Rappers Detail History Of New York's Early Hip Hop Clubs

by Paul Meara

Numerous rappers and producers recall the good, the bad and the ugly moments of the Hip Hop club scene in New York during the 1980s.

During the 1980s the New York club scene was essential if one were to make it in Hip Hop in any capacity. Since there was no social media or usable personal technology to network, meeting people was key and The Big Apple was where all the stars were aligned.
Recently, Unkut did a piece recalling the glory days of the 1980s club scene and asked the people among it about it.
"The Fever was one of the first Hip Hop clubs of any note," MC Chill said about one of his favorite hideaways. "Any day at The Fever you just met a who’s who – I met Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc, Red Alert, just hangin’ out." Many said The Latin Quarter was their go to spot and it wasn't always fun and games especially if you were an outsider.
"It was the hardest place to perform at," Positive K recalled. "On top of the violence, you had the best time, but you had to do so many things at the Latin Quarter. You had people to avoid so many people! Me myself, I knew everybody in there and I wore jeweler, everything was cool. But they put on “Go Stetsa” and girls were getting their earrings snatched, guys were getting their chains snatched off their neck, getting beat-down and thrown out the club! It was one of those things. If you didn’t belong, you had to be on the air of caution."
"There was a time I used to go to parties, in order for you to even have on a chain you had to be a made dude," Sadat X said. "‘Cos someone would take it from you! I came up in an era where if you went to a party you’d get your chain taken if you wasn’t strong enough to keep it. First of all, for you to even go to those places, you knew that you were taking a risk. That’s when Hip Hop wasn’t really safe. It was so exciting that you would risk going to Latin Quarters and Union Square – where you knew there would be four or five fights in there – but you wanted to be there so bad that you went to these spots."
Unkut talked to MC Chill, Sadat X, Positive K, Chucky Smash, Freshco, Eric B, TR Love of Ultramagnetic MC’s and Brother J of X-Clan, among others. Read the full piece here.