So today I spent a few hours watching my uncle James’ interview/documentary/revelation…whatever you interpret it as, on his story of the West Coast Hip-Hop Scene in the mid-80s and early 90s.  I hardly get to see my uncle.  Maybe about once a year we get to chop it up at family gatherings, and that’s about it, and while visiting with him at my aunt’s birthday party last weekend, he told me about this video doc he did for Fifth Element.  Now, you might be asking yourself, J. Sumbi’s my uncle?  How’s that?  Well obviously, we’re not blood family, but by marriage.  My Dad’s cousin, my aunt Crissy, married him.  As a kid, I’ve always known him as uncle James, but in high school, when I told him that my friends and I we’re starting to get into deejaying, he said he was a DJ too.  I told him we were spinning mostly with CDs but our partner had a set of Technics that we were getting the hang of.  He said he had a set of 1200’s with flight cases, that he wasn’t really using at the time, and offered them up to me for $300 for the pair, cases included.  I was shocked, but I didn’t ask twice!  My homie Alphonso fronted the cash, and the tables found a new life with me, and I still use them til’ this day.  These were the same tables he used while being The Nonce’s DJ, so I’m honored to have a set of tables that have some personal history to them.  Once I became a student of Hip-Hop, I then realized that he contributed a great deal in the early days of Hip-Hop!

Anyways, this post isn’t about me, it’s about him.  If you’re a fan of Hip-Hop, or if you’re a fan of documentaries, then you’ll want to sit back and watch all 8 of these videos, produced by Fifth Element.  There’s some awesome stories in each one.  From how he got into making his first beats with 4-track recorders, to forming Freestyle Fellowship, which no doubt inspired other powerhouse collaborative groups like Jurassic 5, Wu-Tang, and so on.  My uncle’s got a story to tell, and if it wasn’t for him, I’d be some whack ass CD DJ, or worse…an electronica one!  Just kidding, but those dudes shouldn’t be called DJ’s.  They need another name, like Fist Pumpers, or Party Rockers, or some shit.  Non-beat-juggling, no-scratch-skills-having, setting-up-your-turntables-the-normal-way-instead-of-battle-style whack fools!  That’s what’s up.

Peep videos  2-8 after the jump