Killer Ben shot dead in a telephone booth

“I remember days when/ I was young and aidin/ Cuttin class, chasin ass, couldn’t pass grades and/ Chillin on the block then listenin to Rakim/
Back of his album filled up with Killer Ben” _Maino “Walk These Streets“

The walls of New York are covered with murals that evoke the city’s history, celebrate its neighborhoods, pay tribute to leaders great and small. And then there’s the mural at the corner of Vanderbilt and Myrtle Avenues, which commemorates Benjamin O’Garro, a controversial figure who is still beloved by some in Fort Greene, even if he represents the neighborhood’s troubled past.

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Benjamin “Killer Ben” O’Garro’s infamy came into play as a drug dealer and more so after he shot a cop with a Tec 9, used a 4 year old boy to shield himself in a shoot out and after bullets meant for him pierced his apartment door and fatally struck his 3 yr old brother instead. Many critics have denounced the mural because of how Ben lived his.
According to reports from The Times and the Daily News, “Killer Ben” was a notorious presence in the Walt Whitman Houses, one who allegedly dealt in drugs and whose gun play once sent a neighborhood child into a coma.
In 1988, he was convicted of attempted murder for shooting at two police officers from the 88th precinct with a Tech-9 pistol. While O’Garro was serving an attempted murder sentence upstate, his 3-year-old brother Ben Williams was killed when someone — possibly a rival drug gang — shot up the O’Garro apartment in a hail of bullets. That same week, in July of 1990, two other children would be killed by gunfire on city streets.
The older Ben returned to New York in the mid-90s, just as Fort Greene — and the rest of the city — had begun the long process of rehabilitation. But he would never have the same chance at redemption. On Aug. 17, 1995, he was shot dead in a telephone booth outside the Whitman Houses. As Ian Frazier wrote in the New Yorker last year, O’Garro may have been murdered because he stole jewelry from an associate of the rapper Notorious B.I.G.

Halftime in the MLK courts w/ Bobbito

Bobbito Garcia is in Harlem right down the Foster Projects.

While practicing his balling skills, Bob recalls Its The Shoes, the 1st show that ever exposed sneaker culture (and Fat Joe licking his own kicks).

The former WKCR host tells about his many accomplishments and best memories in the ball field, as well as Joe Hammond’s story, one of a harlemite drug dealer who became a playground legend in his spare time, like on that day of 1971 when he showed up mid-game in a limo during a pro-am tournament and scored 50 points in the remaining half…
People called him “the Destroyer”, and Julius Erving defended on him this day…

Once Upon a Time in Howard Beach (Gotti begins)

Before the accident, there was a time when the Gotti family and the Favara family would visit each other, and the children would play together in the backyard lots adjacent to their homes in Howard Beach, Queens.
Victoria Gotti would often chat with Janet Favara, the wife of a Long Island furniture manager, John Favara. The cordiality ended March 18, 1980.

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Frank Gotti borrowed a friends motorized mini-bike and took a ride around his Howard Beach neighborhood. At the same time, John Favara was on his way home from work. Favaras house was on 86th Street, directly behind the Gotti home on 85th Street. Favaras adopted son, Scott, was a friend of Gottis son, John, and had enjoyed sleepovers in the Gotti home. With the sun going down in the late afternoon, young Frank Gotti and the 51 year-old Favara were about to have the proverbial appointment with destiny. In Mobstar, Jerry Capeci and Gene Mustain describe what happened next:
On 157th Avenue, near 87th, a house was under renovation. A dumpster had been placed in the street to collect the debris. It was on Favaras right. Favara did not notice the boy on the mini-bike dash into the street from the other side of the dumpster, and his car struck and killed Frank Gotti.
Favara dragged the boy’s body about 200 feet, and was forced to stop by witnesses. He got out of his car screaming, blaming the boy for being in the street. Someone told him that it was Gotti’s son, and he quieted down.

The fate of John Favara has remained the most prominent unsolved mystery from the bloody career of Gotti, who was only a captain in the Gambino family at the time.
The Gottis were crushed by their son’s death. Victoria Gotti, the boy’s mother, would reportedly walk out to the local baseball fields late at night in the hope she would find her son alive.
When John Favara tried to apologise to her, she attacked him with a baseball bat. He ignored advice to move away only to disappear after leaving work one day.
The Gottis proved to police they were in Florida at the time and no arrests were ever made. The police were reportedly later told that Gotti dismembered Favara himself with a chainsaw when he returned from Florida.

Nowhere to Run Nowhere to Hide

There’s  no particular location and no timeline on this one…

Homeless Emcee is my favorite episode of D-Nice’s True Hip-Hop Stories:
“This is the story of a homeless rapper I met on the streets of Brooklyn. I feel for him because it’s quite obvious he suffered a great deal as a child. I don’t agree with how he lived his life but everyone deserves to be forgiven.“.

NYPD vs Larry Davis on November 19th ‘86

“Just ask Larry Davis:
How much they took? Cops and crooks, but who’s the crook?”
—Jeru the Damaja

On Nov. 19, 1986, six police officers were shot, four seriously, while attempting to apprehend a murder suspect last night at an apartment in the Morrisania section of the South Bronx. It was the largest number of officers to be wounded in one shooting incident in the history of the New York City …

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Larry Davis was wanted in connection with the killing of four young men found in the Longwood section of the Bronx on Oct. 30.
Davis stated the NYPD came after him based on his decision to get out of the drug business, which the police department initiated. Davis eluded capture for the next 17 days despite a massive manhunt. Once the search was narrowed to a single building, he took 3 hostages but surrendered when the presence of reporters assured him he would not be harmed. Davis received aid and shelter from the Bronx community where he lived, attaining folk hero …

Larry Davis (who changed name to Adam Abdul Hakeem in ‘89) was fatally wounded on feb. 20, 2008 at about 7.30pm local time during a recreation break at Shawangunk jail, 80 miles north of New York City, according to a spokesman for the New York state prisons department.
Davis, 41, was stabbed repeatedly with a home-made metal blade in the arms, head, back, upper thigh and chest. Another inmate was being questioned over the killing, said spokesman Erik Kriss.

Halftime at the GOAT Park w/ Kurious

Kurious takes you to the legendary G.O.A.T. playground,
aka the Rock Steady Park, where Bobbito and him used to hang out as kids…

From the Basketball court you can see where Rakim was first signed to… and where Malcolm McLaren’s Buffalo Gals video has been shot…

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Happy Warrior playground was nicknamed after Earl “the GOAT” Manigault, the 6′1 who landed the first 720° dunk and who used to beat Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in One on One games.

Though he was called the “King of New York” in the 60’s, he got busted in ‘69 for heroin possession, the same year Abdul-Jabbar became a NBA rookie and a millionaire.

Jan. 28th ‘10: Night of the Living Baseline heads

The Baseline Recording Studios closed down on the night of jan. 28th ‘10 …after being open for 11 years.

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Ego Trip’s Elliott Wilson was there to document this NY minute
[check out these cell-phone zombies!]

In this LTD interview, Just Blaze runs down some of the more notable moments in the history of Baseline Studios, including the making of iconic recordings such as Streets Is Watching and violent, blood-filled recording sessions.

Justin also talks about the numerous studios that disappeared
as a result of emerging recording technology.

Alexander Richter captured some shots before everything was packed away

Around the Way Pun

Tributes to the late Christopher Rios appear throughout the Bronx.
But the Tats Cru’s Big Pun mural on Rogers Place (between Westchester Ave and E 163rd St) is the best-known testimonial to the Boricua rapper’s enduring popularity.

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Rios first appeared on albums from The Beatnuts, on the track “Off the Books”, and on Fat Joe’s Jealous One’s Envy, on the track “Watch Out”, prior to signing to Loud Records as a solo artist.
Pun is internationally know on the microphone as “the first solo Latino rapper to go platinum”… which means that most Hip Hop heads consider Cypress Hill as a Rock band [thanks to Jesse]

June 29th ‘94: The Day Boo-Boo became Fifty

Curtis Jackson, 18, got busted hustling at the corner of 134 and Guy R Brewer Blvd on June 29 1994. Police found 4 vials of cocaine on his accomplice, Taiesha Douse.

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They were accused of
220-39-1 Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree,
220.16-1 Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree twice
as well as two charges of
220.03 – Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree.
They were released the other day.

On July 19 1994 the NYPD executed a search warrant in the place he had rented in the 2nd floor of 145-50 Rockaway Blvd in Queens. All kinds of drugs are being seized. He faces 3 to 9 years in prison. He was charged with
220.21-1 Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree,
220.16-1 Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree,
220.50-1 Criminally Using Drug Parapharnelia in the Second Degree and
220.03 – Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree.

On July 22, he signs a document waiving his right to a trial and agrees to accept a plea bargain disposition in which he pleaded guilty to a minor charge (220.16 – Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree). Instead of a longterm inprisonment, he is being sent to upstate Monterey Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility, better known to the public as boot camp incarceration. The program focuses on physical training, academic education and hard labor.
On August 23 1994, Curtis Jackson enters Monterey Shock C.F. This is the day and place where the infamous mugshot was taken. This mugshot was NOT taken upon his arrest like often mistakenly claimed. Inmate DIN is 94R6378
During SHOCK, Jackson passes his GED.
March 30 1995: Boo-Boo is being released on parole. He adopted the nickname “50 Cent” [from a 1980s Brooklyn robber] as a metaphor for “change”. (source: G-Unit research center)

April 26, 1973 on Sesame street

In a NY Minute, Grover can sing better than Steve

Sesame Street premiered on November 10, 1969, and is the longest running children’s program on television. The show was produced by the non-profit organization Children’s Television Workshop.

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Originally episodes were taped at the Teletape Studios at 81st and Broadway in Upper West Side.The cast needed to reflect the diversity of this kind of neighborhood with a mix of White and African-American actors. Morgan Freeman who lived in this section of Manhattan, helped a young Percy Carey to be cast as a child actor. He would later be know as MF Grimm.

Frank Oz originated the characters of Bert, Cookie Monster… and Grover for nearly 30 years. I love this Oz: he not only made an appearance as a corrupted cop on John Landis‘ Trading Places, he’s also responsible for one of my favorite movies…

“123 Sesame Street” was (written and) performed by Stevie for his guest star appearance on episode 514

Halftime: Copyright Criminals

Long before people began posting their homemade video mashups on the Web, hip-hop musicians were perfecting the art of audio montage through sampling. Sampling — or riffing — is as old as music itself, but new technologies developed in the 1980s and 1990s made it easier to reuse existing sound recordings. Acts like Public Enemy, De La Soul and the Beastie Boys created complex rhythms, references and nuanced layers of original and appropriated sound. But by the early 1990s, sampling had collided with the law. When recording industry lawyers got involved, what was once called “borrowed melody” became “copyright infringement.”

COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law and money. The film showcases many of hip-hop music’s founding figures like Public Enemy, De La Soul and Digital Underground, as well as emerging artists such as audiovisual remixers Eclectic Method. It also provides first-person interviews with artists who have been sampled, such as Clyde Stubblefield — James Brown’s drummer and the world’s most sampled musician — and commentary by another highly sampled musician, funk legend George Clinton.

Computers, mobile phones and other interactive technologies are changing our relationships with media, blurring the line between producer and consumer and radically changing what it means to be creative.
As artists find more inventive ways to insert old influences into new material, COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS poses the question: Can you own a sound?

>>>> part.3 >>> part.4 >>part.5 >part.6 of Franzen & McLeod’s documentary…

That Night of nov. ‘94 on 7th ave: “Who Shot Ya ?”

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On the night of November 30, 1994, about 12:25 am, the day before the verdict in his sexual abuse trial was to be announced, Shakur was shot five times and robbed after entering, two companions, the lobby of Quad Recording Studios by two armed men in army fatigues.
Tupac Shakur, who was struck twice in the head, twice in the groin and once in one hand, was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center. The second man was shot twice in the abdomen. The third man with Tupac was not injured.

The three robbers fled after taking money or property from the three men, said Sgt. James Coleman, a Police Department spokesman.
Tupac would later accuse Sean Combs, Andre Harrell, and Biggie Smalls—whom he saw after the shooting—of setting him up.

Shakur also suspected his close friend and associate, Randy “Stretch” Walker, of being involved in the attempt. In the day that followed, Shakur entered the courthouse in a wheelchair and was found guilty of three counts of molestation, but innocent of six others, including sodomy.
On February 6, 1995, he was sentenced to one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years in prison on a sexual assault charge.

On November 30, 1995, exactly one year to the day of the shooting, Stretch was killed in an execution-style murder in Queens.

>>> Tupac was acquitted from sodomy charge but he went to Clinton correctionnal center in 1995

Fiften Years After: In Search of the 36th Chamber

One anonymous beat digger found the Holy Grail on jan. 17th ‘10 @ 9.31 pm.

Sample heads will be excited and disappointed to learn that dkelloway of The-Breaks.com forums has discovered the sample for “Ice Cream” by Raekwon.
Excited, because the “Ice Cream” sample has long been a mystery. I think I read that someone asked RZA what it was and he couldn’t even remember.
Disappointed, because it’s just an Earl Klugh record. Not the score to a Brazilian telenovela or some psychedelic Christian spoken word record.
Just good old Earl Klugh.

The sample is Klugh’s “A Time for Love” which appears on his 1980 album Late Night Guitar. The melody we know as “Ice Cream” is a sped up acoustic guitar loop. source: Metallungies

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx was released on August 1st ‘95
(& mastered at Sterling Sound)

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July ‘94: the B.I.G. MACK campaign

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Shot by famed Source photographer Chi Modu in 1994, this picture of B.I.G., Diddy & Craig Mack was an idea of Puff Daddy to have his at the time Bad Boy flagship artists B.I.G. & Mack shoot a “B.I.G. Mack” photoshoot in a fast food restaurant and run it in Billboard Magazine.

Even though the actual Big Mac is a McDonalds food item, the shoot was done in a Burger King on 42nd st next to the Port Authority building in Manhattan. Whats even more special about this photoshoot is that it is where Biggie met Faith Evans whom he would eventually marry in 3 weeks.
source: Icedotcom

“Flava in Ya Ear (remix)” was released on July 25, 1994. On August 4, 1994, Christopher Wallace married singer Faith Evans. Four days later, Wallace had his first pop chart success as a solo artist with “Juicy/Unbelievable“.
Ready to Die was released on September 13, 1994, followed one week later by Project: Funk Da World.

The B.I.G. Mack campaign w/ Fab 5 Freddy on Yo! MTV Raps

January 26, 1987: My Big Mac Weights a Ton

This is another exclusive !
Even the Google Street View Cam-Car never pay homage to the Three Forty on Peninsula boulevard…
Public Enemy have been immortalized in front of this McDonald’s…

by Glen E. Friedman for their debut album released January 26, 1987 on Def Jam.
Brother Ronald don’t swear he nice He KNOWS he’s nice
- 340 Peninsula Boulevard, Hempstead, Long Island -

I’ll show you my gun, My Uzi weighs a ton