When the beat of Milwaukee's streets meets the rhythm of resilience, you get a legacy like Coo Coo Cal's. Our latest chat with the hip-hop maestro Calvin Bellamy, better known as Coo Coo Cal, isn't just any conversation—it's a master class in transforming hardship into harmony. From spinning records at underground parties to climbing the charts with "My Projects, Coo Coo Cal lays down the track of his life, sharing how his early albums laid the foundation for a career that's as much about beats as it is about making a difference. His journey has been a symphony of success and struggle, echoing through the streets from Baton Rouge to Germany and back to Milwaukee, where the city's pulse beats strongest.
There's something inherently cinematic about Coo Coo Cal's story—so much so that it's sparked the creation of "The Rise and Fall of Coo Coo Cal," a documentary that lays bare his trials with addiction and his path to redemption. The idea of giving back rings loud in our conversation as Coo Coo Cal shines a spotlight on local talents and the unwavering support of the Milwaukee hip-hop community. He doesn't just make music; he makes waves that could soon crash into theaters with talks of "My Projects: The Movie." And let's not forget the props he gives to Homer Blow for uplifting the local scene, highlighting the collective crescendo of a community coming together to lift its own.
Echoing through our discussion is the timbre of thanksgiving—Dee Star's induction into the Milwaukee Hip Hop Museum by curator Antonia Anderson is not just a personal accolade but a testament to his deep-seated commitment to Milwaukee's youth. His passion for empowering the next generation reverberates with every word, stressing the importance of creative support and the potential within Milwaukee's vibrant culture. It's a rallying cry for change and a plea to recognize the untapped talents that walk the city's streets. As Dee Star's story unfolds, it's clear that his music is a vessel for progress, a beat that can't be stopped, and a message of hope for every kid looking for a way to rise above.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up everybody.
This is your host, the Starhere, with Kukukal Kukukal man.
All right, so check this out.
I was just thinking about this.
Yesterday I said Milwaukee islike Gotham City right now.
Boosie said he's the mayorRight.
Shout out to Boosie.
Shout out to Boosie man, that'sa good dude.
Baby Drew said that he's theghetto hero, the ghetto hero.
(00:23):
Baby Drew, most definitely theghetto hero, the ghetto hero.
So would that make you thegodfather?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
I'm just Cal man, I'm just Kukuk, running crazy all
around this month.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
So for the people that don't know you, can you
tell us a little bit aboutyourself?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Well, my name is Calvin Bellamy.
It's my government.
They call me Kukukal man.
I started rapping in 1995.
Before the end you know whatI'm saying I was a DJ.
You know what I'm saying Mostof the DJs that's on the radio
right now.
Back in the day we was doingbasement parties together.
You know what I'm saying DJing.
You know.
I came out with a record of 2001, a hit record that went
(01:01):
national, called my Projects.
Before then I had two albumsout Before then.
The first album I put out wascalled Game and I'm standing on
the checkerboard CD.
I think I wish we could havephotoshopped.
It was out then because thatcover was looking kind of crazy.
Then my second album, that kindof you know what I'm saying
(01:21):
took me to the next level, wascalled Walking Dead.
But the Walking Dead I had alot of features on there Mac 10,
spice One, outlaws it was a fewpeople.
I'm getting old y'all, so mymemory's kind of bad, forgive me
, but yeah, walking Dead was thesecond album that kind of led
to.
I was in 1998.
And that kind of led to theProjects deal.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Take us through the journey.
You started off in Germany.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yep, I started off Actually.
Okay, we can go back kind oflike the documentary.
I was born.
I was an army brat.
I was born in Baton Rouge,Louisiana, from there I moved to
El Paso, texas, from there toBaumhoeder, germany, baumhoeder,
germany, richmond, virginia.
And then my daddy retired herein Milwaukee, wisconsin,
teaching ROTC at UWL, and that'swhen the streets came involved
(02:12):
in my life.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
A lot of the times, when people make it or when
people start a music career inrap, they say certain things
that's not true, right?
So they'll say oh man, I had tohustle to eat, I had to do this
, I had to do that.
You are like one of the onlypeople that I've ever heard
really keep it real and say Ididn't have to do that, I didn't
(02:36):
have to be in the streets, Ihad a silver spoon, I went left
but I didn't have to.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yep, that's true, because you know, like I said, I
was an army brat man.
You know what I'm saying.
I didn't know nothing about thestreets till I was like 12, 12
years old when I moved toMilwaukee and I still didn't
know nothing about it then.
And I stayed out in suburbswhen I moved here and I just
kept running to the ghetto man,because, you know, I just was
curious man.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
So, yeah, I really appreciate that, because it's
like our parents work hard.
You know what I mean To provideand try to put you in a good
situation and for them people toturn around and be like well, I
had to do this, I had to belike man, where was I?
What are you talking?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
about yeah, my mother's, like I said, the
documentary.
She didn't respect none of thatbecause she was like you you
weren't from the projects, Iwasn't.
You know what I mean.
Right by the time that songcame out, I couldn't stay out
the projects.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
But yeah, I remember you said that your mother didn't
respect it until she seen YonSoul train Yon Soul train.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
She was in love with Don Cornelius, I think.
When I was younger I used tosee my daddy frowning up every
time she on TV looked like shewon't make love to the TV.
See, don Cornelius.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
With that success of that song, kind of take me
through the impact that it hadon the city of Milwaukee.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
The impact the city had on me, man.
It really tripped me out.
Man.
It wasn't just a song.
It wasn't one of my favorites,like Steve O said in the
documentary.
It wasn't one of his favorites.
It just was a song.
Like you know, steve O said Ihad it in my head.
You know what I mean.
And then Hank came along withthe beat.
You know what I'm saying.
I had the chorus and stuff inmy head for a couple of years
(04:10):
and Hank came along with thebeat.
You know I'm always listeningto beats and I just going
through stuff that I wrote in myhead but never had a track for
it to go along with.
And Hank came along with thatbeat.
You know I had the opportunityto lay it and first people we
pitched was Jive Records.
You know what I'm saying.
They flew out here a couple oftimes and then we flew out there
(04:31):
and it ended up in Tommy.
Boy's hands though.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
The song takes off, things start happening really,
really fast.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
I'm talking about from day to night, from night to
day.
Man, I never thought it was.
You know, I've always loved themusic period.
You know what I'm saying.
Like I said, I was DJing firstand I never thought I'd become a
rapper.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
What was your DJ name ?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
DJ Cool Calbee.
Okay yeah, dj Cool Calbee, thatwas my DJ name back in the day.
Man, I'm going to give a shoutout to my man, hip man 2.
He's going battling some cancerright now.
We used to DJ side by side backin the day with Dr B, the Fresh
G's, reggie Browns, all of them.
He's going through some stuffright now stage 4 cancer.
(05:16):
Big shout out to Hip man, tommyB.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Absolutely.
First of all, shout out to theMilwaukee Hip Hop Museum Big
shout out, big, big shout out.
They let us come in here, theylet us record and they just do
an awesome job of curating hiphop, not only just for Milwaukee
but for the entire country Forthe entire country.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, I'm kind of embarrassed because this is my
first time here, man, but thisis really nice man, really nice
man.
Y'all got to come check it out.
If you from the mill, I don'tcare where you from, you come to
Milwaukee, you got to comecheck it out, man.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Absolutely.
You know we got some of yourprojects on the wall that you
had an opportunity to.
Can you tell us a little bitabout?
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, she got up here all of nothing.
I think that's when I was madat the label Infinite, right
there.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Or they was mad at you.
They came up with that title.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
We were mad at each other.
Yep, Big shout out to Infiniterecording Steve.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Shout out to Steve O.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yep, Big shout out.
They got the projects theWalking Dead, All or Nothing.
Yeah, I think that was the lastalbum I did with Infinite
called All or Nothing.
I believe that's where thetitle came from it's going to be
All or Nothing.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, real time.
And they said they had theofficial press release right
here for MI Projects.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah, tommy Boy.
Yeah, I actually wasn't signedto Tommy Boy, it was actually
Infinite.
You know we did a 360.
I was signed with InfiniteInfinite 4-5.
Big shout out to Rafa Smallsand Steve O.
Infinite 4-5 recordings.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Absolutely City of Milwaukee right now kind of
turned up.
What are some of the biggestdifferences that you see back
then from now?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
The hip hop scene.
Man, you got a lot of.
I just like music.
You know what I'm saying.
I believe the only type ofmusic we can do was Country
Western.
I think I could make a niceCountry Western song.
You know what I mean.
I just like music.
88 Keys, good music.
But we got a lot of young catsout right now.
You know what I'm saying.
Shout out to BlackoutEntertainment KB.
(07:14):
The Playmaker.
You know what I'm saying.
It's a lot of young talent outhere.
Man, that's really good way.
My era it was kind of it'ssaturated.
Right now, you know what I'msaying, the game is real
saturated, but it's a lot ofgood talent here in Milwaukee.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Does anybody stand out to?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
you.
It's so many, you know what, Idon't want to just name one.
I'm going to bring up thisinterview that me and Drew had
with Homer Blow.
Shout out, homer Blow.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Shout out to Homer man.
I've been trying to get incontact with Homer man.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I like Homer and everything that he's doing Yep,
and what he's done for the city.
You know, in the hip hop periodin Milwaukee he's done a lot.
Big shout out to Homer Blow.
But me and Drew was in aninterview with him and so he
would ask us both the samequestion.
You know what I'm saying One ata time, and I remember he asked
Drew this question first.
It's the only question that hedidn't ask me Both of us because
(08:08):
he started off with Drew andyeah, it's Drew.
Like what is one of yourfavorite songstift?
You recorded and drew replyHomer, you got any children?
He was like, yeah, how manykids you got?
He said like three of them.
He said like Like, do you, doyou like one of your kids better
(08:29):
than the other?
Right, right.
And he was like no, I love themall the same.
Drew said that's how I feelabout my music.
They all my babies, right,right.
So it'll be hard for me to justpick one man.
I could just say we got a lotof talent right here in this era
.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Do you pay attention to any of the challenges that
they have, because they'reremixing your song in my
projects and they're doingchallenges for it.
Do you actually pay attentionto those?
Speaker 2 (08:54):
sometime.
It usually take my kids to comewake me up.
You know what I'm saying andyou know like that.
You know I'm saying what'sgoing on.
I'm getting a little older.
Right now I'm still in themusic.
You know I'm staying.
I still stay in the booth,still doing features, still
doing shows on the road here andthere, but uh, yeah, here and
there.
You know I pay attention man.
I love the new talent.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
I love this era, though anybody that that
actually did the challenges thatany of them stand out to you.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Not, I mean, they're all good, I mean they're all
good.
I mean in their own way.
And you know it's hard for meto put a Stamp on something,
because music is for, you knowit's it's it's a market.
It's it's a market for you know.
For any but yeah, for any andeverybody.
You know what I mean.
So it's hard for me to say thisI like that, this one better
(09:40):
than that one.
Because you know, I know itain't just about my opinion, you
know what I mean.
Just like I felt like when wedid, uh, I didn't think projects
was the single.
You know what I mean.
Actually, when I first camewith it, well, I knew it was one
of those songs, but I had othersongs too that I was.
You know I'm saying you know.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
That I was in love with, but uh.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
It is what it is, you know.
You know you usually got towait and let the uh, the public
decide you know right.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
So take us through the documentary.
Uh, you, you just recently putout a documentary, not too long
ago, and um, they kind ofchronicles is.
It's called the rise and fallof cuckoo cow, all right.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Shout out to kb.
You know I'm saying theplaymaker.
Shout out the swift motionpictures, stevo, uh, stevo, from
infinite, it's just moneyentertainment.
Uh, yeah, we came together, man.
Actually, you know, uh, kb cameup with the idea Swift.
You know what I'm saying.
I've I've been in the streetsbattling drug and alcohol
addiction and uh, you know I'mcalling swift motion pictures,
talking about, uh, you know,cash at me, a hundred dollars.
(10:44):
He said, listen, man, you don'tstop calling me and telling me
to cash out a hundred dollars.
He said, tell the camera.
And so, uh, from there, youknow I'm saying I was driving
trucks for amazon man Shepherdtrucker here in Milwaukee.
Big shout out to snoop.
And then we, you know we cametogether, man, and uh did the
documentary man and just kind oftold you know I'm saying as
(11:05):
much as we could get in.
You know it's an hour fiveminutes long, as much as we can
get in there.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
You know I'm saying kind of my life story like I
watched it last night and Ithought you guys did a great job
.
But me talking to the playmakerand he said it was a lot more
yes, that you guys actuallydidn't get to, and I was like,
man, they actually really did areally good job, uh, but uh,
it's really interesting to knowthat there's still more that you
guys Sorry, you guys are gonnado like a part two.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
We're gonna try and probably get a movie together.
I really want to get uh, youknow, my project's the movie,
you know what I'm saying, oh wow.
Take it.
Take it all the way back.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Were you supposed to say that?
Were you supposed to tell usthat?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Well, uh, yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
I mean, that's what I mean, that's what came, that's
what he put on my head, I guess.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Yes, I guess.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
I was supposed to.
I guess I was supposed to.
Ok so if not, if I find out Iain't supposed to, we can,
always we can.
Oh yeah we can edit this right.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Right, ok, we could, we could, but man, that's a huge
.
That's huge.
The in my projects movie Wow, Idon't even know what to say.
So is that going to be localpeople here from Milwaukee
that's going to be playing theseroles, or are you guys going to
outsource with celebrities, orhow are you going to do that?
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Well, I'm quite sure we'll try to have some people
and also celebrities, but that's.
That's a couple of steps aheadof me, right there.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Right, yeah, hey, man , you know, you just blew my
mind with that, you know.
Also, I wanted to ask what's upwith the book man, the book.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
I'm too late, it's written in my head.
I'm just too lazy, man, I'mlazy.
I'd have been wrote it down,man, I'm just lazy.
But yet a book is basically.
You know what I'm saying.
It's following.
You know what I'm saying.
I mean before the movie.
You know what I'm saying.
So everything that is as far asthe book goes is actually the
movie.
Right, it's all up here and uphere, you know right.
(12:59):
Jay Z way.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
That part.
So can you tell us a little bitabout some of the advocacy that
you that's been involved within the city?
Speaker 2 (13:08):
It's so much stuff of you know doing out I've went
and spoke into, you know, agroup homes.
You know schools here lately Ihaven't been doing enough.
I've been, you know I'm saying,going through a lot just family
wise.
You know what I'm saying, but Itry to stay.
You know I'm saying keep my earto the streets and know, what's
(13:30):
going on with the music.
You know what I'm saying here inMilwaukee.
You know somebody's coming totown like a star.
So I'm like Bootsie, just lefthere the other day, left my guy
restaurant Just say it was saidthe cooking was like we was in
Louisiana.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Yeah, I seen that.
Yeah, man that's.
And shout out to Bootsie againman, he's a really cool dude and
I know he's a good friend ofyou and Steve, oh, and you guys
do a lot of good business withhim, so you guys don't have a
problem with him saying thathe's the mayor.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
No, really our mayor.
I got to give him a shout outto our original Milwaukee mayor,
his young twine.
Young twine yeah shout outyoung twine, that's the mayor.
We call the mayor of Milwaukeeman, but we love Bootsie too,
man.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Come in.
We have two mayors.
When he didn't tell.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
You did a song with Twister.
Well, you did a couple of songswith Twister.
What's your relationship withTwister?
Are you guys ever going tocollaborate again?
Speaker 2 (14:22):
I love to collaborate with Twister.
He's very, very, very talentedman.
That's probably like one of thefirst artists that had me in
Like you know what I mean.
Besides my little big brother,baby Drew.
That really had me in awe whenI watched him how he came up
with his lyrics, writing andeverything.
Did it right in the hood on 56in Monarchy at Big Hank House.
(14:43):
Man, yep, twister is verytalented man, very talented
brother.
What's your relationship withhim?
Now?
We don't, I mean we don't likekick it like that.
I mean as far as if it hasanything pertaining to music or
something we out of town youknow, we'll connect, or
something on a show or somethinglike that.
But you know it ain't like weguys and hang out or nothing
like that.
But I got much respect for him.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
And one thing I wanted to touch on is your
relationship with God.
Can you tell us a little bitabout that?
Speaker 2 (15:09):
I pray every, every.
I can't lie to y'all about this.
I pray every day.
Sometimes I don't know so manytimes a day.
I'm going through so much,which I don't want nobody crying
feeling sorry for me, because Iknow everybody, you know, go
through stuff in their life.
But yep, I'm a very, veryman-fearing God man and you know
I stay prayed up man.
I believe prayer really works.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
So is there any kind of like words of wisdom or
anything that you would tellsomebody that's in the yes, keep
God in your life.
You know that's like, you knowjust locked up, or you know
stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
You know pray man you can get.
He can get us through anything.
One black man opinion I believe.
Yeah, god can take you throughanything If you still breathe in
.
It's a reason why you know whatI mean.
He can get you through it.
He's been taking me through it.
I've been through something inthe trenches so I know it's a
God.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Absolutely, man.
I think that's really important, man, that we do stay prayed up
and we try to do as best thatwe can for the community and for
one another.
But before we get out of here,man, is anybody that you want to
give a shout out to?
I want to give a shout out to.
Holy God's clothing, man.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Holy God's clothing man, they hooked me up with this
gear.
Man, Y'all better get up on it.
Man, Y'all have to hip hopmuseum.
Man, Y'all check it out.
22, 22, 19th Street, man.
I'm embarrassed, man, that I'mjust not seeing this.
Man.
I'm supposed to be Everybodygiving me all, showing me all
this love and Milwaukee on thehip hop scene.
This is my first time here, man, but it's real nice man, Y'all
(16:37):
got to check it out, man.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Yeah, absolutely, man .
I mean it's on to you man Shoutout to Steve O.
Shout out to Godfilla.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
KB Burrell.
Man, you know what I'm saying.
The playmaker man, Blackoutentertainment in the trunk
records, it's just moneyentertainment.
Swift, most of the pictures Gotto give a shout out to my man.
Swift man, I know I'mforgetting somebody.
Man, big Hank, big shout out toBig Hank.
Man, I almost got killed whenProject K came out.
I forgot to give him a shoutout.
(17:05):
Man.
Man, yeah, we at 106 and Iforgot them lights, them cameras
and lights got on me.
Man, I think it just blanked meout.
Man, I couldn't see it,couldn't see it.
I couldn't see it, think aboutnothing, man, absolutely man.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
But thank you, man, we really appreciate you
stopping by the program.
Man, I appreciate y'all havingme.
Man, I'm D-Star Until next time, guys.
What's up everybody.
This is your host D-Star herewith Antonia Anderson.
Hello, how you doing.
Oh, I'm great.
How are you?
So, for the people that don'tknow you, can you tell us a
little bit about yourself?
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I am Antonia Anderson .
I'm the CEO and the founder ofthe Milwaukee Hip Hop Museum in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Thank you so much for allowing us to come here and
record and tape and you know, doour thing here.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Thank you for coming and doing your thing here at
Milwaukee Hip Hop Museum.
I appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
So what inspired you to start the Hip Hop Museum?
Speaker 3 (18:01):
I currently work for the School Board in Milwaukee,
wisconsin, and my previousexperience has been working with
juveniles that are either inthe prison system or already
going to you know, going toprison.
The work that I do at theschool is to try to keep the
children in school with theirattendance by like home visits
(18:24):
and calls, but I just wanted touse Hip Hop as an outlet for the
children to be able to expressthemselves.
You know, learn a lot ofdifferent things about
themselves, like how to beentrepreneurs, writing skills,
critical thinking, and I believethat Hip Hop is good for that.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
A universal language at this point, you know being
such a popular genre of music,Exactly how long have you been
collecting?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
I actually started collecting vinyl albums.
I want to say probably 2010,during COVID, about 2019.
I believe that I had enoughvinyl albums, so then I started
getting cassettes, 45s, VHSmovies, eight track tapes
whatever I can get my hands onpertaining to Hip Hop.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
So did you always have this affinity to collect?
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Yes, my mom is a historian and she always
collected stuff like what yousee here.
She probably has a lot of stuffat her house but her era you
know it started like the civilrights movement, which I do have
those items too.
But yes, I come from my momcollecting and explaining black
history and how we need to knowour past to carry on to our
(19:38):
future.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
So you start collecting, you got.
You know, the 80s came.
Hip Hop got on the scene.
You fell in love with Hip Hop.
When did you start collectinghip hop memorabilia?
Speaker 3 (19:49):
I started picking up more hip hop memorabilia in 2019
, when I was at home in COVID Ialready had memorabilia from
like Bessie Smith, marie andAnderson.
You know a lot of that era.
But again I wanted to reach theyouth and I really felt again
that hip hop would do it.
So I say I started about 2019.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
So you said, hey, I wanna really help the youth and
I'm gonna use hip hop as avehicle to bridge that gap.
What was the first piece ofMilwaukee memorabilia that you
collected?
Speaker 3 (20:21):
There were some folks that donated some things to me.
Some of the names are J BellaBaby Drew King Kamarzy.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Shout out to Baby Drew.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
All right, of course, arrested Development.
So some of those folks broughtin their things and then I start
going on eBay and whatever Icould do to collect other items.
And I also have a shout out forDarryl D.
He's a DJ from Milwaukee, livesin Arizona, but he has sent me
a lot of items out of hiscollection.
(20:51):
I have a lot more thanks toDarryl D.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Are you open to people giving you donations?
Speaker 3 (20:57):
Definitely because Milwaukee's right now is like at
its height of hip hop here andit's kind of hard to find do the
streaming.
It's hard to find a lot of theitems that you can see, like
cassettes and CDs, because,believe it or not, a lot of
people didn't hold on to those.
So when you go to get them fromMilwaukee they're very
(21:19):
expensive and they're likecoming from Europe, overseas and
everywhere.
So I do definitely always takedonations.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Who are some of the notable people that have stopped
in and visited the museum?
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Well, thanks to you, d-star, I have had Pimpin' Ken,
I've had Baby Drew, I've hadKukukal and recently, Party at
four.
Exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Shout out to party.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
It stinks to you, you know, because again some people
have come here, I've had eventsand it's getting ready to pick
up.
But you know, if you don't havethat direct connection, you
know Milwaukee is kind of hard,and then we got Godzilla.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Zilla yup, shout out to Godzilla.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Yeah, I love him.
Godzilla came in and I knowhe's also instrumental in the
background of getting people tohelp me as well.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Yeah, and Steve-O, Exactly.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Steve-O, Steve-O, shout out to KB Playmaker and
the Playmaker yup.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
They're great Milwaukee hip-hop figures for a
very long time, Exactly exactly.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
And they're doing big things, you know, and they're
not just doing it for themselves, they're bringing in young
artists, which is incredible.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
What is your ultimate goal for the hip-hop museum?
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Well, my ultimate goal is to definitely have the
museum in another building whereit could be open, you know,
around the clock during theweekend, on the weekends, and
also this year I will startdoing a travel pop-up museum
where I probably will be goingto different places definitely
the South and just popping upwith exhibits and giving
(22:48):
information, probably atcolleges, schools, you know,
wherever I'm deemed necessary.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
If anybody hasn't said this to you let me be the
first one to say thank you.
This is something that reallyis really near and dear to my
heart and the city of Milwaukee,so to have someone take the
time out to actually not onlyembrace the older artists but
the newer artists also, so wecan have that history, is very
important.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Thank you, Ken, when you thank me.
I have to thank you because youhave brought a lot of folks and
a lot of information.
It's kind of like we're notdoing the exact same thing, but
we're on the mission to helpthese youth and even those that
are incarcerated.
I too have family that'sincarcerated, have a son right
now that's incarcerated, and youknow it's a whole different
(23:34):
picture, but we're trying toprevent that by any means
necessary and right now hip hopis still universal and it's a
way of getting that through.
So, even what you're thankingme, I have to thank you too,
because you are allowing theirvoices to be heard when, again,
a lot of them, their voice isnot heard when they're
incarcerated.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
I really appreciate that.
Thank you, you know, I do whatI can.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
So, because you have been so instrumental, I would
like to present you D-Star withthis award out of the box
podcast To be in the museum isgoing to be on display.
I'm going to go find somethingreally nice to put it in because
I appreciate your efforts.
A lot of people say a lot ofthings but you know I go by
(24:22):
actions and I noticed in theshort amount of time your
actions have kind of proceeded.
Most of the people here inMilwaukee was constant, so I
appreciate you and I want toinduct you into the Milwaukee
Hip Hop Museum with this award.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I really appreciate that.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, so thank you to you,thank you to the to the city of
Milwaukee.
I really appreciate it.
I was actually born inMilwaukee but I wasn't raised
here, but I always felt deepconnection to Milwaukee and a
sense of like I want to comehome and I want to affect the
youth and be a part of thecommunity.
(25:00):
So this award means so much tome.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Thank you, and it's going to mean a lot.
It's another story that I couldtell the youth when they come
through and then we're going towork together and let them know
that they can express themselveson your show or their family
that may be incarcerated orcoming back, transitioning into
the community, so we can try ourbest to you know, we're not
going to prevent anyone fromgoing to jail, but we can make
(25:27):
those numbers less.
You know, if we reach, reachthem now, while we have a chance
.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
So what is your message to the city of Milwaukee
?
Speaker 3 (25:36):
I also was one of those lost children back in the
day and nobody came to my aidand gave me any information that
I could use.
It was through my experiencesand hard knocks and raising
children that I realized I hadto do it myself.
But I would just encourage themto do better with the funding
(25:58):
that they have.
Utilize the youth more, becausethere are future.
Utilize the youth, you know.
Let them bring their creativejuices and just start things.
You know some of the thingsthat been going on for a while.
Is it's time for change?
You know just a lot of youth tocome and don't do what they
need to do.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
What are the biggest changes that you've seen from
the youth in Milwaukee, from howthey used to be to where they
are now, because I know that youwork with the youth and have
been working with them for sometime.
What is the temperature inMilwaukee as far as the youth?
Speaker 3 (26:33):
working in the school district that they are kind of
turning up a bit.
But again, you know they haveadults that need to bring in
what's going to bring out theirstrength.
You know they're still tryingthe same methods they did back
when I was in high school.
You know they need to bringsomething new, to get something
new.
(26:53):
So, even though I see the youth, you know, because there's a
lot of dealing cars doing thisand doing that but they need to
put more into the community forthe youth.
It's really not a lot out herefor the youth.
I would just hope that theywould see that.
And, you know, just put somemore things in for the youth to
do.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
And you know it's another brand of a great brand
that advocates for the youth isHoly God's clothing.
Thank you so much to Holy God'sclothing for all that they do,
not only for our Out of the Boxpodcast and the Milwaukee Hip
Hop Museum, but for the youth.
We really appreciate you, theowner, kingston Robinson, we
(27:30):
really appreciate that.
Brother Guys, go to holyguyscom get some of the merch.
It's great quality.
As you see, I got it on.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
She got it on.
I love it, I love it, I love it.
Kingston and actually Kingstonwill be the next person that's
going to get awarded here in themuseum.
Yes, dropping just bombs rightnow.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
So what's next for the museum?
If people want to donate, ifpeople want to come see the
museum, if you they have anonprofit and they want to have
tours here with their youthgroups or anything like that,
how can they get in contact withyou?
Speaker 3 (28:04):
My website is Milwaukee hip hop pop up dot com
.
You know, they can either go tothe website, they can text me,
they can call me 414-7501873.
It's the Milwaukee Hip HopMuseum.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Well, I really, really appreciate you and
everything you do for us and forthe city of Milwaukee.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, I'm D-Star Untilnext time, guys.
What's up everybody.
This is your host, the Starhere, with Kukukal Kukukal man.
All right, so check this out.
I was just thinking about this.
Yesterday I said Milwaukee islike Gotham City right now.
Boosie said he's the mayorRight.
Shout out to Boosie.
Shout out to Boosie man, that'sa good dude.
Baby Drew said that he's theghetto hero, the ghetto hero.
(00:23):
Baby Drew, most definitely theghetto hero, the ghetto hero.
So would that make you thegodfather?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
I'm just Cal man, I'm just Kukuk, running crazy all
around this month.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
So for the people that don't know you, can you
tell us a little bit aboutyourself?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Well, my name is Calvin Bellamy.
It's my government.
They call me Kukukal man.
I started rapping in 1995.
Before the end you know whatI'm saying I was a DJ.
You know what I'm saying Mostof the DJs that's on the radio
right now.
Back in the day we was doingbasement parties together.
You know what I'm saying DJing.
You know.
I came out with a record of 2001, a hit record that went
(01:01):
national, called my Projects.
Before then I had two albumsout Before then.
The first album I put out wascalled Game and I'm standing on
the checkerboard CD.
I think I wish we could havephotoshopped.
It was out then because thatcover was looking kind of crazy.
Then my second album, that kindof you know what I'm saying
(01:21):
took me to the next level, wascalled Walking Dead.
But the Walking Dead I had alot of features on there Mac 10,
spice One, outlaws it was a fewpeople.
I'm getting old y'all, so mymemory's kind of bad, forgive me
, but yeah, walking Dead was thesecond album that kind of led
to.
I was in 1998.
And that kind of led to theProjects deal.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Take us through the journey.
You started off in Germany.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yep, I started off Actually.
Okay, we can go back kind oflike the documentary.
I was born.
I was an army brat.
I was born in Baton Rouge,Louisiana, from there I moved to
El Paso, texas, from there toBaumhoeder, germany, baumhoeder,
germany, richmond, virginia.
And then my daddy retired herein Milwaukee, wisconsin,
teaching ROTC at UWL, and that'swhen the streets came involved
(02:12):
in my life.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
A lot of the times, when people make it or when
people start a music career inrap, they say certain things
that's not true, right?
So they'll say oh man, I had tohustle to eat, I had to do this
, I had to do that.
You are like one of the onlypeople that I've ever heard
really keep it real and say Ididn't have to do that, I didn't
(02:36):
have to be in the streets, Ihad a silver spoon, I went left
but I didn't have to.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yep, that's true, because you know, like I said, I
was an army brat man.
You know what I'm saying.
I didn't know nothing about thestreets till I was like 12, 12
years old when I moved toMilwaukee and I still didn't
know nothing about it then.
And I stayed out in suburbswhen I moved here and I just
kept running to the ghetto man,because, you know, I just was
curious man.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
So, yeah, I really appreciate that, because it's
like our parents work hard.
You know what I mean To provideand try to put you in a good
situation and for them people toturn around and be like well, I
had to do this, I had to belike man, where was I?
What are you talking?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
about yeah, my mother's, like I said, the
documentary.
She didn't respect none of thatbecause she was like you you
weren't from the projects, Iwasn't.
You know what I mean.
Right by the time that songcame out, I couldn't stay out
the projects.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
But yeah, I remember you said that your mother didn't
respect it until she seen YonSoul train Yon Soul train.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
She was in love with Don Cornelius, I think.
When I was younger I used tosee my daddy frowning up every
time she on TV looked like shewon't make love to the TV.
See, don Cornelius.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
With that success of that song, kind of take me
through the impact that it hadon the city of Milwaukee.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
The impact the city had on me, man.
It really tripped me out.
Man.
It wasn't just a song.
It wasn't one of my favorites,like Steve O said in the
documentary.
It wasn't one of his favorites.
It just was a song.
Like you know, steve O said Ihad it in my head.
You know what I mean.
And then Hank came along withthe beat.
You know what I'm saying.
I had the chorus and stuff inmy head for a couple of years
(04:10):
and Hank came along with thebeat.
You know I'm always listeningto beats and I just going
through stuff that I wrote in myhead but never had a track for
it to go along with.
And Hank came along with thatbeat.
You know I had the opportunityto lay it and first people we
pitched was Jive Records.
You know what I'm saying.
They flew out here a couple oftimes and then we flew out there
(04:31):
and it ended up in Tommy.
Boy's hands though.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
The song takes off, things start happening really,
really fast.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
I'm talking about from day to night, from night to
day.
Man, I never thought it was.
You know, I've always loved themusic period.
You know what I'm saying.
Like I said, I was DJing firstand I never thought I'd become a
rapper.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
What was your DJ name ?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
DJ Cool Calbee.
Okay yeah, dj Cool Calbee, thatwas my DJ name back in the day.
Man, I'm going to give a shoutout to my man, hip man 2.
He's going battling some cancerright now.
We used to DJ side by side backin the day with Dr B, the Fresh
G's, reggie Browns, all of them.
He's going through some stuffright now stage 4 cancer.
(05:16):
Big shout out to Hip man, tommyB.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Absolutely.
First of all, shout out to theMilwaukee Hip Hop Museum Big
shout out, big, big shout out.
They let us come in here, theylet us record and they just do
an awesome job of curating hiphop, not only just for Milwaukee
but for the entire country Forthe entire country.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, I'm kind of embarrassed because this is my
first time here, man, but thisis really nice man, really nice
man.
Y'all got to come check it out.
If you from the mill, I don'tcare where you from, you come to
Milwaukee, you got to comecheck it out, man.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Absolutely.
You know we got some of yourprojects on the wall that you
had an opportunity to.
Can you tell us a little bitabout?
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, she got up here all of nothing.
I think that's when I was madat the label Infinite, right
there.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Or they was mad at you.
They came up with that title.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
We were mad at each other.
Yep, Big shout out to Infiniterecording Steve.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Shout out to Steve O.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yep, Big shout out.
They got the projects theWalking Dead, All or Nothing.
Yeah, I think that was the lastalbum I did with Infinite
called All or Nothing.
I believe that's where thetitle came from it's going to be
All or Nothing.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, real time.
And they said they had theofficial press release right
here for MI Projects.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah, tommy Boy.
Yeah, I actually wasn't signedto Tommy Boy, it was actually
Infinite.
You know we did a 360.
I was signed with InfiniteInfinite 4-5.
Big shout out to Rafa Smallsand Steve O.
Infinite 4-5 recordings.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Absolutely City of Milwaukee right now kind of
turned up.
What are some of the biggestdifferences that you see back
then from now?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
The hip hop scene.
Man, you got a lot of.
I just like music.
You know what I'm saying.
I believe the only type ofmusic we can do was Country
Western.
I think I could make a niceCountry Western song.
You know what I mean.
I just like music.
88 Keys, good music.
But we got a lot of young catsout right now.
You know what I'm saying.
Shout out to BlackoutEntertainment KB.
(07:14):
The Playmaker.
You know what I'm saying.
It's a lot of young talent outhere.
Man, that's really good way.
My era it was kind of it'ssaturated.
Right now, you know what I'msaying, the game is real
saturated, but it's a lot ofgood talent here in Milwaukee.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Does anybody stand out to?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
you.
It's so many, you know what, Idon't want to just name one.
I'm going to bring up thisinterview that me and Drew had
with Homer Blow.
Shout out, homer Blow.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Shout out to Homer man.
I've been trying to get incontact with Homer man.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I like Homer and everything that he's doing Yep,
and what he's done for the city.
You know, in the hip hop periodin Milwaukee he's done a lot.
Big shout out to Homer Blow.
But me and Drew was in aninterview with him and so he
would ask us both the samequestion.
You know what I'm saying One ata time, and I remember he asked
Drew this question first.
It's the only question that hedidn't ask me Both of us because
(08:08):
he started off with Drew andyeah, it's Drew.
Like what is one of yourfavorite songstift?
You recorded and drew replyHomer, you got any children?
He was like, yeah, how manykids you got?
He said like three of them.
He said like Like, do you, doyou like one of your kids better
(08:29):
than the other?
Right, right.
And he was like no, I love themall the same.
Drew said that's how I feelabout my music.
They all my babies, right,right.
So it'll be hard for me to justpick one man.
I could just say we got a lotof talent right here in this era
.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Do you pay attention to any of the challenges that
they have, because they'reremixing your song in my
projects and they're doingchallenges for it.
Do you actually pay attentionto those?
Speaker 2 (08:54):
sometime.
It usually take my kids to comewake me up.
You know what I'm saying andyou know like that.
You know I'm saying what'sgoing on.
I'm getting a little older.
Right now I'm still in themusic.
You know I'm staying.
I still stay in the booth,still doing features, still
doing shows on the road here andthere, but uh, yeah, here and
there.
You know I pay attention man.
I love the new talent.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
I love this era, though anybody that that
actually did the challenges thatany of them stand out to you.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Not, I mean, they're all good, I mean they're all
good.
I mean in their own way.
And you know it's hard for meto put a Stamp on something,
because music is for, you knowit's it's it's a market.
It's it's a market for you know.
For any but yeah, for any andeverybody.
You know what I mean.
So it's hard for me to say thisI like that, this one better
(09:40):
than that one.
Because you know, I know itain't just about my opinion, you
know what I mean.
Just like I felt like when wedid, uh, I didn't think projects
was the single.
You know what I mean.
Actually, when I first camewith it, well, I knew it was one
of those songs, but I had othersongs too that I was.
You know I'm saying you know.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
That I was in love with, but uh.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
It is what it is, you know.
You know you usually got towait and let the uh, the public
decide you know right.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
So take us through the documentary.
Uh, you, you just recently putout a documentary, not too long
ago, and um, they kind ofchronicles is.
It's called the rise and fallof cuckoo cow, all right.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Shout out to kb.
You know I'm saying theplaymaker.
Shout out the swift motionpictures, stevo, uh, stevo, from
infinite, it's just moneyentertainment.
Uh, yeah, we came together, man.
Actually, you know, uh, kb cameup with the idea Swift.
You know what I'm saying.
I've I've been in the streetsbattling drug and alcohol
addiction and uh, you know I'mcalling swift motion pictures,
talking about, uh, you know,cash at me, a hundred dollars.
(10:44):
He said, listen, man, you don'tstop calling me and telling me
to cash out a hundred dollars.
He said, tell the camera.
And so, uh, from there, youknow I'm saying I was driving
trucks for amazon man Shepherdtrucker here in Milwaukee.
Big shout out to snoop.
And then we, you know we cametogether, man, and uh did the
documentary man and just kind oftold you know I'm saying as
(11:05):
much as we could get in.
You know it's an hour fiveminutes long, as much as we can
get in there.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
You know I'm saying kind of my life story like I
watched it last night and Ithought you guys did a great job
.
But me talking to the playmakerand he said it was a lot more
yes, that you guys actuallydidn't get to, and I was like,
man, they actually really did areally good job, uh, but uh,
it's really interesting to knowthat there's still more that you
guys Sorry, you guys are gonnado like a part two.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
We're gonna try and probably get a movie together.
I really want to get uh, youknow, my project's the movie,
you know what I'm saying, oh wow.
Take it.
Take it all the way back.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Were you supposed to say that?
Were you supposed to tell usthat?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Well, uh, yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
I mean, that's what I mean, that's what came, that's
what he put on my head, I guess.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Yes, I guess.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
I was supposed to.
I guess I was supposed to.
Ok so if not, if I find out Iain't supposed to, we can,
always we can.
Oh yeah we can edit this right.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Right, ok, we could, we could, but man, that's a huge
.
That's huge.
The in my projects movie Wow, Idon't even know what to say.
So is that going to be localpeople here from Milwaukee
that's going to be playing theseroles, or are you guys going to
outsource with celebrities, orhow are you going to do that?
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Well, I'm quite sure we'll try to have some people
and also celebrities, but that's.
That's a couple of steps aheadof me, right there.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Right, yeah, hey, man , you know, you just blew my
mind with that, you know.
Also, I wanted to ask what's upwith the book man, the book.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
I'm too late, it's written in my head.
I'm just too lazy, man, I'mlazy.
I'd have been wrote it down,man, I'm just lazy.
But yet a book is basically.
You know what I'm saying.
It's following.
You know what I'm saying.
I mean before the movie.
You know what I'm saying.
So everything that is as far asthe book goes is actually the
movie.
Right, it's all up here and uphere, you know right.
(12:59):
Jay Z way.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
That part.
So can you tell us a little bitabout some of the advocacy that
you that's been involved within the city?
Speaker 2 (13:08):
It's so much stuff of you know doing out I've went
and spoke into, you know, agroup homes.
You know schools here lately Ihaven't been doing enough.
I've been, you know I'm saying,going through a lot just family
wise.
You know what I'm saying, but Itry to stay.
You know I'm saying keep my earto the streets and know, what's
(13:30):
going on with the music.
You know what I'm saying here inMilwaukee.
You know somebody's coming totown like a star.
So I'm like Bootsie, just lefthere the other day, left my guy
restaurant Just say it was saidthe cooking was like we was in
Louisiana.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Yeah, I seen that.
Yeah, man that's.
And shout out to Bootsie againman, he's a really cool dude and
I know he's a good friend ofyou and Steve, oh, and you guys
do a lot of good business withhim, so you guys don't have a
problem with him saying thathe's the mayor.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
No, really our mayor.
I got to give him a shout outto our original Milwaukee mayor,
his young twine.
Young twine yeah shout outyoung twine, that's the mayor.
We call the mayor of Milwaukeeman, but we love Bootsie too,
man.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Come in.
We have two mayors.
When he didn't tell.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
You did a song with Twister.
Well, you did a couple of songswith Twister.
What's your relationship withTwister?
Are you guys ever going tocollaborate again?
Speaker 2 (14:22):
I love to collaborate with Twister.
He's very, very, very talentedman.
That's probably like one of thefirst artists that had me in
Like you know what I mean.
Besides my little big brother,baby Drew.
That really had me in awe whenI watched him how he came up
with his lyrics, writing andeverything.
Did it right in the hood on 56in Monarchy at Big Hank House.
(14:43):
Man, yep, twister is verytalented man, very talented
brother.
What's your relationship withhim?
Now?
We don't, I mean we don't likekick it like that.
I mean as far as if it hasanything pertaining to music or
something we out of town youknow, we'll connect, or
something on a show or somethinglike that.
But you know it ain't like weguys and hang out or nothing
like that.
But I got much respect for him.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
And one thing I wanted to touch on is your
relationship with God.
Can you tell us a little bitabout that?
Speaker 2 (15:09):
I pray every, every.
I can't lie to y'all about this.
I pray every day.
Sometimes I don't know so manytimes a day.
I'm going through so much,which I don't want nobody crying
feeling sorry for me, because Iknow everybody, you know, go
through stuff in their life.
But yep, I'm a very, veryman-fearing God man and you know
I stay prayed up man.
I believe prayer really works.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
So is there any kind of like words of wisdom or
anything that you would tellsomebody that's in the yes, keep
God in your life.
You know that's like, you knowjust locked up, or you know
stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
You know pray man you can get.
He can get us through anything.
One black man opinion I believe.
Yeah, god can take you throughanything If you still breathe in
.
It's a reason why you know whatI mean.
He can get you through it.
He's been taking me through it.
I've been through something inthe trenches so I know it's a
God.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Absolutely, man.
I think that's really important, man, that we do stay prayed up
and we try to do as best thatwe can for the community and for
one another.
But before we get out of here,man, is anybody that you want to
give a shout out to?
I want to give a shout out to.
Holy God's clothing, man.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Holy God's clothing man, they hooked me up with this
gear.
Man, Y'all better get up on it.
Man, Y'all have to hip hopmuseum.
Man, Y'all check it out.
22, 22, 19th Street, man.
I'm embarrassed, man, that I'mjust not seeing this.
Man.
I'm supposed to be Everybodygiving me all, showing me all
this love and Milwaukee on thehip hop scene.
This is my first time here, man, but it's real nice man, Y'all
(16:37):
got to check it out, man.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Yeah, absolutely, man .
I mean it's on to you man Shoutout to Steve O.
Shout out to Godfilla.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
KB Burrell.
Man, you know what I'm saying.
The playmaker man, Blackoutentertainment in the trunk
records, it's just moneyentertainment.
Swift, most of the pictures Gotto give a shout out to my man.
Swift man, I know I'mforgetting somebody.
Man, big Hank, big shout out toBig Hank.
Man, I almost got killed whenProject K came out.
I forgot to give him a shoutout.
(17:05):
Man.
Man, yeah, we at 106 and Iforgot them lights, them cameras
and lights got on me.
Man, I think it just blanked meout.
Man, I couldn't see it,couldn't see it.
I couldn't see it, think aboutnothing, man, absolutely man.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
But thank you, man, we really appreciate you
stopping by the program.
Man, I appreciate y'all havingme.
Man, I'm D-Star Until next time, guys.
What's up everybody.
This is your host D-Star herewith Antonia Anderson.
Hello, how you doing.
Oh, I'm great.
How are you?
So, for the people that don'tknow you, can you tell us a
little bit about yourself?
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I am Antonia Anderson .
I'm the CEO and the founder ofthe Milwaukee Hip Hop Museum in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Thank you so much for allowing us to come here and
record and tape and you know, doour thing here.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Thank you for coming and doing your thing here at
Milwaukee Hip Hop Museum.
I appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
So what inspired you to start the Hip Hop Museum?
Speaker 3 (18:01):
I currently work for the School Board in Milwaukee,
wisconsin, and my previousexperience has been working with
juveniles that are either inthe prison system or already
going to you know, going toprison.
The work that I do at theschool is to try to keep the
children in school with theirattendance by like home visits
(18:24):
and calls, but I just wanted touse Hip Hop as an outlet for the
children to be able to expressthemselves.
You know, learn a lot ofdifferent things about
themselves, like how to beentrepreneurs, writing skills,
critical thinking, and I believethat Hip Hop is good for that.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
A universal language at this point, you know being
such a popular genre of music,Exactly how long have you been
collecting?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
I actually started collecting vinyl albums.
I want to say probably 2010,during COVID, about 2019.
I believe that I had enoughvinyl albums, so then I started
getting cassettes, 45s, VHSmovies, eight track tapes
whatever I can get my hands onpertaining to Hip Hop.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
So did you always have this affinity to collect?
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Yes, my mom is a historian and she always
collected stuff like what yousee here.
She probably has a lot of stuffat her house but her era you
know it started like the civilrights movement, which I do have
those items too.
But yes, I come from my momcollecting and explaining black
history and how we need to knowour past to carry on to our
(19:38):
future.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
So you start collecting, you got.
You know, the 80s came.
Hip Hop got on the scene.
You fell in love with Hip Hop.
When did you start collectinghip hop memorabilia?
Speaker 3 (19:49):
I started picking up more hip hop memorabilia in 2019
, when I was at home in COVID Ialready had memorabilia from
like Bessie Smith, marie andAnderson.
You know a lot of that era.
But again I wanted to reach theyouth and I really felt again
that hip hop would do it.
So I say I started about 2019.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
So you said, hey, I wanna really help the youth and
I'm gonna use hip hop as avehicle to bridge that gap.
What was the first piece ofMilwaukee memorabilia that you
collected?
Speaker 3 (20:21):
There were some folks that donated some things to me.
Some of the names are J BellaBaby Drew King Kamarzy.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Shout out to Baby Drew.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
All right, of course, arrested Development.
So some of those folks broughtin their things and then I start
going on eBay and whatever Icould do to collect other items.
And I also have a shout out forDarryl D.
He's a DJ from Milwaukee, livesin Arizona, but he has sent me
a lot of items out of hiscollection.
(20:51):
I have a lot more thanks toDarryl D.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Are you open to people giving you donations?
Speaker 3 (20:57):
Definitely because Milwaukee's right now is like at
its height of hip hop here andit's kind of hard to find do the
streaming.
It's hard to find a lot of theitems that you can see, like
cassettes and CDs, because,believe it or not, a lot of
people didn't hold on to those.
So when you go to get them fromMilwaukee they're very
(21:19):
expensive and they're likecoming from Europe, overseas and
everywhere.
So I do definitely always takedonations.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Who are some of the notable people that have stopped
in and visited the museum?
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Well, thanks to you, d-star, I have had Pimpin' Ken,
I've had Baby Drew, I've hadKukukal and recently, Party at
four.
Exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Shout out to party.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
It stinks to you, you know, because again some people
have come here, I've had eventsand it's getting ready to pick
up.
But you know, if you don't havethat direct connection, you
know Milwaukee is kind of hard,and then we got Godzilla.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Zilla yup, shout out to Godzilla.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Yeah, I love him.
Godzilla came in and I knowhe's also instrumental in the
background of getting people tohelp me as well.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Yeah, and Steve-O, Exactly.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Steve-O, Steve-O, shout out to KB Playmaker and
the Playmaker yup.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
They're great Milwaukee hip-hop figures for a
very long time, Exactly exactly.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
And they're doing big things, you know, and they're
not just doing it for themselves, they're bringing in young
artists, which is incredible.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
What is your ultimate goal for the hip-hop museum?
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Well, my ultimate goal is to definitely have the
museum in another building whereit could be open, you know,
around the clock during theweekend, on the weekends, and
also this year I will startdoing a travel pop-up museum
where I probably will be goingto different places definitely
the South and just popping upwith exhibits and giving
(22:48):
information, probably atcolleges, schools, you know,
wherever I'm deemed necessary.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
If anybody hasn't said this to you let me be the
first one to say thank you.
This is something that reallyis really near and dear to my
heart and the city of Milwaukee,so to have someone take the
time out to actually not onlyembrace the older artists but
the newer artists also, so wecan have that history, is very
important.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Thank you, Ken, when you thank me.
I have to thank you because youhave brought a lot of folks and
a lot of information.
It's kind of like we're notdoing the exact same thing, but
we're on the mission to helpthese youth and even those that
are incarcerated.
I too have family that'sincarcerated, have a son right
now that's incarcerated, and youknow it's a whole different
(23:34):
picture, but we're trying toprevent that by any means
necessary and right now hip hopis still universal and it's a
way of getting that through.
So, even what you're thankingme, I have to thank you too,
because you are allowing theirvoices to be heard when, again,
a lot of them, their voice isnot heard when they're
incarcerated.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
I really appreciate that.
Thank you, you know, I do whatI can.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
So, because you have been so instrumental, I would
like to present you D-Star withthis award out of the box
podcast To be in the museum isgoing to be on display.
I'm going to go find somethingreally nice to put it in because
I appreciate your efforts.
A lot of people say a lot ofthings but you know I go by
(24:22):
actions and I noticed in theshort amount of time your
actions have kind of proceeded.
Most of the people here inMilwaukee was constant, so I
appreciate you and I want toinduct you into the Milwaukee
Hip Hop Museum with this award.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I really appreciate that.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, so thank you to you,thank you to the to the city of
Milwaukee.
I really appreciate it.
I was actually born inMilwaukee but I wasn't raised
here, but I always felt deepconnection to Milwaukee and a
sense of like I want to comehome and I want to affect the
youth and be a part of thecommunity.
(25:00):
So this award means so much tome.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Thank you, and it's going to mean a lot.
It's another story that I couldtell the youth when they come
through and then we're going towork together and let them know
that they can express themselveson your show or their family
that may be incarcerated orcoming back, transitioning into
the community, so we can try ourbest to you know, we're not
going to prevent anyone fromgoing to jail, but we can make
(25:27):
those numbers less.
You know, if we reach, reachthem now, while we have a chance
.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
So what is your message to the city of Milwaukee
?
Speaker 3 (25:36):
I also was one of those lost children back in the
day and nobody came to my aidand gave me any information that
I could use.
It was through my experiencesand hard knocks and raising
children that I realized I hadto do it myself.
But I would just encourage themto do better with the funding
(25:58):
that they have.
Utilize the youth more, becausethere are future.
Utilize the youth, you know.
Let them bring their creativejuices and just start things.
You know some of the thingsthat been going on for a while.
Is it's time for change?
You know just a lot of youth tocome and don't do what they
need to do.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
What are the biggest changes that you've seen from
the youth in Milwaukee, from howthey used to be to where they
are now, because I know that youwork with the youth and have
been working with them for sometime.
What is the temperature inMilwaukee as far as the youth?
Speaker 3 (26:33):
working in the school district that they are kind of
turning up a bit.
But again, you know they haveadults that need to bring in
what's going to bring out theirstrength.
You know they're still tryingthe same methods they did back
when I was in high school.
You know they need to bringsomething new, to get something
new.
(26:53):
So, even though I see the youth, you know, because there's a
lot of dealing cars doing thisand doing that but they need to
put more into the community forthe youth.
It's really not a lot out herefor the youth.
I would just hope that theywould see that.
And, you know, just put somemore things in for the youth to
do.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
And you know it's another brand of a great brand
that advocates for the youth isHoly God's clothing.
Thank you so much to Holy God'sclothing for all that they do,
not only for our Out of the Boxpodcast and the Milwaukee Hip
Hop Museum, but for the youth.
We really appreciate you, theowner, kingston Robinson, we
(27:30):
really appreciate that.
Brother Guys, go to holyguyscom get some of the merch.
It's great quality.
As you see, I got it on.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
She got it on.
I love it, I love it, I love it.
Kingston and actually Kingstonwill be the next person that's
going to get awarded here in themuseum.
Yes, dropping just bombs rightnow.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
So what's next for the museum?
If people want to donate, ifpeople want to come see the
museum, if you they have anonprofit and they want to have
tours here with their youthgroups or anything like that,
how can they get in contact withyou?
Speaker 3 (28:04):
My website is Milwaukee hip hop pop up dot com
.
You know, they can either go tothe website, they can text me,
they can call me 414-7501873.
It's the Milwaukee Hip HopMuseum.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Well, I really, really appreciate you and
everything you do for us and forthe city of Milwaukee.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, I'm D-Star Untilnext time, guys.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.