When the Bay is referred to in Hip-Hop, usually the discussions will involve the area’s ability to create slang or produce creative MCs that have a flare for experimentation. However, the Bay area DJs make up some of the most creative and innovative artists in the culture. One of the crews most responsible for reshaping the West Coast DJ culture is the San Francisco artist collective known as Future Primitive Sound. Some of the DJs that this crew is responsible for producing include Z-Trip, Cut Chemist, Shortkut, Radar, Doze Green, and Ras Cue. Like the rest of his Primitive Sound brethren, Ras Cue possesses an incredible knowledge and respect for music.
As one of the Bay area’s most prolific DJs, Ras Cue has had his hand in some of the most creatively planned projects. Most recently, Ras Cue put this skill to good use when he continued the fine tradition of the Future Primitive Sound Mix Tape Series with his “Reggaeton 101: Vol 1” and “Only Built For Classic Links Vol. 1.” JIVE Magazine linked up with DJ Ras Cue to find out more about the work that went into these brilliant projects, thoughts about current trends in DJing, and the ever controversial subject of sampling.
JIVE MAGAZINE: How did you get your start in DJing?
Ras Cue: I had two older brothers, a older sister, plus my parents, and they all had records. I was always fascinated by records. My older brother was a DJ in the 70’s, but it was more of a hobby for him. When I was a kid, my brother taught me how to work a turntable, so I just became fascinated with that. I used to dance a lot, so I associated dance with records. In 83, an older brother of one of my friends had turntables and, it was a go from there.
JIVE MAGAZINE: What was it about the records that caught your attention?
Ras Cue: Definitely the covers of the groups that were out. My first exposure was the records my family had. My parents had records like Al Green and some of my brother’s records included the Jackson Five, Parliament, Kiss, and Bob Marley. All those record covers had great designs and were different.
JIVE MAGAZINE: Outside of your immediate family, who were some of your earliest DJ influences?
Ras Cue: Grandmaster Flash was one of the first DJs I ever saw. Then that was it for a long time until the West Coast scene jumped off, and it was the LA DJs like Aladdin, Egyptian Lover, Uncle Jams Army, Rodney O, and then the Philadelphia DJ’s Cash Money and Jazzy Jeff. Out of those, Aladdin and Uncle Jams Army were the most influential.
JIVE MAGAZINE: The term “mixtape” is often attached to projects put out by DJs. However, you can pick up a mixtape today, and it will be nothing but remixes and there will be no mixing involved. What do you think about that?
Ras Cue: I think people need to clarify when they make mixtapes like that. I have another set of mixes that I have made over the year and, I call them a remix mix CD, so these others are selling people short. Once again the invention of technology has almost striped all of these real DJs of their props because now you have these people doing these “mash-ups”. I hate that term. They are just computer generated. What happened to when you had to do the whole three minutes live and showing the art of keeping the a cappella on time with the beat. One of the remixes I do is all remixes live, no pro tools.
JIVE MAGZINE: Jumping into one of your more recent releases, Only Built For Classic Links Volume 1, what kind of system did you use to create that mix?
Ras Cue: I did it live. Aside from a lot of these DJs that are using Pro Tools, I always want to do my mixes live just for the virtue of it because you can tell when your listening to a Pro Tools mix, and I still want to keep mine raw. It might not be as exciting as these other DJs that have 30 million songs, but I am just old school like that. So basically two turntables, 1200 to the mixer, and I ran it through Reason because of my engineer. We didn’t really do any edits or adjustments. We just added some voiceovers, mastered it, and boom.
JIVE MAGAZINE: What really caught my attention was the way you would play an original verse from one song and then jump into another song that sampled it. How did you come up with the concept of doing a whole album around these classic links?
Ras Cue: It started from one or two mixes that I would do like that in my DJ sets. My crew would have one or two of those that we would use in our live mixes, but we never thought of doing a whole mix out of it. We thought about doing it around the time when everyone was in the craze of finding the original sample and putting it with the original song. Nobody really thought about trying to do a whole mix like that, so I did a couple, and J Rocc did a couple. It really is a Hip-Hop 101 because it takes people back before the time when everyone was saying their hooks. It was when people would scratch their hooks or line. I have enough right now to do the next two Classic Links, and then when I get to Classic Links 4 and 5, I will start doing the originals with the other songs that used the same track, but I am still going to put a different spin on it. It is all about putting a different spin even when people have done similar things. I try to find a way to make mine a little different. However, the next two will be similar to Classic 1 where it will be the cuts and the vocal hooks connecting to other Hip-Hop songs.
JIVE MAGAZINE: Is number 2 going to take off where number 1 ended?
Ras Cue: Actually, Volume 2 is a little bit calmer and smoother. Some of the artists are Socrates and Just Ice, but Volume 3 will take off from Volume two. I got to get them out before the bitters take a chump.
JIVE MAGAZINE: Who are some of the artists on Volume 4 and 5?
Ras Cue: I’ll use the Aretha with the Mos Def, and the David Porter with Ghostface and Biggie. I am still going to flip it because it gives me time to go after cuts that I know people haven’t touched yet, and also I have access to the underground. No one has really taken a sample from an Aceyalone and matched it with a sample that hardly anybody knows. Like using regional stuff that people might not know. For example, I took Smut Peddlers and matched them with Mr. Supreme of Concept records in Seattle.
JIVE MAGAZINE: There is a Jay-Z song on Volume 1 that contains a vocal scratch from the Beastie Boys. I am not familiar with that song but is that sample part of the song or did you scratch that in?
Ras Cue: Nah, its funny, it is linked up so much that some of friends told me that it sounds like I am still scratching the cut once it goes into the song, but it is actually going into another scratch. I was scratching “Hold it Now” by the Beasties, and it goes into “Murder Murder” a Jay-Z song that was supposed to be on the Blue Print 2, but that album got leaked. Jay-Z decided not to put out any of the songs that got leaked, but that was a boot that got put out as Memphis Bleak with PF doing the cuts, so I linked that part in “Hold it Now” right into PF cutting that Jay-Z song. The main thing that I am pushing and am proud of is the artistry of the mix and to make the blend so seamless that you can’t tell the switch. The song switches, but you can’t tell what kind of switch is going on. It is about taking pride in the mix, which a lot of DJs don’t do anymore because everyone is scratch happy. If you hear a mix without a lot of scratching, people may think that it isn’t cool, but people are using Pro Tools for a lot of those mixes with scratching, so of course people can scratch hella crazy.
JIVE MAGAZINE: In regards to sampling, do you find it difficult to clear a lot of samples these days?
Ras Cue: Well its crazy how the industry changed. Once Bizz got popped for his Turtle sample, from 88 to 95 it was really hard. Once people started to see that they could make money and that people would be fair, it got easier. Now it is almost easier then when it started because not too many people are using samples, and those that are really dig them out, so they are just tones, and the listener can’t even pick out what it is. Not many people are doing loops, but the loop is coming back because everything works in trends. Once MPCs came out, everyone got chop happy, and it was taking away some of the feeling. Loops give a song feeling and soul. So right now it depends on the sample being used if it will be hard or easy to clear it.
JIVE MAGAZINE: Do you feel that it is easier to clear underground artists vs. “Commercial” artists?
Ras Cue: It is harder with the more commercial because they are really looking at the big dollar picture. When you look at the industry right now, there are like five artists that are really making money: Nelly, Eminem, Jay-Z, 50, and JD. With sampling you have to go through the artist and whoever owns the publishing. Sometimes the artist is real cool, but whoever owns the publishing is ana*sh*le. They are the one looking for the dough while the artist is just happy that their stuff is getting out their again.
JIVE MAGAZINE: Now you also dropped Reggaeton 101 volume 1. Why do you think that this movement is so incredibly popular right now?
Ras Cue:I think that people are always looking for something new. Sort of like how thegrime scene of the UK is starting to come over a bit. It always starts in a community like Hip-Hop started in Brooklyn, so it is almost like Reggaeton couldn’t get big until it hit the United States. Ironically enough, it hit New York first. It combines two hot things right now: Latin music and dance hall. It’s island music, and It’s sexy. I don’t care if she is the ugliest or fattest chick, if a girl likes the music, then you got a party. For my mix I did a lot of research. I was a Hip-Hop buyer from Amoeba for 8 years, so I saw everyone’s mix, and it almost gave me a sense that I could jump on a trend before it got started. It’s almost like having that 6th sense. I saw most of the mixes coming out would just have the out new joints, so I wanted too include the best from the old and the new. I wanted my mix to be timeless. The follow up to this project will come out sometime next year. The next projects I am dropping will be the Classic Links 2, then the Too Short story, the Native Tongue story, and then Reggaeton Volume 2. The Native Tongue album will provide a complete story, and will include rare concert performances. The Too Short Story will include some new material, but it will really focus old cuts, even some of the stuff off of Too Short cassettes that he would sell out his trunk on the streets of East Oakland.
