Category Archives: MK HIP HOP CULTURE PART 1 (1980 – 1990)

This section aims to document participants and projects related to the Hip Hop Culture that evolved in and around the Milton Keynes during the time period between 1980 – 1990.

Shoes

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This article is dedicated to pioneering graffiti artist Shoes who created several murals in the town of Buckingham located on the outskirts of Milton Keynes during the mid to late 1980s. Break to the beat have been unable to clarify if Shoes was a local resident living in the town or a student studying at Buckingham University.

“S” by Shoes – Nelson Street, Buckingham,1988.

The photos displayed in the below slideshow were taken during the early 1990s by Kraze One and the oldest piece dates back to 1987. The various pieces of artwork created by Shoes remained visible until the mid 1990s when eventually the buildings were either demolished or repainted. Continue reading →

Mixmaster MSC Interview

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Planned as a new City in the 1960s and developed through the 1970s Milton Keynes was designed to be a “City in the forest” between London and Birmingham. Residents of London began migrating to Milton Keynes in the late 1960s and continued through the 1970s and 1980s. By the mid 1980s the first wave of Hip Hop crews were taking to the streets and by the end of the decade Milton Keynes like many other Towns and Cities had its own fledgling Hip Hop scene that would develop and lead to a handful of local artists and crews taking their talent on to the streets and in to the clubs. Break to the beat recently had the opportunity of catching up with and interviewing one of Milton Keynes pioneering Hip Hop DJs Mixmaster MSC.

Mixmaster MSC – Milton Keynes, 2012.

Mixmaster MSC was one of the first Hip Hop scratch DJ’s to emerge from Milton Keynes. He was also a member of break-dance crew Asiatic Soul, and pioneering Hip Hop crew Double Deff Chillers. In the below interview Mixmaster MSC elaborates on the origins of Hip Hop culture in Milton Keynes and his involvement with the local scene. Continue reading →

MC Iceski Interview (The Criminal Minds)

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MC Iceski is one of the first generation of pioneering rappers from both Milton Keynes and the UK. MC Iceski founded the musical section of Hip Hop collective The Criminal Minds with DJ Halo and Spatts during the late 1980s and together released several critically acclaimed Hip Hop, Rave and Drum & Bass recordings. At the time this interview was conducted The Criminal Minds have recently returned to their Hip Hop roots with a brand new recording entitled “Regroup the loops” which contains contributions from all original members.

MC Iceski – Hamburg, Germany, 2010.

Greetings and thanks for sharing your story. For any readers that are maybe unaware, could you give us a breakdown of how The Criminal Minds formed? 

Well, this is well documented, but the short version was that I met HALO at Bletchley college where SAFE-D was also studying. We hooked up, started writing together & TCM was born as a rap crew, previously being a Graffiti outfit in Buckingham. I used to hang with Spatts from the break-dancing days & we all got together. The rest is history.  My brother Warren (Grafik) was always there & it was great to have him as part of the crew from the early days.

The Criminal Minds (DJ Halo, Spatts, Safe-D, MC Iceski, Grafik).

What inspired you to start rapping/writing lyrics and how old were you when you discovered Hip Hop?

I got into Hip hop in the mid 80’s, it started with break-dance’, and I remember the whole New York scene and culture at the time just blew me away.  Graffiti, Break-dance’, Hip Hop music, the clothing, DJ’s scratching, Mc’s, man I was totally hooked.  At first it was Continue reading →