Light up the Mic for the Symphony

This may be old hat to some with their ears closer to the ground than I, but for this humble writer there was some thrilling news that reached me this week. For it was this week that my main Frank pointed me in the direction of the forthcoming Juice Crew feature film, provisionally titled The Vapors and due for release early in 2009. Rumours have been flying around for months about the movie, with casting calls held and different cats touted for inclusion, but precise details remain relatively sketchy.

However, when it does make it to the sliver screen it is difficult to see how it can end up being anything but absolutely massive? Like any hip-hop fan, the rise of the Juice Crew, and particularly the infamous Bridge Wars with Boogie Down Productions, coincided with the beginnings of a never ending love affair with the music and culture of hip-hop. While I was too young to really get deep into the so-called “Roxanne Wars” they formed an important part of the heritage of rap when I first began to delve properly into it, taking on an almost mythical quality, along with earlier interest in Beat Street, the Rocksteady Crew, Wild Style, even the Breakdance movies.

And the same is true of the beef between Marley Marl, MC Shan and the rest of the Cold Chillin’ Queensbridge crew, and the BDP stable in the South Bronx. For a young pup growing up miles away, geographically and mentally, from the urban realities of late 1980s New York and the dramas encased within the five boroughs, not to mention this dynamic and confident new form of music, the battle on record was like a glimpse into another world. Exciting, fresh and brash. And then there was the music itself. I felt no need to get drawn into taking sides, and as such could just sit back and soak up some of the truly greatest cuts of all time, and these remain staples of my engagement with hip-hop.

There is no need to go over all of the records that formed part of this true golden age, and indeed all are worthy of space here on A Story To Tell of themselves. News of the Juice Crew biopic however does have you salivating at the prospect of a movie that will feature surely one of the greatest soundtracks of all time. Special mention has, of course, to go to “The Symphony”, the 1988 cut that featured virtually some of the leading lights of the Juice Crew stable, and is a record that surely needs no introduction. Still the standard by which to judge any posse cut, “The Symphony” stands tall as a defining moment in hip-hop history, and is sure to feature prominently in The Vapors.

I can’t believe I slept so long on this news, but hey we’ve all got our flaws and our day jobs to attend to. Now that the word is out though I am literally beside myself with anticipation (well not literally, but you know what I mean). I suppose the moral of the story is that I should have taken Masta Ace’s advice from the off...Listen closely, so your attention's undivided. Wise words, and when it comes to the output of the Juice Crew, an order, not a suggestion.