Saturday 2 July 2011

The Bridge Is Over

Back in 1986/87 you couldn't get away from the BRIDGE WARS - a time when competing crews from the BRONX and QUEENSBRIDGE went all out to dismiss their opposition's claims that hip hop started in their neighborhood. The main instigators were BOOGIE DOWN PRODUCTIONS and MARLEY MARL's JUICE CREW, and it all stemmed from a few MC SHAN lines in the 1985 hit "THE BRIDGE"...

"You love to hear the story again and again
Of how it all got started way back when
The monument is right in your face
Sit and listen for a while to the name of the place
The Bridge, The Bridge The Br- The Br- The Bridge
QUEENSBRIDGE!"


Now although SHAN had not specifically said that HIP HOP started out in QUEENS, the BDP crew from the BRONX were not just gonna sit down and ignore a verse like that. As we all now know, hip hop was born on the BRONX streets and in the BRONX playgrounds, so it wasn't long before BDP had a response. That response was "SOUTH BRONX" and "THE BRIDGE IS OVER".
The BRIDGE WARS continued with various shots at each other's crews, and before too long other artists had seen the hype around this "beef" situation only increase record sales for BDP and the JUICE CREW. It was only a matter of time before other crews chipped in with their two cents, the most notorious of which being ROCKWELL NOEL & THE POET (of PHD and SCREWBALL fame, now known as BLAQ POET) who had a hit with their "Takin' U Out" single which was deliberately fired at the BDP crew. In fact POET had a reputation for taking beef a little further than just to diss on record, and liked to back his claims up "in the physical".

Unfortunately SCOTT LA ROCK was shot dead in August 1987 at the age of 25. But before he died he gave a radio interview alongside his partner KRS ONE to talk about the BRIDGE WARS and give his views. SCOTT LA ROCK told it how it was.



Big thanks to DJ VICTORIOUS and FLATBUSH TV in Brooklyn for uploading this gem of an interview.

And check out these other releases related to the BRIDGE WARS...
POWER OF TWO & NO JOKE CREW - "We Got The Jam"
MC MITCHSKI - "Brooklyn Blew Up The Bridge"
COOL C - "Juice Crew Diss"
MC BUTCHY B - "Go Magic" b/w "Beating Down KRS"

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