Random Sightings, or Guess Who I Just Saw?

[aleph]

How about sharing random sightings of TROY-era artists/personalities, either from 20 years ago or last wk? Iג€™m aware that quite a few members are already working in the ג€œindustryג€ in some capacity, where encounters w/artists is a regular occurrence. So Iג€™m not talkinג€™ job responsibilities (lucky!), shows or instores but ordinary walkin down the block, getting a cup oג€™ joe wtf type deal (Percee P standing outside Fat Beats doesnג€™t count). I know itג€™s likelier to happen in big cities and like shooting fish in a barrel in NYC. But star sightings occur everywhere and I ainג€™t gonna assume that just because someone lives in Moosejaw Saskatchewan, one day (insert artist here) didnג€™t make a wrong turn and end up there. And maybe some of you even knew (or were vaguely connected to) cats before they blew up.

Any kind of description will do, whether itג€™s a long-ass story or just a casual all points bulletin (who, when, where and what they were doing). It would be interesting to hear anecdotes about our fave hip hop people in less guarded moments.

Oh, and if you're one of the bolder ones to actually go up to stars to give a pound or whatnot, I guess I don't have to twist your arm to recount the exchange.

[Verge]

(Percee P standing outside Fat Beats doesnג€™t count)

I got a bunch I can add here.

I saw Chill Rob G a couple of times in maybe 97. He lived in a different
neighborhood than me in Jersey City. I believe he lived on Van Nostrand
ave.
I was on maybe Armstrong between Ocean Ave and MLK Drive(Jackson
ave)with a friend smoking an el, and Chill Rob G walks by on the other
side of the street.
He was wearing all black, black sunglasses, black hat and all. I wanted to
approach him just to say peace, but he looked VERY serious. The friend I
was with claimed Rob was a known og hustler in that neighborhood. He
could have been lying and I wouldn't want any rumors like that to start.
Just stating the facts of that day.

This thread should definitely deliver. Props.

[Markshot]

I think there was thread like this hmm
Magneto or someone else had a story about WU or Rza, cant remember exactly if they gave him a tape or play for him few track from teh forthcoming 36 Chambers album

[aleph]

I think there was thread like this hmm
Magneto or someone else had a story about WU or Rza, cant remember exactly if they gave him a tape or play for him few track from teh forthcoming 36 Chambers album

Yeah, this sounds like an existing thread but I wasn't sure how to go about searching for it. Mods, if it exists by all means merge.

Verge, great story, add on!

[Verge]

I think there was thread like this hmm
Magneto or someone else had a story about WU or Rza, cant remember exactly if they gave him a tape or play for him few track from teh forthcoming 36 Chambers album

Yeah, this sounds like an existing thread but I wasn't sure how to go about searching for it. Mods, if it exists by all means merge.

Verge, great story, add on!

Thanks, man. The WU story was actually mine, too.
This thread can live fine. I'll see if I can find that Wu story, it was a truly
dope experience as a fan.

[aleph]

^^^Oh, so you got ALL the stories!

[Verge]

^:lol: Nah, I got a few, though. There's plenty of others with stories on here.
Hopefully heads come through. There's definitely a lot of new blood here
since the last one of these was made, so I'm hoping on some new good
stories.

[drizzle]

jeru the damaga asked me for a cig on the corner of 9th ave and 41st street in 2006. he looked ashy but well otherwise. neva4get

[aleph]

Last one I saw was GZA, also around 2005-06, walking a good distance along the West Side Hwy kickin it to a somewhat older, attractive Latina-looking lass by his side. Go, Genius!

[Verge]

I was shopping at the old Sound Library one day probably around 2003. I'm
diggin through some records when somebody rudely brushes by me and kinda bumps me.
Now this was a tiny store and it was a hot day, so I was pretty aggravated. I turned
around quickly while in mid sentence of confrontationally saying, "Excuse m...". I stopped
mid sentence because the massive person who bumped into me, who was now facing
the cashier and paying me no mind, was the enormous Chubb Rock.
I turned back around with butterflies in my stomach, continuing my digging,
hoping that he didn't notice me halfway try to step to him.

He never noticed me and I was grateful.

[Mark 563]

I have quite a few anecdotes involving random encounters with Hip Hop artists.

Last time we were in New York (Last August / Sept) I bumped into Jeru in the Ralph Lauren concession in Macy's.

Talking of Jeru, My Wife and I were at the Raekwon show @ Kung Fu, London in about 2004. Cash Money and Jeru had both turned up (pressumably because both were in the country for other shows) and performed unannounced short sets. While I was at the bar Jeru attempted to hit on my Wife. Apparently he was quite persistent, not even taking the knock-back when my Wife told him she was at the jam with her (then) Fiance. It was only when i rocked up with a couple of drinks that he left her alone and promtly moved onto the next girl he saw.

Working in Mr Bongo in the early 2000s meant I served pretty much any international Hip Hop act who was in the country at the time. I particularly remember the time Timberland passed through. Apparently he'd been in the store a few days earlier, on a day I wasn't sheduled to work, and had scooped about a thousand pounds worth of Jazz and Funk re-issues. On his return visit he copped a couple of Mr Bongo record bags and filled them with 800 pounds worth of Ultimate Breaks and Beats re-issues. I thought that was a weird transaction, and he was actually really miserable the entire time.

[aleph]

Wow, I wish I had a Jeru story now. Ok, I better add a story to the mix before it gets shitted on with better ones, including the previous posts.

A two parter, kinda:

I was on the downtown R train in Manhattan, 1992 or 93. A gangly, pimply-faced, backwards cap-wearing kid who I thought couldn't have been more than 17 was sitting directly opposite me with another guy and a girl. I immediately id'ed him to be none other than Evil Dee. I know that Black Moon was spankin new @ the time; it was either after Who Got the Props became a big hit or after Enta Da Stage dropped. I, of course, recognized him from the video but as if to remove any doubt I may have had, ג€œDJ Evil Deeג€ was emblazoned across the breast of his jacket. Smiling a big toothy grin at a pretty girl opposite him, next to me, he intoned, ג€œHiג€¦.hiג€¦hiג€¦hiג€¦hiג€¦"

She, of course ignored him, or may have never noticed him.

About 5, 6 years and at least 20 lbs. later, heג€™s on the A train platform @ Penn Station holding what looks like a record bag. Heג€™s humongous with the long dreds, and Iג€™m thinking, hip hop been beri beri good to youג€¦

[Verge]

About 5, 6 years and at least 20 lbs. later, heג€™s on the A train platform @ Penn Station holding what looks like a record bag. Heג€™s humongous with the long dreds, and Iג€™m thinking, hip hop been beri beri good to youג€¦

At least, indeed. Someone, I think Jaz, pointed to the "How Many Emcees"
video once, showing Evil Dee basically doing a hand stand on his turntable
with his feet on the wall.
No way he could do this a few years later. At 3:01-3:02
<object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Yl6Hf8ryLkM&hl ... ram><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Yl6Hf8ryLkM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object>

Speaking of trains(subways), this is really no story or big deal, but I saw
J Treds on the subway after a show back in maybe 1995. My boy pointed
him out nonchalantly and I wasn't positive until I heard him talk to who he
was with. That's all, I didn't say anything. Pretty sure he had waves very
much blown out, a record bag, and he reminded me of a young Special Ed
for some reason.

One of my more embarrassing encounters was when I met Posdnuos in
front of a record store. He was walking out, while I was walking in and,
serious no homo, we made direct eye contact and I just fell all over
myself. On some Chris Farley "remember this song? Or when you said
this? Wow. Thank you so much for...everything! You're one of my
favorites of all time!"
Of course he was completely cool as hell. He was very accepting of the
non stop praise I threw at him and extremely humble. It seemed like he
really did appreciate the fanboyness. We probably talked for about 5-10
minutes. Good dude.
But I've been embarrassed about how I acted that day, ever since. I
never got so nervous or acted like that toward any other artists before or after that.

[aleph]

Yeah, thanks for the reminder. It was really more like 30-35 lbs, dude was like Bigfoot.

I give anyone credit who approaches celebs like that. I get so geeked that I couldn't string two words together if I tried to start a convo. The only cat who I always sensed was approachable enough was Bobbito, who I caught strolling down the Lower East Side a few years ago. Again, dude was with a lovely lass, so I didn't wanna take anymore from him than the time it takes to give him a pound, say "loved the show" and jet. Even then I was sweating bullets hoping he didn't notice my Chris Farleyness.

If I had more cojones and presence of mind, I would have gone down the laundry list and ask him about all the cookies and milk he played, blah blah blah, but all I could think about was getting the hell away from him.

[DJMIKENICE]

geesh working at Upstairs Records ive met and hung with nearly every major star when we did instores.

Everybody came through upstairs
NAS, BIG L, BIGGIE, FAT JOE, BIG PUN, TOTAL, SHYHEIM, SMOOTH DA HUSTLER, ROYAL FLUSH, WU TANG, GRAVE DIGGERS, SMIFF N WESSUN, CNN, CASE, JOE, endless rnb and hip hop cats

artist who ive personaly worked with in studio Kool G Rap, Grandmaster Caz, Necro, Mr Hyde, NGP

artist who i have chilled and built with Busta Rhymes, Primo, Naughty by Nature, CRU, Lord Finesse, AG, Stan Spit, Non Phixion, brown bag allstars , etc

weirdest phone call i ever received at my crib was from Redman on Christmas Eve 1996 "Yo Mike Nice its the Funk Doc Merry Christmas homeboy"

[aleph]

^^Give us your best story, uncle DJ Mike Nice.

(We all tucked in? Yeah! Heeere we go)

[Mark 563]

A couple of years back, my Wife and I were in New York and had queued up for ages to get into the Mos Def jam at the Nokia spot in Times Square. Anyways the show was great and all that. A few days later we were shopping in Soho (New York) and I spotted Mos Def in some hipster clothing store as we walked past. Seizing an opportunity, we doubled back and went into the store to say wassup. I told Mos that we had been at the show a few nights earlier, and how we'd traveled from Australia, and how I was a fan since back in the Bush Babees / De La guesting / UTD days. He was pretty un-engaging and when I asked if we could get a photo he flatly refused with a proper salty look on his face. We stepped. He lost a fan (or 2).

Back in either 2004 / 2005 Nas had scheduled a UK tour, but had cancelled claiming he was too busy to come to Europe due to working on his next album. We had originally copped tickets and were gutted with the news of the cancellation (although the date later got rescheduled for what turned out to be the Brixton show where the guns shots were fired mid set). Fast forward to the date of the originally planned but now cancelled Nas shows, and I was rocking round Soho (London) delivering copies of my new (at the time) Mix CD to the record shops. Whilst walking the Soho back streets (ayo), I spot a couple of huge secuity dudes on the opposite pavement walking the other direction closely followed by a hand-in-hand Nas & Kelis. I didn't approach them, but was pissed that he was in the country. Boo.

[Texas Raised Mikey]

I saw cee lo as he was driving off in the back of an suv at the airport once.

[Jayou Ayen]

After an A's game one day, I decided it was too early to go home, so I drove up to Amoeba's.
It was rare slow Saturday, parking was easy, and there was almost nobody in the store. I walk into the empty hip hop records section, and I see Ayentee's homie Wonway. He's the hip hop dude at that store, and he's talking to an older black man. I go an isle around them, because they're blocking my path, and I always browsing the records alphabetically. I start digging, and I look over Wonway's shoulder, to see who he's talking to.

It's fucking Grandmaster Flash. After they are done talking, I go over and greet him, tell him it's an honor to meet him. He's fairly friendly, and I keep it moving.
When I'm at the register, I look back, and he's next in line. I tell the cashier, "I wish I had a camera phone". She asks why, so I tell her who he is. She pulls out a disposable camera. I call Flash over, and ask him to take a picture with me. Dude is not happy at all, but somehow I get him to pose with me. The cashier tells me afterwards, "You should have seen the look on his face!". She tells me that she takes pics of whatever she finds interesting at work. Next time, I come in, she'll give me the photo.

I forget to ask her name, and apparently there are hundreds of weird white girls who work at Amoeba. I never get the picture, but I'll always have the memory.*




39

* Ye, memories are for faggots.

[I Smell Like Un Kasa]

He was pretty un-engaging and when I asked if we could get a photo he flatly refused with a proper salty look on his face. We stepped. He lost a fan (or 2)

Uhhh, why is mos def in your sig then? I just find that a little odd.

[Mark 563]

He was pretty un-engaging and when I asked if we could get a photo he flatly refused with a proper salty look on his face. We stepped. He lost a fan (or 2)

Uhhh, why is mos def in your sig then? I just find that a little odd.

I saw the photo, felt it would make for a good drawing, drew it, scanned it, posted it online. Nothing more nothing less.

There was a time when I was a proper Mos Def fan. But I really have absolutely no interest in his music anymore.

[truthaddict]

How about sharing random sightings of TROY-era artists/personalities, either from 20 years ago or last wk? (Percee P standing outside Fat Beats doesnג€™t count).

Percee P is just that dude. I think I have all his albums at this point, and never had to go to a store. Dude is always at other artist's shows with a backpack full of disks. He is always approachable.

I guess the only TROY-era random encounter I have had was on my way to a Devin the Dude show in Austin.

There was no parking for several blocks, so I am walking to the venue, and Bushwick Bill comes walking down a side road rolling 20 deep. I don't want to geek out on anyone, especially when they have thugged out body guard looking guys with them, so I just said wasup Bushwick. He gave a nod, and said whatsup back.. He was not a dick about it at all, which is always cool when you run in to someone like that. He just went to watch Devin too.

I have had a lot more run ins with newer era artists. I stepped on C-Rayz Walz' shoes once by mistake trying to get out of a crowded venue. I was lucky he didn't see me, because he cussed me out 2 days earlier at his own concert, because he thought I was laughing at him, when I was only chewing gum.. yep.

I went to see Tricky live in Hollywood last year, and Saul Williams and his hot ass wife Persia White from that show 'Girlfriends' were standing right next to me the whole time. I have seen him around a couple times in Cali and Austin. He has always been cool.

Those are the only random sightings I have had. I guess SXSW doesn't really count, because there are thousands of musicians around, so you expect to see somebody.

I always think twice about approaching any musicians when I see them,
especially if I buy their music. The last thing I want is to throw out my records because they act like an asshole.

[Jaz]

About 5, 6 years and at least 20 lbs. later, heג€™s on the A train platform @ Penn Station holding what looks like a record bag. Heג€™s humongous with the long dreds, and Iג€™m thinking, hip hop been beri beri good to youג€¦

At least, indeed. Someone, I think Jaz, pointed to the "How Many Emcees"
video once, showing Evil Dee basically doing a hand stand on his turntable
with his feet on the wall.
No way he could do this a few years later. At 3:01-3:02
<object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Yl6Hf8ryLkM&hl ... ram><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Yl6Hf8ryLkM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object>

Speaking of trains(subways), this is really no story or big deal, but I saw
J Treds on the subway after a show back in maybe 1995. My boy pointed
him out nonchalantly and I wasn't positive until I heard him talk to who he
was with. That's all, I didn't say anything. Pretty sure he had waves very
much blown out, a record bag, and he reminded me of a young Special Ed
for some reason.

One of my more embarrassing encounters was when I met Posdnuos in
front of a record store. He was walking out, while I was walking in and,
serious no homo, we made direct eye contact and I just fell all over
myself. On some Chris Farley "remember this song? Or when you said
this? Wow. Thank you so much for...everything! You're one of my
favorites of all time!"
Of course he was completely cool as hell. He was very accepting of the
non stop praise I threw at him and extremely humble. It seemed like he
really did appreciate the fanboyness. We probably talked for about 5-10
minutes. Good dude.
But I've been embarrassed about how I acted that day, ever since. I
never got so nervous or acted like that toward any other artists before or after that.

Evil Dee is on the wall come on kick it!



at that Pos story, Pos is dope, I have met him twice and he was cool.

I'm not sure if these count but what the heck...

In 1990, Public Enemy toured New Zealand for the first time and the morning after their Wellington show (which was incredible) I met and served Flava Flav in a record store I was working at the time, he was hilarious, we spoke about his solo album (which never happened) and the show the night before and PE in general, he would have been talking to me for at least 20-25 minutes.

From memory, he bought some tapes, Quincy Jones-Back On The Block was one of them and some batteries for his Walkman, he called me G a lot and did that infamous laugh.

James Bomb and other S1Ws came in looking for him, telling him they were going to be late for their flight, Flav's eyes were really, really red and he was rocking that Flavor Flav graf piece on his denim jacket and yes he was sporting a clock

He signed my T-Shirt while I was wearing it



Another story is (and I wasn't there to witness this)...but I knew the driver (RIP Gerald Dwyer)... anyway a few street kids in Wellington got a De La Soul beatdown in 1991, because De La were sitting in a van, waiting for some KFC and these dumb street kids, were doing the fingers and banging on the van (that hard dark windows) and I am not sure who got out of the van, but Gerald said it was 2 big guys and these kids got hit good a few times and they ran off.

[aleph]

Great stories, all!

I guess from reading so far I can conclude that it's a gamble approaching any of your...I don't wanna say idols, but the celebs you admire. Any negativity could have an effect on your relationship w/their art, like Mark 563. Rewarding as a cool encounter may be, I'd rather not find out that cats are, well, uncool.

Upside is that negative encounters always make for better stories.

@ truthaddict: I was only kidding about Percee P not counting. If anyone has a Percee P/Fat Beats story, do tell.

@ Jaz: Envy is a bitch, man

@ Jayou Ayen: No picture, no believe. But at least Flash didn't refuse.

[Jaz]

Great stories, all!

I guess from reading so far I can conclude that it's a gamble approaching any of your...I don't wanna say idols, but the celebs you admire. Any negativity could have an effect on your relationship w/their art, like Mark 563. Rewarding as a cool encounter may be, I'd rather not find out that cats are, well, uncool.

Upside is that negative encounters always make for better stories.

@ truthaddict: I was only kidding about Percee P not counting. If anyone has a Percee P/Fat Beats story, do tell.

@ Jaz: Envy is a bitch, man

@ Jayou Ayen: No picture, no believe. But at least Flash didn't refuse.

I have a quick story about an uncool celeb, back when Ice-T had his Body Count band and "Cop Killer" was freaking parents out etc, he wanted to tour New Zealand, but it was going to be just him, DJ Evil E etc and the Police down here where trying to stop him from coming (because of the Body Count shit), so an old DJ friend of mine and I, put together a petition and we got thousands of signatures and were on TV and the radio about it and because of it and a lot of other pressure, Ice-T was eventually allowed to tour here.

Ice-T's record company were kind enough to send us free tickets for his show and we were told we could meet Ice-T and tell him all about the petition, we did get to meet him and when we did, he didn't shake our hands or hardly acknowledge us (and we were both huge fans of Ice-T back then) and he basically just said "enjoy the show" and bounced, we were very disappointed and felt like the petition was a waste of time, but he did put on a good show and we did get to meet Chuck D briefly and shake his hand, so the trip was definitely worth it, besides Tracy not really caring about us.

[cenzi]

I was fortunate enough to be the only Latino covering the Rock The Bells Concert 2005 (the one with Wu Tang and De La Soul, whatever year that was), and I won't talk about the sightings of various rappers through interviews.

But I gotta mention two personas that came out of fuckin nowhere. One fuckin dude was so drunk and caused major troubles. He seemed like a nice guy though and talked to me abut rappin' on Machu Picchu. I kind of recognized this tall lanky fuck, and finally it hit me. Homeboy was Mikah9. He was messed up that night.

The second was Davey D. You might not all give two fucks about him, but to me meeting him was better than meeting the Wu and/or Phife that night. It started funny too. I was chillin on a sofa, as one of the first people in the place. Than this black dude sits beside me and asks where I am from, what paper or journalistic background I had. I told him hiphopchile.com (no longer exists). He goes off and starts asking maaad questions, I am annoyed. And ask who he is working for. He says Daveyd.com, I than go off about how dope the website it, and ask him "tell me about the great Davey D, is he cool? or is he an asshole?"... fuckin hilarious. It was him of course. The best part was being interviewed by him and than appearing on his show the same night I played in Berkely (La Pena).

[Jonny]

@ Beverly Center

I saw Guru with some chick going down the elevator. it was the summer of 91. He had no eye brows and his chick was fine as fuck.

Saw Too $short with a posse getting tailed by 20 bitches. Probably in 94.

Saw De La about a week after a show. They came to town promoting BMS I guess and we were amped as fuck for it. They ended up doing Me Myself and I, Buddy, Hey How You Doin, etc. It was wack as fuck. The best part was a young unknown Charlie 2NA getting picked out of the crown to freestyle and killing it. Anyway were rolled up to De LA and my homie just blurts it out. "We saw your show last week and that shit was WACK!" They fell over laughing. Cool as fuck.

Saw X-Clan mobbing down Hollywood Blvd with African flags and shit. That was 91.

Saw Tupac at the City Walk around 93 or early 94.


Smoked a joint with Saafir in the parking lot of The Breaks in 97.

My GF was KRS ONE's sons teacher. So I saw him now and then rolling in his truck with a Boogie Down Production sticker on the back window.

Met B1 at 2am on a Thursday night in the winter of 94. He was walking down Fairfax getting in everyone's face looking for a battle. There were a couple shit talking faggot rappers so I pointed at them and said, "they rhyme" he got up in both there faces and they backed down immediately. Right next to them was a couple big fools from By Yo Self Hustlers talking about how they were gonna kill Snoop Dog. They were rappers too. So I pointed at them and said those guys rap. B1 gets in there space and the big dude says, "I aint a battle rapper but I'll shoot your ass" B1 stepped back to that one. B-1 asks if I rap and I say fuck it yeah I rap. So he spits some shit. I spit one of the versus from Cornbread and he's like daam you're kind of ill. My homie is doubled over laughing. I copp to the fact I stole that shit. While this is all happening a drunk as fuck DJ Drez is telling everyone he has equipment at home and they should record a posse joint. I end up in B-1's whip and he's asking me if I ever heard of NAS and I knew him from a couple versus, Halftime and shit and he's like, "man he's on some next shit", "I got his tape right here"...and this is way before Illmatic was coming out. It Hard Hard to Tell hadn't even dropped. He popped the tape in and we sat in his ride bumping that shit drinking henny out of Styrofoam cups. He gave me and my buddy a ride to the bus stop. I forgot all about that night until right now. That was fun.

Played pool against Aceyalone in 96. He was rapping while he played.

[Freezy Pazzy]

Believe it or not, but I ALSO saw Jeru during summer 97 (lol)... I went to NYC for a few days because my parents wanted to go there but none of them was able to speak a single word of English... So I hustled to go with them... And as we were chilling in East Village one afternoon, we crossed him. I recognized him from far, but he was flirting with a chick and it seemed like she wasn't really down with this (lol)... So I said to myself "Ok, maybe you can talk to him & get a quick pic, but you can also get cursed at" because their convo started to get real loud... So I didn't bother him, but it really pissed me off.

During the same summer, I meet Cappadonna while shopping. He entered a clothing store where NO-fuckin'-Body noticed him, except me! Imagine a white, green eyed, glasses-wearing, shy foreigner adolescent trying to make his way through a tiny crowd just to talk to him... But I was like fuck it, so I sit down next to him as he was trying a pair of red sneakers, and I looked him right in his eyes with the opening line "Excuse me, but aren't you Cappadonna?".
Believe me, he was so glad somebody recognized him, and for a few minutes he wouldn't believe I was French... We had a cool convo, took a few pics and he gave me a few infos about the then-unreleased "Pillage" LP.
Definitely one of my best memories, not every artist I met is so humble & down to earth as he does.

[Texas Raised Mikey]

Cool story thread of the decade.

[Texas Raised Mikey]

So this is how you get the bork lurkers out.