Author Archives: DJ Kraze One

DJ Roughcut Interview

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Break to the beat recently caught up with DJ Roughcut for a brief catch up and to get an incite in to his foundations in local Hip Hop Culture. DJ Roughcut’s involvement with the local music scene dates back to the mid 1980s and by the 1990s he was DJing and producing for several local Hip Hop crews including W.I.Z.E, Death Before Dishonour and Klass Dismissed. During the early 1990s DJ Roughcut produced and released several recordings on Milton Keynes based record label 2’E’Z Records.

Wize Crew

DJ Roughcut.

What inspired you to get in to scratch DJ’ing and how did this lead to you entering the DMC mixing championship?

I was sitting watching the movie Breakdance and I remembering turning to my dad and saying I want to be one of them, my dad said “What a breakdancer?” and I said no “the guys behind with the turntables playing the music for them to breakdance to!” My parents bought me a pair of ‘disco double decks’ which I learnt to practice on. A competition appeared on a kids Saturday morning TV programme called Motormouth looking for young DJ’s to send in a demo for a DJ competition. I was in class at school one day and someone came to the class and said Keith Hurley needs to go to reception. I had no idea what it was going to be about, I got there and they said someone from ITV had called and I was a finalist in a competition and I needed to phone them to arrange appearing on TV!!!!I rushed to the local phone box after school and phoned them. I travelled by train to The Empire in Leicester Square where they were filming the competition. I walked in and immediately I was introduced to The Cookie Crew, Derek B, Simon Harris and Tony Prince the founder and owner of DMC, the World DJ Championship organisation; I was told they were going to be the judges for the competition!!! Continue reading →

Overlord X Discography & Review

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The Late 1980’s was a very interesting time for Hip Hop music both in the US and in the UK. I remember as a kid getting in to the Hip Hop culture by watching the film Break dance and hearing music by artists The Fat Boys, Beastie Boys and Run-DMC. During this period I would have been about 8 or 9 years old. It wasn’t however until around 1988 when I first heard the music that artists like Ice T, Big Daddy Kane, Public Enemy and De La Soul were making when I really started becoming intrigued by the Hip Hop culture. Along with the US rap superstars there were a handful of UK Hip Hop artists that at the time had the same impact on me as a fan of the music. One of these UK Hip Hop pioneers was Overlord X.

What I respect most about Overlord X is his consistency in making quality Hip Hop tracks, plus on every 12″ single he released there was at least one different track that did not appear on any of his albums. In 2012 this may not seem like a big issue but back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, music (especially Hip Hop) was not as accessible as it is now. Even in 1990 Hip Hop records were filed under Dance music, Jazz music or even the World music section of a record shop.

My point is that on every Overlord X 12″ single there was a unique track making the singles as much of a worthwhile purchase as the albums. Overlord X along with his DJ Sir-Preme-Tee were one of the few early Hip Hop crews from the UK to make Hip Hop their own in terms of not rapping in an American accent.

Overlord X‘s vocal style and music are somewhat unique to him and DJ Sir-Preme-Tee’s super funky scratches and cuts complimented Overlord X’s musical vibe perfectly. Overlord X also had a crew of rappers, DJs & Performers doing vocal and DJ features throughout his projects called the X Possee, all residents of the East London borough of Hackney. Overlord X, & The X Possee are UK Hip Hop pioneers and along with a handful of other artists kicked off the first wave of British Hip Hop especially in terms of releasing vinyl records. These records went on to inspire others to get in to the Hip Hop culture in the UK, Europe and beyond. This article was put together with the aim of honouring the contributions to UK Hip Hop culture by Overlord X, Sir-Preme-Tee, & The X Possee.

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Demon Boyz Rare Footage

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The below video is of an unreleased Demon Boyz track entitled “No hocus pocus” and was recorded sometime between the releases of the two Demon Boyz albums Recognition, and Original Guidance during the period when they were still recording with DJ Devastate and the Twilight Firm. No hocus pocus appears to be a pre recorded version of Hocus pocus that appears on the Demon Boyz second LP Original Guidance released in 1992 when DJ Devastate had left the group and they were working with the Rebel MC, DJ Pogo and Cutmaster Swift.

This video was made by two film students in the summer of 1990 who were fans of the Demon Boyz. There was no record company involvement or budget for the video and it was filmed in and around Tottenham and Camden Town in London England. If like me you were a fan of the Recognition LP then this video is definitely worth checking out as is follows the same formula. DJ Devastate‘s scratching is as on point as ever, as are Mike J and Demon D‘s lyrics and delivery.

Demon Boyz “No hocus pocus” (Unreleased)

Any readers that are not familiar with the Demon Boyz, Their career started when they were in there early teens and won a rapping competition by rapping down the phone live on DJ Dave Pearce‘s BBC London Radio show called Hip Hop Connection. Demon Boyz (Mike J and Demon D) went on to support Derek B, Faze One, and T-La Rock at Camden Palace and shortly after recorded their debut track This is a jam for the Music Of Life compilation Hard as hell vol 1 which was released in 1987. Also on the same compilation were early recordings by British rappers by MC Duke and Overlord X. To my knowledge all the tracks on the LP were produced by Simon Harris. This is a jam also features scratches & cuts by Derek B  and was recorded before DJ Devastate became the Demon Boyz DJ. Continue reading →