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CNN Live At Daybreak
Interview with Tracy St. George, Fat Man Scoop
Aired October 31, 2002 - 06:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The death of another hip-hop hero is sending shock waves through the music industry this morning. Jason Mizell, known as Jam Master Jay of the group Run-DMC, was shot in the head in his recording studio near the New York neighborhood where he grew up. Another man, who was with him in the studio, was shot in the leg.
No one has been arrested in the incident. Run-DMC is credited with beginning the trend of combining rap music and rock 'n' roll. Jam Master Jay, Jason Mizell, dead at the age of 37.
For more reaction now on the death of the hip-hop icon, we're joined by Tracy St. George of Atlanta's Q-100.
TRACY ST. GEORGE, Q-100 ATLANTA: It's just so -- it's unbelievable, because these guys were so against violence. You know, we've got the Tupac, you know, Biggie Smalls...
COSTELLO: The Notorious...
(CROSSTALK)
ST. GEORGE: ... the Notorious B.I.G., who were talking so much about the violence and the killing and everything, and Run-DMC was all about fun, having a good time, talking about their shoes, "My Adidas." You know. I mean, every time I put on my shoes, I think, "My Adidas."
COSTELLO: Yes.
ST. GEORGE: And they are so fun, and it's such a tragic thing to happen to the music world.
COSTELLO: Yes, and they really did revive Aerosmith's career. Not many people realize that, but they did.
ST. GEORGE: Exactly. I remember back when I was younger, my cousin, Jenny (ph), came over with a Run-DMC cassette, and she's like, "You've got to listen to this." And ever since I heard, you know, their first tape, I've been just in love with them. They're so fun.
COSTELLO: Yes.
ST. GEORGE: And it's just -- it's very tragic.
COSTELLO: Yes, we want to head to New York City now and talk with Fat Man Scoop from Hot 97, a radio station in New York City.
Are you there?
FAT MAN SCOOP, HOT 97.1 NEW YORK: Yes, I'm here.
COSTELLO: Should I call you Fat Man for short?
FAT MAN: That's fine.
COSTELLO: OK. Give us the reaction from your listeners this morning.
FAT MAN: Oh, man, everybody is in total shock. I mean, no one can believe it. I found this out maybe 10:00 last night, and you know, no one can believe it. You know, he's a really good guy, and it just hurts. Something like this hurts, because it feels like a part of hip-hop has been taken away.
These guys were so influential, and this game (ph) was meticulous. Like you said, they were the first to use rock 'n' whack (ph). They were the first to wear what they wanted to wear and not conform to, you know, what everybody else was doing in terms of the clothes they wore and stuff like that. They were the first to bring the streets to rap.
COSTELLO: Yes.
FAT MAN: You know, it hurts so much, and everybody up here is in a total state of shock.
COSTELLO: Oh, you're kidding. The way that this went down, Fat Man, police in New York say it was definitely an execution-style killing. In fact, the shooter actually pushed another man out of the way to get to Jam Master Jay. What do you make of that?
FAT MAN: You know something? I don't really want to speculate. But you know, why? You know, why?
COSTELLO: Well, I want to ask you this, then. That the shooting happened in this way in light of what happened to Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. It just gives such a -- it just gives such a negative aspect to the world of hip-hop and black music.
FAT MAN: Well, I don't think that. I mean, it could be a bunch of different things, you know. No one ever sees -- all we see is the videos, all we hear are the records. No one knows what goes on in people's lives. No one knows the inner workings. You know, my thing is that we don't know exactly what happened, and I don't want to talk prematurely until we get all of the facts. I just...
COSTELLO: I understand.
FAT MAN: I pray that the guy is caught.
COSTELLO: Yes.
FAT MAN: Once the guy is caught, then we'll know the entire story. COSTELLO: OK.
FAT MAN: You know, I...
COSTELLO: Having said that, can you tell us about Jam Master Jay and the good things he did for the community.
FAT MAN: I mean -- I mean, here's a guy who didn't have to take on a new artist here called Rusty Waters (ph). He didn't have to do that. Jam Master Jay has made his name in the rap game. He didn't have to take on, you know, producing new groups and giving other people a chance. He brought out another big rapper, who made a big splash in the rap game, Annik (ph).
He's done a lot. He's given these kids a chance to express themselves and do the music they want to do.
My thing that I really want to focus on, I'm hurt, because once again, I feel like a piece of hip-hop has been taken away from us. These guys meant so -- they mean so much to the hip-hop game, they've gone so much that it just hurts me to see that someone would do that. Why?
COSTELLO: Yes, it hurts a lot of people. Hey, Fat Man Scoop, thank you very much -- joining us live from New York from Hot 97.
And, Tracy, I think he said it all. It just -- it hurts...
ST. GEORGE: It does.
COSTELLO: ... many in the world of hip-hop, because you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) influential and so popular.
ST. GEORGE: Right. And it actually happened inside the studio, too...
COSTELLO: Yes.
ST. GEORGE: ... which is -- I mean, even horrible -- rather than being outside. That person actually got inside, so it's really scary.
COSTELLO: Yes. And there were witnesses, though, so hopefully...
ST. GEORGE: Good, I hope so.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Tracy St. George...
ST. GEORGE: Thank you.
COSTELLO: ... for joining us this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired October 31, 2002 - 06:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The death of another hip-hop hero is sending shock waves through the music industry this morning. Jason Mizell, known as Jam Master Jay of the group Run-DMC, was shot in the head in his recording studio near the New York neighborhood where he grew up. Another man, who was with him in the studio, was shot in the leg.
No one has been arrested in the incident. Run-DMC is credited with beginning the trend of combining rap music and rock 'n' roll. Jam Master Jay, Jason Mizell, dead at the age of 37.
For more reaction now on the death of the hip-hop icon, we're joined by Tracy St. George of Atlanta's Q-100.
TRACY ST. GEORGE, Q-100 ATLANTA: It's just so -- it's unbelievable, because these guys were so against violence. You know, we've got the Tupac, you know, Biggie Smalls...
COSTELLO: The Notorious...
(CROSSTALK)
ST. GEORGE: ... the Notorious B.I.G., who were talking so much about the violence and the killing and everything, and Run-DMC was all about fun, having a good time, talking about their shoes, "My Adidas." You know. I mean, every time I put on my shoes, I think, "My Adidas."
COSTELLO: Yes.
ST. GEORGE: And they are so fun, and it's such a tragic thing to happen to the music world.
COSTELLO: Yes, and they really did revive Aerosmith's career. Not many people realize that, but they did.
ST. GEORGE: Exactly. I remember back when I was younger, my cousin, Jenny (ph), came over with a Run-DMC cassette, and she's like, "You've got to listen to this." And ever since I heard, you know, their first tape, I've been just in love with them. They're so fun.
COSTELLO: Yes.
ST. GEORGE: And it's just -- it's very tragic.
COSTELLO: Yes, we want to head to New York City now and talk with Fat Man Scoop from Hot 97, a radio station in New York City.
Are you there?
FAT MAN SCOOP, HOT 97.1 NEW YORK: Yes, I'm here.
COSTELLO: Should I call you Fat Man for short?
FAT MAN: That's fine.
COSTELLO: OK. Give us the reaction from your listeners this morning.
FAT MAN: Oh, man, everybody is in total shock. I mean, no one can believe it. I found this out maybe 10:00 last night, and you know, no one can believe it. You know, he's a really good guy, and it just hurts. Something like this hurts, because it feels like a part of hip-hop has been taken away.
These guys were so influential, and this game (ph) was meticulous. Like you said, they were the first to use rock 'n' whack (ph). They were the first to wear what they wanted to wear and not conform to, you know, what everybody else was doing in terms of the clothes they wore and stuff like that. They were the first to bring the streets to rap.
COSTELLO: Yes.
FAT MAN: You know, it hurts so much, and everybody up here is in a total state of shock.
COSTELLO: Oh, you're kidding. The way that this went down, Fat Man, police in New York say it was definitely an execution-style killing. In fact, the shooter actually pushed another man out of the way to get to Jam Master Jay. What do you make of that?
FAT MAN: You know something? I don't really want to speculate. But you know, why? You know, why?
COSTELLO: Well, I want to ask you this, then. That the shooting happened in this way in light of what happened to Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. It just gives such a -- it just gives such a negative aspect to the world of hip-hop and black music.
FAT MAN: Well, I don't think that. I mean, it could be a bunch of different things, you know. No one ever sees -- all we see is the videos, all we hear are the records. No one knows what goes on in people's lives. No one knows the inner workings. You know, my thing is that we don't know exactly what happened, and I don't want to talk prematurely until we get all of the facts. I just...
COSTELLO: I understand.
FAT MAN: I pray that the guy is caught.
COSTELLO: Yes.
FAT MAN: Once the guy is caught, then we'll know the entire story. COSTELLO: OK.
FAT MAN: You know, I...
COSTELLO: Having said that, can you tell us about Jam Master Jay and the good things he did for the community.
FAT MAN: I mean -- I mean, here's a guy who didn't have to take on a new artist here called Rusty Waters (ph). He didn't have to do that. Jam Master Jay has made his name in the rap game. He didn't have to take on, you know, producing new groups and giving other people a chance. He brought out another big rapper, who made a big splash in the rap game, Annik (ph).
He's done a lot. He's given these kids a chance to express themselves and do the music they want to do.
My thing that I really want to focus on, I'm hurt, because once again, I feel like a piece of hip-hop has been taken away from us. These guys meant so -- they mean so much to the hip-hop game, they've gone so much that it just hurts me to see that someone would do that. Why?
COSTELLO: Yes, it hurts a lot of people. Hey, Fat Man Scoop, thank you very much -- joining us live from New York from Hot 97.
And, Tracy, I think he said it all. It just -- it hurts...
ST. GEORGE: It does.
COSTELLO: ... many in the world of hip-hop, because you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) influential and so popular.
ST. GEORGE: Right. And it actually happened inside the studio, too...
COSTELLO: Yes.
ST. GEORGE: ... which is -- I mean, even horrible -- rather than being outside. That person actually got inside, so it's really scary.
COSTELLO: Yes. And there were witnesses, though, so hopefully...
ST. GEORGE: Good, I hope so.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Tracy St. George...
ST. GEORGE: Thank you.
COSTELLO: ... for joining us this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
