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Nahright did a very interesting (albeit long) feature on DJ Whoo Kid where he discusses the mixtape game of the '90s and early aughts. It's really cool hearing him describe how him, Clue and Envy would go about getting their exclusives and also just how illegal the whole mixtape game was (is?).
I won't swipe the whole thing but the link is at the bottom if you want to check it out.
Without further ado, the story of Big Pun kidnapping DJ Whoo Kid:
Getting Kidnapped by Big Pun
“I played the original version of (Sauce Money’s) ‘Middle Finger U’ on a tape. On the song, Sauce Money was killing Big Pun, because at the time I think Big Pun had beef with Jay Z. His peoples supposedly hit Jay with a bottle in the club or some shit. But Jay never retaliated or did a record. I think I got it from Envy and them, but they didn’t want to play it because they knew Pun. But I didn’t know how real it was, because I wasn’t out there like that. So I was like, ‘Give it to me, I’ll play it.’
“That record I think was going at Pun. But I made it look like like that, too. Everything was ‘vs.’ I had Nas vs. Cormega. This nigga vs. that nigga. And the cool thing about it was Clue was with Beanie Sigel and all those Philly cats at the time. So it looked like he wasn’t repping Queens like that. So I hung out with Mobb Deep, and LL Cool J, and made sure I knew all the Queens guys. And the cool thing about hanging out with them is I would (hear about all the beefs). So if Nas did a record dissing this guy, I’d call Cormega, like, ‘Yo man, I just heard, Nas is killing you, son.’ So then Cormega would run and do a record dissing him. Then I’d have both, and put ‘vs.’ I did that with everybody. I’d be like, ‘Yo, yeah nigga I was in the studio, God. This shit is crazy.’ They’d be like, ‘What?! I’m going in right now. I’m gonna kill this nigga.’ Then (they’d do the diss record and) be like, ‘Play this Whoo Kid.’ So I’d have all the beef joints.
“The fucked up shit is, there were no ill photos of Pun at that time. There were no ill head shots. So when I went to do the cover, the only photo I had of Pun was him laying back on a chair looking crazy with his gut out. So he was kind of pissed about that, too. But the thing was, he didn’t know who I was to catch me. So he finally got the number off the tape.
“So, I did some free party with (Funkmaster) Flex in Queens. And Pun acted like he was gonna book me for somewhere in Harlem and pay me $1,000. It was Pun actually talking to me, but I didn’t know. I thought the breathing was kind of weird, but I didn’t know it was Pun. He was like, ‘Yeah, we got this show with Flex and Big Kap. You and Kap are gonna kill it. Where you wanna meet?’ So I was like, ‘Holy shit,’ because I was getting like $150 to $300 to DJ at that time. So I said, ‘Don’t call my manager. I’m gonna come out to the Apollo to meet you, and I’ll DJ your show.’
“So I called my boy who had a gun to come with me. And I had the Honda Accord with the lights that come up. I had a super-wack whip. So we’re waiting for the guy to come meet me. I get out to use the payphone to call the number that called me, and I’m like, ‘Motherfucker, where the fuck you at?!’ I thought it was a promoter, and I would yell at promoters. I had no respect for promoters. So I’m like, ‘Fuck you, nigga. You better hurry the fuck up! We’ve been waiting out here all day.’ So Pun was probably like, ‘Yo, who the fuck is this guy?!?!’ Let’s get everybody!!’
“Pun was doing the ‘Banned From TV’ video that day. And this was before I was DJing for N.O.R.E. So Pun played the (Sauce Money) record off the tape at the video shoot, and had everybody from ‘Banned From TV’ surrounding him listening to it. So he was like, ‘Yo, we’re gonna get this nigga today. I wanna hurry up and finish this video so I can go get this nigga.’ N.O.R.E. was telling me they were all like, ‘I hope it ain’t Clue. I think this might be Clue.’ So Pun finishes the ‘Banned From TV’ video and goes to meet me at the Apollo.
“So I’m in the car, and I see a Benz (pull up). I’m like, ‘Oh shit, this guy’s got the paper!’ And my friends are in the car going crazy and shit. So I get out, and some Puerto Rican kid in the car is like, ‘Whooo Kiiiid,’ and does my shout. And I’m like, ‘Damn, Flex be hanging with Puerto Ricans?’ So he’s like, ‘Nah, follow me (Uptown), and we’ll do the business there.’ So I’m like, ‘Aiight, I’ll follow you, kid,’ because it was an ill Benz. So I was like, ‘This guy means business.’
“So I get there, and the road was like one of those project joints with the circle, where you can go left or right. So the way they mapped it out is they went to the right, and I had to park to the left. But there was a van in the middle. And the van in the middle had rims, and you could tell it had a big screen on the inside. So I was like, ‘Oh, Flex is here! I’m gonna go talk to Flex, God!’ You know, because Flex had the car shit he was promoting. So I told my boys to chill, like, ‘I’m gonna get this money, then we’ll go get some weed.’ So everybody’s happy, because they just wanted some weed anyway. They just came for that.
“So I get out, and there’s a Puerto Rican outside all happy, then another Puerto Rican sitting on the bench. And I’m like, ‘Flex got Puerto Ricans all over?’ I wasn’t even thinking about Pun or nothing, until I went around the van. And the way they parked, the van blocked my friends from seeing me. So my friends are in the car chilling, bullshitting or whatever.
“So the door starts sliding, and I see this big shadow in the car. And I’m like, ‘Yo, I didn’t know Flex was fucking fat like that. Is that Big Kap?’ And once I saw Pun, the mixtape came into my head, and I was like, ‘Holy shit. I don’t believe this shit.’ So Pun’s like, ‘Come inside. Let me have a chat with you.’ And I’m like, ‘Hell no!’ So I tried to back up, but I had to go far so my friends could see I was in trouble. And as I was backing up, my hands went down. And when my hands went down, Pun had an Uzi. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, I was in the van. That’s how fast they threw me in the van.
“So I’m like, ‘What the fuck! I’m gonna die for a fucking song!’ I’m screaming, like, ‘Yo, are you serious!?’ They had me on my knees, and his boys were yelling in Spanish, ‘Callate la boca,’ and all this crazy shit. So Pun is like, ‘Come here and sit next to me.’ But there was nowhere to sit, because he was taking up the whole shit. So I go to get up, and the tape with him on the cover falls out of my pocket. So his boys are screaming in Spanish, and I’m like, ‘I’m gonna fucking die!’
“So Pun kicks his boy out, and he explained that the Latin Kings were laughing at him because of the tape. It was everywhere. It was at Beat Street, which is shut down now, all over the Bronx. It was (not just because of the picture on the cover) but because of the song. He was like, ‘You’re making me look crazy out here because I didn’t respond yet. The Latin Kings are laughing me, like, ‘Who is this Whoo Kid guy? Does he have no respect for you?’’ So I’m like, ‘Do I look like a gangbanger or some shit?’ And he’s like, ‘I’m starting to figure that out right now. I’m gonna go to Roc-A-Fella and handle all this bullshit, like, tomorrow. And on the intro to your next tape, I want you to be like, ‘Fuck Jay Z, fuck (Sauce Money).’ I was like, ‘Whatever, just let me outta here!’ (Laughs.) That was my first reality check with anything that has to do with gangsterism in hip-hop. Some people are fake, but some people are real.”
“I kept stealing shit after (the Big Pun incident), because of that adrenaline rush. Once you get past a life-threatening situation, then (you have no fear). All of a sudden I was DJing for CNN, even though N.O.R.E. was like, ‘I wanted to fuckin’ kill you because you had mad shit of mine.’ Like 50, he was beating motherfuckers up, throwing DJs, ripping their clothes off on the Ave., making them walk naked. It was some real shit back then. Even Clue was like, ‘They want to kill me this year, but next year they want hang with me.’ So you just gotta take risks. I had mad Jay Z shit, mad Nas shit.
“Once I bought my Benz, I quit my job working security at the airport. I was saving, living with my parents, but then I was like, ‘Fuck that job shit.’ You know, all a nigga need is a whip.”
http://nahright.com/news/mixtape-memories-with-dj-whoo-kid-part-1/ mind
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