![]() ![]() It was like walking into a casino and I decided to bet everything on hip-hop, and I hit! My hit wasn’t just a hit for me, it was a hit for everyone in this culture. When I graduated, I was going to go to school for law, but had such an affinity for hip-hop. : When people call you a legend, what does that mean for you? FRESH: It means I’ve done this for quite a while. Some things are just supposed to happen and you have to roll with it. When I first started to beatbox on the microphone with the Get Fresh Crew, people were shocked. I never did it with the purpose of doing something different, I did it because it was just what I was doing, and it happened to work in my favor. : How old were you when you knew this was something very unique? FRESH: Probably 12 or 13. It’s not like whatever happens happens, this is a focused sound. Sending sound through a certain part of my throat, so that I am accurate every time. : Verbally breakdown how you do what you do when you beatbox? FRESH: It’s like having a conversation, doing beatbox for me is as natural as talking is for someone else. Since he’s all about freedom of expression, I got on stage and did exactly what he told me to do - I did my thing! Last one is spending six hours with MJ in Harlem, vibing, and doing what we love to do: create music. He told me when I got on, he wanted me to do my thing. Another time, Prince wanted me to come to Atlanta. : At the height of your success, what were some of you fondest memories? DOUGIE FRESH: One is when Stevie wanted me to come over to his daughter’s house for her birthday to do this intimate performance that ended up the being the beginning of our friendship. Fresh - right after he taught Wolf Blitzer how to Dougie at this year’s Soul Train Awards in Atlanta - about his past, the present, and his future. Even those of us who never rapped a day in our lives, will toy around and start a rhyme with “gimme a beat” - just like Doug E did. Almost everyone at one time or another has twisted their lips, sucked their teeth, and clicked their tongue to attempt to achieve a Doug E. In 1985 the label released the smash hits, “La Di Da Di” and “The Show” - two of the most iconic hip-hop tracks of all time. The “Human Beat Box” and his team of DJs, known as The Get Fresh Crew (Barry Bee and Chill Will) along with a newcomer named MC Ricky D - aka Slick Rick - created the New Jersey-based hip-hop label Reality/Danya Records in the mid ’80s. With his ability to dance, rap and perform his incredible human beatbox, Fresh is known as Hip Hop’s greatest entertainer and he remains one of the most important figures in Hip Hop culture to this day.“La-Di-Da-Di … La-Di-Da-Di … La-Di …La-Di…” It seems like everyone today wants to do the “Doug E” - one of the biggest dance crazes, which incorporates the signature move of hip-hop pioneer, Doug E. Both tracks launched Fresh to super stardom as they became classics of the early hip-hop genre. The Get Fresh Crew gained notoriety thanks to cuts the ‘The Show’ – which borrowed Shuki Levy’s famous Inspector Gadget theme as the leading melody, and ‘La Di Da Di’, voiced by Slick Rick and backed by beatboxing from Fresh for the duration of the track. Once joined by MC Ricky D – later known as Slick Rick – the group signed to New Jersy hip-hop label Danya/Reality Records. His music career kicked off as a solo artist signed to Enjoy Records, but it was his team of DJs that formed the Get Fresh Crew (Chill Will and Barry B) that would shoot him into the spotlight. Their pioneering tracks ‘La Di Da Di’ and ‘The Show’ are widely considered early Hip Hop classics, with ‘La Di Da Di’ one of the most frequently sampled songs in the history of modern music.īorn in Barbados, Fresh was raised in Harlem, New York. Fresh formed the iconic Get Fresh Crew with DJs Barry B and Chill Will, and the trio were later joined by rapper Slick Rick. Fresh – also known as the “Human Beat Box” – is a legendary rapper, beatboxer and record producer. ![]()
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