1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:10,662 --> 00:00:15,363 [soft jazz music] 4 00:00:15,406 --> 00:00:20,324 ♪ 5 00:00:20,368 --> 00:00:22,109 [soft jazz music continues] 6 00:00:22,152 --> 00:00:27,114 ♪ 7 00:00:27,157 --> 00:00:31,770 ♪ 8 00:00:31,814 --> 00:00:33,468 [record needle dropping] 9 00:00:41,258 --> 00:00:45,828 [hip-hop music starts and stops] 10 00:00:47,177 --> 00:00:50,267 [hip-hop music continues] 11 00:00:50,311 --> 00:00:55,098 ♪ 12 00:00:55,142 --> 00:00:57,622 ♪ 13 00:00:57,666 --> 00:00:59,189 KID KUT: Woo! 14 00:00:59,233 --> 00:01:01,539 So, most of you guys know me as Kid Kut, 15 00:01:01,583 --> 00:01:04,455 the voice of the vibe, the MC from the Baby Blue Soundcrew. 16 00:01:04,499 --> 00:01:06,631 KID KUT: When I say "baby," y'all say "blue!" 17 00:01:06,675 --> 00:01:07,850 Baby! CROWD: Blue! 18 00:01:07,893 --> 00:01:09,069 KID KUT: Baby... CROWD: Blue! 19 00:01:09,112 --> 00:01:10,200 KID KUT: Baby... CROWD: Blue! 20 00:01:10,244 --> 00:01:11,419 KID KUT: Baby... CROWD: Blue! 21 00:01:11,462 --> 00:01:12,811 KID KUT: But... 22 00:01:12,855 --> 00:01:15,466 little do you know, I am a vinyl collector, 23 00:01:15,510 --> 00:01:17,338 a producer, a DJ. 24 00:01:17,381 --> 00:01:18,991 I love vinyl. 25 00:01:19,035 --> 00:01:22,299 This record right here was one of the first records 26 00:01:22,343 --> 00:01:23,822 I purchased. 27 00:01:23,866 --> 00:01:26,216 Any time I bought a record or records in the past, 28 00:01:26,260 --> 00:01:28,131 any time I bought records in the past, 29 00:01:28,175 --> 00:01:32,701 I would purchase the record and put my name on the record 30 00:01:32,744 --> 00:01:35,791 and I would put the year that I got the vinyl. 31 00:01:35,834 --> 00:01:38,576 So, like, if I was playing a party and somehow 32 00:01:38,620 --> 00:01:41,753 one of my records got, you know, 33 00:01:41,797 --> 00:01:44,147 taken up by somebody else accidentally... 34 00:01:44,191 --> 00:01:45,757 [laughs] 35 00:01:45,801 --> 00:01:47,585 I could be like, "That's my record!" 36 00:01:47,629 --> 00:01:49,935 The records that are in here actually mean something to me. 37 00:01:49,979 --> 00:01:51,720 And when I purchased this home, 38 00:01:51,763 --> 00:01:53,635 the whole thing was there's a spot under the stairs. 39 00:01:53,678 --> 00:01:56,072 That's why the roof is only this high. 40 00:01:56,116 --> 00:01:58,901 I made sure, I was like, "Yup, that's where I'm gonna 41 00:01:58,944 --> 00:02:02,644 "put my vinyl, in this spot, and I can lock it up." 42 00:02:02,687 --> 00:02:05,864 ♪ Do it... Do it... ♪ 43 00:02:05,908 --> 00:02:08,476 KID KUT: There's one store that's very special to me. 44 00:02:08,519 --> 00:02:10,608 Every time I go there, I'm always inspired, 45 00:02:10,652 --> 00:02:12,741 whether it's a sample or a break. 46 00:02:12,784 --> 00:02:15,222 Yo, let's go get some new vinyl. 47 00:02:15,265 --> 00:02:16,788 ♪ Do it! 48 00:02:16,832 --> 00:02:19,487 ♪ We make money money money. 49 00:02:19,530 --> 00:02:22,011 ♪ You take money money money. 50 00:02:22,054 --> 00:02:24,492 ♪ You make money money money. 51 00:02:24,535 --> 00:02:25,754 ♪ You take money money money. 52 00:02:25,797 --> 00:02:27,277 ♪ See, I'm like a soldier in a war ♪ 53 00:02:27,321 --> 00:02:28,887 ♪ That makes my heart like tin. ♪ 54 00:02:28,931 --> 00:02:31,194 ♪ A disciple of the street treating boys like men. ♪ 55 00:02:31,238 --> 00:02:33,805 ♪ Enemies like friends, friends like kings. ♪ 56 00:02:33,849 --> 00:02:36,199 ♪ A rap battle, stifle any weak rhymes y'all bring. ♪ 57 00:02:36,243 --> 00:02:38,114 ♪ 'Cause I got the game-show-like strength. ♪ 58 00:02:38,158 --> 00:02:39,333 ♪ What the cold life brings, 59 00:02:39,376 --> 00:02:41,248 ♪ Nowadays I only praise one king. ♪ 60 00:02:41,291 --> 00:02:43,902 ♪ Kind of rap your [inaudible] to rap about one thing. ♪ 61 00:02:43,946 --> 00:02:47,210 ♪ Out here, our [inaudible] live the life you're singing. ♪ 62 00:02:47,254 --> 00:02:49,517 ♪ Every day, you make money money money. ♪ 63 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:52,520 ♪ And every night, you take money money money. ♪ 64 00:02:52,563 --> 00:02:54,522 ♪ You make money money money. 65 00:02:54,565 --> 00:02:57,220 ♪ You take money money money. 66 00:02:57,264 --> 00:02:59,831 ♪ Every day, you make money money money. ♪ 67 00:02:59,875 --> 00:03:02,225 ♪ And every night, you take money money money. ♪ 68 00:03:02,269 --> 00:03:05,272 ♪ You make money money money. 69 00:03:05,315 --> 00:03:07,143 ♪ You take money money. 70 00:03:07,187 --> 00:03:11,669 [plastic bag crinkling] 71 00:03:23,812 --> 00:03:26,249 INTERVIEWER: You always say that you just 72 00:03:26,293 --> 00:03:28,469 had the right people around you. 73 00:03:28,512 --> 00:03:30,122 But, I mean, bigger than that, right? 74 00:03:30,166 --> 00:03:32,603 I mean, this is about a love of music. 75 00:03:32,647 --> 00:03:34,083 EUGENE: Yes. 76 00:03:34,126 --> 00:03:35,737 INTERVIEWER: And this turned into what people 77 00:03:35,780 --> 00:03:37,129 are calling a cultural artifact. 78 00:03:37,173 --> 00:03:39,828 When you hear that, what does it make you think? 79 00:03:39,871 --> 00:03:42,091 EUGENE: I know for people, they always talk about it 80 00:03:42,134 --> 00:03:44,963 on the internet, when they come here, they tell-- 81 00:03:45,007 --> 00:03:47,488 because I've served, like, three generations. 82 00:03:47,531 --> 00:03:51,274 Father, then the son; now the son has little kids, 83 00:03:51,318 --> 00:03:53,015 and they're bringing them in. 84 00:03:53,058 --> 00:03:55,365 I love to see those kids, you know? 85 00:03:55,409 --> 00:03:58,194 And they tell their kids the stories, 86 00:03:58,238 --> 00:04:01,328 "Oh, this is vinyl, so-and-so, that's a CD. 87 00:04:01,371 --> 00:04:04,461 "Long time ago, Thursday, we'd come, we'd fight in records 88 00:04:04,505 --> 00:04:07,116 "with other DJs," all this stuff, you know? 89 00:04:07,159 --> 00:04:08,422 I mean, they tell them stories like that. 90 00:04:08,465 --> 00:04:09,727 It was good. 91 00:04:09,771 --> 00:04:12,513 It was like a meeting place every Thursday. 92 00:04:12,556 --> 00:04:15,994 ♪ 93 00:04:16,038 --> 00:04:18,780 ♪ 94 00:04:18,823 --> 00:04:21,261 JUG-E: Being immersed in that world was just... 95 00:04:21,304 --> 00:04:23,654 It's hard to articulate sometimes some of the things 96 00:04:23,698 --> 00:04:25,743 that I experienced. 97 00:04:25,787 --> 00:04:27,789 Just seeing the unity of people, 98 00:04:27,832 --> 00:04:29,921 DJs, people from all walks of life, 99 00:04:29,965 --> 00:04:33,969 showing up on a Thursday. 100 00:04:34,012 --> 00:04:36,232 AGILE: We created the soundtrack for this time. 101 00:04:36,276 --> 00:04:37,451 This was the meeting place. 102 00:04:37,494 --> 00:04:40,845 It was communal, and it was live, and... 103 00:04:40,889 --> 00:04:43,152 It was alive. 104 00:04:43,195 --> 00:04:46,111 ♪ 105 00:04:46,155 --> 00:04:48,810 NICK: If you were a DJ in this city, like, everybody was there. 106 00:04:48,853 --> 00:04:50,246 It was packed. You couldn't... 107 00:04:50,290 --> 00:04:51,726 There was times you just couldn't even move in there. 108 00:04:51,769 --> 00:04:53,380 It was just... 109 00:04:53,423 --> 00:04:55,730 DJX: Everybody was going to him and he was the go-to guy, 110 00:04:55,773 --> 00:04:58,341 and it kind of didn't matter who you were in the industry, 111 00:04:58,385 --> 00:05:00,300 whether you're a promoter, whether you're a DJ, 112 00:05:00,343 --> 00:05:01,736 whether you're an artist. 113 00:05:01,779 --> 00:05:04,956 You needed Eugene. 114 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,525 ♪ 115 00:05:08,569 --> 00:05:11,441 ♪ 116 00:05:11,485 --> 00:05:13,878 EUGENE: You know, I never thought about it, 117 00:05:13,922 --> 00:05:16,968 but when we were doing this documentary, 118 00:05:17,012 --> 00:05:20,755 and then I wrote stuff on paper, 119 00:05:20,798 --> 00:05:22,409 and then I realized, 120 00:05:22,452 --> 00:05:23,845 "Maybe we did." 121 00:05:23,888 --> 00:05:25,716 I'm always so busy, I'm always doing something, 122 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:27,588 I'm always exercising, 123 00:05:27,631 --> 00:05:30,068 I'm always with my mom and dad, trying to help them out, 124 00:05:30,112 --> 00:05:31,983 doing something, or my family, right? 125 00:05:32,027 --> 00:05:33,985 And so I never think about all these things. 126 00:05:34,029 --> 00:05:35,291 And people would always tell me, 127 00:05:35,335 --> 00:05:37,685 "Oh, your store is an institution, duh duh duh." 128 00:05:37,728 --> 00:05:39,948 I was like, "Okay, alright, alright, okay, cool, 129 00:05:39,991 --> 00:05:41,602 "no problem." 130 00:05:41,645 --> 00:05:45,127 But it's only when we started doing this documentary, I... 131 00:05:45,170 --> 00:05:48,260 "Oh, maybe we did have something to do with it." 132 00:05:48,304 --> 00:05:49,914 You know what I mean? I never saw it. 133 00:05:49,958 --> 00:05:52,090 Like, you know when you have to step back? 134 00:05:52,134 --> 00:05:55,355 ♪ 135 00:05:55,398 --> 00:05:57,792 Then you see the picture, right? 136 00:05:57,835 --> 00:06:04,320 ♪ 137 00:06:04,364 --> 00:06:07,584 ♪ Yo, I represent the reason rappers'll write songs for ♪ 138 00:06:07,628 --> 00:06:10,108 ♪ The legendary lyricism you line for ♪ 139 00:06:10,152 --> 00:06:12,589 ♪ Controller of the crowd, the party people respond for ♪ 140 00:06:12,633 --> 00:06:15,418 ♪ Receiver of encores, my peoples demand more ♪ 141 00:06:15,462 --> 00:06:17,899 ♪ Rappers, yeah, tell it to the fate of rancour ♪ 142 00:06:17,942 --> 00:06:20,554 ♪ To contemplate the fate that you're eternally damned for ♪ 143 00:06:20,597 --> 00:06:22,643 ♪ Everyone I know seeking the answer ♪ 144 00:06:22,686 --> 00:06:25,776 ♪ To what the super educated professor of rhymin' stand for ♪ 145 00:06:25,820 --> 00:06:28,344 ♪ Original rhythm and rhyme, sure to enhance your 146 00:06:28,388 --> 00:06:31,913 experience, therapeutic lyrics curing the cancer... ♪ 147 00:06:31,956 --> 00:06:35,046 SFS: Ah, you got me! Dah! 148 00:06:35,090 --> 00:06:36,787 I'll get him back. 149 00:06:36,831 --> 00:06:38,746 ♪ The rhythm holdin' me, you pigeon holin' me ♪ 150 00:06:38,789 --> 00:06:40,400 ♪ You classify my style of rap ♪ 151 00:06:40,443 --> 00:06:42,837 ♪ My rappin' sound is the cap and the gown style of rap, 152 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:44,273 but where them dollars at? ♪ 153 00:06:44,316 --> 00:06:45,927 ♪ It's time to pay homage to the style ♪ 154 00:06:45,970 --> 00:06:47,319 ♪ So who you follow, black? 155 00:06:47,363 --> 00:06:49,234 ♪ Now if you're ready to rock steady, 156 00:06:49,278 --> 00:06:51,672 considerin' that you've never experienced a veteran yet ♪ 157 00:06:51,715 --> 00:06:52,847 ♪ Steadily sweat 158 00:06:52,890 --> 00:06:54,370 ♪ Skills reveal [inaudible] ♪ 159 00:06:54,414 --> 00:06:55,632 ♪ Architects of style, 160 00:06:55,676 --> 00:06:57,286 my professors they be super educated ♪ 161 00:06:57,329 --> 00:06:59,419 ♪ To my people in the front, feelin' base that bumps ♪ 162 00:06:59,462 --> 00:07:01,943 ♪ And just clap your hands to the beat y'all ♪ 163 00:07:01,986 --> 00:07:05,120 ♪ To my people in the rear, put it high in the air and just ♪ 164 00:07:05,163 --> 00:07:07,514 ♪ Rock, rock to this, y'all, huh ♪ 165 00:07:07,557 --> 00:07:10,647 ♪ Well, well, well, well, you know it's me ♪ 166 00:07:10,691 --> 00:07:12,649 ♪ Hey y'all, I'm a superstar ♪ 167 00:07:12,693 --> 00:07:15,043 ♪ Check out what the heck I got to say ♪ 168 00:07:15,086 --> 00:07:21,005 ♪ I'm super-educated, ready to get... ♪ 169 00:07:21,049 --> 00:07:23,181 RUSSELL: And I would buy bootleg records 170 00:07:23,225 --> 00:07:26,141 of Lord Finesse and digging in the crates, 171 00:07:26,184 --> 00:07:27,621 because they were just too expensive 172 00:07:27,664 --> 00:07:29,710 and the records weren't that good to begin with so... 173 00:07:29,753 --> 00:07:33,583 Oh, hey, Finesse! What's up? 174 00:07:33,627 --> 00:07:38,370 ♪ 175 00:07:38,414 --> 00:07:41,417 ♪ 176 00:07:41,461 --> 00:07:44,942 ♪ 177 00:07:44,986 --> 00:07:48,424 ♪ 178 00:07:48,468 --> 00:07:52,384 [record press machines humming] 179 00:08:33,034 --> 00:08:35,993 EUGENE: Yeah, there's a lot of history from the old location 180 00:08:36,037 --> 00:08:40,650 that we transferred across to this location. 181 00:08:40,694 --> 00:08:43,871 Roy Ayers, well, he's-- so many people sampled this guy, right? 182 00:08:43,914 --> 00:08:45,437 And he's so big. 183 00:08:45,481 --> 00:08:48,310 They approached us and they wanted to do a signing 184 00:08:48,353 --> 00:08:50,617 in the store and we said, "Okay, cool, no problem." 185 00:08:50,660 --> 00:08:52,183 He came early. 186 00:08:52,227 --> 00:08:53,576 He set up everything. 187 00:08:53,620 --> 00:08:56,274 He would see people coming straight from the door 188 00:08:56,318 --> 00:08:58,015 and be calling them, "Hey, come!" 189 00:08:58,059 --> 00:09:00,061 You know, he doesn't even know if they're coming for him 190 00:09:00,104 --> 00:09:01,889 or not, he's just calling them. 191 00:09:01,932 --> 00:09:04,892 Maestro is like the first one that opened the doors 192 00:09:04,935 --> 00:09:06,284 for everybody, too, right? 193 00:09:06,328 --> 00:09:09,026 And then, he happened to be coming through here. 194 00:09:09,070 --> 00:09:10,811 Like, all these guys used to come through 195 00:09:10,854 --> 00:09:12,290 the store all the time, right? 196 00:09:12,334 --> 00:09:14,815 I used to see them all the time, so it was no big deal. 197 00:09:14,858 --> 00:09:17,992 But then, I said it would be cool for him to just sign it. 198 00:09:18,035 --> 00:09:20,951 Actually, I think ABBA was one of my first records 199 00:09:20,995 --> 00:09:23,954 that I bought, like actually go and paid money... 200 00:09:23,998 --> 00:09:25,260 [laughs] 201 00:09:25,303 --> 00:09:27,741 Instead of getting records from my dad. 202 00:09:27,784 --> 00:09:29,525 ABBA. But this is not the right one, 203 00:09:29,569 --> 00:09:31,266 but this is one. 204 00:09:31,309 --> 00:09:34,748 ABBA, I remember, was hot at that time and-- pfft! 205 00:09:34,791 --> 00:09:36,706 We were all dancing to it. 206 00:09:36,750 --> 00:09:38,012 Dancing! 207 00:09:38,055 --> 00:09:40,275 "Dancing Queen." 208 00:09:40,318 --> 00:09:45,454 I have these 45s here, brought from back home. 209 00:09:45,497 --> 00:09:48,631 Well, this is just some of it, but it was a lot of 45s. 210 00:09:48,675 --> 00:09:52,243 Me and my brother, we bought 45s, 211 00:09:52,287 --> 00:09:55,551 and this is what we used to listen to, man. 212 00:09:55,595 --> 00:09:59,642 [hip-hop music] 213 00:09:59,686 --> 00:10:02,036 EUGENE: We grew up in Trinidad in Port of Spain, 214 00:10:02,079 --> 00:10:04,778 Belmont, Erthig Road. 215 00:10:04,821 --> 00:10:08,346 My mom and dad had a business there selling groceries. 216 00:10:08,390 --> 00:10:11,088 We had certain exclusive products 217 00:10:11,132 --> 00:10:12,524 for the whole of Trinidad. 218 00:10:12,568 --> 00:10:15,310 And that's how he made his living and, you know, 219 00:10:15,353 --> 00:10:16,703 made some of his money, right? 220 00:10:16,746 --> 00:10:18,226 I just remember when I was young, 221 00:10:18,269 --> 00:10:20,881 just going down there right after school, 222 00:10:20,924 --> 00:10:23,231 running around, playing there, 223 00:10:23,274 --> 00:10:27,888 and maybe that's how I got my business sense or whatever. 224 00:10:31,021 --> 00:10:33,676 I remember he had a friend. 225 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:36,331 She had all the jukeboxes. 226 00:10:36,374 --> 00:10:39,334 She owned a lot of jukeboxes around Trinidad, 227 00:10:39,377 --> 00:10:41,989 and she came to my dad and said, like, 228 00:10:42,032 --> 00:10:43,686 "I have so many thousands of records. 229 00:10:43,730 --> 00:10:46,515 "Do you want to take them?" And they negotiated a price. 230 00:10:46,558 --> 00:10:49,039 Next day when we had the records, man, I was like... 231 00:10:49,083 --> 00:10:50,301 [laughs] 232 00:10:50,345 --> 00:10:51,738 Get into the music there. 233 00:10:51,781 --> 00:10:54,088 I started getting records for free. 234 00:10:54,131 --> 00:10:56,786 I came across to Canada to study, 235 00:10:56,830 --> 00:11:00,268 and I guessed after I finished studying I would come back 236 00:11:00,311 --> 00:11:01,486 and take over the business, right? 237 00:11:01,530 --> 00:11:04,054 But then, my brother came and studied, 238 00:11:04,098 --> 00:11:06,100 then my sister came, 239 00:11:06,143 --> 00:11:08,624 and then my dad just came. 240 00:11:08,668 --> 00:11:11,366 He took a two-day holiday. He never takes a holiday. 241 00:11:11,409 --> 00:11:13,934 He took a two-day holiday, came down to Canada, 242 00:11:13,977 --> 00:11:17,067 and he loved it and he said, "We're moving." 243 00:11:17,111 --> 00:11:19,722 [laughs] 244 00:11:19,766 --> 00:11:22,507 NARRATION: [archive] Years ago, Huron Indians named this city 245 00:11:22,551 --> 00:11:25,989 their word for "meeting place," Toronto. 246 00:11:26,033 --> 00:11:29,036 Today, a very big meeting place. 247 00:11:29,079 --> 00:11:33,301 ♪ 248 00:11:33,344 --> 00:11:35,520 ♪ 249 00:11:35,564 --> 00:11:38,436 DENISE: Ask any DJ or music lover 250 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:40,656 what they tend to do when they travel to new cities, 251 00:11:40,700 --> 00:11:42,440 what's always on the agenda? 252 00:11:42,484 --> 00:11:46,618 Record stores. 253 00:11:46,662 --> 00:11:50,666 Tuning into a city's, not just club culture but music culture, 254 00:11:50,710 --> 00:11:53,625 record stores have long been at the heart of that. 255 00:11:53,669 --> 00:11:55,671 EUGENE: I stayed here for, like, about a month 256 00:11:55,715 --> 00:11:58,282 and went record shopping. 257 00:11:58,326 --> 00:12:01,808 [laughs] 258 00:12:01,851 --> 00:12:05,420 EUGENE: Sam the Record Man, Cheapies, A&A Records. 259 00:12:05,463 --> 00:12:07,988 Later on, I was buying at Star Sound 260 00:12:08,031 --> 00:12:10,077 and Carnival Records. 261 00:12:12,079 --> 00:12:14,777 AKI: Star Sound was actually therecord store to go to 262 00:12:14,821 --> 00:12:16,474 in the '80s. 263 00:12:16,518 --> 00:12:19,086 I remember seeing, you know, guys from Club Z, Twilight Zone; 264 00:12:19,129 --> 00:12:22,393 all those guys were there buying records. 265 00:12:22,437 --> 00:12:23,786 It was a social gathering too. 266 00:12:23,830 --> 00:12:25,875 You got to meet and greet, you know? 267 00:12:25,919 --> 00:12:27,790 "I never thought I'd meet this DJ; he's here," 268 00:12:27,834 --> 00:12:31,359 that kind of thing. 269 00:12:31,402 --> 00:12:33,796 MAESTRO FRESH WES: When I had that experience 270 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:35,972 going to Star Sound, that was like one of my first 271 00:12:36,016 --> 00:12:38,279 "Wow!" moments that, "Oh my god, this is real." 272 00:12:38,322 --> 00:12:39,933 I didn't know that was gonna happen, 273 00:12:39,976 --> 00:12:43,066 but they had my posters everywhere and it was like, 274 00:12:43,110 --> 00:12:45,852 in my mind, "Wow, this is what LL Cool J must have felt like 275 00:12:45,895 --> 00:12:48,202 "when he came out with, you know, Rock the Bells." 276 00:12:48,245 --> 00:12:50,378 Definitely good for me in terms of giving me 277 00:12:50,421 --> 00:12:52,336 that confidence to know that my city is behind me, 278 00:12:52,380 --> 00:12:55,470 so enough respect to Star Sound for that. 279 00:12:55,513 --> 00:12:58,212 RUSSELL: You know, you felt this loyalty to Star Sound 280 00:12:58,255 --> 00:13:00,518 and Carnival, and then when Star Sound changed to Traxx, 281 00:13:00,562 --> 00:13:02,172 my loyalty was at Carnival. 282 00:13:02,216 --> 00:13:04,479 And because Kamal from Carnival let me work there 283 00:13:04,522 --> 00:13:07,351 on Caribana weekend in 1990, 284 00:13:07,395 --> 00:13:10,137 I felt a distinct loyalty to him. 285 00:13:10,180 --> 00:13:11,878 Because he paid me in records! 286 00:13:11,921 --> 00:13:14,228 [record scratching] 287 00:13:14,271 --> 00:13:15,403 [car horn honks] 288 00:13:15,446 --> 00:13:17,535 RUSSELL: And the horn! [laughter] 289 00:13:17,579 --> 00:13:19,711 AKI: As the music scene and the record scene 290 00:13:19,755 --> 00:13:22,149 became more commercialized, it just wasn't enough. 291 00:13:22,192 --> 00:13:24,586 Star Sound just wasn't enough, you know? 292 00:13:24,629 --> 00:13:26,457 And everything would get sold out. 293 00:13:26,501 --> 00:13:30,287 There just wouldn't be enough for regular guys like me, 294 00:13:30,331 --> 00:13:32,376 you know, buying records. 295 00:13:32,420 --> 00:13:35,858 Play De Record came at the right time, I think. 296 00:13:35,902 --> 00:13:37,338 KARLENE: He dabbled in different things, 297 00:13:37,381 --> 00:13:40,732 and I think he wanted to do something retail, 298 00:13:40,776 --> 00:13:43,866 and it was just a natural progression with music 299 00:13:43,910 --> 00:13:46,913 that he loved, and I guess there was only a few 300 00:13:46,956 --> 00:13:48,523 record stores on Yonge Street. 301 00:13:48,566 --> 00:13:52,483 EUGENE: And then my dad had the property on Yonge Street. 302 00:13:52,527 --> 00:13:56,313 The back was empty for two years. 303 00:13:56,357 --> 00:13:58,011 DONNA: He may have told you, 304 00:13:58,054 --> 00:14:00,578 because his dad owned the building, 305 00:14:00,622 --> 00:14:04,278 and the back part was very hard to rent out at that time, 306 00:14:04,321 --> 00:14:05,801 in 1990. 307 00:14:05,845 --> 00:14:07,759 And there were other record stores. 308 00:14:07,803 --> 00:14:10,284 Like, everyone shopped along Yonge Street. 309 00:14:10,327 --> 00:14:15,028 He loved music and, you know, he wanted to use the back. 310 00:14:15,071 --> 00:14:19,293 ♪ 311 00:14:19,336 --> 00:14:22,296 EUGENE: You know, nobody wanted to rent behind a store. 312 00:14:22,339 --> 00:14:24,124 Like, who would do that? 313 00:14:24,167 --> 00:14:26,474 You know what I mean? Only me. 314 00:14:26,517 --> 00:14:29,085 [laughs] 315 00:14:29,129 --> 00:14:32,480 [hip-hop music] 316 00:14:32,523 --> 00:14:36,136 ♪ 317 00:14:36,179 --> 00:14:38,181 ♪ 318 00:14:38,225 --> 00:14:39,791 EUGENE: So I said, "Dad, look, this-- 319 00:14:39,835 --> 00:14:41,445 "nobody's gonna rent there. 320 00:14:41,489 --> 00:14:45,754 "Let's just open a record store there, right?" 321 00:14:45,797 --> 00:14:47,669 And my mom and him said, like, 322 00:14:47,712 --> 00:14:50,672 "Okay, let's try it out." 323 00:14:50,715 --> 00:14:52,282 DONNA: Record buyers, 324 00:14:52,326 --> 00:14:54,589 they see any new place that's open, 325 00:14:54,632 --> 00:14:56,373 they want to go check it out. 326 00:14:56,417 --> 00:14:59,072 So, and we were on the correct, you know, in the right area, 327 00:14:59,115 --> 00:15:03,728 so we got people shopping as soon as we opened. 328 00:15:03,772 --> 00:15:05,034 EUGENE: Even when we opened the store, 329 00:15:05,078 --> 00:15:06,644 we didn't even have a name really. 330 00:15:06,688 --> 00:15:08,516 People would say, "What do you call your store?" 331 00:15:08,559 --> 00:15:10,997 You know? And I just said, "Well... 332 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:12,563 "how about Play De Record, man?" 333 00:15:12,607 --> 00:15:15,305 Right, like "Play De Record." And that was it. 334 00:15:15,349 --> 00:15:19,005 ♪ 335 00:15:19,048 --> 00:15:22,704 I mean, I didn't know how to open a record store or whatever, 336 00:15:22,747 --> 00:15:25,533 I just knew the music that I know, 337 00:15:25,576 --> 00:15:28,362 R&B, some jazz, Latin, 338 00:15:28,405 --> 00:15:30,277 soca, and reggae, right? 339 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:33,410 So I opened up the store with only that kind of music. 340 00:15:33,454 --> 00:15:37,066 One of the DJs that used to come and shop, his name is Deko. 341 00:15:37,110 --> 00:15:38,938 He liked what we were doing and he said, 342 00:15:38,981 --> 00:15:41,592 "Look, you need to get some house and techno 343 00:15:41,636 --> 00:15:43,986 "and other types of music in here, 344 00:15:44,030 --> 00:15:45,292 "and you'll do well." 345 00:15:45,335 --> 00:15:47,859 He gave me a contact in Montreal, 346 00:15:47,903 --> 00:15:49,818 so I called that guy up. 347 00:15:49,861 --> 00:15:53,822 "Look, whatever you think is the hottest stuff, 348 00:15:53,865 --> 00:15:56,564 "just send it to me," so he sent me some stuff. 349 00:15:56,607 --> 00:15:58,174 People buying. 350 00:15:58,218 --> 00:16:00,829 We were bringing drum and bass, and people were coming down 351 00:16:00,872 --> 00:16:05,181 like, "Oh, wow... this is stuff that nobody has. 352 00:16:05,225 --> 00:16:08,010 "You can only get it in the UK." He hooked me up good. 353 00:16:08,054 --> 00:16:10,534 And, pssht! 354 00:16:10,578 --> 00:16:13,494 That's how the store, like, we started getting, like, 355 00:16:13,537 --> 00:16:17,454 the latest stuff and all the DJ stuff. 356 00:16:17,498 --> 00:16:19,239 Club DJs were coming in 357 00:16:19,282 --> 00:16:21,545 because we had stuff that nobody had. 358 00:16:21,589 --> 00:16:24,940 ♪ 359 00:16:24,984 --> 00:16:27,377 DENISE: It was this whole kind of mom-and-pop corner store 360 00:16:27,421 --> 00:16:29,205 in the front, so you'd walk in, you're like, 361 00:16:29,249 --> 00:16:30,598 "Am I at the right place?" 362 00:16:30,641 --> 00:16:32,382 You hear there's this cool new record store, 363 00:16:32,426 --> 00:16:34,167 and then you walk in and you're like, "What?!" 364 00:16:34,210 --> 00:16:36,517 DJ MENSA: As soon as you walk into Play De Record 365 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:38,127 it immediately becomes this grimy, 366 00:16:38,171 --> 00:16:41,043 kind of bodega experience where there's a convenience store 367 00:16:41,087 --> 00:16:42,566 before you walk into Play De Record. 368 00:16:42,610 --> 00:16:46,396 Play De Record was in the back half of 357. 369 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:50,574 There would be, like, brass knuckles and porno tapes and, 370 00:16:50,618 --> 00:16:52,620 you know, all types of stuff that's completely unrelated 371 00:16:52,663 --> 00:16:54,535 with records. 372 00:16:54,578 --> 00:16:57,233 DJ MATT C: Eugene and Donna are very warm, 373 00:16:57,277 --> 00:17:00,410 nice, cool, loving people. 374 00:17:00,454 --> 00:17:03,718 And then, of course, there were Eugene's parents 375 00:17:03,761 --> 00:17:06,677 that were there, both his mom and dad. 376 00:17:06,721 --> 00:17:10,116 Dad was super tough and scary. 377 00:17:10,159 --> 00:17:12,074 KARLENE: My dad was a bit of the security guard, 378 00:17:12,118 --> 00:17:14,033 and my mom was just there to make sure 379 00:17:14,076 --> 00:17:15,904 that things were running smoothly. 380 00:17:15,947 --> 00:17:17,688 EUGENE: Maybe he thinks he's still in Trinidad. 381 00:17:17,732 --> 00:17:18,907 You know what I mean? 382 00:17:18,950 --> 00:17:21,170 Because of people stealing or whatever. 383 00:17:21,214 --> 00:17:22,867 It doesn't matter who. You know what I mean? 384 00:17:22,911 --> 00:17:25,522 He's always checking, oh, the bags. 385 00:17:25,566 --> 00:17:26,610 Make sure people... 386 00:17:26,654 --> 00:17:28,786 Because there was people stealing. 387 00:17:28,830 --> 00:17:30,701 We caught a couple of people already. 388 00:17:30,745 --> 00:17:32,964 DJ MATT C: The front of the store is selling everything 389 00:17:33,008 --> 00:17:35,967 from, like, pornographic movies and, you know, 390 00:17:36,011 --> 00:17:38,709 fake handguns and daggers and, like, 391 00:17:38,753 --> 00:17:42,539 all kinds of crap that you would expect in a kind of sleazy 392 00:17:42,583 --> 00:17:44,237 Yonge Street type of store. 393 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:45,716 EUGENE: You know what I mean? 394 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:47,805 And we know certain people are coming to steal, too. 395 00:17:47,849 --> 00:17:50,112 I mean, now, it doesn't happen that often 396 00:17:50,156 --> 00:17:53,115 because people don't care about music that much. 397 00:17:53,159 --> 00:17:54,508 Like, you can get it for free. 398 00:17:54,551 --> 00:17:57,598 But at that time, the only way you can get music 399 00:17:57,641 --> 00:17:59,469 is you've got to come to the record store. 400 00:17:59,513 --> 00:18:02,646 RUSSELL: The parents were the best and the meanest, 401 00:18:02,690 --> 00:18:04,909 but then I eventually won his mother over. 402 00:18:04,953 --> 00:18:06,259 [laughs] 403 00:18:06,302 --> 00:18:08,522 I would be so nice to her all the time, 404 00:18:08,565 --> 00:18:10,350 that she eventually would smile at me and I was like, 405 00:18:10,393 --> 00:18:12,003 "Wow, I did it! 406 00:18:12,047 --> 00:18:16,399 "I slayed the dragon!" 407 00:18:16,443 --> 00:18:19,359 EUGENE: My mom, dad, Donna was there, 408 00:18:19,402 --> 00:18:22,362 and my brother came and helped out sometimes, 409 00:18:22,405 --> 00:18:24,712 and my sister came and helped out sometimes. 410 00:18:24,755 --> 00:18:27,149 We were by ourselves. 411 00:18:27,193 --> 00:18:30,239 And then I said, "Man, we'd better get somebody. 412 00:18:30,283 --> 00:18:32,154 "We've gotta get some DJs 413 00:18:32,198 --> 00:18:33,938 "or somebody that knows other people." 414 00:18:33,982 --> 00:18:36,506 AKI: I was just hanging out at this local record shop 415 00:18:36,550 --> 00:18:38,465 called Carnival, and there was a guy that was working there, 416 00:18:38,508 --> 00:18:40,162 Eric Ling. 417 00:18:40,206 --> 00:18:41,729 He said, "There's a new record shop that just opened 418 00:18:41,772 --> 00:18:43,992 "down the street and they've got import house music." 419 00:18:44,035 --> 00:18:45,602 I walked into Play De Record. 420 00:18:45,646 --> 00:18:48,649 I still remember, they only had about 100 records in the store. 421 00:18:48,692 --> 00:18:51,042 I met Eugene and, "Oh, you like music?" 422 00:18:51,086 --> 00:18:52,435 And I said, "Yeah." 423 00:18:52,479 --> 00:18:54,394 "And you like house music?" And I said, "Yeah." 424 00:18:54,437 --> 00:18:56,570 "You want to work here?" And I said, "Sure!" 425 00:18:56,613 --> 00:18:58,441 And he goes, "Start tomorrow?" And I said, "Okay!" 426 00:18:58,485 --> 00:19:01,966 So that's how I got the job. 427 00:19:02,010 --> 00:19:04,186 You know, Star Sound, Carnival, and Play De Record, 428 00:19:04,230 --> 00:19:08,669 they were very different from shops like Sam's and A&A. 429 00:19:08,712 --> 00:19:11,846 EUGENE: Sam the Record Man was more commercial. 430 00:19:11,889 --> 00:19:14,718 They sell classical, jazz, rock, right? 431 00:19:14,762 --> 00:19:18,722 I focused mostly on DJ, urban music, electronic music. 432 00:19:18,766 --> 00:19:20,202 That was my thing. 433 00:19:20,246 --> 00:19:21,551 DAVID: In the good old days, 434 00:19:21,595 --> 00:19:24,728 and I say that sort of like in parenthesis, 435 00:19:24,772 --> 00:19:27,601 all that music, let's call it Black music, 436 00:19:27,644 --> 00:19:31,996 so disco, R&B, house, 437 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:35,391 hip-hop, that was all dance music. 438 00:19:35,435 --> 00:19:38,699 DJ MATT C: Playing hip-hop, funk, R&B, reggae, 439 00:19:38,742 --> 00:19:40,701 was how I started as a DJ. 440 00:19:40,744 --> 00:19:44,487 And then over time, house music was invented. 441 00:19:44,531 --> 00:19:46,620 I gravitated in that direction. 442 00:19:46,663 --> 00:19:48,622 NICK: House was, like, slowly building and building 443 00:19:48,665 --> 00:19:54,018 and building, and that was, like, the club thing. 444 00:19:54,062 --> 00:19:55,368 That was the house thing. 445 00:19:55,411 --> 00:19:56,717 And there was a girl in my class, 446 00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:59,415 this girl named Sherry Assoon, 447 00:19:59,459 --> 00:20:03,027 and her brother had owned the Twilight Zone nightclub. 448 00:20:03,071 --> 00:20:05,508 Like, I didn't know nothing about, like, 449 00:20:05,552 --> 00:20:07,510 clubs or anything, right? 450 00:20:07,554 --> 00:20:09,947 So she goes, "Oh, yeah, I could bring you there one time." 451 00:20:09,991 --> 00:20:12,254 And we go to this club and I was just like, 452 00:20:12,298 --> 00:20:14,996 "Wow, this is crazy. Like, what is this?" 453 00:20:15,039 --> 00:20:17,477 And just, like, you'd never seen anything like this ever, 454 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:19,827 and I was just like-- like, the sound's insane. 455 00:20:19,870 --> 00:20:22,046 Everything's, like, music I never heard before. 456 00:20:22,090 --> 00:20:24,745 I mean, I don't know how long I ended up staying there. 457 00:20:24,788 --> 00:20:27,835 Of course, you're 13 and... [laughs] 458 00:20:27,878 --> 00:20:29,576 You're 13 or whatever, sneaking out of the house 459 00:20:29,619 --> 00:20:31,926 and so on, but yeah, I was like-- 460 00:20:31,969 --> 00:20:34,102 that's where the whole house thing started from, 461 00:20:34,145 --> 00:20:35,756 the Twilight Zone. 462 00:20:35,799 --> 00:20:40,500 [house music] 463 00:20:40,543 --> 00:20:42,980 ♪ 464 00:20:43,024 --> 00:20:45,983 DENISE: I grew up just outside of a town called Cobourg. 465 00:20:46,027 --> 00:20:48,072 I grew up in a little town called Grafton. 466 00:20:48,116 --> 00:20:49,857 I mean, I totally did not get it! 467 00:20:49,900 --> 00:20:51,424 I walked in. 468 00:20:51,467 --> 00:20:53,730 I mean, it was sparse, like very little lighting. 469 00:20:53,774 --> 00:20:55,297 It was mostly strobes. 470 00:20:55,341 --> 00:20:59,301 It was, you know, screens and lasers and things flashing. 471 00:20:59,345 --> 00:21:00,998 And, like, what I didn't understand musically 472 00:21:01,042 --> 00:21:02,826 at the time, ironically because it became so much 473 00:21:02,870 --> 00:21:05,089 a part of my life. 474 00:21:05,133 --> 00:21:09,877 ♪ Feel the drums. 475 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:11,922 DENISE: It was definitely early, early, early 476 00:21:11,966 --> 00:21:13,576 underground house and early underground techno 477 00:21:13,620 --> 00:21:16,405 and the meeting of that. 478 00:21:16,449 --> 00:21:19,016 The whole vibe of that and the fact that you could be 479 00:21:19,060 --> 00:21:20,627 on a floor dancing beside somebody 480 00:21:20,670 --> 00:21:22,716 you've never seen before and smiling your face off at them 481 00:21:22,759 --> 00:21:24,587 all night because it was just new. 482 00:21:24,631 --> 00:21:28,896 It was fresh. And it meant a lot. 483 00:21:28,939 --> 00:21:31,986 It connected people. It still does. 484 00:21:32,029 --> 00:21:34,380 MAN: Just the sound system, it's incredible here. 485 00:21:34,423 --> 00:21:36,077 WOMAN: The people are friendly. 486 00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:38,471 MAN: The atmosphere, the music, it's alright. 487 00:21:38,514 --> 00:21:40,821 WOMAN: It's fun! 488 00:21:40,864 --> 00:21:44,128 PETER: Well, Toronto was starting to grow. 489 00:21:44,172 --> 00:21:46,479 The popularity for underground music 490 00:21:46,522 --> 00:21:49,003 is starting to grow in the city, 491 00:21:49,046 --> 00:21:52,311 and the clubbing was starting to grow, 492 00:21:52,354 --> 00:21:56,184 which was amazing at that time. 493 00:21:56,227 --> 00:21:58,969 DENISE: Dino & Terry, Deko, Jason Steele 494 00:21:59,013 --> 00:22:00,580 was out there playing. 495 00:22:00,623 --> 00:22:02,277 Kenny Glasgow was coming up. 496 00:22:02,321 --> 00:22:04,279 He was young but he was definitely coming up. 497 00:22:04,323 --> 00:22:09,023 Definitely Peter, Tyrone & Shams were names I heard early on. 498 00:22:09,066 --> 00:22:11,286 DJ MATT C: Of course, Peter, Tyrone & Shams were, like, 499 00:22:11,330 --> 00:22:13,636 the kings of the house music world. 500 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:15,812 EUGENE: Those guys, they lived for music. 501 00:22:15,856 --> 00:22:17,901 They think music all day long. 502 00:22:17,945 --> 00:22:20,339 They want to get the records early. 503 00:22:20,382 --> 00:22:22,515 That's it with these guys. 504 00:22:22,558 --> 00:22:24,168 AKI: Nightclubs started to open up 505 00:22:24,212 --> 00:22:26,040 and DJs were getting jobs. 506 00:22:26,083 --> 00:22:28,259 They started to come on a regular basis 507 00:22:28,303 --> 00:22:30,392 because they had a gig. 508 00:22:30,436 --> 00:22:33,613 PETER: At the time, he was using an amazing distributor 509 00:22:33,656 --> 00:22:35,832 that nobody was using. 510 00:22:35,876 --> 00:22:39,619 So with that, it just... 511 00:22:39,662 --> 00:22:41,795 Just had good 12-inches coming in. 512 00:22:41,838 --> 00:22:43,840 DAVID: By that time, I was getting all of my stuff 513 00:22:43,884 --> 00:22:45,233 from Play De Record. 514 00:22:45,276 --> 00:22:46,930 I had a great relationship with Play De Record. 515 00:22:46,974 --> 00:22:49,324 Eugene was an amazing guy to work with, 516 00:22:49,368 --> 00:22:51,979 so there was no reason for me to go anywhere else. 517 00:22:52,022 --> 00:22:55,112 DENISE: They knew what they were doing in terms of how to 518 00:22:55,156 --> 00:22:58,377 supply the city with all things kind of music. 519 00:22:58,420 --> 00:23:02,598 And also, they stood out because they included and sold music 520 00:23:02,642 --> 00:23:04,731 in so many genres right from the start. 521 00:23:04,774 --> 00:23:07,995 EUGENE: I really tried to push new music 522 00:23:08,038 --> 00:23:10,476 and push Canadian stuff, 523 00:23:10,519 --> 00:23:14,175 and push, you know, local stuff, and good music, 524 00:23:14,218 --> 00:23:18,179 good new music, underground, nothing that was commercial. 525 00:23:18,222 --> 00:23:20,050 Interesting stuff. 526 00:23:20,094 --> 00:23:23,140 You know, different languages, different beats. 527 00:23:23,184 --> 00:23:24,577 It doesn't matter what. 528 00:23:24,620 --> 00:23:27,884 REPORTER: Rap, talking to music in a hip style. 529 00:23:27,928 --> 00:23:29,799 It started in the streets of New York, 530 00:23:29,843 --> 00:23:31,540 crossed over into the pop charts, 531 00:23:31,584 --> 00:23:33,716 and now rap is growing in Canada. 532 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:35,718 REPORTER 2: This past summer, people with the record chains 533 00:23:35,762 --> 00:23:38,329 noticed an increasing demand for rap. 534 00:23:38,373 --> 00:23:41,158 Customers came in looking for specific artists. 535 00:23:41,202 --> 00:23:43,073 They also were looking for whatever was new 536 00:23:43,117 --> 00:23:45,511 in the realm of rap. 537 00:23:45,554 --> 00:23:50,429 [footsteps echo] 538 00:24:08,055 --> 00:24:12,407 [hip-hop beat] 539 00:24:12,451 --> 00:24:15,802 ♪ 540 00:24:15,845 --> 00:24:18,369 ♪ 541 00:24:18,413 --> 00:24:21,590 [record scratching] 542 00:24:21,634 --> 00:24:25,246 ♪ 543 00:24:25,289 --> 00:24:29,076 ♪ 544 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:32,253 ♪ 545 00:24:32,296 --> 00:24:36,518 ♪ 546 00:24:36,562 --> 00:24:40,261 ♪ 547 00:24:40,304 --> 00:24:42,611 ♪ 548 00:24:45,396 --> 00:24:50,489 ♪ 549 00:24:50,532 --> 00:24:53,753 MAN: All I can say about hip-hop is that hip-hop is me. 550 00:24:53,796 --> 00:24:55,624 You know what I mean? I can't control it. 551 00:24:55,668 --> 00:24:57,844 It's just taken control of me. 552 00:24:57,887 --> 00:25:00,716 I'll just-- I'll leave it at that. 553 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:04,154 DJX: I got started probably around 1985. 554 00:25:04,198 --> 00:25:06,243 Moved right into the breakdance era. 555 00:25:06,287 --> 00:25:07,680 Tried different stuff. 556 00:25:07,723 --> 00:25:09,986 I tried dancing, I tried like, you know, the fashion, 557 00:25:10,030 --> 00:25:13,860 this and that, and I ended up being drawn to the music. 558 00:25:13,903 --> 00:25:16,210 MELBOOGIE: My dad got us a pair of turntables, 559 00:25:16,253 --> 00:25:18,604 not because they wanted us to DJ or anything, 560 00:25:18,647 --> 00:25:20,954 but he just wanted us to keep our sticky paws off 561 00:25:20,997 --> 00:25:22,564 of his prized possessions. 562 00:25:22,608 --> 00:25:26,873 And that basically just developed my love for hip-hop, 563 00:25:26,916 --> 00:25:28,831 and I started listening to Ron Nelson, 564 00:25:28,875 --> 00:25:33,662 The Fantastic Voyage on CKLN. 565 00:25:33,706 --> 00:25:36,099 FRANKENSTEIN: There was a kid that lived behind me. 566 00:25:36,143 --> 00:25:37,405 His name was Henderson. 567 00:25:37,448 --> 00:25:39,712 So I knock on Henderson's door and, you know, 568 00:25:39,755 --> 00:25:41,496 Henderson's parents were from Jamaica, 569 00:25:41,540 --> 00:25:43,585 and almost every time I'm walking in the door, like, 570 00:25:43,629 --> 00:25:46,501 music's being played, like on big, loud speakers. 571 00:25:46,545 --> 00:25:48,068 The first time I ever heard hip-hop 572 00:25:48,111 --> 00:25:50,374 was in Henderson's home, right? 573 00:25:50,418 --> 00:25:52,594 We're going to school together and I'm like, "What's that?" 574 00:25:52,638 --> 00:25:54,465 He's like, "You don't know what that is?" 575 00:25:54,509 --> 00:25:57,338 And he's breaking, so I would say the first introduction 576 00:25:57,381 --> 00:26:01,211 to the art form is breakdancing, and to see somebody's body move 577 00:26:01,255 --> 00:26:03,823 in ways that you've never seen it before. 578 00:26:03,866 --> 00:26:06,956 So let's remember, like, this stuff is not on television. 579 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:08,784 There is no YouTube. 580 00:26:08,828 --> 00:26:13,310 If you're not in person seeing somebody move this way, 581 00:26:13,354 --> 00:26:15,574 you can't even explain it to anybody else. 582 00:26:15,617 --> 00:26:17,663 And that was my first introduction to it, 583 00:26:17,706 --> 00:26:18,968 and I've been hooked ever since. 584 00:26:19,012 --> 00:26:21,231 And I think the first time you get introduced 585 00:26:21,275 --> 00:26:24,321 to one of the art forms, it has a way of hooking you in. 586 00:26:24,365 --> 00:26:26,759 It's an undeniable thing that draws you in. 587 00:26:26,802 --> 00:26:29,588 And for me, that's what did it. 588 00:26:29,631 --> 00:26:31,198 SWITCH B: I grew up on the four elements of hip-hop, 589 00:26:31,241 --> 00:26:33,243 and the four elements of hip-hop, 590 00:26:33,287 --> 00:26:36,464 to quite Crazy Legs: graffiti being the black sheep of hip-hop 591 00:26:36,507 --> 00:26:38,118 because it's the least understood, 592 00:26:38,161 --> 00:26:40,294 DJing being the loyal child of hip-hop 593 00:26:40,337 --> 00:26:42,122 because it always does its job, 594 00:26:42,165 --> 00:26:45,168 MCing being the spoiled child of hip-hop 595 00:26:45,212 --> 00:26:47,344 because it's the youngest and it gets the most attention, 596 00:26:47,388 --> 00:26:49,608 and then my element, breakdancing, 597 00:26:49,651 --> 00:26:50,826 which is the bastard child of hip-hop 598 00:26:50,870 --> 00:26:52,698 because there's no father to its style. 599 00:26:52,741 --> 00:26:54,134 [hip-hop music] 600 00:26:54,177 --> 00:26:55,918 ♪ From the back to the front 601 00:26:55,962 --> 00:26:57,180 ♪ Left to the right 602 00:26:57,224 --> 00:26:59,226 ♪ Hold tight, Red1's on the mic ♪ 603 00:26:59,269 --> 00:27:00,836 ♪ From the front to the back 604 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:02,316 ♪ Left to the right 605 00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:04,971 ♪ Hold tight, Misfit about to rock the mic ♪ 606 00:27:05,014 --> 00:27:07,277 ♪ It's just a soul obligation 607 00:27:07,321 --> 00:27:08,670 ♪ The crunch of my collection 608 00:27:08,714 --> 00:27:10,890 ♪ And poetry is my occupation 609 00:27:10,933 --> 00:27:13,544 ♪ I'm always eager, getting' through like a cleaver ♪ 610 00:27:13,588 --> 00:27:16,765 ♪ With foresight to bring back minds that went astray ♪ 611 00:27:16,809 --> 00:27:19,072 ♪ Rather than tackle lyrical lines, I can make the play ♪ 612 00:27:19,115 --> 00:27:20,900 ♪ So now for crowd 613 00:27:20,943 --> 00:27:23,511 ♪ To compliment my supplementary angle ♪ 614 00:27:23,554 --> 00:27:26,427 ♪ Tangled up Never ever had above minds ♪ 615 00:27:26,470 --> 00:27:29,473 ♪ Precipitous justice it's always brought to my mic ♪ 616 00:27:29,517 --> 00:27:31,737 ♪ If I was in the tease, so it's a must ♪ 617 00:27:31,780 --> 00:27:33,869 ♪ I come full fledged and never flimsy ♪ 618 00:27:33,913 --> 00:27:35,697 ♪ With all the power I possess ♪ 619 00:27:35,741 --> 00:27:37,699 ♪ There's no need for exponents ♪ 620 00:27:37,743 --> 00:27:40,702 ♪ Movin' the earth with my rhyme like plate tectonics ♪ 621 00:27:40,746 --> 00:27:42,051 ♪ Oh, we shift 622 00:27:42,095 --> 00:27:43,705 ♪ Better make it skirt you will be get ♪ 623 00:27:43,749 --> 00:27:45,794 ♪ Permanently eclipsed from Mars ♪ 624 00:27:45,838 --> 00:27:48,710 ♪ Super entity and that means calamity 625 00:27:48,754 --> 00:27:52,192 is destined to fall on thee. ♪ 626 00:27:54,194 --> 00:27:56,109 FRANKENSTEIN: If you're passionate about something, 627 00:27:56,152 --> 00:28:00,243 your pursuit of knowledge or seeking it is there, okay? 628 00:28:00,287 --> 00:28:01,636 Now, you can't find it in the libraries. 629 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:03,377 You can't find this anywhere. 630 00:28:03,420 --> 00:28:05,074 JAZZY GANNON: Obviously there was no commercial radio. 631 00:28:05,118 --> 00:28:07,120 College radio was a thing. 632 00:28:07,163 --> 00:28:10,819 CIUT, CKLN. 633 00:28:10,863 --> 00:28:12,560 You gotta give respect to Ron Nelson 634 00:28:12,603 --> 00:28:16,607 because he was the pioneer to me. 635 00:28:16,651 --> 00:28:20,655 Not only did he have the number one shows for hip-hop, 636 00:28:20,699 --> 00:28:23,136 but he was a promoter of hip-hop. 637 00:28:23,179 --> 00:28:25,747 RON: Roxanne Shanté is in the place! 638 00:28:25,791 --> 00:28:28,271 And she's gonna tear it up in a minute, alright? 639 00:28:28,315 --> 00:28:30,534 ROXANNE: ♪ Let you know that Shanté's the best. ♪ 640 00:28:30,578 --> 00:28:33,363 ♪ Top MC, that's who I am. 641 00:28:33,407 --> 00:28:36,149 ♪ Let's get reggae, I don't give a damn. ♪ 642 00:28:36,192 --> 00:28:38,020 SPADE: Back then, to be a DJ, 643 00:28:38,064 --> 00:28:39,587 you made your name breaking records. 644 00:28:39,630 --> 00:28:41,371 "I'm the first one to drop this record," 645 00:28:41,415 --> 00:28:42,764 and that's how you made a name. 646 00:28:42,808 --> 00:28:45,201 And Ron was the guy who was dropping new records 647 00:28:45,245 --> 00:28:46,376 before anybody, right? 648 00:28:46,420 --> 00:28:48,335 So anybody who went down to New York, 649 00:28:48,378 --> 00:28:49,902 you came back with stuff; 650 00:28:49,945 --> 00:28:52,818 you'd go right to Ron and he'd break it on air for you. 651 00:28:52,861 --> 00:28:56,038 Like, he's a godfather in the sense that he's the one 652 00:28:56,082 --> 00:28:58,388 with the vision that's seen us going on 653 00:28:58,432 --> 00:28:59,694 and taking this to radio. 654 00:28:59,738 --> 00:29:02,218 He's like our red alert. [laughs] 655 00:29:02,262 --> 00:29:03,872 RON: [on radio] ...it's definitely live this year 656 00:29:03,916 --> 00:29:05,178 more than any other year, 657 00:29:05,221 --> 00:29:07,006 and it's good to see the Canadian artists 658 00:29:07,049 --> 00:29:08,790 putting themselves on the map. 659 00:29:08,834 --> 00:29:12,141 "Elements of Style," that's gonna be a hit. 660 00:29:12,185 --> 00:29:13,664 I bet you any money it's gonna be a hit, 661 00:29:13,708 --> 00:29:15,797 and that's on the compilation record 662 00:29:15,841 --> 00:29:18,234 by Beat Factory Productions and Streetbeat. 663 00:29:18,278 --> 00:29:20,323 Rumble & Strong's work are in there 664 00:29:20,367 --> 00:29:22,935 as well as Street, uh-- 665 00:29:22,978 --> 00:29:24,937 Streetbeat's stuff's on the B side. 666 00:29:24,980 --> 00:29:26,939 What's this? Toronto is on wax. 667 00:29:26,982 --> 00:29:29,332 Yeah, we know it, and it's only gonna get better. 668 00:29:29,376 --> 00:29:31,857 The new Kenny Crush[?] on its way down... 669 00:29:31,900 --> 00:29:35,382 ♪ 670 00:29:35,425 --> 00:29:38,733 ♪ 671 00:29:38,777 --> 00:29:42,258 ♪ 672 00:29:42,302 --> 00:29:44,565 ♪ 673 00:29:44,608 --> 00:29:48,351 RON: The landscape for Toronto urban radio 674 00:29:48,395 --> 00:29:51,964 at the time was there really was no Canadian urban radio. 675 00:29:52,007 --> 00:29:55,445 WBLK from Buffalo was our urban radio. 676 00:29:55,489 --> 00:29:58,057 We loved it. We couldn't get enough of WBLK. 677 00:29:58,100 --> 00:30:00,233 The only problem was it was American, not Canadian. 678 00:30:00,276 --> 00:30:03,932 They didn't care about our identity, our artists, 679 00:30:03,976 --> 00:30:07,066 you know, our movement. 680 00:30:07,109 --> 00:30:09,590 It was kind of a nice thing 681 00:30:09,633 --> 00:30:12,419 when a radio station came along. 682 00:30:12,462 --> 00:30:15,291 As tiny a signal as it had, it didn't really matter, 683 00:30:15,335 --> 00:30:18,120 but for the first time it created an umbrella 684 00:30:18,164 --> 00:30:20,731 for people to meet, for people to connect. 685 00:30:20,775 --> 00:30:22,472 MAESTRO FRESH WES: That was my very first place 686 00:30:22,516 --> 00:30:24,953 where I had my interview, I never-- and he said, like, 687 00:30:24,997 --> 00:30:28,478 "Yo, man, that's Melody MC," because that's my old rap name. 688 00:30:28,522 --> 00:30:31,873 "Melody MC, man, he's 15 and damn, he's good." 689 00:30:31,917 --> 00:30:33,266 And I never forgot that. 690 00:30:33,309 --> 00:30:34,833 Up till now, I still remember that. 691 00:30:34,876 --> 00:30:36,835 The real, true maestro, 692 00:30:36,878 --> 00:30:41,709 orchestrating everything out of CKLN 88.1. 693 00:30:41,752 --> 00:30:44,059 RON: I couldn't get enough of that urban music. 694 00:30:44,103 --> 00:30:45,800 Didn't wait on distribution. 695 00:30:45,844 --> 00:30:47,236 Didn't wait on the radio station. 696 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:49,630 At the radio station, you have a record library. 697 00:30:49,673 --> 00:30:51,632 It's a big room full of records. 698 00:30:51,675 --> 00:30:55,244 They had a few things from Run DMC and Whodini, 699 00:30:55,288 --> 00:30:58,204 and a lot of the stuff was really weird that I didn't like. 700 00:30:58,247 --> 00:31:01,337 If you wanted to really please the people, 701 00:31:01,381 --> 00:31:03,383 you gotta go out and get your own shit. 702 00:31:03,426 --> 00:31:05,907 FRANKENSTEIN: And now, you can't just go to a record store 703 00:31:05,951 --> 00:31:08,344 in Toronto and pick up Rakim's record. 704 00:31:08,388 --> 00:31:09,737 They don't have it. 705 00:31:09,780 --> 00:31:11,391 They don't even know what you're talking about. 706 00:31:11,434 --> 00:31:13,567 SPADE: Those top-notch record stores weren't thinking hip-hop. 707 00:31:13,610 --> 00:31:15,438 The music industry, period, wasn't thinking hip-hop. 708 00:31:15,482 --> 00:31:16,831 They thought it was a fad. 709 00:31:16,875 --> 00:31:18,615 They thought, "Next year this is gonna be gone." 710 00:31:18,659 --> 00:31:20,487 DJX: You'd have people going to Buffalo 711 00:31:20,530 --> 00:31:22,924 because there were some record distributors in Buffalo. 712 00:31:22,968 --> 00:31:25,187 You'd have people travelling to New York City. 713 00:31:25,231 --> 00:31:28,016 RON: The whole thing about accessing music 714 00:31:28,060 --> 00:31:30,584 that we heard on the radio in Canada 715 00:31:30,627 --> 00:31:33,021 was a whole different level of difficulty 716 00:31:33,065 --> 00:31:35,589 than it was for American record stores 717 00:31:35,632 --> 00:31:37,896 to get those same pieces of vinyl. 718 00:31:37,939 --> 00:31:39,201 So we had to go through a lot more trouble 719 00:31:39,245 --> 00:31:41,073 and wait a lot more as DJs, 720 00:31:41,116 --> 00:31:43,989 and travel a lot more to find those record stores. 721 00:31:44,032 --> 00:31:45,425 DJ: How many records? 722 00:31:45,468 --> 00:31:49,777 I guess about 2,500 to 3,000. 723 00:31:49,820 --> 00:31:52,084 INTERVIEWER: And when you don't get records 724 00:31:52,127 --> 00:31:54,303 from the record company, where do you go to get records? 725 00:31:54,347 --> 00:31:56,349 DJ: Usually Play De. 726 00:31:56,392 --> 00:31:59,830 They've got the best selection, best hip-hop selection. 727 00:31:59,874 --> 00:32:03,182 EUGENE: The DJs in the store were into hip-hop. 728 00:32:03,225 --> 00:32:06,272 They say, "This is good. We should bring so-and-so." 729 00:32:06,315 --> 00:32:07,316 "Do it." 730 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:10,145 ♪ 731 00:32:10,189 --> 00:32:13,018 AKI: That propelled him to another level. 732 00:32:13,061 --> 00:32:16,151 Just word of mouth saying, "Hey, Play De Record has this, 733 00:32:16,195 --> 00:32:18,327 "Play De Record has that." 734 00:32:18,371 --> 00:32:20,199 DJ POWER: I remember it being a place where 735 00:32:20,242 --> 00:32:21,852 I got all my records, 736 00:32:21,896 --> 00:32:25,769 not only for the radio show but for clubs and DJ bookings. 737 00:32:25,813 --> 00:32:28,598 I mean, that was the place where I went 738 00:32:28,642 --> 00:32:31,210 to get everything for the week. 739 00:32:31,253 --> 00:32:32,994 KARDINAL OFFISHALL: My mom was never the type 740 00:32:33,038 --> 00:32:36,128 to give an allowance, but she used to give me like 741 00:32:36,171 --> 00:32:39,000 $20 a week for me to go and buy records 742 00:32:39,044 --> 00:32:40,654 because she knew how much that I loved hip-hop. 743 00:32:40,697 --> 00:32:42,786 So I remember, you know, grabbing 744 00:32:42,830 --> 00:32:46,007 The Beatnuts and Pharcyde and, you know, 745 00:32:46,051 --> 00:32:48,662 all the other stuff that was out at that time. 746 00:32:48,705 --> 00:32:51,186 Like, that was actually also something that inspired us 747 00:32:51,230 --> 00:32:52,274 because we were like, 748 00:32:52,318 --> 00:32:54,233 yo, that's who we wanted to be like. 749 00:32:54,276 --> 00:32:56,713 DJ DOPEY: And bringing the stuff that every, you know, 750 00:32:56,757 --> 00:33:01,109 popular DJ was playing, I think really had that role 751 00:33:01,153 --> 00:33:05,853 in being able to shape Toronto's scene and strengthen it, 752 00:33:05,896 --> 00:33:09,030 and actually place us on the map. 753 00:33:09,074 --> 00:33:11,554 EUGENE: And that's how the hip-hop 754 00:33:11,598 --> 00:33:13,687 and the electronic music 755 00:33:13,730 --> 00:33:16,298 were going together, and it was all underground. 756 00:33:16,342 --> 00:33:18,822 NICK: It became expensive to buy records because, you know, 757 00:33:18,866 --> 00:33:21,086 you're buying house and you're buying hip-hop at the same time, 758 00:33:21,129 --> 00:33:23,653 but it was just so much of both. 759 00:33:23,697 --> 00:33:24,915 And everything was there. 760 00:33:24,959 --> 00:33:26,700 Like, you can get everything there. 761 00:33:26,743 --> 00:33:28,354 LINDO P: So, as a reggae selector, 762 00:33:28,397 --> 00:33:31,444 you'd just go to the reggae record stores. 763 00:33:31,487 --> 00:33:32,575 You know what I mean? 764 00:33:32,619 --> 00:33:34,621 Try to get as much songs as you can. 765 00:33:34,664 --> 00:33:36,753 But everybody's going there, so you miss out. 766 00:33:36,797 --> 00:33:39,234 Now you miss out, you don't have the songs, 767 00:33:39,278 --> 00:33:42,020 you need to mash up the place-- where is the record now? 768 00:33:42,063 --> 00:33:43,847 "Just go to Play De Record, man!" 769 00:33:43,891 --> 00:33:44,935 "Why?" 770 00:33:44,979 --> 00:33:47,025 "Just go. They have reggae, too." 771 00:33:47,068 --> 00:33:49,244 And you go there and, there and behold, bro, 772 00:33:49,288 --> 00:33:51,290 there's a shop up, bro. You know what I'm saying? 773 00:33:51,333 --> 00:33:52,552 It wasn't so much. 774 00:33:52,595 --> 00:33:54,206 You know, that two little, small racks. 775 00:33:54,249 --> 00:33:56,077 It was maybe like that of 45s. 776 00:33:56,121 --> 00:33:57,339 You know what I mean? 777 00:33:57,383 --> 00:33:58,993 And a sprinkle of 12-inches here and there. 778 00:33:59,037 --> 00:34:00,429 But... they were there! 779 00:34:00,473 --> 00:34:02,083 [laughs] Know what I mean? 780 00:34:02,127 --> 00:34:04,607 DENISE: It had really good music that was well-curated, 781 00:34:04,651 --> 00:34:07,871 and people who knew about that music and who could be like, 782 00:34:07,915 --> 00:34:10,222 "Oh, you're into this? Check this out." 783 00:34:10,265 --> 00:34:11,614 AKI: That was the difference between, 784 00:34:11,658 --> 00:34:14,704 you know, going to just a regular record store 785 00:34:14,748 --> 00:34:16,837 and Play De Record. And they had good stuff, right? 786 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:19,144 They had local DJs that knew what they're doing 787 00:34:19,187 --> 00:34:20,536 working there. 788 00:34:20,580 --> 00:34:22,799 EUGENE: One thing I looked for is, like, 789 00:34:22,843 --> 00:34:27,282 young guys who's hungry, who love music, 790 00:34:27,326 --> 00:34:32,070 and probably will do anything for music. 791 00:34:32,113 --> 00:34:34,159 PETER: I went in a couple of times, 792 00:34:34,202 --> 00:34:36,465 looked around and saw what he had. 793 00:34:36,509 --> 00:34:38,554 I said, "I would love to work here." 794 00:34:38,598 --> 00:34:42,080 And he said, "Yeah, sure." 795 00:34:42,123 --> 00:34:43,994 MARCUS: Then I went over to Eugene's, 796 00:34:44,038 --> 00:34:46,606 I played a record and asked him if I could do co-op. 797 00:34:46,649 --> 00:34:48,390 And at the time, he was kind of like, 798 00:34:48,434 --> 00:34:50,000 "I don't need anyone else," you know? 799 00:34:50,044 --> 00:34:53,700 And I was like, "It's free," and he was like, "Okay!" 800 00:34:53,743 --> 00:34:56,485 JUG-E: For class, they actually made us write out a proposal 801 00:34:56,529 --> 00:34:59,401 for why we should be able to do it, you know, 802 00:34:59,445 --> 00:35:02,404 why we think we're suitable to do co-op in your establishment. 803 00:35:02,448 --> 00:35:05,320 And I walked in there with all this thing in my mind. 804 00:35:05,364 --> 00:35:06,843 I said, "Excuse me, sir, 805 00:35:06,887 --> 00:35:10,020 "can I please do my co-op in your store?" 806 00:35:10,064 --> 00:35:12,675 And Eugene looked at me and he said, 807 00:35:12,719 --> 00:35:14,851 "Okay." [laughs] 808 00:35:14,895 --> 00:35:16,549 DAVE: Some people, they got their job there 809 00:35:16,592 --> 00:35:18,638 because they were big, top DJs. 810 00:35:18,681 --> 00:35:20,292 People would come follow them at parties 811 00:35:20,335 --> 00:35:22,120 and come buy records off them. 812 00:35:22,163 --> 00:35:25,601 Other people ended up coming as, like, co-op students, 813 00:35:25,645 --> 00:35:30,693 and I just came out of being a customer. 814 00:35:30,737 --> 00:35:32,521 SHAMS: They said, "Hey, why don't you come by? 815 00:35:32,565 --> 00:35:34,393 "And, you know, Eugene wants to talk to you." 816 00:35:34,436 --> 00:35:37,135 And so Eugene talked to me and said, "Hey, you know, 817 00:35:37,178 --> 00:35:40,007 "it would be nice if you could, you know, work here." 818 00:35:40,050 --> 00:35:43,358 ♪ 819 00:35:43,402 --> 00:35:45,795 SHAMS: They all shop here, all the top DJs, 820 00:35:45,839 --> 00:35:48,320 like Chris Sheppard, Hedley, 821 00:35:48,363 --> 00:35:50,235 Wayne Williams, Mike Devine, 822 00:35:50,278 --> 00:35:54,152 Dr. Know, Paul Lopez, DJX. 823 00:35:54,195 --> 00:35:55,718 SHAMS: So, initially when I started working at 824 00:35:55,762 --> 00:35:57,546 Play De Record, I had an in 825 00:35:57,590 --> 00:35:59,287 to getting what was gonna be a hit 826 00:35:59,331 --> 00:36:01,246 way before it even got to the store. 827 00:36:01,289 --> 00:36:03,944 And then a lot of times, I knew a lot of producers 828 00:36:03,987 --> 00:36:07,077 that would give me their songs on DAT, like a master, 829 00:36:07,121 --> 00:36:09,341 and they would send it to me and they'd say, "Here, play it." 830 00:36:09,384 --> 00:36:10,559 It was in their best interest, 831 00:36:10,603 --> 00:36:12,561 so if they were to give it to me, 832 00:36:12,605 --> 00:36:14,911 I would break it on radio, to the clubs, 833 00:36:14,955 --> 00:36:16,783 so that when the record came out, 834 00:36:16,826 --> 00:36:19,916 it would sell out within seconds. 835 00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:21,179 JUG-E: Record bitch! 836 00:36:21,222 --> 00:36:22,702 That was my original position. 837 00:36:22,745 --> 00:36:26,009 Put away vinyl, label vinyl, price vinyl. 838 00:36:26,053 --> 00:36:28,838 Write those little stupid signs that you guys used to steal, 839 00:36:28,882 --> 00:36:32,755 just rip off and throw it-- that was my job, originally. 840 00:36:32,799 --> 00:36:37,020 I began to see some of the best DJs in the city, 841 00:36:37,064 --> 00:36:39,458 how they were shopping for vinyl, 842 00:36:39,501 --> 00:36:41,764 how they were listening to vinyl, 843 00:36:41,808 --> 00:36:45,246 what was making them buy a piece of vinyl, 844 00:36:45,290 --> 00:36:48,336 and I started to really become a student of the game 845 00:36:48,380 --> 00:36:51,383 and watch-- I mean, this is Toronto. 846 00:36:51,426 --> 00:36:54,342 We have a million great DJs here. 847 00:36:54,386 --> 00:36:59,652 Dave Cooper, Jason Palma, Medicine Muffin, everybody, 848 00:36:59,695 --> 00:37:02,263 and these are the people that were just on staff alone. 849 00:37:02,307 --> 00:37:03,743 Kenny Glasgow. 850 00:37:03,786 --> 00:37:06,267 Like, people were there, like the best of the best. 851 00:37:06,311 --> 00:37:08,313 JASON: By that time, I had been coming to Play De 852 00:37:08,356 --> 00:37:10,924 for a few years and I had become really friendly with Eugene, 853 00:37:10,967 --> 00:37:14,232 and Peter and Tyrone and Aki, and I was starting to DJ 854 00:37:14,275 --> 00:37:17,278 and I was starting to make my name in the underground scene. 855 00:37:17,322 --> 00:37:19,498 Aki went to bat for me and said, "You should get Jason. 856 00:37:19,541 --> 00:37:21,064 "He's pretty knowledgeable." 857 00:37:21,108 --> 00:37:22,501 So then Eugene asked me and he goes, 858 00:37:22,544 --> 00:37:23,589 "We'll try you out. 859 00:37:23,632 --> 00:37:25,330 "We'll try you out. A couple days." 860 00:37:25,373 --> 00:37:26,635 INTERVIEWER: A couple days turned into...? 861 00:37:26,679 --> 00:37:28,594 JASON: Twenty-something years, I guess, right? 862 00:37:28,637 --> 00:37:30,422 Or longer. Yeah, it's a long time! 863 00:37:30,465 --> 00:37:32,424 Twenty-something years, yeah. 864 00:37:32,467 --> 00:37:36,602 ♪ 865 00:37:36,645 --> 00:37:38,168 DAVID: And I've told him this, 866 00:37:38,212 --> 00:37:40,606 and I've told lots of people this, that I think 867 00:37:40,649 --> 00:37:42,390 he has the best ears in the city, even back then. 868 00:37:42,434 --> 00:37:43,522 DJ GROUCH: He knows his stuff, man. 869 00:37:43,565 --> 00:37:44,914 Like, that guy knows records. 870 00:37:44,958 --> 00:37:46,873 NICK: He pulled stuff that was just like, he goes, 871 00:37:46,916 --> 00:37:48,483 "Oh, just take this. You're gonna like it." 872 00:37:48,527 --> 00:37:49,702 I said, "Okay," and then you got home and you're just like, 873 00:37:49,745 --> 00:37:51,617 "Shit, this is like, yeah, crazy." 874 00:37:51,660 --> 00:37:53,619 I mean, his taste in music was also, like, 875 00:37:53,662 --> 00:37:55,447 "Don't even listen to it, just buy it." 876 00:37:55,490 --> 00:37:57,927 EUGENE: That guy studies music every night. 877 00:37:57,971 --> 00:37:59,668 He knows what's going on. 878 00:37:59,712 --> 00:38:01,322 He DJs. 879 00:38:01,366 --> 00:38:06,458 He really brought a lot to the table, and he's a good DJ. 880 00:38:06,501 --> 00:38:08,764 JASON: And Eugene was smart. 881 00:38:08,808 --> 00:38:11,201 He loved music but he didn't know everything. 882 00:38:11,245 --> 00:38:13,203 He couldn't know everything. Nobody can know everything. 883 00:38:13,247 --> 00:38:15,467 But he wanted to get the people in there 884 00:38:15,510 --> 00:38:17,817 that he knew other people respected. 885 00:38:17,860 --> 00:38:19,384 JASON: So when he hired Aki, 886 00:38:19,427 --> 00:38:22,082 he knew Aki knew the young kids that wanted house. 887 00:38:22,125 --> 00:38:23,910 When he hired Peter and Tyrone, he knew that. 888 00:38:23,953 --> 00:38:25,955 When he hired Junior, he knew Junior knew the kids 889 00:38:25,999 --> 00:38:27,479 who wanted hip-hop records. 890 00:38:27,522 --> 00:38:29,219 And then, he saw that I knew what I was talking about, 891 00:38:29,263 --> 00:38:32,135 he saw that I had a knack for showing kids records 892 00:38:32,179 --> 00:38:33,702 and selling records. 893 00:38:33,746 --> 00:38:35,617 Because Eugene had a thing... [laughs] 894 00:38:35,661 --> 00:38:37,227 He's like, "Okay, you gotta push records. 895 00:38:37,271 --> 00:38:38,490 "Push 'em!" 896 00:38:38,533 --> 00:38:40,056 Because he wanted to sell records, right? 897 00:38:40,100 --> 00:38:42,232 Like, Eugene loved the records, but he loved the business. 898 00:38:42,276 --> 00:38:43,669 You know, he was trying to make money. 899 00:38:43,712 --> 00:38:45,497 EUGENE: I was pushing-- "Hey, we gotta sell. 900 00:38:45,540 --> 00:38:48,761 "We got 100 of this record and you're not selling, man! 901 00:38:48,804 --> 00:38:50,980 "I can't pay you guys, man! 902 00:38:51,024 --> 00:38:53,418 "Let's sell, man!" And then they would go. 903 00:38:53,461 --> 00:38:55,376 JUG-E: Back then, the culture was a little bit different. 904 00:38:55,420 --> 00:38:57,944 One record could literally make a difference 905 00:38:57,987 --> 00:39:00,338 in your entire night as a DJ. 906 00:39:00,381 --> 00:39:04,254 That's what my job was, is to find out what that record is. 907 00:39:04,298 --> 00:39:06,561 SHAMS: Then you have to listen to somebody play the song 908 00:39:06,605 --> 00:39:08,781 on their phone, and you'd hear, you know, 909 00:39:08,824 --> 00:39:11,392 just by listening to it, whether it's good or not, right? 910 00:39:11,436 --> 00:39:12,872 And that's how you'd order. 911 00:39:12,915 --> 00:39:14,874 MARCUS: You know, on top of ordering, 912 00:39:14,917 --> 00:39:16,745 you'd have to order smart because, you know, 913 00:39:16,789 --> 00:39:19,269 if I was saying, "We're gonna move 30 of that," 914 00:39:19,313 --> 00:39:20,793 and it just sat in the shop, 915 00:39:20,836 --> 00:39:22,403 well, then he's not gonna trust you anymore. 916 00:39:22,447 --> 00:39:23,709 You had to guess. 917 00:39:23,752 --> 00:39:25,319 "You know what? I can move 10 of that. 918 00:39:25,363 --> 00:39:26,973 "I can move 20 of that." 919 00:39:27,016 --> 00:39:29,105 DAVE: The people that worked in the store didn't just, like, 920 00:39:29,149 --> 00:39:31,586 "I focus on this and anything else is like, 921 00:39:31,630 --> 00:39:33,109 "If I like it, I'll know about it. 922 00:39:33,153 --> 00:39:34,937 "If I don't, I don't care about it." 923 00:39:34,981 --> 00:39:37,331 Regardless of what your speciality was, 924 00:39:37,375 --> 00:39:39,289 you had to know music. 925 00:39:39,333 --> 00:39:41,770 ♪ 926 00:39:41,814 --> 00:39:43,337 EUGENE: But all of us working together, 927 00:39:43,381 --> 00:39:45,731 especially these guys, you know, the young, 928 00:39:45,774 --> 00:39:49,909 the youth and them, they were pushing me, man. 929 00:39:49,952 --> 00:39:51,258 And I was going for it, too, 930 00:39:51,301 --> 00:39:52,825 because I wanted to succeed, right? 931 00:39:52,868 --> 00:39:54,609 MARCUS: Call it the Play De Record alumni. 932 00:39:54,653 --> 00:39:57,003 Like, honestly, now, looking back on it, 933 00:39:57,046 --> 00:39:59,875 so many amazing, talented people 934 00:39:59,919 --> 00:40:03,096 came out of that school, in a sense. 935 00:40:03,139 --> 00:40:05,315 AKI: You know, the knowledge that I gained 936 00:40:05,359 --> 00:40:08,144 from working there, that was my pay, you know? 937 00:40:08,188 --> 00:40:13,280 I mean, Eugene, I owe it all to Eugene, what I have now, 938 00:40:13,323 --> 00:40:16,239 you know, as I learned everything 939 00:40:16,283 --> 00:40:19,025 about the record store business and selling records from him. 940 00:40:19,068 --> 00:40:22,376 So, you know, that was my pay. 941 00:40:22,420 --> 00:40:25,684 ♪ 942 00:40:25,727 --> 00:40:29,252 ♪ 943 00:40:29,296 --> 00:40:32,255 ♪ 944 00:40:34,388 --> 00:40:35,998 RON: There was also, though, 945 00:40:36,042 --> 00:40:39,306 a whole movement going on in the urban areas, 946 00:40:39,349 --> 00:40:41,526 like in Scarborough, where we had Mike's Music Shop, 947 00:40:41,569 --> 00:40:45,791 and in Eglinton West, we had, like, Monica's Records and, 948 00:40:45,834 --> 00:40:49,925 you know, a few others that pioneered the idea 949 00:40:49,969 --> 00:40:52,232 of you sell more records 950 00:40:52,275 --> 00:40:55,104 if you have a good sound system in the record store. 951 00:40:55,148 --> 00:40:56,932 It's like you're seeing a DJ. 952 00:40:56,976 --> 00:40:59,674 AKI: Play De Record had a similar concept 953 00:40:59,718 --> 00:41:01,415 where I would be playing the records 954 00:41:01,459 --> 00:41:03,417 and the DJs would be there and say, 955 00:41:03,461 --> 00:41:06,812 "Yeah, that's pretty good." I had to really know the song, 956 00:41:06,855 --> 00:41:08,857 the breaks, the best part of the song, 957 00:41:08,901 --> 00:41:11,425 so that I can sell that music to them, right? 958 00:41:11,469 --> 00:41:15,385 ♪ 959 00:41:15,429 --> 00:41:18,432 ♪ 960 00:41:18,476 --> 00:41:21,696 ♪ 961 00:41:21,740 --> 00:41:23,393 JUG-E: You can hear it before you see it. 962 00:41:23,437 --> 00:41:25,308 You know, that was the beauty about Play De Record. 963 00:41:25,352 --> 00:41:27,702 You know, you can hear it from the street 964 00:41:27,746 --> 00:41:29,704 and you don't really know where the music is coming from. 965 00:41:29,748 --> 00:41:32,968 DAVE: Whoever was available and could handle the heat 966 00:41:33,012 --> 00:41:36,711 would be behind the turntables at the deck and be like, boom, 967 00:41:36,755 --> 00:41:40,541 album cut, boom, 12-inch, remix of a big song. 968 00:41:40,585 --> 00:41:43,413 ♪ 969 00:41:43,457 --> 00:41:44,545 EUGENE: They played loud, 970 00:41:44,589 --> 00:41:47,330 and when you play it loud... 971 00:41:47,374 --> 00:41:48,549 it sounds better! 972 00:41:48,593 --> 00:41:50,290 [laughs] Right? 973 00:41:50,333 --> 00:41:52,771 Because I know so many customers always tell me the same thing. 974 00:41:52,814 --> 00:41:54,599 They say, "Man, this store played some songs 975 00:41:54,642 --> 00:41:57,297 "and it was so good, man, but when I got home, 976 00:41:57,340 --> 00:41:58,516 "the songs sound like shit." 977 00:41:58,559 --> 00:41:59,865 [laughs] 978 00:41:59,908 --> 00:42:01,780 But I don't know. You know what I mean? 979 00:42:01,823 --> 00:42:03,216 [house music] 980 00:42:03,259 --> 00:42:04,957 CHRIS: This is a place where everybody can come 981 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:07,612 and have an opportunity to listen to new beats. 982 00:42:23,018 --> 00:42:24,846 EUGENE: Well, Star Sound was there at the time, 983 00:42:24,890 --> 00:42:26,587 and Carnival Records, right? 984 00:42:26,631 --> 00:42:29,068 So they were my competition at that time. 985 00:42:29,111 --> 00:42:31,723 And then, I think Carnival closed, 986 00:42:31,766 --> 00:42:34,377 and then Star Sound started... 987 00:42:34,421 --> 00:42:37,250 I don't know what happened, you know? 988 00:42:37,293 --> 00:42:39,687 And then they switched to-- 989 00:42:39,731 --> 00:42:42,168 George took it over and became Traxx. 990 00:42:42,211 --> 00:42:43,822 SFS: There was Play De Record and Star Sound, 991 00:42:43,865 --> 00:42:46,041 which later became us. 992 00:42:46,085 --> 00:42:49,001 I never worked in Star Sound, but and I would just, you know, 993 00:42:49,044 --> 00:42:51,046 like every kid, you go hop, hop, but I only had, really, 994 00:42:51,090 --> 00:42:52,613 I was going downtown. 995 00:42:52,657 --> 00:42:56,095 Going downtown in itself was an adventure, number one, 996 00:42:56,138 --> 00:42:57,662 because I was never downtown. 997 00:42:57,705 --> 00:43:01,230 And I would just literally go Carnival, Play De Record, 998 00:43:01,274 --> 00:43:03,624 Star Sound, just bang bang bang bang bang. 999 00:43:03,668 --> 00:43:05,539 And you're going into this record store that, like, 1000 00:43:05,583 --> 00:43:07,802 all these big dog DJs are there, and you're like, 1001 00:43:07,846 --> 00:43:09,282 "Oh, whoa. Whoa! 1002 00:43:09,325 --> 00:43:11,197 That's-- oh, wow, okay, this is what they do!" 1003 00:43:11,240 --> 00:43:13,112 And then you look at the price tag 1004 00:43:13,155 --> 00:43:15,201 and you're like, "Okay, $7," and I'm like, 1005 00:43:15,244 --> 00:43:17,986 "Ah, I need money to get home, I need to eat something... 1006 00:43:18,030 --> 00:43:19,727 "Okay, I can take away the eating. 1007 00:43:19,771 --> 00:43:21,424 "But I gotta get home still!" 1008 00:43:21,468 --> 00:43:23,688 And Play De just became my normal 1009 00:43:23,731 --> 00:43:27,561 because that's where all my age friends were going, 1010 00:43:27,605 --> 00:43:29,215 because they were cool. 1011 00:43:29,258 --> 00:43:30,477 You know, it was family-owned. 1012 00:43:30,520 --> 00:43:32,174 Big difference. 1013 00:43:32,218 --> 00:43:34,263 Even though Eugene's dad looked like he wants to 1014 00:43:34,307 --> 00:43:36,309 kill everybody in the store when you walk in, 1015 00:43:36,352 --> 00:43:38,354 when you get to know them, super cool. 1016 00:43:38,398 --> 00:43:40,095 You know what I mean? The mom is super cool. 1017 00:43:40,139 --> 00:43:41,575 Eugene and Donna, amazing. 1018 00:43:41,619 --> 00:43:44,012 But my relationship with Traxx was because of George, 1019 00:43:44,056 --> 00:43:46,667 who owned Traxx, was part-owner of Traxx and Shakedown, 1020 00:43:46,711 --> 00:43:50,279 because I'd been using Shakedown for so long at that point, 1021 00:43:50,323 --> 00:43:52,455 and I was very close with George. 1022 00:43:52,499 --> 00:43:54,501 PETER: He owned a rental company, 1023 00:43:54,544 --> 00:43:56,677 Shakedown Sound, 1024 00:43:56,721 --> 00:44:00,202 so a lot of people used to rent off him for all sorts of stuff, 1025 00:44:00,246 --> 00:44:02,988 whether it was turntables, mixers, 1026 00:44:03,031 --> 00:44:05,730 and he also used to DJ himself. 1027 00:44:05,773 --> 00:44:08,733 So anyway, I've known him for a long time. 1028 00:44:08,776 --> 00:44:10,560 TRICKY MOREIRA: On the right-hand side of me 1029 00:44:10,604 --> 00:44:12,693 is the legend, the owner of Traxx Records, George. 1030 00:44:12,737 --> 00:44:13,955 What's going on? 1031 00:44:13,999 --> 00:44:15,740 What influenced you to open up the shop? 1032 00:44:15,783 --> 00:44:18,699 GEORGE: Oh, well, we got an opportunity to mix 1033 00:44:18,743 --> 00:44:21,136 DJ equipment sales and records together, 1034 00:44:21,180 --> 00:44:23,791 and we all know every DJ needs equipment, 1035 00:44:23,835 --> 00:44:27,186 so I guess we, combined with me and Ahmed over there, 1036 00:44:27,229 --> 00:44:31,277 to open a store that, you know, we could have equipment, 1037 00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:34,149 where they can do all their buying in one place. 1038 00:44:34,193 --> 00:44:37,413 DJX: Yeah, so the difference between George and Eugene, 1039 00:44:37,457 --> 00:44:41,200 I think Eugene was kind of like your uncle 1040 00:44:41,243 --> 00:44:43,289 or like your older brother. 1041 00:44:43,332 --> 00:44:45,944 George is very, like, he's very business-oriented. 1042 00:44:45,987 --> 00:44:49,121 Both great guys, but both very, very different. 1043 00:44:49,164 --> 00:44:50,905 SFS: Biggest heart in the world. 1044 00:44:50,949 --> 00:44:54,692 Would do anything for you when you're on his side. 1045 00:44:54,735 --> 00:44:57,085 But also the guy that if he doesn't like what you do 1046 00:44:57,129 --> 00:44:58,913 will tell you you're an idiot, you're an asshole. 1047 00:44:58,957 --> 00:45:02,351 "What the fuck are you doing? Get the fuck out of my store." 1048 00:45:02,395 --> 00:45:03,831 But by the same token, he's that guy, 1049 00:45:03,875 --> 00:45:05,746 if he loves you, he'll give you the biggest hug 1050 00:45:05,790 --> 00:45:07,487 in the world and make sure you get that record. 1051 00:45:07,530 --> 00:45:08,793 So put that into a big ball 1052 00:45:08,836 --> 00:45:10,969 and roll it down the bowling alley, 1053 00:45:11,012 --> 00:45:12,797 and that's George. 1054 00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:15,103 ♪ 1055 00:45:15,147 --> 00:45:16,757 GEORGE: Star Sound was the only one around. 1056 00:45:16,801 --> 00:45:18,541 He should have never let Eugene come on board. 1057 00:45:18,585 --> 00:45:19,891 Honestly. 1058 00:45:19,934 --> 00:45:21,240 Like, I mean, it's just like any competition: 1059 00:45:21,283 --> 00:45:23,459 if you can bury them, bury them. 1060 00:45:23,503 --> 00:45:25,331 DAVID: Star Sound was having a hard time, 1061 00:45:25,374 --> 00:45:27,202 and he kind of convinced Star Sound 1062 00:45:27,246 --> 00:45:30,684 to sell them Star Sound. 1063 00:45:30,728 --> 00:45:32,773 GEORGE: He asked me if I was interested to get involved 1064 00:45:32,817 --> 00:45:34,601 with him in this record store and I thought, you know, 1065 00:45:34,644 --> 00:45:39,911 "Hand in hand, DJs, records, audio: perfect mix." 1066 00:45:39,954 --> 00:45:43,392 [techno music] 1067 00:45:43,436 --> 00:45:47,005 ♪ Such a treat, such a treat... ♪ 1068 00:45:47,048 --> 00:45:49,921 ♪ Such a treat, such a treat! 1069 00:45:49,964 --> 00:45:51,487 ♪ 1070 00:45:51,531 --> 00:45:53,359 RADIO ANNOUNCER: DJs, get on the right track 1071 00:45:53,402 --> 00:45:55,056 with Traxx! 1072 00:45:55,100 --> 00:45:59,147 Traxx, Canada's largest dance music and DJ equipment emporium. 1073 00:46:01,497 --> 00:46:04,457 GEORGE: Well, we took Peter and Tyrone from Play De, 1074 00:46:04,500 --> 00:46:06,764 so that was a big thing for us at the beginning. 1075 00:46:06,807 --> 00:46:08,200 Getting Peter and Tyrone was big. 1076 00:46:08,243 --> 00:46:09,679 SHAMS: Overnight it happened. 1077 00:46:09,723 --> 00:46:11,290 We tell Eugene, you know, "We're going over. 1078 00:46:11,333 --> 00:46:12,726 "We're leaving. 1079 00:46:12,770 --> 00:46:14,684 "We gotta go to the store, Traxx, and we're going." 1080 00:46:14,728 --> 00:46:17,078 Obviously Eugene was sad. 1081 00:46:17,122 --> 00:46:20,734 EUGENE: When George came out, he took Peter 1082 00:46:20,778 --> 00:46:22,518 to his store, so, cool, alright. 1083 00:46:22,562 --> 00:46:24,216 PETER: You know, and it was nothing against Eugene 1084 00:46:24,259 --> 00:46:25,434 or anything. 1085 00:46:25,478 --> 00:46:27,175 I just needed to change. 1086 00:46:27,219 --> 00:46:29,525 GEORGE: But they were gonna basically run my store, right? 1087 00:46:29,569 --> 00:46:31,614 So they were gonna be like management. 1088 00:46:31,658 --> 00:46:34,182 So they had control of what they ordered, 1089 00:46:34,226 --> 00:46:35,793 and I think they liked that. 1090 00:46:35,836 --> 00:46:37,446 DJ MATT C: And this is where the politics 1091 00:46:37,490 --> 00:46:40,406 of the record stores got very interesting. 1092 00:46:40,449 --> 00:46:42,974 DJ MATT C: You had Shams down at Play De Record, 1093 00:46:43,017 --> 00:46:45,324 and then you had Peter and Tyrone up the street 1094 00:46:45,367 --> 00:46:47,195 doing the ordering at Traxx. 1095 00:46:47,239 --> 00:46:50,416 The three of them happened to be these incredible DJs 1096 00:46:50,459 --> 00:46:53,462 that had a DJ crew called Peter, Tyrone & Shams. 1097 00:46:53,506 --> 00:46:56,291 If they wanted, they could theoretically 1098 00:46:56,335 --> 00:46:59,077 bring in enough records for each of them 1099 00:46:59,120 --> 00:47:02,515 to have a copy and no one else in the city to have a copy. 1100 00:47:02,558 --> 00:47:06,693 This became a very frustrating situation for me, 1101 00:47:06,736 --> 00:47:10,262 though Eugene would, in many cases, 1102 00:47:10,305 --> 00:47:12,177 put his foot down to make sure that I was getting 1103 00:47:12,220 --> 00:47:13,613 what I wanted. 1104 00:47:13,656 --> 00:47:15,136 EUGENE: I wasn't a DJ. 1105 00:47:15,180 --> 00:47:18,487 I wanted to get the music out there. 1106 00:47:18,531 --> 00:47:20,881 I played no politics in it, you know? 1107 00:47:20,925 --> 00:47:24,493 If I get a few records, I will hold it for maybe Chris Sheppard 1108 00:47:24,537 --> 00:47:27,148 and Hedley for their radio shows, you know? 1109 00:47:27,192 --> 00:47:29,716 Because if those guys play it, 1110 00:47:29,759 --> 00:47:31,631 people like it; I'm gonna sell more. 1111 00:47:31,674 --> 00:47:33,589 CHRIS: [on radio] It's Chris Sheppard on your radio, 1112 00:47:33,633 --> 00:47:35,591 feeling alright! 1113 00:47:35,635 --> 00:47:37,506 SFS: They have to be taken care of first. 1114 00:47:37,550 --> 00:47:40,118 It would make no sense for 15 copies of an exclusive record 1115 00:47:40,161 --> 00:47:43,164 to come in and you're giving it to the "basement DJs," 1116 00:47:43,208 --> 00:47:45,906 and then the record just sits and dies till the next week; 1117 00:47:45,950 --> 00:47:47,777 you gotta wait another week till it comes in, right? 1118 00:47:47,821 --> 00:47:50,128 So, we had to take care of the big dogs. 1119 00:47:50,171 --> 00:47:51,477 It's part of it. 1120 00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:52,695 That's the game. 1121 00:47:52,739 --> 00:47:54,045 EUGENE: But I don't know. 1122 00:47:54,088 --> 00:47:57,439 When I think back, if you had the record only, 1123 00:47:57,483 --> 00:47:59,964 you're probably, you know, the king, right? 1124 00:48:00,007 --> 00:48:01,879 PETER: You get to keep everything because you need 1125 00:48:01,922 --> 00:48:03,402 to see what to reorder. 1126 00:48:03,445 --> 00:48:06,796 You would only order one, to sample it, 1127 00:48:06,840 --> 00:48:10,017 to see if you need to reorder some of them 1128 00:48:10,061 --> 00:48:11,453 for the following week. 1129 00:48:11,497 --> 00:48:12,715 GEORGE: They were saying, 1130 00:48:12,759 --> 00:48:13,803 "Oh, we didn't know if the record was good." 1131 00:48:13,847 --> 00:48:15,066 But they knew the record was good. 1132 00:48:15,109 --> 00:48:16,328 They just didn't want anybody to have it. 1133 00:48:16,371 --> 00:48:18,069 They wanted to be the first guys to play it. 1134 00:48:18,112 --> 00:48:19,505 You know, we had little arguments here and there 1135 00:48:19,548 --> 00:48:21,594 with the staff with that shit. 1136 00:48:21,637 --> 00:48:23,726 JASON: Peter and Tyrone left and Traxx opened. 1137 00:48:23,770 --> 00:48:26,512 Traxx was Star Sound, turned into Traxx. 1138 00:48:26,555 --> 00:48:28,427 George bought it, and then there was a price war. 1139 00:48:28,470 --> 00:48:30,690 GEORGE: He was a tough guy, too. He was... 1140 00:48:30,733 --> 00:48:32,997 He was very competitive also. 1141 00:48:33,040 --> 00:48:34,781 EUGENE: We went down a little bit in price 1142 00:48:34,824 --> 00:48:37,523 because we're behind a store, man! 1143 00:48:37,566 --> 00:48:39,960 Who's gonna find us? 1144 00:48:40,004 --> 00:48:41,875 GEORGE: I guess if you own the building, 1145 00:48:41,919 --> 00:48:44,965 like he supposedly did, that's just I don't know for facts, 1146 00:48:45,009 --> 00:48:46,532 but you can get away with that. 1147 00:48:46,575 --> 00:48:48,969 But if you're giving 15% off, then a dollar off, 1148 00:48:49,013 --> 00:48:50,884 after a while all that shit adds up. 1149 00:48:50,928 --> 00:48:52,973 You're only making, like, 2 bucks a record. 1150 00:48:53,017 --> 00:48:55,106 JASON: Not only were the records $6.79, 1151 00:48:55,149 --> 00:48:56,672 but everybody wanted a discount. 1152 00:48:56,716 --> 00:48:58,109 Everybody thought they should get a discount. 1153 00:48:58,152 --> 00:48:59,937 And it goes to the point where Eugene is like, 1154 00:48:59,980 --> 00:49:02,504 "I can't because it's already $6.50 or $6.79." 1155 00:49:02,548 --> 00:49:03,679 Like, it was crazy. 1156 00:49:03,723 --> 00:49:05,420 There was loyal customers to both shops, 1157 00:49:05,464 --> 00:49:06,856 but at the end of the day, 1158 00:49:06,900 --> 00:49:09,729 everybody just wanted the damn records. 1159 00:49:09,772 --> 00:49:13,515 DJX: Play De Record and Traxx were very much neck-and-neck. 1160 00:49:13,559 --> 00:49:15,082 SFS: Keep in mind, you're talking about, you know, 1161 00:49:15,126 --> 00:49:17,824 a Starbucks being right next to a Tim Hortons. 1162 00:49:17,867 --> 00:49:19,869 They were literal walking distance from each other, 1163 00:49:19,913 --> 00:49:22,002 on the same street, on the same side of the street. 1164 00:49:22,046 --> 00:49:24,178 DJ Power: They were right up the street so, I mean, 1165 00:49:24,222 --> 00:49:26,180 you'd go to one, then you'd go to the other. 1166 00:49:26,224 --> 00:49:27,399 MELBOOGIE: I would go to Traxx first. 1167 00:49:27,442 --> 00:49:29,009 That was my first stop. 1168 00:49:29,053 --> 00:49:31,055 BASS LINE: I would make the trek up the street as well, too. 1169 00:49:31,098 --> 00:49:32,839 So, you know, you'd go to different places, 1170 00:49:32,882 --> 00:49:34,928 but Play De was definitely a staple for me 1171 00:49:34,972 --> 00:49:36,538 as far as the records that I buy. 1172 00:49:36,582 --> 00:49:39,019 There's plenty of red and white bags 1173 00:49:39,063 --> 00:49:41,021 around my parents' house still to this day! 1174 00:49:41,065 --> 00:49:42,849 DJ DOPEY: Eugene is obviously closer to, like, 1175 00:49:42,892 --> 00:49:45,112 the actual where I would get off on the subway. 1176 00:49:45,156 --> 00:49:46,374 DJ GROUCH: Exactly. 1177 00:49:46,418 --> 00:49:48,115 DJ DOPEY: So I would go to Play De first 1178 00:49:48,159 --> 00:49:49,987 and then walk up to Traxx. DJ GROUCH: Mm-hm. 1179 00:49:50,030 --> 00:49:52,946 DJ DOPEY: So it was always like something snarky to say, 1180 00:49:52,990 --> 00:49:54,469 you know? DJ GROUCH: Yeah, yeah. 1181 00:49:54,513 --> 00:49:56,080 You know, a grudge in the belly, you know? 1182 00:49:56,123 --> 00:49:57,168 "You don't know about me!" 1183 00:49:57,211 --> 00:49:58,734 DJ DOPEY: Yeah, yeah, straight up. 1184 00:49:58,778 --> 00:50:01,128 DJ GROUCH: "Back in my gino days," and all this stuff. 1185 00:50:01,172 --> 00:50:03,652 So you're like, "Okay, whatever, dude." 1186 00:50:03,696 --> 00:50:05,524 But I like George. Shoutout to George. 1187 00:50:05,567 --> 00:50:06,960 TRICKY MOREIRA: Respect to George and Ahmed 1188 00:50:07,004 --> 00:50:08,527 for opening up Traxx. 1189 00:50:08,570 --> 00:50:10,616 Another thing is they have a wide selection of DJ tapes. 1190 00:50:10,659 --> 00:50:13,010 Included in there is my tape, Tricky Moreira, 1191 00:50:13,053 --> 00:50:16,535 and it's a Dance Nation version. Pick it up at Traxx Records. 1192 00:50:16,578 --> 00:50:20,321 JASON: So, Play De is obviously known for records, 1193 00:50:20,365 --> 00:50:22,584 and for 12-inch singles, etc. 1194 00:50:22,628 --> 00:50:25,239 Funk, house, hip-hop. 1195 00:50:25,283 --> 00:50:28,242 But what people might not know about Play De Record 1196 00:50:28,286 --> 00:50:29,635 was the mixtape era. 1197 00:50:29,678 --> 00:50:32,899 ♪ 1198 00:50:32,942 --> 00:50:35,554 ♪ 1199 00:50:35,597 --> 00:50:38,513 JUG-E: That was a huge part of our revenue. 1200 00:50:38,557 --> 00:50:40,602 After you get past the porn and everything, 1201 00:50:40,646 --> 00:50:43,953 the first thing you see is the mixtape wall. 1202 00:50:43,997 --> 00:50:46,782 DAVE: Those mixtapes were, like, the first time you heard stuff, 1203 00:50:46,826 --> 00:50:50,090 heard music, heard verses, heard of artists. 1204 00:50:50,134 --> 00:50:51,657 DENISE: They'd be a calling card. 1205 00:50:51,700 --> 00:50:54,616 DJs would create mixtapes to showcase the kind of sounds 1206 00:50:54,660 --> 00:50:56,531 they'd play and how they mixed them. 1207 00:50:56,575 --> 00:51:01,536 RUSSELL: I would buy Jason Palma cassettes, JoJo Flores. 1208 00:51:01,580 --> 00:51:04,757 I would buy drum and bass CDs and mixtapes from there. 1209 00:51:04,800 --> 00:51:06,454 DJ MENSA: Like, I had Neil Armstrong from New York. 1210 00:51:06,498 --> 00:51:08,456 He was like, "I need to go to Play De Record," 1211 00:51:08,500 --> 00:51:10,284 because he needed to break off Eugene with some mixtapes. 1212 00:51:10,328 --> 00:51:12,286 If you don't have your mixtapes at Play De, 1213 00:51:12,330 --> 00:51:14,114 you're not hitting your target audience. 1214 00:51:14,158 --> 00:51:15,420 NICK: I did a mixtape and he goes, 1215 00:51:15,463 --> 00:51:16,638 "How many copies do you have?" 1216 00:51:16,682 --> 00:51:18,684 I said, "Oh, I got, I dunno, 30 copies." 1217 00:51:18,727 --> 00:51:20,860 "Okay, give me all 30." "Oh!" I said, "Okay!" 1218 00:51:20,903 --> 00:51:23,428 So it was like-- and I know some of the hip-hop guys, 1219 00:51:23,471 --> 00:51:25,430 they were just, like, selling out the door. 1220 00:51:25,473 --> 00:51:28,433 AGILE: I lent one of my tapes to a buddy at school 1221 00:51:28,476 --> 00:51:30,913 and he really liked it, and he's like, "Can you make me a tape?" 1222 00:51:30,957 --> 00:51:33,133 "I've got way too much homework. I've got too much going on. 1223 00:51:33,177 --> 00:51:34,787 "That's not happening." He used to cut hair, 1224 00:51:34,830 --> 00:51:37,006 so he always had money, and he's like, "I'll pay you." 1225 00:51:37,050 --> 00:51:38,965 "Pay me?" He's like, "Yeah, I'll give you 10 bucks." 1226 00:51:39,008 --> 00:51:41,185 Ten bucks? That's a new 12-inch! 1227 00:51:41,228 --> 00:51:44,144 So, a 12-inch and lunch! 1228 00:51:44,188 --> 00:51:47,278 You know, he loved it, and then his friends copied it 1229 00:51:47,321 --> 00:51:49,410 and it went around the school. This was in high school. 1230 00:51:49,454 --> 00:51:51,978 And you know, before I know it, I'm doing Sweet Sixteens 1231 00:51:52,021 --> 00:51:54,415 and high school dances, and I kind of just 1232 00:51:54,459 --> 00:51:56,374 stumbled into it as a fan. 1233 00:51:56,417 --> 00:51:59,028 KID KUT: I have all this vinyl, I want to make a mixtape. 1234 00:51:59,072 --> 00:52:02,423 So, I started trying to make mixtapes 1235 00:52:02,467 --> 00:52:05,644 for just my friends and myself. 1236 00:52:05,687 --> 00:52:07,080 It's like, "Yo, listen to my tape! 1237 00:52:07,124 --> 00:52:09,169 "Listen to my demo! Please listen to my demo." 1238 00:52:09,213 --> 00:52:11,432 You know what I mean? Got feedback from people. 1239 00:52:11,476 --> 00:52:13,173 The girls liked the R&B. 1240 00:52:13,217 --> 00:52:14,827 "Oh, do you have this song? Do you have this song?" 1241 00:52:14,870 --> 00:52:17,308 One tape turned into a whole empire, 1242 00:52:17,351 --> 00:52:19,397 but that's more for the story. [laughs] 1243 00:52:19,440 --> 00:52:21,877 KID KUT: When I say "baby," y'all say "blue!" 1244 00:52:21,921 --> 00:52:25,577 SPIN SUPREME: And I did it on a Victoria Day long weekend. 1245 00:52:25,620 --> 00:52:28,493 That was the weekend that you wanted to get mixtapes 1246 00:52:28,536 --> 00:52:31,670 in people's hands because it was like the official start 1247 00:52:31,713 --> 00:52:34,455 to the summer, and this is probably 1248 00:52:34,499 --> 00:52:36,109 what you're gonna bump. 1249 00:52:36,153 --> 00:52:39,460 If you like the mixtape and you got it on May 24 weekend, 1250 00:52:39,504 --> 00:52:41,680 it was gonna bump all summer. 1251 00:52:41,723 --> 00:52:44,596 I used to distribute to friends, and then I began, 1252 00:52:44,639 --> 00:52:45,988 like, selling them. 1253 00:52:46,032 --> 00:52:49,775 I knew that, okay, I needed to get into the spot 1254 00:52:49,818 --> 00:52:51,603 where the big DJs had their tapes. 1255 00:52:51,646 --> 00:52:54,040 EUGENE: A couple of DJs came in and approached me and said, 1256 00:52:54,083 --> 00:52:56,347 "Hey, can we sell some mixtapes?" 1257 00:52:56,390 --> 00:52:58,523 And I was like, "Okay, sure, why not? 1258 00:52:58,566 --> 00:53:02,831 "It will help boost sales for the mixtapes 1259 00:53:02,875 --> 00:53:06,966 "and also pay for the high property taxes." 1260 00:53:07,009 --> 00:53:09,969 And one of those DJs' names was Mastermind. 1261 00:53:10,012 --> 00:53:12,363 SPIN SUPREME: At the time, there is a group of DJs 1262 00:53:12,406 --> 00:53:14,278 who are already taste-makers in the city. 1263 00:53:14,321 --> 00:53:15,844 Mastermind is one of them. 1264 00:53:15,888 --> 00:53:18,020 DJX is the other one. 1265 00:53:18,064 --> 00:53:20,588 And if you're an aspiring DJ, 1266 00:53:20,632 --> 00:53:23,504 you want to be one of these two guys. 1267 00:53:25,332 --> 00:53:28,248 KID KUT: When it came to hip-hop, 1268 00:53:28,292 --> 00:53:29,684 there is no competition. 1269 00:53:29,728 --> 00:53:32,818 When it came to hip-hop, there was Mastermind. 1270 00:53:32,861 --> 00:53:36,648 ♪ 21 years of my life-- 21 years of my lifetime... ♪ 1271 00:53:36,691 --> 00:53:38,345 KID KUT: You know what I mean? 1272 00:53:38,389 --> 00:53:43,307 Mastermind laid the pavement down when it came to hip-hop. 1273 00:53:43,350 --> 00:53:44,917 ♪ Choclair's in the house. 1274 00:53:44,960 --> 00:53:47,615 ♪ 21 years of my lifetime. 1275 00:53:47,659 --> 00:53:49,878 ♪ 1276 00:53:49,922 --> 00:53:53,055 ♪ Yeah, you need to recognize what you had is lies. ♪ 1277 00:53:53,099 --> 00:53:54,927 ♪ 21 years of pure bullshit 1278 00:53:54,970 --> 00:53:57,146 ♪ It makes me wanna bang my head off the walls ♪ 1279 00:53:57,190 --> 00:53:59,410 ♪ And do some shit like all street swarms in the malls ♪ 1280 00:53:59,453 --> 00:54:01,890 ♪ Mentality, it's not where it should be ♪ 1281 00:54:01,934 --> 00:54:04,589 ♪ When you see red and white lights break the night skies ♪ 1282 00:54:04,632 --> 00:54:07,026 ♪ Reflection of a mad man in the tear ♪ 1283 00:54:07,069 --> 00:54:09,158 ♪ Now another brother dies, another in handcuffs ♪ 1284 00:54:09,202 --> 00:54:11,204 ♪ Mothers' knees start to buckle up and fall 1285 00:54:11,248 --> 00:54:13,641 when they see their child outlined in chalk. ♪ 1286 00:54:13,685 --> 00:54:15,817 MAN: There you go. 1287 00:54:15,861 --> 00:54:16,992 The man. 1288 00:54:17,036 --> 00:54:18,994 That's the man. 1289 00:54:19,038 --> 00:54:21,170 MASTERMIND: I was introduced to hip-hop through breakdancing. 1290 00:54:21,214 --> 00:54:23,521 Saw it downtown at the Eaton's Centre at a young age. 1291 00:54:23,564 --> 00:54:26,306 I heard somebody blasting hip-hop, 1292 00:54:26,350 --> 00:54:27,829 breakdance music at the time I guess 1293 00:54:27,873 --> 00:54:29,440 is what it was known for, 1294 00:54:29,483 --> 00:54:33,052 on his radio, and I was like, "Yo, where do you get this? 1295 00:54:33,095 --> 00:54:34,140 "Where do you find this?" 1296 00:54:34,183 --> 00:54:36,838 And he told me about a radio show. 1297 00:54:36,882 --> 00:54:39,754 Saturday afternoons, 1 to 4, on 88.1. 1298 00:54:39,798 --> 00:54:41,930 RON: Mastermind was just a young kid. 1299 00:54:41,974 --> 00:54:43,671 He used to call into the radio show, 1300 00:54:43,715 --> 00:54:46,326 and I liked this guy because he was able to name songs. 1301 00:54:46,370 --> 00:54:48,110 Whenever I quizzed people, 1302 00:54:48,154 --> 00:54:50,461 he would be that guy that would get all the names of the songs. 1303 00:54:50,504 --> 00:54:51,810 Eventually we developed a friendship. 1304 00:54:51,853 --> 00:54:53,464 MASTERMIND: I was always making tapes for people, 1305 00:54:53,507 --> 00:54:54,900 who'd always say, "Hey, make me a tape. 1306 00:54:54,943 --> 00:54:56,510 "Make me a tape"; so my girlfriend would get a tape. 1307 00:54:56,554 --> 00:54:58,033 Some of my best friends would get tapes, 1308 00:54:58,077 --> 00:54:59,905 or they would get dubs of the tapes that I would make. 1309 00:54:59,948 --> 00:55:01,776 Too Black Guys clothing store, they were probably 1310 00:55:01,820 --> 00:55:04,562 the first place that I ever put any tapes for sale. 1311 00:55:04,605 --> 00:55:08,392 They're selling out so quick at Too Black Guys, 1312 00:55:08,435 --> 00:55:10,524 there's other places I can start selling them. 1313 00:55:10,568 --> 00:55:12,265 You know, there's barbershops, there's-- 1314 00:55:12,309 --> 00:55:14,093 and then, there's a couple of record stores, 1315 00:55:14,136 --> 00:55:16,443 Play De Record and Traxx. 1316 00:55:16,487 --> 00:55:19,141 I went and saw Eugene one fateful day, 1317 00:55:19,185 --> 00:55:21,318 and it kind of blew up from there. 1318 00:55:21,361 --> 00:55:24,103 EUGENE: He came to our store and he liked what we were doing, 1319 00:55:24,146 --> 00:55:27,193 and became friends, and he kind of hooked me up 1320 00:55:27,236 --> 00:55:29,151 with some guys in New York. 1321 00:55:29,195 --> 00:55:32,024 You know, those guys kept me abreast with some of the music. 1322 00:55:32,067 --> 00:55:34,418 MASTERMIND: He literally was like, "Yo, sold out. 1323 00:55:34,461 --> 00:55:36,028 "Yo, I need more, I need more." 1324 00:55:36,071 --> 00:55:37,899 And the one advantage that I had, 1325 00:55:37,943 --> 00:55:40,728 and I think that might have been above and beyond 1326 00:55:40,772 --> 00:55:43,122 all the other guys, is I had a radio show. 1327 00:55:43,165 --> 00:55:45,559 ANNOUNCER: [on radio] The Mastermind Street Jam. 1328 00:55:45,603 --> 00:55:47,518 Str-Street Jam! 1329 00:55:47,561 --> 00:55:50,956 MASTERMIND: And so I used my radio show to promote 1330 00:55:50,999 --> 00:55:53,654 that I had tapes and where they were being sold. 1331 00:55:53,698 --> 00:55:57,092 They just started to fly out of Eugene's store. 1332 00:55:57,136 --> 00:56:01,401 And so, even in hindsight, the majority, like the most, 1333 00:56:01,445 --> 00:56:05,013 were being sold out of Play De Record. 1334 00:56:05,057 --> 00:56:06,580 MASTERMIND: We continue with the freestyles. 1335 00:56:06,624 --> 00:56:09,409 This is part of the Let's Make a Record Deal series 1336 00:56:09,453 --> 00:56:12,151 that's on the album representing Scar Town, Scar City, 1337 00:56:12,194 --> 00:56:14,240 Citizen Kane, y'all. 1338 00:56:14,283 --> 00:56:18,418 ♪ 1339 00:56:18,462 --> 00:56:22,117 ♪ 1340 00:56:22,161 --> 00:56:25,773 ♪ 1341 00:56:25,817 --> 00:56:28,515 ♪ 1342 00:56:28,559 --> 00:56:32,389 AGILE: At that point, Play De was also a ticket spot. 1343 00:56:32,432 --> 00:56:36,871 Any type of event or party that was happening in the city, 1344 00:56:36,915 --> 00:56:38,482 "Tickets available at..." 1345 00:56:38,525 --> 00:56:40,440 The first place they would say on any roll, 1346 00:56:40,484 --> 00:56:42,181 any commercial you heard, the first name you'd always hear 1347 00:56:42,224 --> 00:56:43,443 is "Play De Record." 1348 00:56:43,487 --> 00:56:45,619 It was central. Everybody knew where it was. 1349 00:56:45,663 --> 00:56:47,969 RON: It didn't matter if I was doing a reggae show 1350 00:56:48,013 --> 00:56:51,320 or if I was doing a hip-hop show or if I was just doing a dance, 1351 00:56:51,364 --> 00:56:53,845 if I sold tickets and I put them on sale with Eugene, 1352 00:56:53,888 --> 00:56:56,500 I would have to go back to restock that store. 1353 00:56:56,543 --> 00:56:58,893 JONATHAN: It wasn't uncommon for me to take tickets 1354 00:56:58,937 --> 00:57:00,765 from other stores and give them to Eugene. 1355 00:57:00,808 --> 00:57:03,855 You know, I'm call Shanti Baba on Queen Street, 1356 00:57:03,898 --> 00:57:05,465 "How many tickets do you have left for Erykah Badu?" 1357 00:57:05,509 --> 00:57:06,945 "40, but don't-- people are coming! 1358 00:57:06,988 --> 00:57:08,207 "People are calling, dude!" 1359 00:57:08,250 --> 00:57:10,557 And I'm like, "I need, like, 30 of them." 1360 00:57:10,601 --> 00:57:12,472 He's like, "Let me guess, you're giving them to Eugene?" 1361 00:57:12,516 --> 00:57:13,604 I'm like, "Yeah." 1362 00:57:13,647 --> 00:57:15,257 CLICK: Eugene didn't just make money 1363 00:57:15,301 --> 00:57:17,129 and make a business out of selling records. 1364 00:57:17,172 --> 00:57:19,784 That's a good part of it, but the other big part of it 1365 00:57:19,827 --> 00:57:21,655 is selling tickets to parties. 1366 00:57:21,699 --> 00:57:25,529 You have, like, 20, 30, maybe even 50 promoters 1367 00:57:25,572 --> 00:57:28,619 that were doing parties all the way from Hamilton 1368 00:57:28,662 --> 00:57:31,839 to Pickering, to Ajax, to even Whitby, doing parties. 1369 00:57:31,883 --> 00:57:34,538 They're bringing everybody into this space, 1370 00:57:34,581 --> 00:57:36,714 and from that space they're buying records. 1371 00:57:36,757 --> 00:57:37,976 But what else are they doing 1372 00:57:38,019 --> 00:57:40,021 when they're coming in the store? 1373 00:57:40,065 --> 00:57:43,242 If they're not a DJ, they're buying mixtapes. 1374 00:57:43,285 --> 00:57:46,375 So now you've got all these regular masses 1375 00:57:46,419 --> 00:57:50,031 coming into a shop to buy tickets to the regular parties 1376 00:57:50,075 --> 00:57:51,859 they want to go to, but then while they're there 1377 00:57:51,903 --> 00:57:53,687 they're gonna see, "Oh, the same DJ 1378 00:57:53,731 --> 00:57:56,081 "that I'm gonna go to their party has a mixtape, 1379 00:57:56,124 --> 00:57:59,911 "Baby Blue Soundcrew." Like, that's how it's all 1380 00:57:59,954 --> 00:58:03,436 an ecosystem, and Play De Record is the hub of it, 1381 00:58:03,480 --> 00:58:05,046 which is crazy. 1382 00:58:05,090 --> 00:58:06,961 RUSSELL: The sounds and energy and all that 1383 00:58:07,005 --> 00:58:09,007 at Play De Record were, 1384 00:58:09,050 --> 00:58:12,358 it was a distinctly different energy on a Thursday 1385 00:58:12,401 --> 00:58:14,012 because that's when all the new records came in. 1386 00:58:14,055 --> 00:58:15,535 EUGENE: The other stores did Friday, 1387 00:58:15,579 --> 00:58:18,843 but I wanted to have a jump on them, 1388 00:58:18,886 --> 00:58:22,977 so I decided to try and get the music on Thursday 1389 00:58:23,021 --> 00:58:25,458 before those guys, then I have a day. 1390 00:58:25,502 --> 00:58:29,288 And I would go and rush down, go and pick it up, 1391 00:58:29,331 --> 00:58:31,159 bring it back, and then I have it before them. 1392 00:58:31,203 --> 00:58:32,552 Then everybody caught on 1393 00:58:32,596 --> 00:58:35,207 and they started doing it on Thursdays. 1394 00:58:35,250 --> 00:58:39,080 So, that's how Thursdays became well-known, right? 1395 00:58:39,124 --> 00:58:42,997 ♪ 1396 00:58:43,041 --> 00:58:44,564 AGILE: We learned that new records came out 1397 00:58:44,608 --> 00:58:46,523 on Thursdays. 1398 00:58:46,566 --> 00:58:50,918 ♪ 1399 00:58:50,962 --> 00:58:54,531 ♪ 1400 00:58:54,574 --> 00:58:56,750 AGILE: Straight in my uniform-- I went to a Catholic school, 1401 00:58:56,794 --> 00:58:58,578 so straight downtown in my uniform, 1402 00:58:58,622 --> 00:59:01,059 straight to the record store, straight to Play De. 1403 00:59:01,102 --> 00:59:03,409 MELBOOGIE: When you get out downtown it's like, 1404 00:59:03,452 --> 00:59:05,193 "Ahh, I'm here!" 1405 00:59:05,237 --> 00:59:08,501 You walk in and, yeah, you see different faces you know. 1406 00:59:08,545 --> 00:59:10,808 You see people on the come-up. 1407 00:59:10,851 --> 00:59:12,418 You see people that you want to be. 1408 00:59:12,461 --> 00:59:14,333 SPIN SUPREME: And you knew what they were there for, 1409 00:59:14,376 --> 00:59:16,727 'cause Thursday was the day. 1410 00:59:16,770 --> 00:59:18,250 JUG-E: You guys are getting it wrong. 1411 00:59:18,293 --> 00:59:20,557 Thursday starts on Monday. 1412 00:59:20,600 --> 00:59:22,036 On Monday, you gotta get your orders in. 1413 00:59:22,080 --> 00:59:24,952 Monday, you know, all week you've been writing 1414 00:59:24,996 --> 00:59:27,476 song titles down on this little piece of paper, 1415 00:59:27,520 --> 00:59:30,567 collecting from your stratosphere of information. 1416 00:59:30,610 --> 00:59:32,830 And then Thursday comes-- the boxes arrive! 1417 00:59:32,873 --> 00:59:34,396 SFS: You know, my shift would at 3. 1418 00:59:34,440 --> 00:59:35,572 I'd make sure I'm there for 2. 1419 00:59:35,615 --> 00:59:36,703 [laughs] 1420 00:59:36,747 --> 00:59:38,749 George would come back from Buffalo-- 1421 00:59:38,792 --> 00:59:40,446 and everybody knew this; the same with Eugene. 1422 00:59:40,489 --> 00:59:41,839 Everybody knows what time they're coming through 1423 00:59:41,882 --> 00:59:43,492 from the border. 1424 00:59:43,536 --> 00:59:45,190 DJ MATT C: Eugene would be picking up the records 1425 00:59:45,233 --> 00:59:48,759 in Buffalo. 1426 00:59:48,802 --> 00:59:50,369 He would pick them up at around 2 o'clock. 1427 00:59:50,412 --> 00:59:52,023 He'd arrive at the store at 4. 1428 00:59:52,066 --> 00:59:54,982 JASON: And it was a race. 1429 00:59:55,026 --> 00:59:57,376 It was a race to see who would get from Buffalo 1430 00:59:57,419 --> 01:00:01,336 to Toronto faster. 1431 01:00:01,380 --> 01:00:04,992 GEORGE: We'd be there looking at each other sometimes, you know? 1432 01:00:05,036 --> 01:00:07,038 At customs, and we would just give the stare down. 1433 01:00:07,081 --> 01:00:08,605 I used to never talk to him. 1434 01:00:08,648 --> 01:00:11,651 He used to never talk to me. 1435 01:00:11,695 --> 01:00:14,480 EUGENE: Hopefully, I'd come back early enough 1436 01:00:14,523 --> 01:00:18,832 so that there's no chaos, because those guys... 1437 01:00:18,876 --> 01:00:20,660 DJs, man... 1438 01:00:20,704 --> 01:00:22,662 They're hungry. 1439 01:00:22,706 --> 01:00:24,272 [sighs] 1440 01:00:24,316 --> 01:00:26,884 ♪ Now, yeah, nowadays. Yeah, yeah... ♪ 1441 01:00:26,927 --> 01:00:28,799 ♪ Yeah, nowadays. 1442 01:00:28,842 --> 01:00:31,062 ♪ Yeah, yeah, nowadays. 1443 01:00:31,105 --> 01:00:33,151 ♪ 1444 01:00:33,194 --> 01:00:34,674 EUGENE: But if I come back early, 1445 01:00:34,718 --> 01:00:36,023 then that's great, you know? 1446 01:00:36,067 --> 01:00:38,373 Everybody starts working, pricing records, 1447 01:00:38,417 --> 01:00:42,029 and then get everything ready and then bringing it out. 1448 01:00:42,073 --> 01:00:46,381 But if I come late, then it got chaotic because DJs come in, 1449 01:00:46,425 --> 01:00:47,644 "Hey, what's going on?" 1450 01:00:47,687 --> 01:00:49,036 And as soon as we pull out the record, 1451 01:00:49,080 --> 01:00:51,256 everybody grabbing records. 1452 01:00:51,299 --> 01:00:54,085 And, like, we didn't even price the records yet. 1453 01:00:54,128 --> 01:00:56,957 We didn't check it in. You know what I mean? 1454 01:00:57,001 --> 01:00:58,437 DJ MATT C: You kind of went in there, 1455 01:00:58,480 --> 01:00:59,699 you were a little bit nervous, 1456 01:00:59,743 --> 01:01:01,222 you would say hi to people. 1457 01:01:01,266 --> 01:01:04,138 But I was most concerned about getting the records 1458 01:01:04,182 --> 01:01:05,662 that I wanted to get. 1459 01:01:05,705 --> 01:01:07,402 MARCUS: If you had certain records-- 1460 01:01:07,446 --> 01:01:10,449 like, you know, I participated in a DJ competition 1461 01:01:10,492 --> 01:01:12,843 for Psychosis, and this was like in 1992, 1462 01:01:12,886 --> 01:01:15,976 and I lost because of one record. 1463 01:01:16,020 --> 01:01:18,457 ♪ Come on downtown, follow me, come on downtown, follow me. ♪ 1464 01:01:18,500 --> 01:01:19,893 MARCUS: Ruffneck played this one 1465 01:01:19,937 --> 01:01:21,721 Suburban Base promo and it was the biggest record 1466 01:01:21,765 --> 01:01:23,244 that was out at the time. 1467 01:01:23,288 --> 01:01:25,203 He just literally played it and the place went crazy, 1468 01:01:25,246 --> 01:01:27,205 and I lost the competition. 1469 01:01:27,248 --> 01:01:31,688 So that's like how important having certain music was. 1470 01:01:31,731 --> 01:01:32,993 NICK: All the other DJs are there, 1471 01:01:33,037 --> 01:01:36,518 so you're meeting whoever and whatever, 1472 01:01:36,562 --> 01:01:38,912 and you're waiting for your pile of records to come out. 1473 01:01:38,956 --> 01:01:40,131 That's if you got a pile. 1474 01:01:40,174 --> 01:01:44,135 JASON: There's the ten main guys 1475 01:01:44,178 --> 01:01:46,703 that come in, the ten big DJs. 1476 01:01:46,746 --> 01:01:49,531 Make them bags so they don't have to fight for the records. 1477 01:01:49,575 --> 01:01:52,012 So if we had ten copies of a house record, 1478 01:01:52,056 --> 01:01:53,753 they went in ten bags. 1479 01:01:53,797 --> 01:01:55,407 SFS: Okay, there's tick, tick, tick, tick. 1480 01:01:55,450 --> 01:01:56,887 So now we got seven records left. 1481 01:01:56,930 --> 01:01:58,497 Okay, and I'd take my deep breath, 1482 01:01:58,540 --> 01:02:01,021 and I would look and peek around the wall like this, 1483 01:02:01,065 --> 01:02:02,240 see who's in there. 1484 01:02:02,283 --> 01:02:03,676 SPIN SUPREME: Nobody knows who you are? 1485 01:02:03,720 --> 01:02:05,939 Chances are you're just gonna get what's leftover 1486 01:02:05,983 --> 01:02:09,813 at the bottom of the barrel of, like, vinyl that came in. 1487 01:02:09,856 --> 01:02:11,336 AGILE: There's a pecking order. 1488 01:02:11,379 --> 01:02:13,425 You kind of move your way up and you get your standing. 1489 01:02:13,468 --> 01:02:15,166 You get some notoriety. People start seeing 1490 01:02:15,209 --> 01:02:17,298 your name on a flyer a lot and they're like, "Oh!" 1491 01:02:17,342 --> 01:02:18,996 Because the flyers are in the stores. 1492 01:02:19,039 --> 01:02:20,998 The posters are in the stores, and that's you! 1493 01:02:21,041 --> 01:02:23,130 They go to the parties and they're like, "Oh, that's you!" 1494 01:02:23,174 --> 01:02:24,784 DJ POWER: This is when you didn't have-- 1495 01:02:24,828 --> 01:02:25,959 you weren't at the respect level. 1496 01:02:26,003 --> 01:02:27,787 I wasn't at the respect level yet 1497 01:02:27,831 --> 01:02:29,397 where he's just giving me a bag. 1498 01:02:29,441 --> 01:02:31,791 Eventually, I got to the respect level. 1499 01:02:31,835 --> 01:02:33,924 Okay, Power's got a bag! 1500 01:02:33,967 --> 01:02:36,578 So, but at first, you don't get that bag, 1501 01:02:36,622 --> 01:02:38,102 so you're fighting, fighting, fighting. 1502 01:02:38,145 --> 01:02:39,668 MELBOOGIE: Sometimes you got elbowed 1503 01:02:39,712 --> 01:02:42,106 as you were trying to fight for some new vinyl. 1504 01:02:42,149 --> 01:02:43,542 AGILE: It was like "Lord of the Flies." 1505 01:02:43,585 --> 01:02:46,414 They would come out of the back with the records, 1506 01:02:46,458 --> 01:02:49,156 and they're trying to put the records on the shelves. 1507 01:02:49,200 --> 01:02:51,637 And, like, if it was like a hot 12-inch like Souls of Mischief, 1508 01:02:51,680 --> 01:02:54,988 "93 'Til Infinity," people are grabbing the records 1509 01:02:55,032 --> 01:02:56,816 out of whoever's stocking the shelves' hands 1510 01:02:56,860 --> 01:03:00,254 before they can even get on the shelf. 1511 01:03:00,298 --> 01:03:02,474 JASON: Yeah, I saw fistfights. 1512 01:03:02,517 --> 01:03:03,780 They would come out with records 1513 01:03:03,823 --> 01:03:05,825 and people were grabbing like crazy. 1514 01:03:05,869 --> 01:03:08,872 So, it was intense 1515 01:03:08,915 --> 01:03:11,788 but beautiful at the same time, 1516 01:03:11,831 --> 01:03:13,006 if that makes sense. 1517 01:03:13,050 --> 01:03:15,487 Like, being there was-- 1518 01:03:15,530 --> 01:03:19,317 you knew you were experiencing something, you know? 1519 01:03:19,360 --> 01:03:23,060 They use the word, this term, FOMO, right? 1520 01:03:23,103 --> 01:03:24,975 If you weren't at Play De Record on Thursday, 1521 01:03:25,018 --> 01:03:26,933 you feared that you missed something because 1522 01:03:26,977 --> 01:03:29,762 the vibe and the intensity was crazy. 1523 01:03:29,806 --> 01:03:33,418 EUGENE: Man, just for music, man! 1524 01:03:33,461 --> 01:03:38,249 ♪ 1525 01:03:38,292 --> 01:03:41,818 ♪ 1526 01:03:41,861 --> 01:03:44,516 DJ GROUCH: I met everybody there. 1527 01:03:44,559 --> 01:03:46,953 People that I still consider friends to this day, 1528 01:03:46,997 --> 01:03:50,739 like DJs on the scene, aspiring DJs, DJs that were already, 1529 01:03:50,783 --> 01:03:52,829 you know, doing things, 1530 01:03:52,872 --> 01:03:56,397 and yeah, we all had that, and it was a community vibe. 1531 01:03:56,441 --> 01:03:59,313 JONATHAN: It's sort of like Cheers, right? 1532 01:03:59,357 --> 01:04:01,663 You walk in, you know somebody. 1533 01:04:01,707 --> 01:04:03,491 DJ GROUCH: It was the equivalent of Norm 1534 01:04:03,535 --> 01:04:05,232 walking in from Cheers, you know? 1535 01:04:05,276 --> 01:04:09,236 AGILE: You would see all the DJs once a week. 1536 01:04:09,280 --> 01:04:11,369 So, you know, Son of SOUL, rest in peace, 1537 01:04:11,412 --> 01:04:13,240 like we would see Son of SOUL there, 1538 01:04:13,284 --> 01:04:15,155 and he was such a great mentor to me 1539 01:04:15,199 --> 01:04:16,765 and so many other DJs. 1540 01:04:16,809 --> 01:04:18,898 He would put us on to so many other records because 1541 01:04:18,942 --> 01:04:22,423 he was OG and he would see us and be like, 1542 01:04:22,467 --> 01:04:24,077 "Wow, these guys are like taking this seriously. 1543 01:04:24,121 --> 01:04:25,687 "Let me help them." 1544 01:04:25,731 --> 01:04:29,387 I mean, he was very generous with his time and his knowledge. 1545 01:04:29,430 --> 01:04:30,910 But he wasn't the only one. 1546 01:04:30,954 --> 01:04:32,912 There was so many other DJs. Dale Evans. 1547 01:04:32,956 --> 01:04:34,783 MELBOOGIE: Starting From Scratch, Mastermind. 1548 01:04:34,827 --> 01:04:36,655 DJX: You know, Chris Sheppard was there. 1549 01:04:36,698 --> 01:04:37,917 You would see Hedley. 1550 01:04:37,961 --> 01:04:39,397 MASTERMIND: Whether it'd be Skimpy Boy 1551 01:04:39,440 --> 01:04:41,486 or whether it'd be the Baby Blue guys 1552 01:04:41,529 --> 01:04:46,099 or any number of the huge, significant house DJs. 1553 01:04:46,143 --> 01:04:49,842 JUG-E: The mixtape DJs, the radio DJs, the club DJs. 1554 01:04:49,886 --> 01:04:52,105 Like, the strip club DJs. 1555 01:04:52,149 --> 01:04:54,934 Like, everybody would find their way to Play De Record. 1556 01:04:54,978 --> 01:04:58,329 Guys were doing missions, driving from Buffalo, 1557 01:04:58,372 --> 01:05:00,940 from Detroit, from New York City, 1558 01:05:00,984 --> 01:05:03,160 just to come get their record fix in at Play De Record, 1559 01:05:03,203 --> 01:05:05,031 you know? 1560 01:05:05,075 --> 01:05:06,424 INTERVIEWER: [TV] So Chris, how often do you come down here? 1561 01:05:06,467 --> 01:05:07,904 CHRIS: Oh, you've gotta make sure you're here 1562 01:05:07,947 --> 01:05:10,471 at least every Thursday, and sometimes twice a week. 1563 01:05:10,515 --> 01:05:12,038 INTERVIEWER: So is Thursday the day that all the records 1564 01:05:12,082 --> 01:05:13,170 come in? CHRIS: Thursday's the day. 1565 01:05:13,213 --> 01:05:14,562 We're here a little bit early. 1566 01:05:14,606 --> 01:05:16,477 The records should be just coming in right now. 1567 01:05:16,521 --> 01:05:18,044 INTERVIEWER: So literally it's like waiting at the dock 1568 01:05:18,088 --> 01:05:19,437 for the fish to come in? CHRIS: Yeah, yeah. 1569 01:05:19,480 --> 01:05:20,699 That's it, that's it. It's wicked, you know? 1570 01:05:20,742 --> 01:05:22,135 INTERVIEWER: Wow. 1571 01:05:22,179 --> 01:05:23,441 CHRIS: Actually, I think the records have arrived. 1572 01:05:23,484 --> 01:05:24,790 We've beat the fish to the pond. 1573 01:05:24,833 --> 01:05:26,661 Oh, see? 1574 01:05:26,705 --> 01:05:28,837 This is it, this is it! The shipment has arrived! 1575 01:05:28,881 --> 01:05:31,144 Where are the DJs?! 1576 01:05:31,188 --> 01:05:34,104 Security! 1577 01:05:34,147 --> 01:05:35,801 There's the guy responsible. 1578 01:05:44,462 --> 01:05:47,291 [streetcar rumbling] 1579 01:05:51,948 --> 01:05:56,648 EUGENE: We used to do charts in the store. 1580 01:05:56,691 --> 01:05:59,694 Medicine Muffin used to run the drum and bass. 1581 01:05:59,738 --> 01:06:02,871 Jason Palma, hip-hop. 1582 01:06:02,915 --> 01:06:04,134 I did the reggae. 1583 01:06:04,177 --> 01:06:07,006 Ernest Adams from the Outlaws did soca, 1584 01:06:07,050 --> 01:06:11,445 and Elvis did the dance stuff. 1585 01:06:11,489 --> 01:06:13,665 I had a second location in Scarborough 1586 01:06:13,708 --> 01:06:16,015 and we used to do warehouse sales there. 1587 01:06:16,059 --> 01:06:18,104 I used to do some booby traps, right? 1588 01:06:18,148 --> 01:06:20,150 Like, I would put like a Puff Daddy album 1589 01:06:20,193 --> 01:06:22,979 or Notorious BIG on sale, it'd be like $2, 1590 01:06:23,022 --> 01:06:25,807 and people... "Two dollars?!" 1591 01:06:25,851 --> 01:06:28,593 I remember doing the next one and it was a big line-up, 1592 01:06:28,636 --> 01:06:31,117 like over 100 people around the block, going down, 1593 01:06:31,161 --> 01:06:32,814 what road was it? 1594 01:06:32,858 --> 01:06:36,775 Lawrence, Lawrence Avenue. 1595 01:06:36,818 --> 01:06:39,517 CLICK: Eugene opened up a store in Scarborough?! 1596 01:06:39,560 --> 01:06:41,823 And what's great is, like, I lived on Lawrence. 1597 01:06:41,867 --> 01:06:43,825 I lived at Morningside. 1598 01:06:43,869 --> 01:06:46,480 I lived around the corner from where we are right now actually. 1599 01:06:46,524 --> 01:06:49,092 To hear he opened up a spot in Scarborough down the street 1600 01:06:49,135 --> 01:06:51,268 from me, I was like, "Yo, this is amazing." 1601 01:06:51,311 --> 01:06:52,617 KARLENE: My brother asked me. 1602 01:06:52,660 --> 01:06:55,489 He said, "You know, we have an opportunity 1603 01:06:55,533 --> 01:06:57,622 "to build a business in Scarborough," 1604 01:06:57,665 --> 01:07:00,103 and I said, "Sure. I'll try it out." 1605 01:07:00,146 --> 01:07:04,281 JESTER: It's a lot smaller, less hectic version of downtown. 1606 01:07:04,324 --> 01:07:09,286 The interactions were a little more calm, to say, 1607 01:07:09,329 --> 01:07:11,375 but it was a great experience. 1608 01:07:11,418 --> 01:07:14,465 And, like, being at the store kind of became my home 1609 01:07:14,508 --> 01:07:18,382 and people knew to check me there. 1610 01:07:18,425 --> 01:07:21,472 To me, it was ultimately the dream job. 1611 01:07:21,515 --> 01:07:25,041 ♪ 1612 01:07:25,084 --> 01:07:27,521 SKRATCH BASTID: The first time I came to Play De Record, 1613 01:07:27,565 --> 01:07:31,308 I believe, was when I came to Toronto for a DJ battle. 1614 01:07:31,351 --> 01:07:33,005 All we knew is, like, 1615 01:07:33,049 --> 01:07:35,616 "Let's get a hotel as close to Play De Record as we can." 1616 01:07:35,660 --> 01:07:39,664 So we stayed at the Marriott on Yonge that was, like, 1617 01:07:39,707 --> 01:07:41,492 you know, just above... 1618 01:07:41,535 --> 01:07:42,928 I don't know where it was. 1619 01:07:42,971 --> 01:07:44,756 It was crazy because when you're a kid from Halifax 1620 01:07:44,799 --> 01:07:46,671 coming to Toronto, everything seems so far away, 1621 01:07:46,714 --> 01:07:49,195 and now it's like it's next door. 1622 01:07:49,239 --> 01:07:52,416 Yeah, I remember the first time I walked into Play De Record. 1623 01:07:52,459 --> 01:07:55,114 At that time, they had a lot of illicit material in the front... 1624 01:07:55,158 --> 01:07:57,334 Or whatever. 1625 01:07:57,377 --> 01:07:59,597 I don't know if it was illicit. It looked like a porn shop 1626 01:07:59,640 --> 01:08:01,816 at the front! And I was like, 1627 01:08:01,860 --> 01:08:03,775 "What's going on here? Is this the right place?" 1628 01:08:03,818 --> 01:08:06,038 You know? "I feel a little shy." 1629 01:08:06,082 --> 01:08:07,648 Actually, I brought one record today 1630 01:08:07,692 --> 01:08:09,433 that I found there the first day I was there. 1631 01:08:09,476 --> 01:08:13,393 I found a copy of Lord Finesse, "The Awakening," 1632 01:08:13,437 --> 01:08:17,615 and I'd been looking for this because there was a copy of this 1633 01:08:17,658 --> 01:08:20,748 that had the instrumentals in it as well. 1634 01:08:20,792 --> 01:08:24,317 And also, I later found out that's DJ Mastermind's tag, 1635 01:08:24,361 --> 01:08:27,015 so this is Mastermind's copy of this. 1636 01:08:27,059 --> 01:08:30,149 I remember I brought it to the cash, Eugene looked at it, 1637 01:08:30,193 --> 01:08:33,109 and he said, "Where'd you find that?" [laughs] 1638 01:08:33,152 --> 01:08:35,546 And I was like, "It was over there!" 1639 01:08:35,589 --> 01:08:36,982 I don't know. 1640 01:08:37,025 --> 01:08:39,027 I'm still, to this day-- "Eugene, do I owe you this?" 1641 01:08:39,071 --> 01:08:41,291 I don't know. But this was that-- 1642 01:08:41,334 --> 01:08:43,206 I found that record the first time I was there, 1643 01:08:43,249 --> 01:08:46,296 and I was just amazed that I found that there. 1644 01:08:46,339 --> 01:08:48,254 I was super hyped, and I'll always remember 1645 01:08:48,298 --> 01:08:50,038 that first visit to Play De Record. 1646 01:08:50,082 --> 01:08:53,346 So, we know about Play De Record from watching MuchMusic. 1647 01:08:53,390 --> 01:08:55,479 I almost want to say, like, on Rap City they'd have, 1648 01:08:55,522 --> 01:08:57,307 like before commercials, they would roll something 1649 01:08:57,350 --> 01:08:59,178 like saying it's available, you know? 1650 01:08:59,222 --> 01:09:01,746 Or like on extended mix, D.C.'s Pics. 1651 01:09:01,789 --> 01:09:05,924 EUGENE: Well, Master T and Dave, his DJ, Dave Campbell, 1652 01:09:05,967 --> 01:09:07,882 they were looking for sponsors. They approached me. 1653 01:09:07,926 --> 01:09:10,189 They said, "Can you sponsor this show?" 1654 01:09:10,233 --> 01:09:13,975 And then, MuchMusic was all over extended mix rap CDs. 1655 01:09:14,019 --> 01:09:16,413 They go all over Canada. 1656 01:09:16,456 --> 01:09:18,980 M DAILEY: [TV] You're with Canada's first and only music 1657 01:09:19,024 --> 01:09:21,113 television network, MuchMusic, 1658 01:09:21,157 --> 01:09:24,072 the nation's music station! 1659 01:09:24,116 --> 01:09:26,292 SPADE: I developed a relationship with MuchMusic 1660 01:09:26,336 --> 01:09:28,164 from when I used to dance with Michie. 1661 01:09:28,207 --> 01:09:30,383 MICHIE: ♪ The feel is Jamaican funk! ♪ 1662 01:09:30,427 --> 01:09:33,821 SPADE: And there was a girl there named Michele Geister. 1663 01:09:33,865 --> 01:09:35,997 If you're talking about Ron Nelson, 1664 01:09:36,041 --> 01:09:37,608 you have to talk about Michele Geister, 1665 01:09:37,651 --> 01:09:41,264 because she basically brought hip-hop to MuchMusic. 1666 01:09:41,307 --> 01:09:43,657 So, just think about the old Rap City and all that, 1667 01:09:43,701 --> 01:09:44,963 that's all Michele Geister. 1668 01:09:45,006 --> 01:09:47,095 As important as Ron Nelson is, 1669 01:09:47,139 --> 01:09:49,881 Michele Geister is just as important-- 1670 01:09:49,924 --> 01:09:53,624 maybe, per se, might be even more important. 1671 01:09:53,667 --> 01:09:55,278 INTERVIEWER: I actually couldn't get her for this. 1672 01:09:55,321 --> 01:09:58,411 SPADE: She's in Jamaica. 1673 01:09:58,455 --> 01:10:01,197 I could get her on the phone for you if you need. 1674 01:10:05,157 --> 01:10:08,247 [hip-hop music] 1675 01:10:08,291 --> 01:10:11,990 ♪ 1676 01:10:12,033 --> 01:10:16,299 ♪ 1677 01:10:16,342 --> 01:10:19,737 ♪ 1678 01:10:19,780 --> 01:10:23,697 ♪ 1679 01:10:23,741 --> 01:10:26,004 MAN: Where do you want me? 1680 01:10:26,047 --> 01:10:29,964 ♪ 1681 01:10:30,008 --> 01:10:34,012 ♪ 1682 01:10:34,055 --> 01:10:37,276 ♪ 1683 01:10:37,320 --> 01:10:41,193 ♪ 1684 01:10:41,237 --> 01:10:45,066 ♪ 1685 01:10:45,110 --> 01:10:49,375 ♪ 1686 01:10:49,419 --> 01:10:51,812 MICHELE: I think my DJing days really started 1687 01:10:51,856 --> 01:10:55,990 with my first turntable, which was about 11 years old. 1688 01:10:56,034 --> 01:10:59,864 Even back as a preteen, I was a vinyl junkie. 1689 01:10:59,907 --> 01:11:04,738 When I babysat, that's what I got as rewards or gifts 1690 01:11:04,782 --> 01:11:09,395 from the people I babysat for, was vinyl. 1691 01:11:09,439 --> 01:11:12,311 My roommate, Karen Young, and myself 1692 01:11:12,355 --> 01:11:16,054 were asked by the infamous Tasmanian Ballroom 1693 01:11:16,097 --> 01:11:19,840 to play in their basement dancefloor. 1694 01:11:19,884 --> 01:11:22,103 DENISE: So, Pauly Lopez is somebody, for example, 1695 01:11:22,147 --> 01:11:24,192 who would tell me a lot about Michele, 1696 01:11:24,236 --> 01:11:26,107 and she really knew her music and she was out there 1697 01:11:26,151 --> 01:11:29,328 with her records, but she was also on the TV side of things. 1698 01:11:29,372 --> 01:11:31,678 MICHELE: Music television, MuchMusic was just starting, 1699 01:11:31,722 --> 01:11:33,724 and I knew that's where I wanted to be. 1700 01:11:33,767 --> 01:11:35,595 I moved to Toronto and I was just determined 1701 01:11:35,639 --> 01:11:37,336 I would get a job there. 1702 01:11:37,380 --> 01:11:40,861 One of my classmates did get a job and she called me 1703 01:11:40,905 --> 01:11:44,256 to say they were looking for someone, a technician position. 1704 01:11:44,300 --> 01:11:47,520 I had been making television since I was in high school. 1705 01:11:47,564 --> 01:11:49,696 MICHAEL: Welcome to another edition of Soul in the City. 1706 01:11:49,740 --> 01:11:52,220 Well, it's not just another edition of Soul in the City; 1707 01:11:52,264 --> 01:11:54,527 here we're going to endeavour to show you 1708 01:11:54,571 --> 01:11:57,182 some of the various forms of house music. 1709 01:11:57,225 --> 01:12:00,141 MICHELE: Soul in the City was a video version 1710 01:12:00,185 --> 01:12:04,407 of a radio program that the host and creator, Michael Williams, 1711 01:12:04,450 --> 01:12:07,584 had done previously when he lived in Montreal. 1712 01:12:07,627 --> 01:12:10,500 You know, my official title was associate producer, but I wrote, 1713 01:12:10,543 --> 01:12:13,154 I researched, I produced, I directed. 1714 01:12:13,198 --> 01:12:15,592 And Soul in the City was so exciting 1715 01:12:15,635 --> 01:12:18,856 and it was so well-received, but out of a music station 1716 01:12:18,899 --> 01:12:22,512 that was 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it was only one hour. 1717 01:12:22,555 --> 01:12:26,385 And at the time, hip-hop as starting to blow up. 1718 01:12:26,429 --> 01:12:29,214 INFINITE: Oh, no doubt, Maestro and Michie Mee, 1719 01:12:29,257 --> 01:12:33,523 Dream Warriors at that time, and Rumble, 1720 01:12:33,566 --> 01:12:37,657 they set the tone for Toronto, Canadian hip-hop. 1721 01:12:37,701 --> 01:12:40,486 DJ KEMO: Yeah, Maestro was a huge influence on Rascals. 1722 01:12:40,530 --> 01:12:42,401 Michie Mee, and Rumble, 1723 01:12:42,445 --> 01:12:44,577 all these records, they reached us. 1724 01:12:44,621 --> 01:12:46,187 Like, 100%. 1725 01:12:46,231 --> 01:12:49,234 And we were fully influenced by and we were watching like, 1726 01:12:49,277 --> 01:12:51,976 "Yeah, what's going on over there?" right? 1727 01:12:52,019 --> 01:12:55,327 MICHELE: Eventually, I was lucky enough to get the call 1728 01:12:55,371 --> 01:12:58,112 and hear that, "Yes, you can start working on a program." 1729 01:12:58,156 --> 01:13:01,420 And in September 1989, 1730 01:13:01,464 --> 01:13:05,424 we had our first half-hour edition of Rap City. 1731 01:13:05,468 --> 01:13:11,125 [Rap City theme song] 1732 01:13:11,169 --> 01:13:14,085 CARTOON DOG: Funky! 1733 01:13:14,128 --> 01:13:18,568 ♪ 1734 01:13:18,611 --> 01:13:20,570 INFINITE: Back then, people more watched TV. 1735 01:13:20,613 --> 01:13:22,180 There was no steaming online. 1736 01:13:22,223 --> 01:13:25,096 There was, like, more cable, so everybody paid attention 1737 01:13:25,139 --> 01:13:28,491 to Rap City at the time. That was a big deal back then. 1738 01:13:28,534 --> 01:13:30,928 MICHELE: Like a DJ wanted to have that exclusive vinyl, 1739 01:13:30,971 --> 01:13:33,365 I wanted to be the one to debut a video 1740 01:13:33,409 --> 01:13:35,236 that no one else had seen. 1741 01:13:35,280 --> 01:13:36,847 SPADE: As soon as you see your boy on it, 1742 01:13:36,890 --> 01:13:39,719 or as soon as you were on it, that was the superstar status. 1743 01:13:39,763 --> 01:13:41,286 That's when you felt like a star. 1744 01:13:41,329 --> 01:13:43,114 DAN-E-O: And I actually remember when it dropped, 1745 01:13:43,157 --> 01:13:45,769 and it came after a Shaquille O'Neal video. 1746 01:13:45,812 --> 01:13:47,466 And I remember that and I'm thinking, 1747 01:13:47,510 --> 01:13:52,471 "Here's this NBA superstar doing his hip-hop thing, and me, 1748 01:13:52,515 --> 01:13:54,604 "back-to-back," and I knew the rest of the country 1749 01:13:54,647 --> 01:13:56,867 was watching it with me, man. It was amazing. 1750 01:13:56,910 --> 01:13:58,303 It was literally a dream come true 1751 01:13:58,346 --> 01:13:59,913 because I had been dreaming about that happening, 1752 01:13:59,957 --> 01:14:01,959 like, since I was a little kid. 1753 01:14:02,002 --> 01:14:04,875 ♪ 1754 01:14:04,918 --> 01:14:06,833 MICHELE: We were promoting the music, 1755 01:14:06,877 --> 01:14:08,879 and they could go to Play De Record and find 1756 01:14:08,922 --> 01:14:10,402 everything they wanted there. 1757 01:14:10,446 --> 01:14:12,012 JESTER: Anything that was playing 1758 01:14:12,056 --> 01:14:14,754 or anything that was premiered, whether it was MTV or MuchMusic, 1759 01:14:14,798 --> 01:14:16,234 we had to have. 1760 01:14:16,277 --> 01:14:18,541 MICHELE: We did the promo, they did the sales! 1761 01:14:18,584 --> 01:14:22,022 I would say it would have been how things worked. 1762 01:14:22,066 --> 01:14:26,070 ♪ 1763 01:14:26,113 --> 01:14:31,118 MICHELE: And I really do give props to Eugene for, 1764 01:14:31,162 --> 01:14:33,251 you know, doing what he's done for so long. 1765 01:14:33,294 --> 01:14:36,080 Hip-hop music has had its challenges in Canada. 1766 01:14:36,123 --> 01:14:38,082 It's always been hard. 1767 01:14:38,125 --> 01:14:41,477 In more recent years, Drake, you know, the Weeknd, 1768 01:14:41,520 --> 01:14:44,480 have blown up into huge stars. 1769 01:14:44,523 --> 01:14:47,483 It wasn't always like that. 1770 01:14:47,526 --> 01:14:52,052 ♪ 1771 01:14:52,096 --> 01:14:54,838 REPORTER: The last 12 months have been good and bad 1772 01:14:54,881 --> 01:14:58,189 for Toronto rap group Ghetto Concept. 1773 01:14:58,232 --> 01:15:01,105 On Sunday, the group collected their second Juno in two years. 1774 01:15:01,148 --> 01:15:03,324 INFINITE: Last year, we won it without a video, 1775 01:15:03,368 --> 01:15:06,240 without major label support and all that, 1776 01:15:06,284 --> 01:15:08,547 and we surprised everybody. This year, we had a video. 1777 01:15:08,591 --> 01:15:11,115 We did a tour across Canada. 1778 01:15:11,158 --> 01:15:12,725 MR. ATTIC: We started driving down there, 1779 01:15:12,769 --> 01:15:16,033 and I want to say it was in Hamilton or something that year, 1780 01:15:16,076 --> 01:15:20,516 and we drove and we got there, and they had already won, 1781 01:15:20,559 --> 01:15:23,780 and we were at the top of the escalator or whatever it is, 1782 01:15:23,823 --> 01:15:26,565 and they were just actually coming from wherever it is 1783 01:15:26,609 --> 01:15:29,437 taking photos, and they're like, "Yo, we won!" 1784 01:15:29,481 --> 01:15:33,964 And we were, like, "What? Like, seriously?" 1785 01:15:34,007 --> 01:15:36,749 You know, if you equate that to like a Grammy, right? 1786 01:15:36,793 --> 01:15:39,447 If you're saying, "Okay, well, these two won back-to-back," 1787 01:15:39,491 --> 01:15:42,233 you would think that a label or somebody would be coming 1788 01:15:42,276 --> 01:15:44,235 to you to say, "Hey, you know, 1789 01:15:44,278 --> 01:15:46,193 "let's work or let's do something," right? 1790 01:15:46,237 --> 01:15:48,369 So, it didn't really happen. 1791 01:15:48,413 --> 01:15:50,894 I mean, it happened, but it didn't really morph into 1792 01:15:50,937 --> 01:15:53,244 what you would think it would, right, so... 1793 01:15:53,287 --> 01:15:54,506 INFINITE: We're trying to get out there. 1794 01:15:54,550 --> 01:15:55,942 We're trying to be seen. 1795 01:15:55,986 --> 01:15:57,596 And at the same time, you know, we're at a status, 1796 01:15:57,640 --> 01:15:59,337 we're winning the same Junos that other people in there 1797 01:15:59,380 --> 01:16:00,643 are winning. K-NOTE: Exactly. 1798 01:16:00,686 --> 01:16:01,948 INFINITE: It's the same Juno. 1799 01:16:01,992 --> 01:16:03,428 So, I mean, why don't we get the same props? 1800 01:16:03,471 --> 01:16:05,169 K-NOTE: We had Maestro Fresh Wes. 1801 01:16:05,212 --> 01:16:08,607 He was probably one of the few outside of Dream Warriors 1802 01:16:08,651 --> 01:16:12,176 that made big tracks and trails for us. 1803 01:16:12,219 --> 01:16:15,048 But again, after their run... 1804 01:16:15,092 --> 01:16:17,529 DJ KEMO: So you'd think it'd kind of pick up from there, 1805 01:16:17,573 --> 01:16:19,052 but it didn't. 1806 01:16:19,096 --> 01:16:22,316 It was like there was this lull, and I think the Canadian 1807 01:16:22,360 --> 01:16:25,624 music industry just treated it like a fad. 1808 01:16:25,668 --> 01:16:27,452 SPADE: With my album done, complete, 1809 01:16:27,495 --> 01:16:30,237 I put it in front of them and they told me, 1810 01:16:30,281 --> 01:16:32,196 "How do you expect this to make any money? 1811 01:16:32,239 --> 01:16:35,765 "It's not geared towards white kids." 1812 01:16:35,808 --> 01:16:37,984 And I'm like, "Well, it's not meant to be geared 1813 01:16:38,028 --> 01:16:39,812 "towards white kids. It's hip-hop, right? 1814 01:16:39,856 --> 01:16:41,988 "It's geared towards ghetto kids, right?" 1815 01:16:42,032 --> 01:16:45,035 He goes, "Well, that doesn't sell records." 1816 01:16:45,078 --> 01:16:46,993 And I go, "Well, how much do you expect it to sell?" 1817 01:16:47,037 --> 01:16:48,473 And he goes, 1818 01:16:48,516 --> 01:16:50,997 "Well, you'll be lucky if you sold 5,000 records." 1819 01:16:51,041 --> 01:16:52,999 I go, "So if I put this album out myself 1820 01:16:53,043 --> 01:16:55,828 "and I sold 5,000 records, you'll sign me?" 1821 01:16:55,872 --> 01:16:58,396 He goes, "Well, if you sell 5,000 records of this, 1822 01:16:58,439 --> 01:17:00,137 "I'll sign you tomorrow." 1823 01:17:00,180 --> 01:17:02,574 I put it out and sold 20,000 records, 1824 01:17:02,618 --> 01:17:05,751 and I came back to him and he still didn't sign me. 1825 01:17:05,795 --> 01:17:09,668 ♪ 1826 01:17:09,712 --> 01:17:13,150 ♪ 1827 01:17:13,193 --> 01:17:15,848 MARCIA: Black music wasn't really embraced 1828 01:17:15,892 --> 01:17:17,937 to that extent, you know? 1829 01:17:17,981 --> 01:17:22,638 It wasn't as equal as some of the other forms of music were. 1830 01:17:22,681 --> 01:17:25,771 So I don't think people really realized 1831 01:17:25,815 --> 01:17:30,515 the potential that hip-hop had. 1832 01:17:30,558 --> 01:17:32,996 MICHELE: It was underground to the mainstream, 1833 01:17:33,039 --> 01:17:35,476 but it wasn't underground to the youth. 1834 01:17:35,520 --> 01:17:38,218 It really was a fresh, new movement. 1835 01:17:38,262 --> 01:17:39,872 There was just this system 1836 01:17:39,916 --> 01:17:42,048 who had decided how much we could get. 1837 01:17:42,092 --> 01:17:43,702 DJX: It took a lot to put out a record. 1838 01:17:43,746 --> 01:17:46,052 It was expensive. It was a big process. 1839 01:17:46,096 --> 01:17:47,837 SPADE: To record a song, 1840 01:17:47,880 --> 01:17:50,709 you'd have to pay $100 an hour at a studio. 1841 01:17:50,753 --> 01:17:52,711 It would take you four hours to record a song, 1842 01:17:52,755 --> 01:17:55,453 and then that song had to be mastered. 1843 01:17:55,496 --> 01:17:57,890 To master that song takes four hours, right? 1844 01:17:57,934 --> 01:18:00,719 So that's $800, recording and mastering a song. 1845 01:18:00,763 --> 01:18:03,461 And then, you have to do an album with 12 songs. 1846 01:18:03,504 --> 01:18:04,767 KARDINAL OFFISHALL: We only became producers 1847 01:18:04,810 --> 01:18:06,290 out of necessity. 1848 01:18:06,333 --> 01:18:07,813 Like, we couldn't afford to buy other people's beats. 1849 01:18:07,857 --> 01:18:09,597 And it's not like we were like, 1850 01:18:09,641 --> 01:18:12,339 "Yo, let's be producer-rappers." We were like, 1851 01:18:12,383 --> 01:18:16,430 "Well, we can't afford to pay Scam or pay DJX," 1852 01:18:16,474 --> 01:18:18,084 or anybody else that was producing at the time, 1853 01:18:18,128 --> 01:18:19,520 so we were like... 1854 01:18:19,564 --> 01:18:21,305 SPADE: Plus, you had to manufacture. 1855 01:18:21,348 --> 01:18:24,264 Guys don't have to do it now because they just download it. 1856 01:18:24,308 --> 01:18:27,093 KARDINAL OFFISHALL: We weren't doing it for the money. 1857 01:18:27,137 --> 01:18:28,660 Absolutely not. 1858 01:18:28,704 --> 01:18:31,054 'Cause to us, if you gave us $150 bucks, like, 1859 01:18:31,097 --> 01:18:33,273 we would have been ecstatic. 1860 01:18:33,317 --> 01:18:35,275 It wasn't for the money. 1861 01:18:35,319 --> 01:18:39,149 It wasn't for anything other than the pure love 1862 01:18:39,192 --> 01:18:44,545 of hip-hop and wanting to be MCs. 1863 01:18:44,589 --> 01:18:47,026 K-NOTE: Therefore, that's where you get the independent labels: 1864 01:18:47,070 --> 01:18:49,463 Steppin' Bigga, Groove-A-Lot. 1865 01:18:49,507 --> 01:18:51,814 We'd do our own stuff and then hopefully send it down 1866 01:18:51,857 --> 01:18:54,294 to New York and maybe one of those DJs will play it, 1867 01:18:54,338 --> 01:18:56,906 or maybe overseas, Japan, you know? 1868 01:18:56,949 --> 01:19:00,170 EUGENE: I saw people coming in bringing mixtapes 1869 01:19:00,213 --> 01:19:04,435 and then bringing their own cassettes of their own stuff. 1870 01:19:04,478 --> 01:19:06,480 The quality wasn't so hot, right? 1871 01:19:06,524 --> 01:19:08,134 Like, then I had an idea. 1872 01:19:08,178 --> 01:19:11,442 I was thinking, "Why don't I help out these guys?" 1873 01:19:11,485 --> 01:19:14,706 [hip-hop music] 1874 01:19:14,750 --> 01:19:16,099 MASTERMIND: Nobody even knew there was a basement 1875 01:19:16,142 --> 01:19:18,188 at Play De Record, let alone that they were 1876 01:19:18,231 --> 01:19:19,972 working on building a studio. 1877 01:19:20,016 --> 01:19:22,670 ALEX: It was just dark and the stairs were creaky 1878 01:19:22,714 --> 01:19:23,933 and it was like, "Wah!" 1879 01:19:23,976 --> 01:19:26,500 And the lightbulb was kind of flashing. 1880 01:19:26,544 --> 01:19:29,242 And, you know, there's just boxes of records everywhere. 1881 01:19:29,286 --> 01:19:31,375 DAN-E-O: There was so much shit back there. 1882 01:19:31,418 --> 01:19:33,812 Like, I don't know how they had space for it all. 1883 01:19:33,856 --> 01:19:36,293 ALEX: And then the studio, you'd walk into the studio and it was, 1884 01:19:36,336 --> 01:19:39,165 you know, nothing elaborate. 1885 01:19:39,209 --> 01:19:44,431 It was all, you know, built by everybody. 1886 01:19:44,475 --> 01:19:49,219 Steppin' Bigga as a business was three people: 1887 01:19:49,262 --> 01:19:51,395 Eugene, John Bronski, 1888 01:19:51,438 --> 01:19:54,833 and 2 Rude was kind of the in-house producer 1889 01:19:54,877 --> 01:19:57,444 who'd bring in these acts and stuff. 1890 01:19:57,488 --> 01:19:59,882 EUGENE: The first artist was Apple & Orange, 1891 01:19:59,925 --> 01:20:01,840 and he gave me a little sample and I was like, 1892 01:20:01,884 --> 01:20:03,581 "Well, maybe I can help you out." 1893 01:20:03,624 --> 01:20:07,846 And then Rude came with the beats, 1894 01:20:07,890 --> 01:20:09,892 and that's how we all met. 1895 01:20:09,935 --> 01:20:13,243 EUGENE: This is my second release, Freaks of Reality. 1896 01:20:13,286 --> 01:20:17,595 So then, he played me Saukrates 1897 01:20:17,638 --> 01:20:19,684 and, like, a bunch of stuff, 1898 01:20:19,727 --> 01:20:22,513 and Saukrates caught my, you know, my ear. 1899 01:20:22,556 --> 01:20:25,037 Oh, John Bronski brought it to me. 1900 01:20:25,081 --> 01:20:27,866 Yeah, and we listened and I was like, 1901 01:20:27,910 --> 01:20:29,737 "We need to do something with this guy." 1902 01:20:29,781 --> 01:20:31,348 MASTERMIND: Back then, we were like, 1903 01:20:31,391 --> 01:20:34,873 "If anybody is gonna make it, and really, you know, 1904 01:20:34,917 --> 01:20:37,136 "put Toronto on the map, it was gonna be him. 1905 01:20:37,180 --> 01:20:40,183 DJ KEMO: I really judged a record sonically. 1906 01:20:40,226 --> 01:20:42,359 How's that rapper's voice sound, right? 1907 01:20:42,402 --> 01:20:44,056 Like, does he have a cool voice? 1908 01:20:44,100 --> 01:20:46,493 That's why I think me and a lot of DJs were like, 1909 01:20:46,537 --> 01:20:48,278 "Yo, Saukrates is ill." 1910 01:20:48,321 --> 01:20:49,845 KARDINAL OFFISHALL: You know, we were all 1911 01:20:49,888 --> 01:20:51,150 gonna record this freestyle. 1912 01:20:51,194 --> 01:20:52,891 So, you know, Marvel went in, did his thing, 1913 01:20:52,935 --> 01:20:54,284 I went in, did my thing. 1914 01:20:54,327 --> 01:20:56,590 You know, Sauks went in 1915 01:20:56,634 --> 01:20:58,331 and we heard this guy on the mic. 1916 01:20:58,375 --> 01:21:01,160 We're like, "The f... 1917 01:21:01,204 --> 01:21:03,119 "Yo, who is that?!" 1918 01:21:03,162 --> 01:21:07,688 When his voice got on a real, 1919 01:21:07,732 --> 01:21:11,214 real microphone and they were able to pick up the sonics, 1920 01:21:11,257 --> 01:21:13,433 life was never the same after seeing him 1921 01:21:13,477 --> 01:21:15,958 go into the booth for the first time and coming out. 1922 01:21:16,001 --> 01:21:18,569 SAUKRATES: ♪ Hate runs deep in the hearts of many. ♪ 1923 01:21:18,612 --> 01:21:21,137 ♪ Hate runs deep in the guts of all. ♪ 1924 01:21:21,180 --> 01:21:22,878 ♪ 'Cause your hate can judge your fate. ♪ 1925 01:21:22,921 --> 01:21:24,575 ♪ When guns blaze at nighttime 1926 01:21:24,618 --> 01:21:27,099 'cause it's the right time for wrong. ♪ 1927 01:21:27,143 --> 01:21:30,363 ♪ Index fingers touch rewind as my aura propels your mindstate 1928 01:21:30,407 --> 01:21:32,235 leaving behind fake visions. ♪ 1929 01:21:32,278 --> 01:21:34,193 ♪ You're blind 'cause it's hard to find. ♪ 1930 01:21:34,237 --> 01:21:36,761 ♪ Lyrics flood the black market more than rock and steel. ♪ 1931 01:21:36,804 --> 01:21:38,371 ♪ My stock's hot 'cause it's realer than real 1932 01:21:38,415 --> 01:21:39,982 when caps peel. ♪ 1933 01:21:40,025 --> 01:21:41,635 ♪ Pay rent for cement, mothers' hearts gettin' bent 1934 01:21:41,679 --> 01:21:43,246 'cause nights is trife. ♪ 1935 01:21:43,289 --> 01:21:45,726 ♪ It's chillin' like a villain executin' his killin' 1936 01:21:45,770 --> 01:21:46,945 but there's no blood spillin'... ♪ 1937 01:21:46,989 --> 01:21:47,990 [music fades out] 1938 01:21:48,033 --> 01:21:50,470 SAUKRATES: Just a taste! [laughter] 1939 01:21:50,514 --> 01:21:52,646 SAUKRATES: Every, I don't know if it was Tuesday or Thursday-- 1940 01:21:52,690 --> 01:21:55,040 I can't remember-- we'd get on the train, 1941 01:21:55,084 --> 01:21:58,130 9th grade, and hit Yonge Street. 1942 01:21:58,174 --> 01:22:00,132 And we'd first stop at Play De Record, 1943 01:22:00,176 --> 01:22:02,961 then scour Traxx and the other two or three 1944 01:22:03,005 --> 01:22:05,094 that were up the block. Like, we were in it. 1945 01:22:05,137 --> 01:22:08,053 Plus, but we wouldn't know what it was because we had to listen 1946 01:22:08,097 --> 01:22:10,969 on that Saturday to the stations. 1947 01:22:11,013 --> 01:22:12,579 And once we knew what they were playing, 1948 01:22:12,623 --> 01:22:15,495 then we gotta go see Eugene to start to get those songs 1949 01:22:15,539 --> 01:22:17,758 in our own collection. 1950 01:22:17,802 --> 01:22:20,631 So, he had a studio. 1951 01:22:20,674 --> 01:22:22,894 He got a great engineer in Alex G, 1952 01:22:22,938 --> 01:22:25,418 and they wanted to do another one, John Bronski said. 1953 01:22:25,462 --> 01:22:26,506 KARDINAL OFFISHALL: Word? 1954 01:22:26,550 --> 01:22:27,943 Yo, we get to go to Play De Record? 1955 01:22:27,986 --> 01:22:29,379 Like, never mind, I have to be honest, 1956 01:22:29,422 --> 01:22:31,250 never mind the record deal part, we're like, 1957 01:22:31,294 --> 01:22:33,426 "Yo, we get to go to Play De Record?" 1958 01:22:33,470 --> 01:22:35,341 SAUKRATES: That's how I connected there, 1959 01:22:35,385 --> 01:22:37,561 but I'd been buying records from Play De Record 1960 01:22:37,604 --> 01:22:39,041 for two years prior to that, 1961 01:22:39,084 --> 01:22:41,434 so I was familiar with the building, 1962 01:22:41,478 --> 01:22:43,436 and I knew it was a Mecca. 1963 01:22:43,480 --> 01:22:47,745 So when I got invited to record in the studio of the Mecca... 1964 01:22:47,788 --> 01:22:49,965 ♪ 1965 01:22:50,008 --> 01:22:53,055 DJ: Yo, live on WKMA, 1966 01:22:53,098 --> 01:22:54,839 you've got yo nigga Kool-Aid. 1967 01:22:54,882 --> 01:22:57,276 You got [unintelligible] in the house too, G. 1968 01:22:57,320 --> 01:23:00,018 Yo, steppin' up we have that nigga from the East Side, 1969 01:23:00,062 --> 01:23:01,498 Saukrates. 1970 01:23:01,541 --> 01:23:03,413 Representing [inaudible] that's shit's from. 1971 01:23:03,456 --> 01:23:05,893 Yo, Saukrates, step up and show 'em what you can do, nigga. 1972 01:23:05,937 --> 01:23:07,721 SAUKRATES: ♪ They get caught in ill positions. ♪ 1973 01:23:07,765 --> 01:23:10,028 ♪ Famous quote from me, Saukrates. ♪ 1974 01:23:10,072 --> 01:23:11,899 ♪ Groupies rock my boat, I used to step lightly. ♪ 1975 01:23:11,943 --> 01:23:14,032 SAUKRATES: Internationally known, 1976 01:23:14,076 --> 01:23:16,339 locally accepted. 1977 01:23:16,382 --> 01:23:17,514 You gotta do both. 1978 01:23:17,557 --> 01:23:19,037 If you do that, you're gone. 1979 01:23:19,081 --> 01:23:20,778 And Eugene gave me the opportunity 1980 01:23:20,821 --> 01:23:22,345 to be locally accepted. 1981 01:23:22,388 --> 01:23:24,564 And once it's pressed on the vinyl, you ship it, 1982 01:23:24,608 --> 01:23:26,305 then you're internationally known. 1983 01:23:26,349 --> 01:23:29,091 CLICK: For the independent artist to go into Play De Record 1984 01:23:29,134 --> 01:23:31,528 and say, "Hey, Eugene, I got a new record I want to put out," 1985 01:23:31,571 --> 01:23:33,530 it was a lot more challenging with, like, 1986 01:23:33,573 --> 01:23:35,314 an HMV or a Sam the Record Man or whatnot. 1987 01:23:35,358 --> 01:23:37,316 NICK: You couldn't walk into Sam the Record Man and say, 1988 01:23:37,360 --> 01:23:39,014 "Oh, I put out a new record. 1989 01:23:39,057 --> 01:23:40,624 "Do you guys wanna give it a listen?" 1990 01:23:40,667 --> 01:23:42,539 "Take a seat in the back or something." [laughs] 1991 01:23:42,582 --> 01:23:43,801 I don't know, "Step outside. 1992 01:23:43,844 --> 01:23:45,063 "We'll call you when we're ready." 1993 01:23:45,107 --> 01:23:46,847 JONATHAN: So, I asked Eugene if I could do 1994 01:23:46,891 --> 01:23:48,240 a Rap Essentials display, and he was like, 1995 01:23:48,284 --> 01:23:49,981 "Oh, no, I'll put it in there for you." 1996 01:23:50,025 --> 01:23:51,591 I'm like, "No, no, no, I want the whole window." 1997 01:23:51,635 --> 01:23:53,245 "I don't know: Daddy would say no." 1998 01:23:53,289 --> 01:23:55,639 And I'm like, "Eugene, come on. Just let me do it one week." 1999 01:23:55,682 --> 01:23:57,641 I don't know how it happened, but he said yes. 2000 01:23:57,684 --> 01:24:00,296 TOUGH DUMPLIN: "Yo, when you get the posters, let me know. 2001 01:24:00,339 --> 01:24:02,472 "I'll post it up when you've got the shows. 2002 01:24:02,515 --> 01:24:04,213 "I'll put out the flyer." 2003 01:24:04,256 --> 01:24:06,824 He put it right in front so everybody could see it. 2004 01:24:06,867 --> 01:24:08,260 JD ERA: The money was always there. 2005 01:24:08,304 --> 01:24:10,088 My mixtapes were flying at that time, 2006 01:24:10,132 --> 01:24:11,916 but he always made sure the bread was straight 2007 01:24:11,959 --> 01:24:13,483 or, like, the count was good. 2008 01:24:13,526 --> 01:24:15,528 Or, you know, we always had a section to sell our tapes, 2009 01:24:15,572 --> 01:24:18,444 and it didn't matter if there was 50 other MCs, you know, 2010 01:24:18,488 --> 01:24:20,011 trying to sell their mixtapes or whatever. 2011 01:24:20,055 --> 01:24:21,969 Like, he always made sure we were good inside the spot. 2012 01:24:22,013 --> 01:24:24,450 TOUGH DUMPLIN: At the time, I remember, you know, my dad, 2013 01:24:24,494 --> 01:24:27,540 Delroy G, showcasing, bringing the dope, 2014 01:24:27,584 --> 01:24:30,674 real reggae music to Toronto for years now. 2015 01:24:30,717 --> 01:24:33,372 When I got my record up there, I was like, 2016 01:24:33,416 --> 01:24:36,549 "Oh, I want my record to be just like how when me and my dad 2017 01:24:36,593 --> 01:24:41,337 were rolling through, picking up all these vintage records." 2018 01:24:41,380 --> 01:24:42,468 SKRATCH BASTID: But yeah, when you do come in here 2019 01:24:42,512 --> 01:24:43,948 and you do see Saukrates on the wall, 2020 01:24:43,991 --> 01:24:45,906 you see Da Grassroots on the wall or something like that, 2021 01:24:45,950 --> 01:24:48,387 you would know that people were making 2022 01:24:48,431 --> 01:24:50,650 some of those records to get on this wall. 2023 01:24:50,694 --> 01:24:53,523 So, I think that that says something about even 2024 01:24:53,566 --> 01:24:56,134 being the outlet, being the goal for a lot of these people. 2025 01:24:56,178 --> 01:24:57,266 Mixtapes, too. 2026 01:24:57,309 --> 01:24:58,615 I want my mixtape to be right behind. 2027 01:24:58,658 --> 01:25:00,007 I want to have that hot spot. 2028 01:25:00,051 --> 01:25:03,446 Like, that environment 2029 01:25:03,489 --> 01:25:06,449 helped stimulate the art that comes from a city. 2030 01:25:06,492 --> 01:25:08,625 I think there's a direct connection. 2031 01:25:08,668 --> 01:25:11,062 ALEX: You know, me and Eugene, we were spending, like, 2032 01:25:11,106 --> 01:25:13,282 every night, like all day, all night. 2033 01:25:13,325 --> 01:25:16,154 You know, we slept in the studio some nights. 2034 01:25:16,198 --> 01:25:20,419 EUGENE: I remember even when I finished, I... 2035 01:25:20,463 --> 01:25:22,378 pssht! I was opening the store. 2036 01:25:22,421 --> 01:25:23,857 I didn't even sleep sometimes. 2037 01:25:23,901 --> 01:25:27,122 ALEX: Now, we didn't get too far because, I mean, 2038 01:25:27,165 --> 01:25:28,906 it was a financial strain for, you know, 2039 01:25:28,949 --> 01:25:33,389 the Tam Family to have this label that, you know, wasn't-- 2040 01:25:33,432 --> 01:25:35,391 it was always in the red. 2041 01:25:35,434 --> 01:25:40,135 EUGENE: At that time, you promo DJ pools and stuff, 2042 01:25:40,178 --> 01:25:43,138 and they would play on the radio and push this stuff. 2043 01:25:43,181 --> 01:25:45,314 If they like it, whatever, right? 2044 01:25:45,357 --> 01:25:46,924 We promoed the stuff, and the next thing I know 2045 01:25:46,967 --> 01:25:48,491 it was all over on the internet, 2046 01:25:48,534 --> 01:25:52,234 people downloading, and nobody buying. 2047 01:25:52,277 --> 01:25:57,152 So, that kind of soured my, you know, soured me, and I said, 2048 01:25:57,195 --> 01:25:59,806 "You know what? I'm done with this." 2049 01:25:59,850 --> 01:26:02,418 That was a really rough time. 2050 01:26:07,292 --> 01:26:09,033 JASON: It was my day off with some friends, and I go, 2051 01:26:09,076 --> 01:26:10,817 "Let me pop into Play De." I needed to grab something 2052 01:26:10,861 --> 01:26:13,080 from the back or ask Eugene something; I couldn't remember. 2053 01:26:13,124 --> 01:26:14,821 I walk in and the gate's up. 2054 01:26:14,865 --> 01:26:16,432 I'm like, "What the hell's going on?" 2055 01:26:16,475 --> 01:26:18,347 Why is the gate up? It's 3 o'clock in the afternoon. 2056 01:26:18,390 --> 01:26:20,697 It shouldn't be closed. The lights are on. 2057 01:26:20,740 --> 01:26:22,612 I see Eugene in there. I see people in there. 2058 01:26:22,655 --> 01:26:26,006 PETER: I opened the shop, turned everything on, 2059 01:26:26,050 --> 01:26:28,226 got everything going in the store. 2060 01:26:28,270 --> 01:26:30,707 JASON: So I walk down and I start to open the gate, 2061 01:26:30,750 --> 01:26:32,752 and some guy I don't recognize, 2062 01:26:32,796 --> 01:26:34,537 some older white guy with a moustache, he's like, 2063 01:26:34,580 --> 01:26:36,191 "Excuse me, sir." 2064 01:26:36,234 --> 01:26:38,323 And then I see Eugene over and he just looks at me and he goes, 2065 01:26:38,367 --> 01:26:39,803 "Jason? No, no, no. 2066 01:26:39,846 --> 01:26:41,152 "Go, go." 2067 01:26:41,196 --> 01:26:42,545 I found out, obviously later, 2068 01:26:42,588 --> 01:26:44,721 that it was the RCMP that told me not to come in. 2069 01:26:44,764 --> 01:26:49,465 PETER: 25, 30 cops, and undercovers, said, 2070 01:26:49,508 --> 01:26:51,031 "Hold it right there," 2071 01:26:51,075 --> 01:26:54,513 like to me and the other employee that was there. 2072 01:26:54,557 --> 01:26:57,995 And I can't remember who was there. 2073 01:26:58,038 --> 01:27:01,999 I think it was a co-op student actually, to be honest with you. 2074 01:27:02,042 --> 01:27:05,916 They said that they're coming for the mixtapes 2075 01:27:05,959 --> 01:27:08,527 because of copyright infringement. 2076 01:27:08,571 --> 01:27:10,050 GEORGE: And I remember Peter calling me on the phone 2077 01:27:10,094 --> 01:27:11,313 and going, "We just got busted. 2078 01:27:11,356 --> 01:27:13,097 "They're charging me." 2079 01:27:13,140 --> 01:27:14,577 I said, "Okay, Peter, I'm on my way," 2080 01:27:14,620 --> 01:27:15,926 because I was on my way to work. 2081 01:27:15,969 --> 01:27:17,493 I told them, I said, "I'm the owner. 2082 01:27:17,536 --> 01:27:18,668 "You know, you need to charge me." 2083 01:27:18,711 --> 01:27:19,799 We went through the courts. 2084 01:27:19,843 --> 01:27:21,497 It got dropped. 2085 01:27:21,540 --> 01:27:24,282 DJ: I remember I was talking to Kid Kut, and he said, 2086 01:27:24,326 --> 01:27:26,632 "Baby Blue is putting out a new mixtape," 2087 01:27:26,676 --> 01:27:29,287 and he goes, "We're gonna put it on CDs." 2088 01:27:29,331 --> 01:27:31,333 "Man, I don't know if you should do that, 2089 01:27:31,376 --> 01:27:34,292 "because now we're putting stuff up 2090 01:27:34,336 --> 01:27:36,207 "on the, like, top format." 2091 01:27:36,251 --> 01:27:38,905 KID KUT: It was a new thing, burning on CDs, 2092 01:27:38,949 --> 01:27:41,081 so we started burning onto CDs, 2093 01:27:41,125 --> 01:27:44,563 and then eventually we ended up pressing CDs. 2094 01:27:44,607 --> 01:27:46,522 MASTERMIND: And when they started making CDs, 2095 01:27:46,565 --> 01:27:49,612 they really started competing with the record labels, 2096 01:27:49,655 --> 01:27:52,528 and that's what made them take notice, right? 2097 01:27:52,571 --> 01:27:54,965 CLICK: You know, obviously, DJs are selling mixtapes 2098 01:27:55,008 --> 01:27:57,881 without having their approval, but that's all fucked up 2099 01:27:57,924 --> 01:27:59,491 because at the end of the day, 2100 01:27:59,535 --> 01:28:01,928 all those DJs that are doing mixtapes were getting free music 2101 01:28:01,972 --> 01:28:04,714 that the record companies were giving them to promote that. 2102 01:28:04,757 --> 01:28:08,413 AGILE: The record labels would service DJs and record pools, 2103 01:28:08,457 --> 01:28:11,764 and part of the service was you had to fill out response sheets 2104 01:28:11,808 --> 01:28:13,288 for the records they were servicing. 2105 01:28:13,331 --> 01:28:15,290 They wanted to know what you thought of these records. 2106 01:28:15,333 --> 01:28:16,813 One of the questions on those surveys, 2107 01:28:16,856 --> 01:28:18,467 on every record that you got, 2108 01:28:18,510 --> 01:28:21,383 "Would you put this song on your mixtape?" 2109 01:28:21,426 --> 01:28:24,777 SPIN SUPREME: At the time, there was a culture 2110 01:28:24,821 --> 01:28:28,041 that was made up of DJs and taste-makers, 2111 01:28:28,085 --> 01:28:31,349 independent labels, and record shops, 2112 01:28:31,393 --> 01:28:33,830 and the clothing store, and everybody was like 2113 01:28:33,873 --> 01:28:36,789 working together to build something here. 2114 01:28:36,833 --> 01:28:39,792 What it felt like to me was like the labels 2115 01:28:39,836 --> 01:28:42,621 were clearing the runway to do their thing. 2116 01:28:42,665 --> 01:28:45,145 JASON: You ask me how it affected Eugene, 2117 01:28:45,189 --> 01:28:46,756 he had to go to court. 2118 01:28:46,799 --> 01:28:51,064 He spent thousands upon thousands of dollars 2119 01:28:51,108 --> 01:28:53,458 to defend himself, 2120 01:28:53,502 --> 01:28:56,156 and it weighed heavy on him in those years. 2121 01:28:56,200 --> 01:28:57,593 I know that for sure. 2122 01:28:57,636 --> 01:28:59,725 EUGENE: Well, yeah, it was, like, 2123 01:28:59,769 --> 01:29:02,598 kind of disheartening because, like, everybody is doing it. 2124 01:29:02,641 --> 01:29:04,121 Everybody is selling. 2125 01:29:04,164 --> 01:29:06,428 Labels? Well, you know what? 2126 01:29:06,471 --> 01:29:10,040 I'm not too sure if I feel comfortable talking about it. 2127 01:29:10,083 --> 01:29:15,262 But everybody was doing it, and they picked us. 2128 01:29:15,306 --> 01:29:16,438 You know what I mean? 2129 01:29:16,481 --> 01:29:19,658 Why us? 2130 01:29:19,702 --> 01:29:21,573 JASON: His parents had a heavy dictation 2131 01:29:21,617 --> 01:29:23,488 on what was happening with the business. 2132 01:29:23,532 --> 01:29:26,491 It was their business as much as it was Eugene's business, 2133 01:29:26,535 --> 01:29:28,754 and they were there constantly, aware of everything 2134 01:29:28,798 --> 01:29:31,409 and watching over, like hawks, what was going on. 2135 01:29:31,453 --> 01:29:34,151 JASON: When the cops came in, that spooked Daddy and Mommy 2136 01:29:34,194 --> 01:29:35,631 as much as it spooked Eugene, 2137 01:29:35,674 --> 01:29:39,417 and I think that together eventually 2138 01:29:39,461 --> 01:29:43,856 is why Eugene asked if I wanted to buy the business. 2139 01:29:43,900 --> 01:29:48,426 ♪ 2140 01:29:48,470 --> 01:29:52,082 ♪ 2141 01:29:52,125 --> 01:29:55,781 ♪ 2142 01:29:55,825 --> 01:29:59,263 ♪ 2143 01:29:59,306 --> 01:30:03,006 ♪ 2144 01:30:03,049 --> 01:30:05,487 ♪ 2145 01:30:05,530 --> 01:30:08,141 EUGENE: Sasha was born in 1992. 2146 01:30:08,185 --> 01:30:10,056 She is a leap year baby. 2147 01:30:10,100 --> 01:30:15,192 And my son was born in 1995. 2148 01:30:15,235 --> 01:30:16,976 I didn't get to see them much. 2149 01:30:17,020 --> 01:30:19,849 I used to be in the store here at 12 o'clock. 2150 01:30:19,892 --> 01:30:24,375 Sometimes I'd go and pick up stuff, do stuff. 2151 01:30:24,419 --> 01:30:26,986 SASHA: There used to be, like, a very small office 2152 01:30:27,030 --> 01:30:28,988 and a kitchen in the back, 2153 01:30:29,032 --> 01:30:32,731 and my brother and I would do homework there most days. 2154 01:30:32,775 --> 01:30:35,647 KEEGAN: Yeah, after school we would come back to the store 2155 01:30:35,691 --> 01:30:37,736 and just waited around until we went home, 2156 01:30:37,780 --> 01:30:40,260 so we would just eat dinner there, 2157 01:30:40,304 --> 01:30:42,132 do homework, play around. 2158 01:30:42,175 --> 01:30:44,264 EUGENE: I would only see them at 12 o'clock at night. 2159 01:30:44,308 --> 01:30:45,614 They're supposed to be sleeping, 2160 01:30:45,657 --> 01:30:47,659 but they're hiding when they hear me coming. 2161 01:30:47,703 --> 01:30:49,748 KEEGAN: I would hide at home before my dad came home 2162 01:30:49,792 --> 01:30:51,184 and then surprise him. 2163 01:30:51,228 --> 01:30:53,099 I guess it was just the way 'cause we didn't really 2164 01:30:53,143 --> 01:30:54,492 see him for a lot, right? 2165 01:30:54,536 --> 01:30:56,668 SASHA: And even if my parents were at the store, 2166 01:30:56,712 --> 01:30:58,409 I remember trying to stay up till, like, 2167 01:30:58,453 --> 01:31:01,107 11 or 12 when they came back home to, like, see them, 2168 01:31:01,151 --> 01:31:05,198 but it didn't always work out. 2169 01:31:05,242 --> 01:31:07,853 I just still think it was like my dad's other child almost, 2170 01:31:07,897 --> 01:31:11,596 because he was here the majority of the time. 2171 01:31:11,640 --> 01:31:13,076 EUGENE: You know, I was going every Thursday 2172 01:31:13,119 --> 01:31:14,599 to pick up records. 2173 01:31:14,643 --> 01:31:16,166 The records are still coming in 2174 01:31:16,209 --> 01:31:20,953 and they still gotta go out, right? 2175 01:31:20,997 --> 01:31:24,609 So, bringing those two guys in was-- you know, helped. 2176 01:31:24,653 --> 01:31:28,091 ♪ 2177 01:31:28,134 --> 01:31:32,356 ♪ 2178 01:31:32,399 --> 01:31:35,185 NAV: I was working around the corner at Covenant House 2179 01:31:35,228 --> 01:31:38,797 and spent any free moment I had in the shop. 2180 01:31:38,841 --> 01:31:41,887 Got to know Eugene, of course, and Donna, 2181 01:31:41,931 --> 01:31:44,803 and then Eugene and Donna were now young parents. 2182 01:31:44,847 --> 01:31:47,458 I think both of them really wanted to be able to focus 2183 01:31:47,502 --> 01:31:48,590 on their family a bit more 2184 01:31:48,633 --> 01:31:50,243 and they were looking for an out. 2185 01:31:50,287 --> 01:31:53,029 So they mentioned it to Jason, and Jason mentioned it to me. 2186 01:31:53,072 --> 01:31:55,771 JASON: And one day Eugene came up to me and he goes, 2187 01:31:55,814 --> 01:31:57,555 "We're thinking about selling the business. 2188 01:31:57,599 --> 01:31:59,818 "Are you interested?" I said, "Yeah." 2189 01:31:59,862 --> 01:32:01,820 I didn't think I could do it on my own. 2190 01:32:01,864 --> 01:32:03,300 Nav was my very good friend. 2191 01:32:03,343 --> 01:32:05,737 NAV: We were just like, "Yeah! Let's do it!" 2192 01:32:05,781 --> 01:32:08,305 Effectively, at that point, we bought Play De Record. 2193 01:32:08,348 --> 01:32:11,526 The deal was Eugene and Donna stay on for six months. 2194 01:32:11,569 --> 01:32:13,484 You know, a consultancy period. 2195 01:32:13,528 --> 01:32:16,008 JASON: But when Nav and I brainstormed ideas 2196 01:32:16,052 --> 01:32:17,836 and talked to Eugene, Eugene got excited 2197 01:32:17,880 --> 01:32:20,404 and he got a new zest for it and said, 2198 01:32:20,447 --> 01:32:21,536 "You know what? I'm gonna stay." 2199 01:32:21,579 --> 01:32:23,842 NAV: Thankfully, we devised this schedule 2200 01:32:23,886 --> 01:32:25,931 that worked for Eugene and Donna to remain. 2201 01:32:25,975 --> 01:32:28,064 When I look back, I mean, 2202 01:32:28,107 --> 01:32:29,718 damn, if it had gone any other way, 2203 01:32:29,761 --> 01:32:32,372 it would have been a catastrophe. 2204 01:32:32,416 --> 01:32:34,853 DONNA: I could have walked away from the store, you know? 2205 01:32:34,897 --> 01:32:38,074 But he loves it, so he continues. 2206 01:32:38,117 --> 01:32:40,903 I think being here all day is not work for him. 2207 01:32:40,946 --> 01:32:44,080 He loves being here all day, listening to music. 2208 01:32:44,123 --> 01:32:48,084 ♪ 2209 01:32:48,127 --> 01:32:51,522 EUGENE: I was always going to motivational courses 2210 01:32:51,566 --> 01:32:55,178 and looking at other businesses, thinking, you know, 2211 01:32:55,221 --> 01:32:57,702 "How can I, you know, 2212 01:32:57,746 --> 01:33:01,488 "maybe diversify just in case something happens to the store?" 2213 01:33:01,532 --> 01:33:05,188 Which, you know, some of the stuff I learned, like, 2214 01:33:05,231 --> 01:33:06,537 you set a goal 2215 01:33:06,581 --> 01:33:10,019 and you do whatever it takes to get that goal. 2216 01:33:10,062 --> 01:33:13,631 So it doesn't matter if I didn't sleep or whatever, 2217 01:33:13,675 --> 01:33:16,634 I'd just go and I'd try to achieve that goal. 2218 01:33:16,678 --> 01:33:19,419 And even to this day, I still do the same thing, 2219 01:33:19,463 --> 01:33:20,638 where if somebody is looking for something, 2220 01:33:20,682 --> 01:33:23,859 I try my best to try and get it to them. 2221 01:33:23,902 --> 01:33:27,297 Sometimes the DJs would ask me, 2222 01:33:27,340 --> 01:33:29,952 "Bring me a record in the club." 2223 01:33:29,995 --> 01:33:31,562 I was like, "Oh, come on, man. 2224 01:33:31,606 --> 01:33:33,303 "Do you really need this record?" 2225 01:33:33,346 --> 01:33:36,001 But I know the DJ needs it because, you know, 2226 01:33:36,045 --> 01:33:39,788 one of my things also is the music can't stop. 2227 01:33:39,831 --> 01:33:43,269 I just kind of-- the music's gotta keep on going. 2228 01:33:43,313 --> 01:33:46,795 ♪ 2229 01:33:46,838 --> 01:33:52,235 ♪ 2230 01:33:52,278 --> 01:33:55,542 SFS: I think a lot of how we've been able to maintain 2231 01:33:55,586 --> 01:33:57,762 and stay at such a high level for so long is 2232 01:33:57,806 --> 01:33:59,808 a lot of it is how we deal with people. 2233 01:33:59,851 --> 01:34:01,592 And I did learn a lot of that from him. 2234 01:34:01,636 --> 01:34:04,160 I got, you know, my asshole side from George, 2235 01:34:04,203 --> 01:34:06,466 how to not take shit from people, 2236 01:34:06,510 --> 01:34:09,121 and I got the camaraderie, community thing from Eugene. 2237 01:34:09,165 --> 01:34:11,341 If you ask me, like, a moment where one started to pull away 2238 01:34:11,384 --> 01:34:13,038 from the other, I couldn't tell you. 2239 01:34:13,082 --> 01:34:16,520 GEORGE: But Eugene outsold us. 100%, I know that for a fact. 2240 01:34:16,563 --> 01:34:18,565 That bothered me, but once I got out of it, 2241 01:34:18,609 --> 01:34:20,742 I was like, I don't know how old I was in 2000, 2242 01:34:20,785 --> 01:34:22,134 but it was over. 2243 01:34:22,178 --> 01:34:24,702 Like, I walked away from it. I was good with it. 2244 01:34:24,746 --> 01:34:26,225 No, it didn't bother me. 2245 01:34:26,269 --> 01:34:28,619 But during the competition, oh, he used to bother me! 2246 01:34:28,663 --> 01:34:29,968 He used to bother me. 2247 01:34:30,012 --> 01:34:31,666 Actually, funny you say that-- 2248 01:34:31,709 --> 01:34:33,929 Eugene bought all my records. 2249 01:34:33,972 --> 01:34:36,496 Call up Eugene, he comes to my dad's house, 2250 01:34:36,540 --> 01:34:38,063 he went through my records, 2251 01:34:38,107 --> 01:34:40,718 started nickel and diming here and I said, "Look, Eugene, 2252 01:34:40,762 --> 01:34:45,157 "either you take the whole batch or you don't take it at all." 2253 01:34:45,201 --> 01:34:46,811 And I took that money 2254 01:34:46,855 --> 01:34:49,205 and I bought a dock at my cottage, 2255 01:34:49,248 --> 01:34:50,946 which I should call Play De Record, 2256 01:34:50,989 --> 01:34:52,904 which I still have up to now, 2257 01:34:52,948 --> 01:34:55,254 that I built a dock with the money he gave me. 2258 01:34:55,298 --> 01:34:57,430 True story. 2259 01:34:57,474 --> 01:34:59,084 I'm just shocked that he's still doing it. 2260 01:34:59,128 --> 01:35:00,999 Like, I mean, is the industry still there? 2261 01:35:01,043 --> 01:35:02,784 Are people buying records? 2262 01:35:02,827 --> 01:35:06,788 Like, why is he still just kicking the bucket doing that? 2263 01:35:06,831 --> 01:35:08,746 INTERVIEWER: How long did the Thursday thing last? 2264 01:35:08,790 --> 01:35:11,357 Like when did it-- EUGENE: Oh, forever. 2265 01:35:11,401 --> 01:35:13,664 Until, like, the 2010s. 2266 01:35:13,708 --> 01:35:15,231 You know what I mean? 2267 01:35:15,274 --> 01:35:16,798 That's when things started-- poof! 2268 01:35:16,841 --> 01:35:18,451 Digital, man. 2269 01:35:18,495 --> 01:35:20,062 Digital killed it. 2270 01:35:20,105 --> 01:35:23,935 MISTA JIGGZ: Serato is a program or a software 2271 01:35:23,979 --> 01:35:28,766 that basically allows DJs to use digital files 2272 01:35:28,810 --> 01:35:31,203 from their laptop or from a hard drive. 2273 01:35:31,247 --> 01:35:33,075 You can use it with CD turntables. 2274 01:35:33,118 --> 01:35:35,033 You can use it with regular turntables. 2275 01:35:35,077 --> 01:35:36,252 You can use it with a controller. 2276 01:35:36,295 --> 01:35:38,645 But you can also just connect to a mixer 2277 01:35:38,689 --> 01:35:40,343 and you can play your whole entire set 2278 01:35:40,386 --> 01:35:41,910 literally just off your computer. 2279 01:35:41,953 --> 01:35:44,086 When Serato came out in 2005, 2280 01:35:44,129 --> 01:35:47,263 a lot of guys already had a lot of digital files, 2281 01:35:47,306 --> 01:35:50,440 so they were kind of already ready to go there. 2282 01:35:50,483 --> 01:35:53,617 JESTER: Once I got to try it, oh my god, this is a game-changer. 2283 01:35:53,660 --> 01:35:55,097 I couldn't stop talking about it. 2284 01:35:55,140 --> 01:35:58,317 And I remember, I flew out to Vancouver with Kid Kut. 2285 01:35:58,361 --> 01:36:00,580 Because it was so much, my actual luggage, 2286 01:36:00,624 --> 01:36:02,713 my personal luggage of clothing and stuff like that, 2287 01:36:02,757 --> 01:36:05,803 as well as these two massive crates, 2288 01:36:05,847 --> 01:36:09,024 the airline charged me like $160, $170 2289 01:36:09,067 --> 01:36:11,330 to bring those crates back, and I was so pissed. 2290 01:36:11,374 --> 01:36:14,203 And as soon as I landed back in Toronto, I bought a laptop, 2291 01:36:14,246 --> 01:36:16,031 and I never looked back. 2292 01:36:16,074 --> 01:36:18,773 DJ KEMO: I could do the exact same job and bring ten times 2293 01:36:18,816 --> 01:36:20,731 the amount of records with me 2294 01:36:20,775 --> 01:36:25,040 with a frickin' laptop and two controllers? 2295 01:36:25,083 --> 01:36:26,868 Like, hell yeah, I'm with it. 2296 01:36:26,911 --> 01:36:28,870 MELBOOGIE: For me personally, it's just something that I-- 2297 01:36:28,913 --> 01:36:30,175 you had to do. 2298 01:36:30,219 --> 01:36:31,786 You had to keep up with the times. 2299 01:36:31,829 --> 01:36:34,049 MARCUS: With everything being on a USB, 2300 01:36:34,092 --> 01:36:36,486 you could bring your whole collection on your laptop. 2301 01:36:36,529 --> 01:36:39,532 I don't see a full return to vinyl ever happening. 2302 01:36:39,576 --> 01:36:41,970 DENISE: But it wasn't like digital files came out 2303 01:36:42,013 --> 01:36:44,929 and then instantaneously killed the scene, 2304 01:36:44,973 --> 01:36:47,714 but definitely over time. 2305 01:36:47,758 --> 01:36:49,455 I mean, I can't remember the last time I bought 2306 01:36:49,499 --> 01:36:51,414 a 12-inch, frankly, you know? 2307 01:36:51,457 --> 01:36:54,112 Because you have access to it all the time, 2308 01:36:54,156 --> 01:36:56,506 anywhere, anytime now. 2309 01:36:56,549 --> 01:37:00,249 ♪ 2310 01:37:00,292 --> 01:37:02,642 ♪ 2311 01:37:02,686 --> 01:37:04,993 JUG-E: As a young kid, as a teenager, 2312 01:37:05,036 --> 01:37:09,040 working in the record store, dictating what people buy, 2313 01:37:09,084 --> 01:37:10,955 I mean, that was kind of the attitude of it. 2314 01:37:10,999 --> 01:37:14,829 Once people had the freedom of MP3s, 2315 01:37:14,872 --> 01:37:16,091 it didn't matter anymore. 2316 01:37:16,134 --> 01:37:17,962 They can tell you what's hot now. 2317 01:37:18,006 --> 01:37:20,704 So, naturally, it slowed down. 2318 01:37:20,747 --> 01:37:23,533 Club DJs were the first to go. 2319 01:37:23,576 --> 01:37:25,013 JASON: Yeah, we noticed it. 2320 01:37:25,056 --> 01:37:27,319 We'd notice less things being pressed on vinyl. 2321 01:37:27,363 --> 01:37:29,408 We'd notice certain DJs dropping off 2322 01:37:29,452 --> 01:37:32,585 and not showing up anymore, DJs that would come regularly. 2323 01:37:32,629 --> 01:37:36,981 When Thursday was 100 or 150 people going crazy, 2324 01:37:37,025 --> 01:37:39,288 it started to be 60 people. 2325 01:37:39,331 --> 01:37:40,898 EUGENE: Everything went down a little bit. 2326 01:37:40,942 --> 01:37:42,769 When Scratch Live came, a little bit went down. 2327 01:37:42,813 --> 01:37:45,250 When Serato came in, 2328 01:37:45,294 --> 01:37:47,209 a lot went down. 2329 01:37:47,252 --> 01:37:49,124 So, we had to find other ways, you know? 2330 01:37:49,167 --> 01:37:52,301 [drum and bass music] 2331 01:37:52,344 --> 01:37:53,998 REPORTER: [TV] The beat's about to switch again 2332 01:37:54,042 --> 01:37:57,349 at Play De Record. 2333 01:37:57,393 --> 01:38:01,745 First vinyl, then DJ equipment, now the funky store on Yonge 2334 01:38:01,788 --> 01:38:04,661 is opening a learning centre in the back. 2335 01:38:04,704 --> 01:38:07,446 WOMAN: Honestly, it's really hard to find an environment 2336 01:38:07,490 --> 01:38:09,144 where you can sit down and learn. 2337 01:38:09,187 --> 01:38:10,667 You feel like it's impossible 2338 01:38:10,710 --> 01:38:12,451 to be able to do something like this. 2339 01:38:12,495 --> 01:38:15,237 MASTERMIND: And that was crazy because he had enough foresight 2340 01:38:15,280 --> 01:38:18,893 to be like, "Okay, how do I evolve or transition?" 2341 01:38:18,936 --> 01:38:21,547 Or, "Okay, maybe the record side of it is not bringing in 2342 01:38:21,591 --> 01:38:22,940 "as much income as it used to, 2343 01:38:22,984 --> 01:38:24,289 "so what can we do to supplement that?" 2344 01:38:24,333 --> 01:38:27,249 By setting up a DJ school in a store 2345 01:38:27,292 --> 01:38:31,340 that was infamous for the DJ world, 2346 01:38:31,383 --> 01:38:33,168 you're now bringing that potentially 2347 01:38:33,211 --> 01:38:35,126 to a new generation of people. 2348 01:38:35,170 --> 01:38:37,433 And again, you know, Eugene had the foresight to be like, 2349 01:38:37,476 --> 01:38:40,001 "Let's help keep this culture going." 2350 01:38:40,044 --> 01:38:42,873 EUGENE: But again, like, everybody learns on... 2351 01:38:42,917 --> 01:38:44,875 Get free lessons on YouTube, 2352 01:38:44,919 --> 01:38:46,921 just like how they get free music. 2353 01:38:46,964 --> 01:38:49,575 NAV: All that stuff, you know, to try and weather the storm, 2354 01:38:49,619 --> 01:38:51,055 we knew what was going on. 2355 01:38:51,099 --> 01:38:53,666 We knew that, you know, it was gonna be a challenge. 2356 01:38:53,710 --> 01:38:56,234 But at the end of the day, we kind of also trusted 2357 01:38:56,278 --> 01:38:57,844 there's always gonna be music lovers 2358 01:38:57,888 --> 01:38:59,150 and there's always gonna be people 2359 01:38:59,194 --> 01:39:02,458 who love the medium, you know, of vinyl. 2360 01:39:02,501 --> 01:39:04,242 DAN-E-O: I have a love for the music, 2361 01:39:04,286 --> 01:39:05,852 but the music product. 2362 01:39:05,896 --> 01:39:07,811 To this day, I'm still very meticulous about 2363 01:39:07,854 --> 01:39:10,248 how my album cover looks, the liner notes, 2364 01:39:10,292 --> 01:39:12,511 all of the credit information. 2365 01:39:12,555 --> 01:39:15,993 MISS KITTIE: DJ Jace, I did a remix for him this year. 2366 01:39:16,037 --> 01:39:19,910 He met me in the food court from my place of work, 2367 01:39:19,954 --> 01:39:22,086 and he handed me this record, 2368 01:39:22,130 --> 01:39:25,263 and I very excitedly started screaming 2369 01:39:25,307 --> 01:39:26,873 and scared a lot of the elderly people 2370 01:39:26,917 --> 01:39:28,179 that were in the food court. 2371 01:39:28,223 --> 01:39:31,487 I didn't actually think that I would see my name 2372 01:39:31,530 --> 01:39:34,098 on a record for a long time, and I almost cried, 2373 01:39:34,142 --> 01:39:36,666 which I really had to control myself 2374 01:39:36,709 --> 01:39:39,756 because of the number of people that were around. 2375 01:39:39,799 --> 01:39:41,932 SKRATCH BASTID: Now that it is a more limited thing, 2376 01:39:41,976 --> 01:39:43,325 it's a bit more special. 2377 01:39:43,368 --> 01:39:45,588 It's like the same way people like real photographs 2378 01:39:45,631 --> 01:39:46,719 and things like that. 2379 01:39:46,763 --> 01:39:48,678 It's like a physical piece of media. 2380 01:39:48,721 --> 01:39:50,506 But when Serato came 'round, it was like, 2381 01:39:50,549 --> 01:39:52,812 "Yeah, okay, cool, I still got it," you know? 2382 01:39:52,856 --> 01:39:55,119 Like, "I'm gonna beat the curve and I'm gonna find ways 2383 01:39:55,163 --> 01:39:57,034 "to get the record." But then, eventually, 2384 01:39:57,078 --> 01:39:58,688 people coming up to you at the club being like, 2385 01:39:58,731 --> 01:39:59,950 "Can you play this?" and I'm like, 2386 01:39:59,994 --> 01:40:01,473 "Ah, I'm still waiting for it to get pressed." 2387 01:40:01,517 --> 01:40:02,518 Then they're like, 2388 01:40:02,561 --> 01:40:04,563 "What are you? What's a press?" 2389 01:40:04,607 --> 01:40:09,220 You know what I mean? It doesn't make sense. 2390 01:40:09,264 --> 01:40:11,657 MISTA JIGGZ: If a record is scratched, 2391 01:40:11,701 --> 01:40:13,181 you may not be able to play it. 2392 01:40:13,224 --> 01:40:16,532 You're in close quarters and the audience is around you. 2393 01:40:16,575 --> 01:40:18,403 People could be, you know, knocking the table. 2394 01:40:18,447 --> 01:40:20,405 People could be knocking the needle, 2395 01:40:20,449 --> 01:40:23,060 and it could really affect your performance. 2396 01:40:23,104 --> 01:40:25,367 ♪ 2397 01:40:25,410 --> 01:40:27,282 JUG-E: Serato was like that thing, 2398 01:40:27,325 --> 01:40:29,806 it was the gift and the curse because it gave us everything 2399 01:40:29,849 --> 01:40:31,460 that we really wanted. 2400 01:40:31,503 --> 01:40:34,637 As DJs, me personally, I hated carrying crates. 2401 01:40:34,680 --> 01:40:37,596 But at the same time, it tore our hearts out 2402 01:40:37,640 --> 01:40:41,687 because we lost that sense of community. 2403 01:40:41,731 --> 01:40:43,385 NAV: As an entrepreneur, I got into, like, 2404 01:40:43,428 --> 01:40:46,910 bars and venues and opened a club of my own, 2405 01:40:46,953 --> 01:40:49,043 and it made sense for me to exit at that point. 2406 01:40:49,086 --> 01:40:50,914 It was emotional for years and years, 2407 01:40:50,957 --> 01:40:53,003 and still is a little emotional, you know? 2408 01:40:53,047 --> 01:40:57,312 Like, definitely a high point of my, you know, 2409 01:40:57,355 --> 01:40:59,401 my life and my career. 2410 01:40:59,444 --> 01:41:03,318 You know, it was a really fun place to work. 2411 01:41:03,361 --> 01:41:06,016 ♪ 2412 01:41:06,060 --> 01:41:09,628 JUG-E: As someone who essentially spent a lot of time, 2413 01:41:09,672 --> 01:41:13,763 years on Yonge Street, a lot of the smaller businesses 2414 01:41:13,806 --> 01:41:17,549 that had hung on for all those years 2415 01:41:17,593 --> 01:41:20,248 were now getting taken over by the major corporations. 2416 01:41:20,291 --> 01:41:24,469 EUGENE: Well, when that property tax went up $7,000, man, 2417 01:41:24,513 --> 01:41:27,298 I said, "We can't do this." It's... 2418 01:41:27,342 --> 01:41:30,127 We're not even making money, right? 2419 01:41:30,171 --> 01:41:33,304 And for that to happen, we said, "Look." 2420 01:41:33,348 --> 01:41:39,093 So, we were deciding if to continue or not, right? 2421 01:41:39,136 --> 01:41:42,661 Jason didn't want to continue, so it was just me alone. 2422 01:41:42,705 --> 01:41:45,011 JASON: We had talked about closing the shop, many times, 2423 01:41:45,055 --> 01:41:47,057 because it was hard. 2424 01:41:47,101 --> 01:41:49,190 You know, it's not the same business 2425 01:41:49,233 --> 01:41:50,800 as it was obviously in the '90s. 2426 01:41:50,843 --> 01:41:53,150 And then Eugene said, "Well, let's move it." 2427 01:41:53,194 --> 01:41:55,848 And I go, "Okay." I was open to the idea. 2428 01:41:55,892 --> 01:41:58,155 There was a spot on Spadina that Eugene showed me, 2429 01:41:58,199 --> 01:42:00,070 and I go, "It's cool, I like it." 2430 01:42:00,114 --> 01:42:03,943 But I really did some soul-searching myself 2431 01:42:03,987 --> 01:42:05,989 and I felt I needed to go another direction in my life. 2432 01:42:06,032 --> 01:42:08,470 So once the Yonge Street location closed down, 2433 01:42:08,513 --> 01:42:12,474 I decided to move on and let Eugene take it over. 2434 01:42:12,517 --> 01:42:17,000 ♪ 2435 01:42:17,043 --> 01:42:20,569 ♪ 2436 01:42:20,612 --> 01:42:24,181 ♪ 2437 01:42:24,225 --> 01:42:28,185 ♪ 2438 01:42:30,231 --> 01:42:32,624 DJ DOPEY: We used to do scratchers together, like, 2439 01:42:32,668 --> 01:42:35,061 you know, the scene and get people together. 2440 01:42:35,105 --> 01:42:39,501 We did the last one that was in the actual Yonge Street, 2441 01:42:39,544 --> 01:42:40,980 the OG store. 2442 01:42:41,024 --> 01:42:42,547 Eugene let us do it. 2443 01:42:42,591 --> 01:42:46,072 A good send-off, I suppose, for the OG store. 2444 01:42:46,116 --> 01:42:50,599 ♪ 2445 01:42:50,642 --> 01:42:53,341 ♪ 2446 01:42:53,384 --> 01:42:55,821 JESTER: Eugene, a couple other people who were 2447 01:42:55,865 --> 01:42:57,997 Play De Record loyalists, 2448 01:42:58,041 --> 01:43:01,305 we all took a picture in front of the sign. 2449 01:43:01,349 --> 01:43:03,481 And I remember after we took the picture, I was just like, 2450 01:43:03,525 --> 01:43:06,441 "This is part of Toronto culture." 2451 01:43:06,484 --> 01:43:09,400 DJ POWER: And that location on Yonge Street 2452 01:43:09,444 --> 01:43:11,620 is just a part of history. 2453 01:43:11,663 --> 01:43:13,796 I felt it when he had to move. 2454 01:43:13,839 --> 01:43:15,319 NICK: You know the Sam's sign? 2455 01:43:15,363 --> 01:43:17,103 They got the Sam's sign they have on top of that thing. 2456 01:43:17,147 --> 01:43:19,280 They should tear that down and put the Play De Record sign 2457 01:43:19,323 --> 01:43:20,542 there, on top of there. [laughs] 2458 01:43:20,585 --> 01:43:24,241 Because that's just as, like, well-known as, 2459 01:43:24,285 --> 01:43:27,592 and probably even bigger than, Sam the Record Man. 2460 01:43:27,636 --> 01:43:29,986 ♪ 2461 01:43:30,029 --> 01:43:31,335 SPIN SUPREME: I'm super nostalgic 2462 01:43:31,379 --> 01:43:33,163 when we talk about this stuff, man. 2463 01:43:33,207 --> 01:43:35,948 Like, going down memory lane and thinking about the places 2464 01:43:35,992 --> 01:43:40,257 and the sounds and the smells of, like, 2465 01:43:40,301 --> 01:43:45,741 being in this movement at this time. 2466 01:43:45,784 --> 01:43:49,875 There's institutions that were a part of the come-up 2467 01:43:49,919 --> 01:43:52,965 of this city, and they don't exist anymore, 2468 01:43:53,009 --> 01:43:54,184 or they've changed, 2469 01:43:54,228 --> 01:43:56,839 and, you know, I understand the evolution. 2470 01:43:56,882 --> 01:44:00,843 It means that what we see today won't ever be what it was, 2471 01:44:00,886 --> 01:44:05,413 but it's nice to think about it. 2472 01:44:05,456 --> 01:44:08,416 JUG-E: Well... all good things come to an end. 2473 01:44:12,333 --> 01:44:15,597 [quiet street traffic noise] 2474 01:44:19,775 --> 01:44:25,650 [quiet street traffic noise] 2475 01:44:34,616 --> 01:44:36,792 DAVID: I got a wire from Eugene that says, 2476 01:44:36,835 --> 01:44:37,967 "Oh, come check out the new store." 2477 01:44:38,010 --> 01:44:39,708 I walked in there and it was like 2478 01:44:39,751 --> 01:44:41,187 if nothing had ever changed. 2479 01:44:41,231 --> 01:44:44,756 I think it felt the same because Eugene was there, 2480 01:44:44,800 --> 01:44:47,368 and so he is the store. 2481 01:44:47,411 --> 01:44:49,761 Home is where Eugene is. 2482 01:44:51,372 --> 01:44:55,201 [quiet street traffic noise] 2483 01:44:55,245 --> 01:44:56,333 EUGENE: I just keep hoping. 2484 01:44:56,377 --> 01:44:59,423 I'm not sure yet what I'm gonna do yet. 2485 01:44:59,467 --> 01:45:01,295 But when you're so busy 2486 01:45:01,338 --> 01:45:02,948 and you're always involved with music 2487 01:45:02,992 --> 01:45:07,779 and you're ordering every day, and especially now where 2488 01:45:07,823 --> 01:45:11,740 mostly I'm alone, so I'm doing everything. 2489 01:45:11,783 --> 01:45:14,873 I'm picking out records, looking at records, digging, 2490 01:45:14,917 --> 01:45:19,182 sorting records, filling up the bins, checking stock, 2491 01:45:19,225 --> 01:45:22,620 cashing people, answering phone calls, 2492 01:45:22,664 --> 01:45:24,840 answering questions about equipment, 2493 01:45:24,883 --> 01:45:27,843 which I don't really-- it's not my forte. 2494 01:45:27,886 --> 01:45:32,456 So even doing this documentary has me thinking, 2495 01:45:32,500 --> 01:45:36,155 when I do all the pros and cons, "Alright, this is what we did," 2496 01:45:36,199 --> 01:45:38,941 and then even now I'm thinking, 2497 01:45:38,984 --> 01:45:41,770 "This could be the end." 2498 01:45:41,813 --> 01:45:44,033 But I'm not sure yet. 2499 01:45:44,076 --> 01:45:47,384 Many times, I thought maybe we might have to close, 2500 01:45:47,428 --> 01:45:48,994 because really, it wasn't making any-- 2501 01:45:49,038 --> 01:45:50,605 we don't make any money, really. 2502 01:45:50,648 --> 01:45:52,737 I'm just doing it for... 2503 01:45:52,781 --> 01:45:57,089 I don't even know what I'm doing it for! 2504 01:45:57,133 --> 01:46:01,616 DJX: And for me, I never could have done what I was doing 2505 01:46:01,659 --> 01:46:02,965 at the level I was doing it 2506 01:46:03,008 --> 01:46:06,708 without his contribution to my life, 2507 01:46:06,751 --> 01:46:11,060 my career as a DJ, 2508 01:46:11,103 --> 01:46:14,193 and everything that I was about back then. 2509 01:46:14,237 --> 01:46:17,588 He... 2510 01:46:17,632 --> 01:46:20,635 Yeah. I mean, I owe him so much. 2511 01:46:20,678 --> 01:46:24,900 ♪ 2512 01:46:24,943 --> 01:46:30,558 ♪ 2513 01:46:30,601 --> 01:46:32,821 MASTERMIND: You know, I think one of the reasons 2514 01:46:32,864 --> 01:46:35,127 he's considered such a legend 2515 01:46:35,171 --> 01:46:37,782 and he's so revered in this city is because of how sweet he is, 2516 01:46:37,826 --> 01:46:40,132 how generous he is, and how, you know, 2517 01:46:40,176 --> 01:46:44,528 I don't think he's got a mean bone in his body. 2518 01:46:44,572 --> 01:46:46,095 NICK: Without Play De Record, 2519 01:46:46,138 --> 01:46:48,445 oh, my career probably would have went another path. 2520 01:46:48,489 --> 01:46:51,187 If you ask any DJ in Toronto that bought records 2521 01:46:51,230 --> 01:46:53,972 back in the '90s, it's like, if there was no Play De Record, 2522 01:46:54,016 --> 01:46:57,672 your DJ career might not have been where it is today. 2523 01:46:57,715 --> 01:47:01,240 ♪ 2524 01:47:01,284 --> 01:47:02,633 SAUKRATES: I'll call him more for help 2525 01:47:02,677 --> 01:47:04,461 than he'll call anybody for help. 2526 01:47:04,505 --> 01:47:06,158 Last winter, you know, my family, 2527 01:47:06,202 --> 01:47:07,638 we were trying to get things together. 2528 01:47:07,682 --> 01:47:09,335 I had to call him for some help. He's like... 2529 01:47:09,379 --> 01:47:10,554 [snaps finger] "Done!" 2530 01:47:10,598 --> 01:47:12,817 And we hadn't spoken for about ten years. 2531 01:47:12,861 --> 01:47:14,471 But Eugene never changed. 2532 01:47:14,515 --> 01:47:16,212 As long as I treat him with respect, 2533 01:47:16,255 --> 01:47:20,825 he'll treat me like family, like a nephew. 2534 01:47:20,869 --> 01:47:23,828 DENISE: The passion was clearly there at Play De Record. 2535 01:47:23,872 --> 01:47:25,482 Passionate about the music, 2536 01:47:25,526 --> 01:47:29,965 who wanted to deliver it to people to share it. 2537 01:47:30,008 --> 01:47:32,054 FRANKENSTEIN: The understanding that Toronto needed 2538 01:47:32,097 --> 01:47:34,883 to tell its story, 2539 01:47:34,926 --> 01:47:37,320 and Eugene and Play De Record being a part of that 2540 01:47:37,363 --> 01:47:40,497 was something that we all believed in. 2541 01:47:40,541 --> 01:47:42,804 JUG-E: I take my kids there. 2542 01:47:42,847 --> 01:47:44,327 They don't even know what the fuck a record is, 2543 01:47:44,370 --> 01:47:46,460 but I just take 'em there. 2544 01:47:46,503 --> 01:47:49,332 "You don't understand right now, son, but you need to stand here, 2545 01:47:49,375 --> 01:47:51,421 "like, right now." 2546 01:47:51,465 --> 01:47:56,078 ♪ 2547 01:47:56,121 --> 01:48:00,430 CLICK: The music, which is the soundscape to our lives, 2548 01:48:00,474 --> 01:48:03,085 would not be possible without a place to go buy those records 2549 01:48:03,128 --> 01:48:04,826 so people can hear them, 2550 01:48:04,869 --> 01:48:06,915 and that's a major community hub. 2551 01:48:06,958 --> 01:48:08,482 That's what this is all about. 2552 01:48:08,525 --> 01:48:10,658 Like, without Play De Record, you know, 2553 01:48:10,701 --> 01:48:12,355 would the culture be the same? 2554 01:48:12,398 --> 01:48:14,444 I don't know! Maybe not. 2555 01:48:14,488 --> 01:48:18,274 ♪ 2556 01:48:18,317 --> 01:48:21,843 ♪ 2557 01:48:24,106 --> 01:48:25,760 AKI: I think it's... 2558 01:48:25,803 --> 01:48:29,677 It will still live on. 2559 01:48:29,720 --> 01:48:34,377 That passion that he had for a record store, 2560 01:48:34,420 --> 01:48:37,162 you know, I have never seen it anywhere else, right? 2561 01:48:37,206 --> 01:48:40,688 It's a family-owned business. 2562 01:48:40,731 --> 01:48:45,040 You know, there's not that many of that around. 2563 01:48:46,520 --> 01:48:47,825 It's not a corporation. 2564 01:48:47,869 --> 01:48:49,348 He doesn't have shares. 2565 01:48:49,392 --> 01:48:53,701 You know, he just does what he loves, you know? 2566 01:48:53,744 --> 01:48:58,793 So, I think that legacy will continue on forever. 2567 01:48:58,836 --> 01:49:02,144 ♪ 2568 01:49:02,187 --> 01:49:05,451 ♪ 2569 01:49:05,495 --> 01:49:08,367 EUGENE: It's only when we started doing this documentary, 2570 01:49:08,411 --> 01:49:11,719 I-- "Oh, maybe we did have something to do with it." 2571 01:49:15,244 --> 01:49:16,506 I never saw it. 2572 01:49:16,550 --> 01:49:20,031 Like, you know, when you have to step back... 2573 01:49:20,075 --> 01:49:21,642 then you see the picture, right? 2574 01:49:21,685 --> 01:49:23,557 ♪ 2575 01:49:23,600 --> 01:49:26,037 ♪ Turn it up, turn it up. ♪ 2576 01:49:26,081 --> 01:49:27,648 ♪ Lock down, see? 2577 01:49:27,691 --> 01:49:28,736 ♪ Lock down. 2578 01:49:28,779 --> 01:49:30,912 ♪ Yo, yo. 2579 01:49:30,955 --> 01:49:33,131 ♪ Yo, dem outlaws was born to break laws and felonies ♪ 2580 01:49:33,175 --> 01:49:35,786 ♪ Deh got an empty gates in da town, deh run it steadily ♪ 2581 01:49:35,830 --> 01:49:37,614 ♪ To all my money makers cross town 2582 01:49:37,658 --> 01:49:39,442 dissemble funds and put the pieces back together ♪ 2583 01:49:39,485 --> 01:49:40,791 ♪ Tryin' to drunk one another 2584 01:49:40,835 --> 01:49:42,619 ♪ Case thrown out, storm da courtroom ♪ 2585 01:49:42,663 --> 01:49:44,316 ♪ Uniforms and three-piece suits ♪ 2586 01:49:44,360 --> 01:49:46,623 ♪ From bail putting up houses and loot, he walkin' ♪ 2587 01:49:46,667 --> 01:49:48,407 ♪ I heard him talking to his partner Hawkins 2588 01:49:48,451 --> 01:49:49,626 about his way of livin' ♪ 2589 01:49:49,670 --> 01:49:50,801 ♪ Faces of death 2590 01:49:50,845 --> 01:49:52,150 ♪ He's runnin' with this older kid 2591 01:49:52,194 --> 01:49:53,848 from around Mount Olive and Silverstone ♪ 2592 01:49:53,891 --> 01:49:56,459 ♪ Deh stack mad gats in da ceilin' at his baby mom's home ♪ 2593 01:49:56,502 --> 01:49:57,721 ♪ These narcs are watchin' us 2594 01:49:57,765 --> 01:49:59,201 ♪ Undercovers on the rooftop 2595 01:49:59,244 --> 01:50:00,637 ♪ Prepared and bullet proofed up 2596 01:50:00,681 --> 01:50:02,378 Jurassic blowin' cruisers up fatal ♪ 2597 01:50:02,421 --> 01:50:04,685 ♪ They got us trapped under this negative force ♪ 2598 01:50:04,728 --> 01:50:07,165 ♪ Some try to find a way out but no doubt some make it out ♪ 2599 01:50:07,209 --> 01:50:08,645 ♪ Some learnin' from their own mistakes ♪ 2600 01:50:08,689 --> 01:50:10,865 ♪ So take this negative and turn it into positive ♪ 2601 01:50:10,908 --> 01:50:13,215 ♪ Whether you what to listen, your prerogative. ♪ 2602 01:50:13,258 --> 01:50:16,479 ♪ Take a look through my eyes and you'll see what I see ♪ 2603 01:50:16,522 --> 01:50:18,394 ♪ [ENVY] 2604 01:50:18,437 --> 01:50:21,789 ♪ Take a look through my eyes and you'll see what I see ♪ 2605 01:50:21,832 --> 01:50:23,660 ♪ [JEALOUSY] 2606 01:50:23,704 --> 01:50:27,229 ♪ Take a look through my eyes and you'll see what I see ♪ 2607 01:50:27,272 --> 01:50:29,057 ♪ [LUST] 2608 01:50:29,100 --> 01:50:32,190 ♪ Take a look through my eyes and you'll see what I see ♪ 2609 01:50:32,234 --> 01:50:33,539 ♪ [HATE] 2610 01:50:33,583 --> 01:50:35,367 ♪ Kick off da top lock and run up in dat ♪ 2611 01:50:35,411 --> 01:50:36,630 ♪ Get to the point 2612 01:50:36,673 --> 01:50:37,631 ♪ Don't let him get the upper hand ♪ 2613 01:50:37,674 --> 01:50:38,762 ♪ He gamblin' with pare man 2614 01:50:38,806 --> 01:50:40,155 ♪ Told everybody, drop their cards 2615 01:50:40,198 --> 01:50:41,896 and keep their hands up on the table ♪ 2616 01:50:41,939 --> 01:50:44,028 ♪ This kid thought he was quick, he drew first but shot last ♪ 2617 01:50:44,072 --> 01:50:45,551 ♪ Blood on my mask 2618 01:50:45,595 --> 01:50:47,031 ♪ This other youth was tryin' to run for da door ♪ 2619 01:50:47,075 --> 01:50:48,729 ♪ And picked up one in his back and collapsed ♪ 2620 01:50:48,772 --> 01:50:51,296 ♪ Matter of fact my main concern was for somebody grab dis ♪ 2621 01:50:51,340 --> 01:50:53,385 ♪ I used my sleeve to wipe the money off the table 2622 01:50:53,429 --> 01:50:55,213 flood it all in one bag ♪ 2623 01:50:55,257 --> 01:50:57,302 ♪ Deh takin' rings to bracelets and found coke inside da bin ♪ 2624 01:50:57,346 --> 01:51:00,044 ♪ But now deh takin too long, deh inside and lavishin' ♪ 2625 01:51:00,088 --> 01:51:01,698 ♪ Come on, it's time we make a move ♪ 2626 01:51:01,742 --> 01:51:03,004 ♪ So let's bounce from this apartment ♪ 2627 01:51:03,047 --> 01:51:04,440 ♪ Fly down the staircase 2628 01:51:04,483 --> 01:51:05,920 ♪ And now we tearin' down the place wisely ♪ 2629 01:51:05,963 --> 01:51:07,835 ♪ Don't want a bait-up situation therefore ♪ 2630 01:51:07,878 --> 01:51:09,227 ♪ So when we get to the west 2631 01:51:09,271 --> 01:51:11,099 we sharin' out mines, what's yours is yours ♪ 2632 01:51:11,142 --> 01:51:13,014 ♪ Beast boys come out at late night so don't speed ♪ 2633 01:51:13,057 --> 01:51:14,406 ♪ Ah yo, a cruiser cuts us off 2634 01:51:14,450 --> 01:51:16,452 to try ta make his way to the crime scene. ♪ 2635 01:51:16,495 --> 01:51:19,934 ♪ Take a look through my eyes and you'll see what I see ♪ 2636 01:51:19,977 --> 01:51:21,718 ♪ [ENVY] 2637 01:51:21,762 --> 01:51:25,026 ♪ Take a look through my eyes and you'll see what I see ♪ 2638 01:51:25,069 --> 01:51:27,115 ♪ [JEALOUSY] 2639 01:51:27,158 --> 01:51:30,553 ♪ Take a look through my eyes and you'll see what I see ♪ 2640 01:51:30,596 --> 01:51:32,294 ♪ [LUST] 2641 01:51:32,337 --> 01:51:35,297 ♪ Take a look through my eyes and you'll see what I see ♪ 2642 01:51:35,340 --> 01:51:37,125 ♪ [HATE] 2643 01:51:37,168 --> 01:51:39,344 ♪ Now in closin' you done know he should never brag for real ♪ 2644 01:51:39,388 --> 01:51:40,650 ♪ Come on you know that 2645 01:51:40,694 --> 01:51:42,304 ♪ Remember who can hear they must feel ♪ 2646 01:51:42,347 --> 01:51:44,741 ♪ But word up on the streets is that you robbin' mad peeps ♪ 2647 01:51:44,785 --> 01:51:46,134 ♪ And now it's getting bad to worse 2648 01:51:46,177 --> 01:51:47,396 because it's getting too far ♪ 2649 01:51:47,439 --> 01:51:48,745 ♪ From front page to stolen cars ♪ 2650 01:51:48,789 --> 01:51:50,399 ♪ Narcs, deh know who you are 2651 01:51:50,442 --> 01:51:52,880 ♪ We gotta meet him then we tie him up and drive him real far ♪ 2652 01:51:52,923 --> 01:51:55,404 ♪ Then we separate his body, chop it up for the cause ♪ 2653 01:51:55,447 --> 01:51:58,102 ♪ Dem outlaws, breakin' in and out of gun stores ♪ 2654 01:51:58,146 --> 01:52:00,714 ♪ Only you can understand spottin' shells on the floor ♪ 2655 01:52:00,757 --> 01:52:02,063 ♪ Ay yo, it's far from a threat ♪ 2656 01:52:02,106 --> 01:52:03,804 ♪ Faces of death, there's nothin' left ♪ 2657 01:52:03,847 --> 01:52:06,937 ♪ Yo, it's far from a threat 2658 01:52:06,981 --> 01:52:09,331 ♪ Faces of death, there's nothin' left. ♪ 2659 01:52:09,374 --> 01:52:12,682 ♪ Take a look through my eyes and you'll see what I see ♪ 2660 01:52:12,726 --> 01:52:14,466 ♪ [ENVY] 2661 01:52:14,510 --> 01:52:17,774 ♪ Take a look through my eyes and you'll see what I see ♪ 2662 01:52:17,818 --> 01:52:19,820 ♪ [JEALOUSY] 2663 01:52:19,863 --> 01:52:23,258 ♪ Take a look through my eyes and you'll see what I see ♪ 2664 01:52:23,301 --> 01:52:24,999 ♪ [LUST] 2665 01:52:25,042 --> 01:52:27,958 ♪ Take a look through my eyes and you'll see what I see ♪