Wild, Wild West
Hip-Hop lessons from West Coast historian Allen Gordon
Interview by Juan Gomez

Allen Gordon is not your typical Hip-Hop fan. While most of us are content just sitting on the sidelines, Allen has put himself right in the line if fire by dedicated the last 15 years to documenting its history. Having written for damn near every Hip-Hop publication there is (The Source, XXL, Murder Dog etc.) as well as having been chief editor for Rap Pages, he’s been able to witness the music’s progression from low-key to mainstream and has met all those responsible for it. Back in 2001, he put together “Welcome to Death Row”, a film analyzing the rise of Suge Knight, Dr. Dre, Death Row and West Coast Hip-Hop. Currently, he’s working a book about the history of the West Coast entitled, Love, Guns & Backpacks.

Juan Gomez: So did you always know you were going to write?

Allen Gordon: Well, My big loves in life have always been music, comic books, sports, weightlifting… ammunition & guns (ha ha)… I always knew I would get into something, but I thought it would be sports. Though, my uncle was a playwright so I was always around that as well. I ended up going to Grambling University in Louisiana and started writing for their paper and eventually ended up writing for the Source in ’92.

JG: Where do you see the West Coast in terms of Hip-Hop’s history?

AG: There’s a lot of music, a lot of artists on the West Coast that never truly get their due. In terms of what they’ve done and what they’ve innovated, but fans know. Your Quanum’s, your Heiro’s and the people who helped put [Hip-Hop] at this level such as your Davy D’s, Bennie B’s, Jerome Parsons over at KPOO, David Paul with BOMB records, Too $hort… the list is endless. Everyone, no matter how big or small, has made a contribution to this scene.

JG: What role did the radio Dj play?

AG: Seattle had Nasty Nes who had the first all Hip-Hop radio show, Fresh Tracks in 1979, on the West Coast to Mike Nardone and of course Davy D… [I’ve] seen a continuity of actions from one aspect of the game to another that have broaden the scope of this music for listeners. I remember Glen Ford who had a show called Rap it up, a nationally syndicated Hip-Hop show also stationed in Seattle from ’85-’94. He use to send out these live shows to college radio stations that, normally, didn’t have the outlets to get any of that stuff, especially in Louisiana. We used to get those tapes and play them over the air. These [DJs] help spread the music all across the country.

JG: You’ve lived in NY, LA, down South and the Bay at crucial moments in Hip-Hop history. How was that?

AG: You know, just kinda seeing’ what people were vibin’ to and how they got down. It’s just been an interesting journey that very few people got to experience. It’s been a joy… I remember working for the Source in NY when Wu Tang came out, or chilling with Magic Mike in Miami… he was the

JG: How did “Welcome to Death Row” come about? What was your part in that?

AG: I was the Executive Producer on that and it’s basically, an objective look at Death Row records. It’s not pro Dre or pro Suge, but instead a brief history of how the label came to be, the major players behind it and what eventually brought upon the down fall. The chief figure in the story is an incarcerated gentleman by the name of Michael Harris, who originally funded the label. The story is about having too much in a short time and watching it crumple before you. In other words, it’s a story about American business. Coming from nothing and getting consumed by the celebrity status and all the money and seeing both, business relationships and personal relationships fall apart. At the end of the day, you have Michael Harris in jail, Dre and Snoop leave the label and Tupac is dead, who’s left? Jimmy Ivine? Warner Bros…? They made the most off of it while all the brothers either got locked up or lost out in their opportunities. You know, a true American story.

JG: Stemming from all that, Hip Hop has now become a viable commodity and major labels have gotten involved, how has that affected the music?

AG: These major recording labels have become like a fast food market where everything is like McDonald’s with their occasional healthy salad as their lone alternative. For instance, Blackalicious is on MCA as well as GZA and Mos Def … they’re the best for you on the menu, but are ordered the least. There used to be an uneasy alliance between the artist and the labels, but now, it’s almost total subordination on the part of the artist. Not in every case, but generally [Artists] are just pimpin’ themselves…

JG: And it’s making it hard for underground artists…

AG: I mean, there’s a rich history here in the Bay Area that doesn’t get the light of day because that light shines from NY across the rest of the country and some things just get drown out in the shadows. When you talk about the best producers or MCs and people don’t mention Del, Gab or E-40 that show’s they’ve missed something.

JG: It’s all connected?

AG: Exactly, I mean, as far as the West Coast, if don’t have Jerry Heller hookin’ up with Eazy-E you don’t have Ice Cube. If don’t have Ice Cube, then you don’t have Del. If you don’t have Del then Freestyle Fellowship might not have been able to succeed. They’re all chained together. They’ve led to so many wonderful things as well as things that aren’t so wonderful.