About That Time

Schoolly D – “Gangster Boogie“
from Gangster Boogie 12″ (Schoolly D, 1984)
Hip Hop DX put up my Q&A with Philadelphian gangster rap originator Schoolly D today. Schoolly is the first interview subject to ever laugh in my face (or in the phone that was in my face) after my first question. Though he assured me afterward that the interview got better as it progressed. You be the judge.


November 19th, 2009 at 6:31 am
he acts like u just asked what his fav color was lol
November 19th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Cool shit; but why no questions about Tairre B? haha
November 19th, 2009 at 9:32 am
the part about blackness being sold out and then sold back to the black community was some interesting stuff
November 19th, 2009 at 11:02 am
hey…can someone direct me to a tracklist for huntsville international, as posted on this site? nothing i’ve found seems to match up with what i’m actually listening to.
November 19th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
That read like an Entertainment Weekly feature. One of the reasons I like Robbie’s interviews over at Unkut is because you can tell he’s a real rap head by the questions he asks. I’m not doubting that you are a real rap head, but questions about corporate hip hop and jumping from minors to majors are played.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
I thought the interview was cool, but then i’m a big Schoolly/Ferrara fan who’d read anything just to see the subject pay lip service to Spoonie Gee and Isaac Hayes
This and Killers by Ice-T are the real seeds of gangsta-rap.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Baz – I don’t conduct interviews to show off my own knowledge, but to gain knowledge from my subjects. I try to let them dictate the direction of the conversation as much as possible and Schoolly made it pretty clear from the jump that he was more interested in presenting his ideas than retelling his story. He brought up the topic of corporate vs independent hip hop and I think he offered a unique perspective on it.
Besides DX probably isn’t the most appropriate venue for DO YOU STILL TALK TO ROBBIE B type questions. If it was an interview for this site I would have handled it differently. There is a great Unkut-style nerd minutiae interview with Schoolly in Brian Coleman’s Rakim Told Me book.
November 19th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
the part about blackness being sold out and then sold back to the black community was some interesting stuff
^^^^
Agreed. And when he talked about Fergie grabbing her nuts that was golden. Classic Schoolly D incisive humor.
November 20th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Great interview–I thought he ran with the questions pretty well. Schoolly runs shit. His tour off of Smoke Some Kill with the live band was unbelievable, but just shows with Code Money were classic too.
Whatever happened to Code Money? Seriously, anybody know? He’s not on the later Schoolly records and that cat could cut.
November 22nd, 2009 at 12:10 am
more schooly d…less lil b
great interveiw
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:52 am
> more schooly d…less lil b
I still maintain that “Go To Dumb” (from “I´m Thraxx”) is the closest thing I´ve heard to vintage Schooly D, in spirit AND in sound, all year.
November 24th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
i can listen to this track all day!!!