NYC Days 2 & 3 - Rehearsals

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First things first: DJ Johnny Juice is one of the greatest DJs that ever walked the face of the planet.

Okay, now that we're all on the same page, let's move on to the rest of the story:

I took the E train to Jamaica to meet up with DJ Johnny Juice, so that he could drive us over to the studio to rehearse. Juice gave me a short geographic tour of Hip Hop as he drove us towards the studio - Linden Boulevard was the most interesting to me (you know how I love A Tribe Called Quest!).

We get to the studio, and the first person Juice introduces me to is the legendary Chuck D of Public Enemy. I was so nervous that I could barely get myself to say "hello"! It was truly an awesome feeling to be in the same room with Hip Hop royalty.

My friend Illus also came by to hang out (he does the artwork for the Public Enemy comic book) and it was a really cool sight to see him, Chuck D, and Juice talk about comics.

Juice had told me earlier that at a certain point in the day he would have take a break to record a radio show. And sure enough, about an hour and a half into our rehearsal, Juice's co-hosts arrived: Hip Hop pioneer Tony Tone of the Cold Crush Brothers and Zulu DJ Outlaw!

When I was working as manager of promotions at Basement Records, my boss Roc would always school me in Hip Hop history, and "The Cold Crush Brothers" was a key lesson that he liked to highlight. He would finish the conversation by saying, "You don't know the Cold Crush Brothers, homie!" Now, I can officially tell him that I do. Haha!

The entire two days were an incredibly awesome experience: rehearsing with DJ Johnny Juice, meeting Chuck D, Tony Tone, and DJ Outlaw... It is an experience that I will never forget.

But, the story doesn't end there. The rehearsals may be done, but we still have the actual event to do! All that is coming up next. :)