Back in the mid-eighties, when Madness gear was all the rage and Go-Go fans repeatedly watched the Beta Max video tape of Go-Go Live at the Capital Centre, the stage was set for the first wave of rap artists to burst onto the scene in Washington, DC. Most notably, DC Scorpio. This issue of Behind the Beat focuses on “Stone Cold Hustler” by DC Scorpio.
Before there was Wale, Garvey the Chosen One and Phil Ade, there was an entire movement of rap artists that paved the way for these artists who have gained more recent notoriety. No one can dispute that among this pioneering generation of the rap genre in the DMV which included Fat Rodney, Vinnie D, Stinky Dink and DJ Kool, the song most heard on a hot summer day booming from the car stereo systems at Haines Point was “Stone Cold Hustler”.`
Lanard “DC Scorpio” Thompson explains, “It was 1985 or 86 and I was hustling on the block. I was chilling at my sister’s house and I was just banging on the table, freestyling about my day. I knew Mike “Funky Ned” Neal from the band Rare Essence. One night after a Go-Go, we hooked up and had a session in his studio in his mom’s basement. The song was already formatted so we put it together with members of Rare Essence. After that, we went to Omega Studios in Rockville, Maryland and finished it up. We put it out on Kolossal Records which was owned by Donnell Floyd and Quentin "Footz" Davidson of Rare Essence.”
“When the song came out, I was 15 or 16. I was so excited! Just to have a record and everyone knew the song! And then, to be so young and be onstage at Go-Go Live at the Capital Centre being backed by Chuck Brown in front of 30,000 people screaming for me and screaming the words to ‘Stone Cold Hustler’ was unreal.”
Thompson also had the good fortune to have been introduced to Darryl Brooks and Carol Kurkendall of G-Street Express/CD Enterprises. “Doug E. Fresh was having a rap contest at a club in DC, Chapter III. After I won, I was approached by Darryl Brooks and he was interested in taking Stone Cold Hustler to the next level.”
“Stone Cold Hustler” certainly was a catalyst for introducing to the world that Washington, DC was able to compete in the rap arena. Thompson states, “I consider myself to be the pioneer of rap music in DC. I was the first rap artist to come out of DC with the impact to be taken seriously. This was the start of a wave of rap artists to come out of the DC area- Vinnie D., Fat Rodney, Stinky Dink, Romeo, Tony Blunt, Moet the Beast from SE, DJ Kool, Nonchalant and others began to see my light for the city. Like the Darth Vader of DC Rappers from the area.”
Thompson realizes that Stone Cold Hustler is a classic “like Coke. The music today is different because times have changed and sounds have changed. People and ideas change, but original music stays the same. The song is always loved. Music needs change so it can grow and expand. I am so proud of my son, Wale. It’s just another shot for the DMV, to show that we got it!”
DC Scorpio's music and videos can be found on YouTube. As the owner of Scorpio Entertainment, he will be releasing new music in the very near future.
Know Your History. To read other issues of Behind the Beat, for "Sardines" by Junkyard Band click here. For "Take Me Out to the Go-Go" by Rare Essence click here and for "Bustin Loose" by Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers click here
Comments