I GOT THE TAPES!: GEECHIE DAN
QUEENS, NEW YORK | GEECHIE DAN
INTERVIEW KB TINDAL
“There are 5 elements of Hip Hop. B Boying, Deejaying, Emceeing, Graffiti, and Knowledge... Having knowledge of ourselves and knowledge of our culture. This could be the reason that today we don't understand our culture. We omit the other 4 components of Hip Hop and concentrate on the rapping component which is a lot of what we have today.” - GEECHIE DAN
VALIDATED: Where are you from and what's the story behind your name?
GEECHIE DAN: I'm from Farmers Blvd. and 112 Rd. in Hollis, Queens. I've been asked am I from South Carolina alot and am I a Geechie. I've had my name, "Geechie Dan" since 1982. There are 2 stories to my name. My real name is Daniel and my favorite character and movie at that time was, "Uptown Saturday Night." The characters in the movie was Silky Slim and Geechie Dan. People I grew up with always said I looked like a geech. [Laughs] I don't know what to say about that one. The 2nd story is that I wanted a nickname that nobody had so being that Daniel was my real name, I decided to call myself, "Geechie Dan."
VALIDATED: How many of the 5 elements of Hip Hop did you or do you still participate in?
GEECHIE DAN: When I first started out I participated in the elements of Emceeing and Knowledge which prompted me into joining the Zulu Nation in 1983. There are 5 elements of Hip Hop. B Boying, Deejaying, Emceeing, Graffiti, and Knowledge... Having knowledge of ourselves and knowledge of our culture. This could be the reason that today we don't understand our culture. We omit the other 4 components of Hip Hop and concentrate on the rapping component which is a lot of what we have today.
VALIDATED: What's your earliest memory of hip-hop, the culture?
GEECHIE DAN: My earliest memory of Hip Hop was in 1977. I was 10 years old and living in Hollis, Queens and my sister took me with her to Lincoln Park in southside Jamaica, Queens. They were jamming in the park. I recall hearing Disco songs being mixed, and shout outs from the emcee. There wasn't any scratching or emceeing going on yet... no pop locking or B Boying or graffiti going on too much or at all in Queens.
VALIDATED: Tell us about the “Geechie Dan Hip Hop Tape Show” and how long you’ve been on the air doing it.
GEECHIE DAN: I started my show in the spring of 2015. I wanted to do something with all of the boxes of tapes I had. The passion, the excitement, the love, the memories that I get from listening to these tapes prompted me to want to do something special, something iconic, something global with them. When I first started out, I was on Blogtalk radio and had maybe several hundred people listening at that time. I would contact the individuals that were on the tape to call in and interview them and then play the tapes of them. Nobody was doing my type of a show so it really caught on pretty quick with everyone.
VALIDATED: Growing up, what kind of music was played in your household and how has it influenced what you do?
GEECHIE DAN: My father played Jazz when I was coming up in the 70's. I really didn't have any influences as far as any music was concerned. When I started collecting and listening to the tapes, I use to emulate what the brothers and sisters were doing on the tape. I started rhyming like them and instead of saying their names, I would say mine. The more I did this, the more I enjoyed it and fell in love with Hip Hop.
VALIDATED: Tell us about your neighborhood growing up and how it influences you?
GEECHIE DAN: Growing up in Hollis, Queens at that time was an amazing experience. I lived 7 blocks away from LL Cool J in one direction, I lived 6 blocks away from Jam Master Jay in another direction, I lived 5 blocks away from DMC in another direction, I lived 8 blocks away from the clothing and fashion line brothers FUBU, and Jeff Sanders who started and organized the R&B group INTRO. I lived 11 blocks away from A Tribe Called Quest in another direction. It's weird but they all had some influence on me.
VALIDATED: Out of all the tapes you have, have you actually recorded any of them yourself from old shows like Mr. Magic, Awesome Two and Zulu Beats when they were on WHBI radio in NY in the 1980’s?
GEECHIE DAN: All my tapes were recorded off these radio shows at first. As time went on, I started getting the actual tape, the tape with the complete party or jam.
VALIDATED: What got you into collecting classic hip hop tapes?
GEECHIE DAN: I started taping the radio shows back in 1982. Mr Magic, Jerry Bloodrock, World's Famous Supreme Team Show, Zulu Beats with Afrika Islam... then came WBAU 90.3 FM College Radio at Adelphi University in 1983.
VALIDATED: What parks were notorious for throwing some of the best jams back in the days?
GEECHIE DAN: In Queens it had to be Jamaica Park and Baisley Park and the block parties. LL Cool J freestyled at block parties in our hood all the time before getting a record deal.
VALIDATED: Who are your top lyrical favorite Emcees in Hip Hop from any era?
GEECHIE DAN: LL Cool J, Mikey D, Treacherous 3 MC's, Grandmaster Caz, Kool G Rap, Chuck D, Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Nas, Biggie, KRS-One, MC Shan, and Big L.
VALIDATED: Who are some of your favorite DJ’s from any era of Hip Hop?
GEECHIE DAN: My Favorite DJ's are The Whiz Kid, Jazzy Jay, Red Alert, Grand Wizard Theodore, Grandmaster Flash, Amazing Dewitt, Grandmaster Vic, Kid Quick, Diamond J, One Touch Hutch Hollywood From Ocp Queens
VALIDATED: What was the best classic hip hop show that you've seen in your opinion and why?
GEECHIE DAN: RUN-DMC at Madison Square Garden and Harlem State Building Jam in the early 90's... Classic!
VALIDATED: Tell us about the time when you almost became a part of Leaders Of The New School.
GEECHIE DAN: Chuck D from Public Enemy was recruiting for a group in Long Island. I was making demo's for the radio station we all were part of and he asked me did I wanna audition for a group that he was putting together. There were some other brothers from Long island he had in mind. He never mentioned who they were by name. I declined and stated that I didn't want to be down with anyone at that time. Coming from Queens and them from Long Island I didn't see how it would work. I regret that now.
VALIDATED: We both grew up on Farmers Blvd and watched LL’s career from day one. You were even in one of his videos back in the day. What’s your relationship with LL Cool J like today? And what have you learned from watching him?
GEECHIE DAN: I've learned a lot from LL. We good today and he always tells me to stay focus and continue doing what I love to do.
VALIDATED: What are your thoughts on your city's hip-hop scene currently?
GEECHIE DAN: Hip Hop is coming back to NYC slowly. I knew this was going to happen. The South is still a beast but they aren't doing Hip Hop, they’re doing Trap and they have been successful doing what they do. I applaud them. Salute to them. What goes around comes around as they say. Cats in NY just need to continue doing what we do and stop trying to copy and emulate the brothers and sisters in the South.
VALIDATED: What sacrifices have you made or things that you’ve had to go without because you've invested so much time into your passion for collecting tapes?
GEECHIE DAN: I stayed in unhappy and unhealthy marriages far longer than I should have for years when I wanted to do what I love to do. The opportunity to do what I love came in 2015 when I lost everything. I really believe God removed everything from me. I really believe God stripped me of everything. I thought that was important. God wants us to be successful. He wants us to have faith in him. I had prayed about this several times to God about how much I wanted to do what I love. When God has something for you, you don't question him, just have faith in him and give him glory when it happens.
VALIDATED: How many Hip Hop tapes do you have in your collection?
GEECHIE DAN: I have around 400 jams, give or take. I still get 2 or 3 jams every 2 months.
VALIDATED: Who was the best interview that you’ve done so far and why?
GEECHIE DAN: My favorite interviews was with Queen Lisa Lee from Zulu Nation, Sha Rock from The Funky 4, Rahiem from The Furious 5, Mr. Freeze (Rip) from The Jazzy 5, Pow Wow from Soul Sonic Force, LA Sunshine from The Treacherous 3, Grand Mixer DXT, Kool Rock Ski from The Fat Boys, Kurtis Blow, R&B singer Christopher Williams. A lot of Hip Hop history. These Hip Hop icons contributed to starting a culture from nothing. These are the people on my tapes that I used to listen to when I was a teenager. These tapes gave me hope. When I was going through those days when there was no hope for me the tapes uplifted me, they made me smile again.
VALIDATED: I think I saw a post on your Facebook where you said you are becoming part of some sort of Hip Hop historical committee, can you tell us about that?
GEECHIE DAN: Hip Hop Blvd is an organization of building up our communities. Bringing Hip Hop back to the forefront. Making Hip Hop reverent again. Hip Hop was started out in the parks and community centers. This generation doesn't know everything about Hip Hop. They only know about Rap music. We need to bridge the gap of what was to what is.
VALIDATED: Do you feel that there is an age limit on when someone should pursue being a rap artist?
GEECHIE DAN: No, Do what you love no matter how old you are.
VALIDATED: As a hip hop artist, what do you feel your responsibility is to the hip-hop culture?
GEECHIE DAN: To preserve our culture. This is our culture and we all need to have knowledge of our culture, where, how, when, who, everything that’s to know about hip hop culture, we need to know about and educate.
VALIDATED: Hip-hop has grown in popularity over the years. What are your thoughts on hip-hop becoming the most popular music genre?
GEECHIE DAN: I’m not surprised. Chuck D from Public Enemy predicted this back in 1985 and 1986. He predicted hip hop would take over the other musical genres... hip hop would take over the world.
VALIDATED: Your latest single is, "Chillin On The Beach” produced by Mike Steezo and yourself. What’s the motivation behind the record?
GEECHIE DAN: I wanted to do a chill out song. I used to live in Virginia Beach for a minute back in 1989. I loved living in that area at the time so I wrote a rhyme about Virginia Beach. Time passed and I wanted to redo the song. Everyone goes to the beach... Even Gangsters. [Laughs]
VALIDATED: What's your reaction to the response to the record?
GEECHIE DAN: It didn't have the impact that I thought it would but hey it’s a summer song so who knows, maybe next summer.
VALIDATED: What do you want listeners to get from your music?
GEECHIE DAN: I want people to feel what I’m rhyming about.
VALIDATED: What does hip-hop mean to you?
GEECHIE DAN: Hip Hop means everything to me! hip hop has a lot of power and freedom. We need to take advantage of what hip hop can do. Hip hop can move mountains!
VALIDATED: Do you feel mainstream hip-hop artists are doing justice with rap?
GEECHIE DAN: No, This generation knows nothing about doing justice. Artists these days are only worried about making money.
VALIDATED: Tell us about other ventures you're currently working on.
GEECHIE DAN: I will be working with the Hip Hop Museum in DC fall of 2019 and I just submitted some radio demo's for LL Cool J’s Rock The Bells Radio so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
VALIDATED: Where can people find you on social media?
GEECHIE DAN:
Geechie Dan - Facebook
@GeechieDanHipHopTapeShow - Instagram
@Geechie_NYC - Twitter