DJ Magic Mike and Prince Rahiem: A Conversation 30 Years in the Making
DJ Magic Mike calls up his old collaborator, burying the hatchet after three decades
Listen to Miami Bass Chronicles with DJ Magic Mike on RBMA Radio here every fourth Friday at 6 PM EDT.
DJ Magic Mike
I’m glad I finally got to have a conversation with my man from way back, Prince Rahiem. It should’ve probably happened a long time ago. It happened when it was supposed to, I guess.
This was the first time we’ve talked since 1988, when I left the group with him and Beatmaster Clay D.
Prince Rahiem and I started in 1986/87. He moved down to Orlando from New York and he lived in my neighborhood, a block or two away from me. At that point my name was up, I was pretty much the biggest DJ in Orlando. A friend of mine brought Rahiem to my house and before you knew it, the two of us became a group.
Around the same time we started going to Miami. I went down there first and started working on records like “Boot the Booty” and “Creep Dog.” I came back home, but then it was time for me to go back to Miami, because Beatmaster Clay D and I was gonna work on the single “Rock the House,” which was supposed to go on our album You Be You and I Be Me.
When I went back down, I took Rahiem with me just so he could see what was going on. I was using the opportunity as a foothold to get my name out to help me and him as a group. It’s never been an Orlando vs. Miami thing. The only thing I had in my mind when I went to Miami was not to sound like 2 Live Crew’s Mister Mixx. Back then, biting was not allowed. One time, Mr. Mixx came to Orlando, around ’86, right after “Get It Girl” came out, and he wanted to battle me. He left embarrassed by what would happen.
However, once I started working with Clay, things were going south really fast. I had a lot of questions, my questions were not being answered. I felt like I was being screwed. Instead of sitting there, continuing to feel screwed, I just said, “I’m done with this, let’s go.” When I left, Rahiem wanted to stay. I did not think that was a good idea, but he wanted to see what could happen with his career. It became about him at that point, not about us as a group. I said okay and that was that. I hadn’t talked to Rahiem since.
You Be You and I Be Me, our album as a trio, was pretty much done by the time I decided to leave the group. So what they wound up doing is they took my name off the whole album, cut out any reference to me and eliminated my parts of the songs. Luckily, I still have a copy of the album as it was supposed to sound like.
At the time, I felt Rahiem should have left with me to Orlando and let us continue being a group. Vision Records was probably promising him this and that… He was young, I was young. I came back to Orlando, got another deal, worked with some other guys on the Royal Posse album and the rest is history.
I’m not in touch with Clay, and I won’t be. I have no inkling to talk to him at all. But with Rahiem, it’s been 30 years… There is no bad blood. Rahiem found success with what he was doing and I found success with what I was doing. He did nothing to me and it wasn’t anything against him from my side, either. You get over it, you move on. I was just glad to finally talk to Rahiem and clear things up. Especially with everybody passing away now, we’re getting older. You don’t want to have someone leave without having that air cleared. It was time for us to talk.
DJ Magic Mike
Rahiem! How you doing, man?
Prince Rahiem
Man, I’m great. It’s awesome to hear your voice.
DJ Magic Mike
It’s awesome to hear your voice, too. It’s been a long time. Man, I’m smiling from ear to ear.
Prince Rahiem
You and me both, man. I’m sitting here grinning like a little Cheshire. You know, we did some things, Mike!
DJ Magic Mike
I know, we did some serious things. Would you have ever thought that what we did back in the day would have an effect on what’s going on now?
Prince Rahiem
I’m going to be honest with you. I couldn’t foresee it then, and that’s simply because we were still kids ourselves and we were just doing what felt good to us, what gave us joy, and we saw it gave others joy. But ultimately to see that, since that sound was the staple for Florida, for the South, for the Southern movement… Had it not been for that Florida gateway, the music scene as it is today would not be what it is, because everything since what we established, every music has that 808 boom behind it.
It’s new to a lot of people, but this is what I basically was raised off of when I got to Florida and had the blessing of being introduced to you. That’s a story that not too many people understand. You were very monumental and instrumental in me becoming who I was. I was just a little boy from New York City who got himself in a situation where by the grace of God I was blessed to have an uncle that lived literally around the corner from you. I started going to Oak Ridge High School in Orlando and, you know, 102 JAMZ was just really getting established, and I remember that all they played, all day, 24 hours a day, was “Jam On It.”
I was beatboxing and beatboxing was still fairly new back then, so on the level that I was doing it, a lot of people hadn’t seen it up close and personal. Maybe somebody could do a beat and a couple of clicks with it, but to actually do the melodies and the beats at the same time, they weren’t used to seeing it, it drew attention. A friend of mine was like, “Yo, man, I got to introduce you to this dude, he’s the hottest DJ in Orlando right now!” I’m like, “Who you talking about?” He’s like, “His name is Magic Mike. He stay right around the corner from you.” I’m like, “For real?” I said, “Man, yo, I’d love that.”
I’ll never forget the day he brought me around there. I came around the corner, he introduced me to you, and you was like, “So, what you do?” I went, “Well, I beatbox and I rap.” Nobody is ever going to know this until now, but the first time that I rapped for you, I was nervous as hell. I had written raps of my own but I literally drew a blank, and the only rap that could come to mind at that time was–
DJ Magic Mike
Super Lover Cee!
Prince Rahiem
So I stripped they whole goddamn song!
DJ Magic Mike
I said, “OK.” I still saw the talent, though.
I’ll never forget sitting in that room in awe, like, “Oh my God, this dude really is into this shit like they said he was.”
Prince Rahiem
I knew – I could tell by when you hit me with the “OK,” you done heard that before, so maybe you might give me a chance. I’ll never forget, after that you was like, “Alright, man, listen. I’m kind of busy today,” and I really thought that was going to be the end of it. I said, “Damn, I done blew my shot.” I didn’t expect to hear from you again, but lo and behold, you actually called me and was like, “Man, come around the corner. I’m working on something, I’d like you to get on it,” and I’ll never forget being in that room with all of those records.
You had a freaking wall of records! I’ll never forget sitting in that room in awe, like, “Oh my God, this dude really is into this shit like they said he was.” You just started putting stuff together, and I’ll never forget the first joint that we did, we did it off of James Brown, not “Funky Drummer”...
DJ Magic Mike
Yeah, we did “Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved.” Wow, I forgot about that one!
Prince Rahiem
I couldn’t, because I remember it started off, “Magic Mike, yeah! I want you to hit this. Magic Mike, yeah!” Man, we killed that! I never forgot about that. Whenever I do interviews, you know, whenever I talk to other people and they ask me, “How did you start in this game?” Ultimately, people say “Beatmaster Clay D.” That’s what they automatically assume. I said, “OK, he was instrumental in me getting a deal, but the reason that I actually fell into position to get that deal...”
I always have to break it down and let people know it was because of Magic Mike, and I always said that because, bro, literally, I remember you got called out to be a DJ and host for a talent show. You was like, “Yo, Rah, listen. I want you to come down and do that beatbox shit at this talent show. I think you could sew it up. I’m one of the judges, but I’m not going to be biased because you my dude.”
I remember the goddamn Civic Center on this particular spot was packed with people! I’m like, “Wow, I’m going to go up here and I’m going to show my ass.” As I’m performing, we didn’t know, on the other side of the Civic Center was a bass concert.
BVSMP, MC ADE, Beatmaster Clay D. All of them were on the other side, and they heard the rumble coming from our side and ran over! I’ll never forget it, they ran over, and I’m on stage beatboxing and you hitting it with a couple of scratches in between, and the crowd just going bananas, they loving it. I’m really into my zone, and you gave me that look when I finished like, “I think you might’ve did it. I really think you might’ve did it.”
I stepped off the stage and before I could even do anything, I had people approaching me, MC ADE’s manager approached me, Clay D approached, and I was like, “Yo, man, if y’all want to talk to me about anything, y’all got to talk to that man up here on that stage, Mike. I don’t move without him.” I remember all of them talking about, “Yo, we could make you a star, man! You talented.” I’m listening, and I’m like, “OK, OK, but again, you got to talk to that dude. I ain’t talking to y’all, I don’t know y’all.”
I remember Clay that night was like, “Yo, man, everybody else talking, man. I’m dead serious. Why don’t y’all come to my room tonight?” I remember we left from the Civic Center, packed up your equipment, and we followed him back to his hotel and we stayed in that room... I don’t think we left until about 2:30 in the morning.
DJ Magic Mike
A whole day almost, man, we were there forever.
I was at an all-time high, man, I can’t lie. Those were the best memories.
Prince Rahiem
Yeah, we never left, and by the end of it I remember him saying, “Yo, I’m going to get y’all guys, man. I’m signed to this label called Vision, and I’m going to get y’all guys, man. I’ve got a project that I’m working on, and I’d love to have y’all on it.” I’ll never forget him saying that, but I guess that came with a grain of salt, Mike. I’m not a believer of that, I don’t know this guy.
DJ Magic Mike
Yeah, me either.
Prince Rahiem
So it was a thing like, “OK, whatever, alright.” The next thing I know, we’re getting calls, and I’m like, “OK, what’s going on?” They like, “Mike’s already in Miami!” I’m like, “Huh? What happened?”
DJ Magic Mike
Yeah, I went down to do the scratches on “Creep Dog.”
Prince Rahiem
I remember when you came back with the record. I was so awestruck. Another thing that people didn’t realize, when you did what you did on “Boot the Booty” and “Creep Dog” and all of those records, man, and I’m going to put this out there because they need to understand just how great of a technician you are, that wasn’t a sample. You were cutting in sync with the track. The whole fucking duration of that record. Those moments are moments I’ll never forget. You know, the whole experience, and then when y’all brought me down to come down and be a part of that situation. It was awesome, man. I was at an all-time high, man, I can’t lie. Those were the best memories. I remember us going on the road, tearing Dothan, Alabama out the fucking box. We tore the Dothan Civic Center down!
DJ Magic Mike
Who were we with? We were with Whodini and all kinds of people back then.
My questions started not being answered. I knew then that it was time to go.
Prince Rahiem
Yeah, you want to know what’s so crazy, Mike? Who would know that the little dude that we saw dancing behind Whodini at that time would become Jermaine Dupri, the producer?
DJ Magic Mike
I know! He was an aggravating little kid back then, boy. [laughs] I won’t call him aggravating. He was inquisitive.
Prince Rahiem
Yeah. He had a lot of questions, man, and I mean, it’s awesome to see that man took a little bit of everything that he was told from everybody and utilized it in such a major way that it catapulted him to the forefront of music, you know? So, yeah, we did some things, man.
DJ Magic Mike
It’s kind of funny because I do this show once a month for Red Bull Music Academy Radio, and every month I always go back to the You Be You... album, because I’ve still got tracks as we recorded them before they changed them. Then what I’ll do is I’ll play a song, and let people hear how the song originally went before Vision decided to change it and take my name off.
Prince Rahiem
Stop playing! You still have it?
DJ Magic Mike
I still have it. I have part of the originals. I even have “Gotta Be Real.” When I finally heard the album and I saw that they changed it, I was kind of upset, because I’m like, “That’s not how the song was supposed to go.”
Prince Rahiem
Exactly.
DJ Magic Mike
“Gotta Be Real” was something that you and I did before Vision. And then when I heard that Clay put this wack beat under it and somebody played the bass on it, I said, “What is this?” Then it was the first song on the album! I said, “Nah.”
Prince Rahiem
They took the old feel from the song. For one, they slowed it down. Two, it was live instrumentation opposed to what we originally did. They took all the elements that made it a hit – and made them want to invest in that record – and took all of that away!
DJ Magic Mike
I tell you what. When you did “Loose My Money,” I was proud of you because you had a hit to yourself without Clay, so I said, “OK, finally. He’s going on and he’s doing what he got to do to move forward.” I was real proud when I heard that one.
Prince Rahiem
You know, it’s an honor to hear you say that, because throughout it all I always held you in the highest regard, and I always said, “Damn, I miss my brother.” I wish that things were how they once were and we could reunite, but you know things were so far gone and there was so much in the midst at that time, and emotions running high and us being human, not really understanding. Hindsight’s 20/20. I watched how that Vision situation almost destroyed a friendship, you know, because you had your feelings just as I had mine, but mine was moreso as a youthful 15, almost 16 year old kid.
It was one of those things and, you know, I’m glad that I’m warranted and given the opportunity by God to say to you firsthand, you know, for all the listeners, yo, man, wholeheartedly, I apologize for not sticking with you and not holding true to you as I should’ve. Again, everything that’s transpired was basically because of you and I’m grateful for that, you know?
DJ Magic Mike
We were young, man. I got to a point that I started seeing the color of the house, so to speak, you know. I saw things that Clay was doing that was being kind of held secretive away from me, and then I saw the other side of what Vision was trying to do with me and it ends up things weren’t matching, you know? Things started not making sense to me, and then my questions started not being answered. I knew then that it was time to go, because I’m like, “Well, I might have been born at night, but not last night!”
It was easy for me at that point in time to just walk away from it and say, you know, if something’s going to happen for me in this, it’s going to happen regardless. That was just a chance that I had to take.
Prince Rahiem
Speaking of that, look at that chance! Look at that outcome of the chance! God is great. God, man.
DJ Magic Mike
Yeah, God is good, man. It was a serious blessing and we was able to make do, learn, and then get away from it and then go and make something else. Well, cool, man! I’m glad we tackled this. Love you, dude. Keep in touch with me.
Prince Rahiem
I love you and I definitely will, man.
Listen to Miami Bass Chronicles with DJ Magic Mike on RBMA Radio here every fourth Friday at 6 PM EDT.
