As one of the pioneers of Southern Hip Hop, Miami, Florida rapper Luke recalled defending the music coming out of the South during a new music seminar in New York City decades ago. While speaking at a recent event, Luke revealed that during the new music seminar, Bomb Squad member Hank Shocklee labeled Southern Hip Hop “a fad” and said that it’ll “never be nothing.”
In response to Shocklee’s criticism, Luke says he told those in the room that Southern Hip Hop would soon “rule Hip Hop.”
“I remember in a room just like this at the new music seminar in New York. Maybe 25 years ago,” Luke said in a video posted on Vlad TV. “And a guy—Hank Shocklee got up and said ‘This Hip Hop in the South is a fad. It’s all garbage that’ll never be nothing.’ And I stood up in the room…And I said—In New York City, I said ‘One day, the South will rule Hip Hop because we’re bigger than New York. And we’re bigger than anything else. We’re bigger than D.C. We have New Orleans. We have the Southwest, Texas, Houston. We have the Carolinas. We have Atlanta.’ And to this day right now, those guys—Them and Russell Simmons and all those guys they remind me of that conversation. Because it’s so important what we did in Miami to give guys inspiration. That they can be where they are today right now.”
Prior to speaking on defending Southern Hip Hop, Luke recalled assisting with the music careers of artists like Pitbull. He says the Miami artist, who has garnered a great deal of fame in the years since the release of his debut album, was one of the most difficult to get off the streets.
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“I remember having this conversation—Probably the one who was much more difficult into getting off the streets was Pitbull,” he said. “He was very, very difficult to let him understand—I actually had to take him and have him rap in front of a mirror. To let him look at his self because at the end of the day this kid was going in a totally different direction and he wouldn’t have been the guy he is today. And that’s basically what I was doing in the music business in Miami. Just trying to save young men’s lives.”
During the event, Luke also discussed the moment in his career when 2 Live Crew were attacked by the American Family Association for allegedly violating obscenity laws with their music. He went on to label the incident a “black/white” issue and questioned why other entertainment brands weren’t also attacked over their content.
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