MIAMI LEGENDS: DEVASTATOR (PART 1)

Add to Favorites

|

Print Article

|

News RSS Feed

When did you start doing music?

“I started in ‘84 as a DJ in Atlanta, Georgia. Originally from Decatur, Georgia. Been in Miami since ’88. I was a DJ. Was called DJ Dawg at the time. I used to DJ for the Q-Dawgs at the colleges: Morehouse, Spellman. I hooked up with a partner of mine named DJ Man. We got real close. He was calling himself DJ MC at that time. Then he hooked up with MC Shadee and they started making records down here in Florida [for] Foreside Records. Me and Man would be in the basement most of the time working on a small drum machine but on the turntables together. I came down here in ’88. I did the MC Shadee ‘Coming Correct’ album with Mike Fresh. It was my first record that did something, MC Shadee’s ‘Shake It remix.”

How did you and Luke hook up?

“When I came down here, I was actually supposed to sign with Luke. But I didn’t. Some other events were going on. I think it was jack the rapper in Atlanta. I come from Atlanta, he flew to Atlanta, so we didn’t miss each other. I flew back to Atlanta and then came back. I hooked up with Beatmaster Claydee and we chilled for a minute. He took me to Suntown Records. Now Suntown Records at this time was owned by Trick Daddy’s dad, Charles Pop Young and [Trick Daddy’s] uncle, Edward Merriweather. They owned Suntown Records. From there is where I started. It was really more on the tip of me doing the production. Because for some reason Suntown had me signed but wasn’t really letting me get in the studio. So I jumped out and started banging doing production, doing production, doing production. They missed all these records. It started out with Gucci Crew 2, “5-6-7-8 let me see that booty shake.” Then I went from there and started [working with] Half Pint. ‘Big Booty Hoes’, ‘One Leg Up’, ‘The Megamix’, the whole Half Pint album. I did I was doing a dance group at the time, Live In Color. They were this dance group just winning everything. Winning all the talent shows and all the Pack Jam events. Luke had this club called Pack Jam a teenage club, they would win everything. One of the Ghettostyle DJ’s which was Baby Chico, kept the cassette tape and took it to Luke and let Luke hear it. And Luke went stupid over this song. They gave me a call. I actually cuss and hung the f*ck up on Luke because of MC ADE. He used to call me and play jokes on me. He had just called and played like he was MCA Records and I cussed his ass out and hung up the phone. Then Luke called with Mike Fresh but Mike Fresh didn’t say anything at the time. Luke was like “Hey Devestator, this is Luke.” I’m like “Yeah m*thrf*cker don’t be calling me. Quit that f*cking playing on my phone. Click.” Then Mike Fresh called my back like “Devestator, why you hanging up on Luke. That’s Luke.” I’m like ‘Forgive me man. MC ADE is always f*cking with me all the time.” I thought it was MC ADE. So Luke said to come down to the office and he played it over the phone, ‘I Wanna Rock’ and it went from there.”

How did you hook up with JT Money?

“I ended up doing ‘I Wanna Rock’ for Luke. At this time, Joe Weinberger was Luke’s lawyer. Shiesty little m*therf*cker. Shiesty. This little 4 foot 1 little Jew. So I did ‘I Wanna Rock’ and then JT Money stepped to me and asked me for a record. I had done some other stuff for Half Pint and the ‘Shake What Your Mama Gave You’ was for Half Pint. But I let him hear it and that’s how he got ‘Shake What Your Mama Gave You’. He’s like what we going to call it. I like the music. What we going to call it. I said ‘Shake What Your Mama Gave You’ because I was going to take it to Half Pint to see if he wanted it. I had just done Half Pint’s ‘One Leg Up.’ JT’s like you going to do the chorus. I’m like yeah. I went in, laid it down, did the chorus. He wasn’t used to writing on fast stuff. He was kind of stuck. I told him go to the Rolexxx and get you whatever you like in that m*therf*cker and look at it. Get you some dances. Watch that m*therf*cker move. Watch her ass move and then write what you see. Three days later he came back with those fucking lyrics that have become legendary to be heard.”

What happened between you and Luke over ‘I Wanna Rock’?

“All of a sudden sh*t gets crazy. I’m doing Half Pint and we’re all on tour ready to get paid. Luke starts getting all these f*cking lawsuits. I go to get mine and he wouldn’t see me. I went to get my royalty check from Luke. I’m sitting in the office downstairs while he’s upstairs playing f*cking golf in his office. He comes downstairs and we all found Luke in the lobby. Luke stopped right there and got the other part of my first advance. I hadn’t even gotten the rest of my advance from my first check. You know half at the beginning and half at the end. The record is already out. It’s time for me to get a royalty statement and a check. I’m looking at Luke on the front of Billboard. 190,000 units sold in one week for ‘I Wanna Rock’. ‘Shake What Your Mama Gave You’ the same thing. He got the check and then barred us from coming there. Everyone thought I had sampled Rob Bass. Rob Bass people had wanted to sue Luke for ‘I Wanna Rock’. Everyone thought I sampled Rob Bass. What happened back then was, everything was vinyl A girl had made a bootleg record down here of the Rob Bass ‘It Takes Two’. Same music, same lyrics, just changed the shit around. I just sample her and sped her up saying I wanna rock right now. I don’t have to pay her she’s bootlegging.”

DEVASTATOR INTERVIEW PT. 1

DEVASTATOR INTERVIEW PT. 2