Before Chuck D became the impresario behind Public Enemy, he was a promoter and radio DJ.
In the early ’80s, the Fearless Four—consisting of microphone wizards DLB, Mighty Mike C, Devasating Tito, The Great Peso, and DJs Krazy Eddie and Master OC—were just kids obsessed with hip-hop culture. Chuck booked the emerging Harlem band at The Subway, a Long Island ice rink where they saw the influence of the 1982 hip-hop classic “Rockin’ It.”
“This is our first time performing ‘Rockin’ It,'” DLB told AllHipHop. “This is Hank Shocklee and Chuck D’s promotion. When we were doing “Rockin’ It,” Mike C touched this girl and she passed out. I thought it was something from a movie and it was all fake. This girl fainted Fell over. For whatever reason, they had a big bassy bottom speaker and we had to jump over the speaker to get to the stage and I guess the crowd was like, “Oh, it’s going to fall down! “They lost their minds. I was like, ‘Yo, this is for us?
Even though they didn’t believe it, the fanfare was for them. “Rockin It” was a sample of Kraftwerk’s 1978 single “The Man-Machine” and later appeared in the iconic hip-hop film “Style Wars,” further amplifying the song’s influence.
“It all happened overnight,” Mike C said of the song’s popularity. “It was a hit when it came out. Mr. Magic first started playing it on WBLS.
But not everyone was immediately able to revel in its success. “I was 16 when Rockin’ It went off the air, and I missed playing in Boston because I was in the hospital having an appendectomy. I had the nurse kick Mike C out of the room because he was having sex with Kool Moe Dee Came in and made me laugh, and I ended up tearing out my stitches.
Surprisingly, when asked how the song changed their lives financially, DLB, Mike C, and Tito’s answer was a resounding “it didn’t,” but it did make them famous. This also made them the first rap group to sign with a major record label (Elektra Asylum) in 1983.
“We would go to different venues, completely different states or other places, and people would sing along,” Mike recalls. “It’s a song that only people around us knew, but now it’s real. They chased us down the street like we were the Beatles.
This also gave DLB the self-esteem he lacked. As he explained, “I don’t speak for everyone, it gave me a lot of confidence. To be honest, I wasn’t a very confident teenager. Even when I was the DLB for the Fearless Four, I still was Mr. Freddy’s son. My name was never mine until Mike C and Tito picked me up and put me on stage in our junior high school.
It is the same building in New York City where DLB currently serves as Vice-Chancellor. Now known as City Assembly Future Leaders Academy, it was then known as Junior High School 43.
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More than 40 years after “Rockin It” launched them to fame, the original lineup had the chance to reunite and perform at New York’s Blue Gallery last month. Granted, this is an exciting time for everyone involved.
“I love them and that will never stop, right?” Tito said. “So my idea is, my last memory will always be the same as the beginning. When I see them again, that’s it. I’m already in the mode. I saw them the day before and said, ‘Yo, this is what we’re doing. things. “I never lose a step. Regardless of the fact that it’s been 50 years since I last saw them, that’s how I am. I stay in touch.
The reunion show was so powerful, in fact, that it prompted them to return to the studio.
“We’re back in the studio working on new material,” Mike C confirms. “A lot of people have been asking us for years. “We wanted to see the original four members of Dauntless together. “We’ve been making this happen our whole career, so now is the time. It’s either put up or shut down. Everybody’s been looking at us and we’re here now. We’re ready to do it. We’ve got Some good material to study.
DLB added, “We’re already making plans, even if we have to do something like Airbnb, for us all to come together to make it happen. This is what it’s going to look like. We’re going to have a ‘Fearless’ camp, just Like I said, we’re going to rent an Airbnb there and put this stuff together.
Until then, catch up on “Rockin It” above, and check back with AllHipHop soon for part two of the Fearless Four interview.
