless we ourselves, band together

and do whatever, however,
whenever, is necessary

to see that our lives and our property
is protected,

and I doubt that any person in here
would refuse to do the same thing,

were he in the same position.

Or I should say,
were he in the same condition.

♪ (hip hop music plays) ♪

Narrator: "It was with the vision
of the Zulu nation,

a trip to Africa, and a death situation,

that produced a man who put on Zulu dress

and began to transform a violent mix."

♪ (hip hop music) ♪

(Narrator)
"Bambaataa was always a music man,

a record collector who was a DJ jammed.

Now he saw a new idea to use
stand and prow in his career,

to put the Bronx in a music trance

and move from violence to Zulu dance..."

♪ (hip-hop music) ♪

(Narrator)
"And so it became hip to hop

in the land known as Planet Rock,

where gangs used to
fight in the street every day,

now they began to compete
in a different way.

As the DJ's music made the house shake,

the dancers would begin to break.

Some electric boogie to move like toys,

others would spin and became b-boys."

♪ (hip hop beat and breakdancing) ♪

There you go. Hey you guys ready?

- Yeah.
- Let's go.

(Narrator)
"The breakers know what they have got

from electro-boogie to street robot.

They dance off the anger
in a street or room...

Who needs a gang when the beat goes boom"

(The Breakers talking and laughing)

♪ (The Wildstyle by Afrika Bambaataa) ♪

It ain't nothin'

It ain't nothin' but the wildstyle

The wildstyle

Hit me!

You can do it, do it, do it, do it,
do it, do it

The wildstyle

The wildstyle

Get down!

So funky

What Bootsy said? To the bridge mother!

B-Side, rock on

B-Side, rock on

Shout

People over here
People over there

Dancin' in the street
And dancin' to our beat

Poppin' in the door
And breakin' on the floor

Checkin' out the feet
that's movin' to a beat

- Do it
- Do what?

The wildstyle

Motivator

Motivator

Motivator

Motivator

Can you funk?

Can you funk?

Break it down! Down!

Break it down! Down!

Life is so hard
Tryin' to get a job

Employee so new,
no cash money green

The systеm is mean

Destroying all dreams

Flying to thе moon
Nobody's in the schools

- Do it
- Do what?

It's the wildstyle
C'mon. The wildstyle

Shout

Shout

Shout

Good God!

Shout

Shout

Shout

It's the wildstyle

The wildstyle

Talk about rap

Talk about funk

Talk about rock

Talk about life

It's the wildstyle

The wildstyle

My heart is beating fast
I'm running out of gas

No not the Zulu style
With your own sense of style

Do it
It's the wildstyle

The wildstyle-style-style-style-style-styl

Do it

Do it

C'mon, everybody!

In life, you got to fight

In life, you're not always right

In life, if the tone is right

In life, stop thinkin' you're Christ!

Do it

B-Side

B-Side

Speak your mind

C'mon, speak your mind

B-Side

To the bridge!

In the land of Oz
People on Mars

Livin' in a timezone

Tryin' not to be alone

(Narrator) "The elements of hip-hop
go beyond the dance

to the streets where artists take a chance

and the Bronx where young men on the go

paint trains and walls like Picasso

Graffiti is what they call their art

and it's here where they get their start

Though you may think these policemen bars,

they battle kids like Brim
and graffiti wars."

Stickers were used as settlements

Those kids were locked up on the graffiti

(Sergeant)
"Art versus transit... fame...

The new king of all offenders...

Uh...the rest of you got your assignments?
Yeah all right.

Hickey and Ski,
I want you to stay half the roll call.

I have a special assignment
for you on a graffiti.

All right, thank you both."

(Hickey)
"You watch it one day, right sarge?"

(Sarge) "We have some information that
they cut the fence on the Jerome yards

That's the new fence and
they cut it right open again."

(Narrator)
"Let's take a look inside the machine

and watch New York's finest
on the graffiti scene."

(sound of a train moving)

What does this look like to you?

Does this look like something
that'd be in a city?

This looks like a jail, a prison
with all this barbed wire around you.

What kind of feeling...

I wonder how the people
that live around here feel

with all this wire and stuff around them.

Looks like something from Germany
the Nazis and all that.

Kryolan, astounding. I feel like
I'm doing a commercial for these things.

Here's the best can of paint on the market
which they'll invariably go out and steal!

They never pay for the paint,
they'll steal it.

The only way I can figure it -

that Mayor Koch and the Head of the MTA...
It's not that they don't like graffiti.

It's that they don't like something
they can't control.

This is vandalism. That's what it is.

They're defacing
somebody else's property.

I wouldn't want them coming to my house
and painting it up, nor my car.

Mayor Koch tried to get us
to make a deal with him -

that he would give us 10 cars to paint

and we would stop with the graffiti.

But it doesn't work like that because _

Even if I accepted the deal, I can't stop
someone else who wants to paint the train

'cos they got to express their feelings
the same way I got to express mine.

I'm not gonna tell someone, "You can't
express your feelings, only I can."

You know that's not the way it works

Like I said there's tens of thousands
of these kids doing graffiti

Only a handful of them are really good
but whether they're good or bad,

they have no business being down here.
It's dangerous, they can get hurt

and it's not their property

(Brim) "As long as there's something to
be said in the ghetto

there'll be graffiti.

If it's in a building or it's in a train,
wherever something has to be said

you know, in New York city
that's the way we express ourselves

It might seem silly to someone else but

in New York city that's the way,
we express ourselves."

(Hip hop music and graffiti)

All this just makes me madder
and makes me wanna go painting more.

When I see this you know it burns me up,
I wanna go out and paint

and I wanna show them that they can't win
because they can't

The war against graffiti been like 10 yrs
and they haven't won nothing.

(Hip hop music)

It took them 10 years
to put this fence on.

It'll just take us another year
to get into them

Just give us some time. We'll return.

(Hip hop music)

Now we are here today in order to induct
into the rapper's Hall of Fame

just a few of the greatest rappers
who ever made rapping their life and fame.

It didn't start with the Sugarhill Gang,
it didn't start with Kurtis Blow

nor with Flash or the Furious Five,
you can take it from me, I know.

We're going back to where it all began

at radio stations all over the land

with Jocko, Hot Rod and Montague -
DJs who rap like DJs do

with names like Hatter and Dr.Jive
in the 50s and 60s keeping rap alive.

Just a step for our tradition
for rap to take on a social mission.

Rap gives kids a whole new way

to express themselves and sometimes pay.

You might've been told you were no good,
with rap, you're king of the neighborhood.

Man can't fake, he's a Geechee...

Hey he's Joe Frazier.

Joe Frazier

Joe Frazier

(Narrator)
"People of the world, the man you see

was the world's greatest rapper
Muhammad Ali

and the days when he was Cassius Clay
was the first national rapper in the USA."

(Muhammad Ali) "He's going around saying
that he's a championship fighter

but when he meets me
he'll fall 20 pounds lighter.

He thinks he's a real heavyweight champ
After I'm finished he'll just be a tram.

I'm not saying this just to be funny

but I'm fighting Ernie because
he needs the money." (laughter)

I decided to let him make a little bread
but to catch his I must whip his head.

I understand he wants to stand toe to toe
and with me trade blow for blow

but if he's hip he'll take a dip
because I plan to bust his lip.

From the northeast to the northwest,
from the southeast to the west coast,

from the northwest to the mid-west
every rapper thinks he can rap the most.

But it all began in Aka-Bo land
many many moons ago

It was among the vibes, the powerful vines
from which our roots do grow

The Yoruba and the Bantu,
the Sotho and the Gotha,

the Akan people of Ghana,
the Rwanda and the Hausa,

they engaged in a form of praise
done by griots or a chosen bard.

Today we call it throwing down, or,
maybe rapping hard.

- Who are you?
- Who am I? Who are you?

- Who am I? Who are you?
- Who am I? Who are you?

Who am I? I'm Caz!

Oh what what do that mean?

That I'm the baddest MC lover
on the Hip Hop Scene

J.D.L big deal, what does that prove?

That I'm the MC that make the people move.

I'm Easy!
Easy who and what is your game?

I'm Easy A D
I bet your girls know my name.

I'm Jay-Z,

That's your business, what you gotta say?

That I can rock you anywhere
anytime anyday.

What chasing to the DJs?
What do they wanna do?

Bring in the funky record
when you give us the cue

Like 10, 9, 8-7-6, 5-4-3-2-1

Have fun!

Who's that now?

(artists talking among themselves)

Oh no girls, no!
All risks!

No!
Heartbreakers, then. Got a nice one there.

I know you has the cold cause
whats the Heartbreakers supposed to mean?

(artists talking and laughing
amongst themselves)

Would you actually tell her
what Heartbreakers mean?

We'll promise you the world
and won't deliver

A broken heart is what we'll give ya

Make you feel like a million
by the things we say

And make you feel like a fool
the very next day

We're heartbreakers ha-ha.
We're heart-heart-heartbreakers.

(phone rings)

Hello, Yeah girl, it's me, the captain,
with some raps for you

So listen up and don't talk
until I'm through

Now you're sweet, you're fine,
and you got class

But I feel things are going way too fast

It's not that I don't enjoy
having you around

But I'm the kind of man
that can't be tied down

Thanks for all the joy
that you brought to me

And I hope you understand
that I gotta be free

We're heart-breakers
And this is how we break your heart

Ask them a simple question,
they're gonna come out the face,

- try talk what it's all about.
- You see the problem?

Caz guy were on the phone,
he was talkin to the girl,

- and he jested like that?
- Martha, he was a saint. Ha ha ha ha.

(something is said in a foreign tongue)

Ah, Sophisticated queen MC

Yes of course, that's me,
mistress of ceremony

The one that's gonna
take it to the top of the key

Introducing myself, MC Lisa Lee

The blast from the past,
superb in every word

Supest female rapper,
yes, the best you heard

Lisa Lee is known to be
the people's choice

I get parties rocking
with my sensuous voice

And when you see the queen
walking up the street

I'm not souped up, conceited,
just incognit'

I make the fellas sweat
'coz I keep their bodies hot

It's a woman's world,
you gotta give what you got.

I'm Sha, party people,
and I'm ready to rock

If you wanna be down,
you gotta gimme what you got.

My fellas in the place,
I won't steer you wrong

You gotta give it up or le-leave it alone

So get ready for this,
get ready for this

Party people in the place,
get ready for this

To you! So what you gonna do?

Do you wanna rock the house
and turn this mutha out?

Fly girls, are you with us?

And if you're ready to rock,
to help me turn it out

Let the world know
what we're talkin about

To all the ladies, yeah

I want you to listen dana-da-dan

Hey, ladies! (yeah!) 1980! dana-da.

Watch out for the fellas, yeah!
That'll drive you crazy dana-da.

Look out

Hey, you better abide

While we rock your ass on the solo side

Grandmaster Caz, you are the Cap

Get on the mic
Show 'em you're the lord of rap

Well I'm the Cap of the Four, MC exec

And I don't come at all
if it ain't correct

Don't have to bite, not necessary

The Grandmaster Caz got a rhyme library

Rhyme from now until the break of day

Don't have a big mouth, just a lot to say

So if you run out of rhymes,
start sounding dumb

Come see me, me, me, G.M.C

I am the Captain of the Four

And I'm guaranteed to sell you some

A-Duracell J.D.L.,
you're the number one flaker

Get on the mic
Show 'em you're the hut maker

You hear my (twice)
You hear my (twice)

You hear my (twice)
You hear my (twice)

You hear my voice on cassettes
and on 8-track

Next step is to have it put on wax

On the radio station to make the jam sell

I came to you again on WJDL

Doing worldwide tours, TV of course

Plus my own line of products
which I endorse

Financial clout, a piece of the rock

And 600 shares, 6,000 shares,
6,000,000 shares of IBM stock

Now Easy A.D., making your girl scream

Get on the mic and show 'em
why you're Supreme

I'm girl-taker A.D.
at the top of the chart

I'm not a thief but known to
steal your heart

Won't be too long before I'm seen

In the cover of Life Magazine

'Cause I see it in your eyes
when I start rappin'

You know I'm the man
that makes things happen

Furthermore, if you want company

Here's my number & a dial
so you can call me

And Almighty Kay Gee,
you're the last, not least

So get on the microphone
and speak your piece

I don't beat around the bush
I don't stall

And when you say Kay Gee, you said it all

If you don't know by now,
you should've been told

When they made the Almighty,
I broke the mold

Rob from the rich, give to the poor

Plus I snatch a few dollars
for the Cold Crush Four

Almighty, I'm down with the best

And if you don't like me,
I wouldn't care less, so

Calling a truce and raise a flag

There ain't an MC crew that we can't rag

Now we got two records,
and been on tour...

Hey, what's up?

What's up?

What you doin professor?

Coming up with a new show

(rappers meeting up, talking and rapping)

I'm always Poppin', sockin', rockin'
puttin' a side of hip-hop

while the other MCs stare...

Cause where I'm goin'
there ain't no stoppin'

- It's what you do.
- What can you do?

(rappers laughing and dancing)

Man, by the way, what's her name?

Hey her name is Pow-wow
with all the know how

who could rock it right here
and sock it now,

because I'm the one shook up but
all the party people will work their while

Well introduce to me the G.L.O.B.E

I got the funking harmony as you can see

My rhymes are so sweet
for little boy Keith

So get little Keith to show up with me

Just dance little Keith,
dance little Keith, dance...

Man that was back in the old days though,
beat-boy and all that stuff

Know what it's all about now?

There's talkin about puttin' aside hip-hop

Cause where we're going,
there ain't no stoppin

Now the style that we use
can hardly be measured

We're doin' it for the people
surely is a pleasure

We can rock away the sound of the
stormy weather.

We're 3 for all,
that means we are together

We're just too clever & never in our lives

Will we hear a rhyme good enough
for us to bite

So listen as we recite

It's Mr. Biggs, MC.Pow Wow, and Globe

We're just rockin' it up

Yeah, what else is so worthy

till you can't believe who are musical

and all the mikes we are so magical

We're playin' tricks on your mind
steppin' it back & forth

We're tellin' you to run
when you should walk

You know the style
that we use is incredible

For some people it is considered a miracle

It's a rap, a clap on its way to the top
and that's the peak of the chart

We'll beat the MCs but we're 3 and can
perceive high potential with the MC style

I will know when you're trying
hard to compete

You're making the same mistake
jumping off the pace that we create

So get on it Soulsonic coz we're the boss
and we've got the force, the backup,

the melody, the harmony and we're 3 MCs
and most definitely this is an MC tree

So people get out there gather round

Check out what we three MCs have found

It's a thing in the future
yet here in the present

not sour but sweet, nice, cozy & pleasant

Now lets all party. It's a chance to dance
with the rhythm of the African man

Ain't like that

(hip hop music)

(Narrator)
"He was looking for a perfect beat

It had to match what he felt in the street

Arthur Baker and Bam produced the sound
that zulus the Nation's feet"

(Hip-hop music)

1-2-3

Since the Pre-historic ages
and the days of ancient Greece

On down through the Middle Ages

Planet Earth kept going through changes

And then the Renaissance came
Times continued to change

Nothing stayed the same,
but there were always renegades

Like Chief Sitting Bull, Tom Paine

Dr. Martin Luther King, had no bull

Marco Polo,

Man that's so horrible

Malcolm X
They were renegades

Yes the renegades of their time and age

So many renegades
Let's clap

(clapping)

The hand clap

The renegades

Excellent! You know should've
punched in the world like

So you all go "LIKE" real strong

Like

In the electronic chants

Like - 1 2 3

Like - Yeah

Like!
(music and beats)

Like!
(music and beats)

Like!
(music and beats)

(song playing in the background)

They change the course of history

Everyday people like you and me, you know!

That's really right.
What the hell is going on here?

Come on tell me something

(song playing in the background)

They changed the course of history

- What is wrong?
- We're coming in time man...

I can't hear you

But come on Mr. Engineer
Get it right, get it right!

Come on Mr. Engineer
Get it right get it right!

Cause if you don't, if you don't
if you don't and if you don't

(song playing in the background)

They changed the course of history

Everyday people like you and me

And the days of ancient Greece

All down through the Middle Ages

Planet Earth kept going through changes

And then the Renaissance came

Times continued to change

Nothing stayed the same

There were always renegades

It's like this hey, Oh no hey

(song fades out)

Years ago it was up on the roof where
dew whoppers sang and drank 100 proof

Today Bam and Biggs
are a part of the force

that rules and overlooks
the Bronx Concourse

Near here in the Bronx, the Savage Skulls,

further down by Stephens Avenue
the Ghetto Brothers,

Black pearls - those boys man...
but that was alright.

They're still there man,
probably still doing the same old man...

Probably crazy stuff...

And our whole kingdom
Black Spade area savage space...

- Nobody come missing space area
- That was a good thing about it

We used to always go to jail
and nobody ever come over here

especially in Bronx river,
the home of gods...

Everybody messing with little vietnam

with all the Black Spades
and Reapers was fun, empowered.

Then Immortals...

Look how different
Monroe looked though man

That school used to be all grassy

- Now it's all dust bowl
- Yeah it looks wild now, critical...

As you get older
you get to see the beauty from up here

You can see that your town Bronx
is definitely number one

Number one...

Everybody talk about
Bronx is black and dirty and stinks...

Looking from here the Bronx is definitely
almost beautiful...

Lot of Zulu Nation men in Monroe now...

Yeah lot of Zulu Nation in Monroe
in Stephens Ave.

And then all these
housing development projects...

Soon the Zulu Nation will take over
the Bronx

(cheering)

(singing, rapping and dancing)

Could everybody sing Zulu Nation?

Everybody sing Zulu Nation again!

(Narrator) "Well that wraps it up for this
evening's edition of our musical mission.

I'm Gary Bird inside the GBE.

Remember me next time
you're looking for the perfect beat

Until tomorrow night remember
you can make it if you try

but keep your head to the sky."

♪ No matter how hard you try
you can't stop us now ♪

(music)

♪ No matter how hard you try
you can't stop us now ♪

♪ (Renegades of Funk playing) ♪

♪ Renegades of this atomic age ♪

♪ This atomic age for renegades ♪

♪ Renegades of this atomic age ♪

♪ This atomic age for renegades ♪

♪ Pre-historic ages
and the days of ancient Greece ♪

All down through the Middle Ages

Planet Earth kept going through changes

Then the Renaissance came
Times continued to change

Nothing stayed the same,
but there were always renegades

Like Chief Sitting Bull, Tom Paine

Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X

They were renegades

Yes the renegades
Of their time and age

So many renegades

Hand clap, hand clap, the renegades

From a different solar system,
many many galaxies away

We are the force of another creation

A new musical revelation

And we're on this musical mission
to help the others listen

And groove from land to land
singin' electronic chants like

Like astrology

Like technology

Like God's Creation

Like the Zulu station

Like to the nation

Like destroy all nations

Like militants

Like down in sand

Like through changes,
nothing stays the same

Oh renegades

(music)

Are you up for more?

(music)

Now renegades are people
with their own philosophy

They change the course of history

Everyday people like you and me

You know they have their secret notions

And time is endless motion

All people of the moderate ages
here in this twentieth century

You have to keep up in time
with the moderate time

A state of mind and a sense of pride

A renegade, yes a renegade

Of this time and age
So many renegades

Who's that

Now hand clap

The renegades

(music)

We're the renegades of funk

We're the renegades of funk

We're the renegades of funk

We're the renegades of funk

Poppin', sockin', rockin'
with a side of hip-hop

Coz where we're goin'
there ain't no stoppin'

Poppin', sockin', rockin'
with a side of hip-hop

Coz where we're goin'
there ain't no stoppin'

Poppin', sockin', rockin'
with a side of hip-hop

Coz where we're goin'
there ain't no stoppin'

Poppin', sockin', rockin'
with a side of hip-hop

Coz where we're goin'
there ain't no stoppin'

There was a time when our music

Was something called the Bay Street beat

People would gather from all around

To get down on the Bay sound

You had to be a renegade those days

To take a man on the dance floor

Like Afrika Bambattaa
and the Soulsonic Force

We're talking about Mr.B
Pow Wow, G-L-O-B-E

Was a renegade,
yes, a renegade of the atomic age

So many renegades What's that

It's a hand clap

The renegade

(music and dancing)

- Just jam sucker
- Jam sucker

- Say jam sucker
- Jam sucker

- Say groove, sucker
- Groove, sucker

- Say groove, sucker
- Groove, sucker

- Say dance, sucker
- Dance, sucker

- Say dance, sucker
- Dance, sucker

- Now move, sucker
- Move, sucker

- Now move, sucker
- Move, sucker

(music)

Everybody say

We're the renegades of funk

We're the renegades of funk

We're the renegades of funk

We're the renegades of funk

We're the renegades of funk

We're the renegades of funk

We're the renegades of funk

We're the renegades of funk

(music)

Shake that thing

That makes me swing

I got some great

He's a renegade of funk

Mr. Biggs
He's a renegade of funk

Bambaataa
He's a renegade of funk

Pow Wow
He's a renegade of funk

And MC Globe