REWINDING WITH DJ LORD RON

PHOTO CREDIT:  DJLORDRON.BIZ
 
Strictly Cassette catches up with DJ Lord Ron to chop it up with him about his tape collection and some of the spots he used to cop joints from.  You'll be impressed to see all the original dubbed recordings from the Golden Era.





(SC) What was your first tape?
Back in the day (Los Angeles), the mid 1970's I was always recording cassette joints off the radio on an A.M. dial which was K.G.F.J. and then it became 1580 K-Day which was more hip hop/r & b driven as opposed to K.G.F.J. whose format was straight up soul, r & b and disco music. Cassettes came on the scene hard around in the early 70's because the 8-Track tape was the thing besides vinyl and reel to reel tape decks.


PHOTO CREDIT:  DJ LORD RON
 My 1st tape re hip hop. I went out and bought RUN-DMC's "King Of Rock" tape at Village records. Village records was located at University Village, a shopping center with a movie theatre and food joints etc., which is owned by USC here in Los Angeles.


PHOTO CREDIT:  DJ LORD RON

(SC) Do you still have your old tape collection?
I wish I did have my whole tape collection but sometimes in life, we take things for granted instead of preserving. I still have a nice collection though & if I come across certain tapes now. I will snatch it up and add to my collection.


PHOTO CREDIT:  DJ LORD RON

(SC) Best music store to purchase tapes (old & new)
My brother Erik and I had been runnin' the streets hittin corners all day hustlin' these ladies Nike sweatsuits that were made of Velour material. We stopped by his crib on 106th and San Pedro, the east side. He's checkin his biz and I turn the TV on and  start flippin' through channels. I come across Chris Thomas, the mayor of Rap City & I've always liked Rap City better than YO MTV Raps cause BET's Rap City showed more of the raw underground artists who were not gettin' day light on YO MTV Raps.

Anyway, this video comes on and it has this dope DJ scratchin' with precision and the track has a jazzy element but dope ass bass line with drums hittin' with horns comin in and out of the track. By then, my brother Erik comes downstairs and we are locked into the groove and video visuals.

Then the rapper's voice is monotone & he's wearing black leather with a kufi on his head & I'm seeing the young F.O.I. from the Nation Of Islam in step like an army yo. This rapper was sayin something that I could relate to cause my brother Erik & I were becoming more aware of our Black heritage and hip hop was doing that at that time. Me and Erik were hittin' up Temple # 27 on Western and 45th St buyin books, products and eating plenty of fish from their store joint which was across the street from the Temple.

That was Gang Starr's "Positivity" video. I told my brother Erik, let's hit up the Slauson Swap Meet cause I wanna find that tape and buy it. The swap meet vendor who was selling records and tapes had one left and I bought that tape.

Popped it opened and that was Erik's & I soundtrack for the rest of that year yo cause me and my brother was hustlin these women's clothes and other things.

We would ride to that Gang Starr album "No More Mister Nice Guy" all day without gettin tired of it. I still have that tape to this day. Peace and rest to Guru.



PHOTO CREDIT:  DJ LORD RON

(SC) What do you think lies in the future for tape collecting?
Big up to all who have the mind state of preserving history re the cassette tape. I don't see a big surge happening in the now or the future. Technology comes and goes with newer gadgets. I truly think it will be just a small group of people who have a passion for collecting. It will be a small but powerful market cause of the internet & that's good enough. Nothin wrong with a small boutique shop. That means it's real straight up and down. Organic.


PHOTO CREDIT: DJ LORD RON

8 comments:

  1. Some great memories here - great shots as well that made me think of my stacks of Hip-Hop radio show tapes that I have stored in a secret location lol...

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  2. @Ryan Procter - Thanks for checking us out. I'm sure that you have a nice collection! And a secret location is absolutely appropriate! So many people have stories of losing their old collection. Those are the lost relics of hip hop.

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  3. Anonymous27.12.11

    All respects to DJ Lord Ron & Strictly Cassette. Amazing pictures and interview just as well the entire site of others. Give thanx!

    Da Hip Hop Historian

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  4. LORD RON IS TRULY AN ICONIC INSPIRATION TO ME, SIMPLY BECAUSE HE KNOWS THE TRUE MEANING OF "PRESERVING THE CULTURE" AND EMBRACES IT LIKE NO OTHER!! BIG UP'S TO MY BIG HOMIE!

    *NC*

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  5. jjohnson28.12.11

    Great article. It's interesting to note that Ron mentions one album becoming the soundtrack "for the rest of that year." Sadly, I'm not sure this happens anymore, does it? … especially with so many artists flooding the scene. It's rare that an album makes it past a few days (or even a week) before the average listener moves onto the next artist or project.

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  6. @jjohnson - I agree with you. I guess that comes with the digital territory where we've got so much access to music that we hardly allow ourselves to fully grow on a single album. People hardly buy whole albums as it is. If people do buy music, it usually gets picked apart by Itunes and then the album becomes nothing more than a playlist. Sometimes when you download stuff, songs are missing or numbered incorrectly and of course you don't have the artwork to verify the correct sequence. In response to that, artist hardly create quality albums. Instead they focus on quantity to keep the consumer happy. Good example; LMNO dropped 10 albums in 2010.

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  7. jjohnson28.12.11

    I hear ya!! Man it seems like people take for granted the idea of an album… both artists and fans alike. Technology as well as society's growing impatience has really messed all that up. It's like, if I were the musician, why bother with making a skit or with carefully crafting the track sequencing if I knew that that the listener wouldn't even appreciate it. But that's beside the point… I really do miss the days when an album would drop and most ALL your homies would be vibing to it. Nowadays with so much selection, it feels like I have to shove a new album down their throat just so they can listen to it once. And I'm no exception to that either. My friends are always hepping me to great music even though I try my best to stay on top of new stuff. Arggh. Can it be that it was all so simple then??

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  8. Anonymous28.2.13

    Proud of Bruh, a fine example of how dedication to preservation can be motivation for inspiration.

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