Word had already hit the streets with serious buzz that Orlando “Pretty Boy” Watson and Bradd Young were bringing Krush Groove back to the big screen at the Tivoli next Thursday (Oct. 30) in a throwback celebration of the hip-hop classic and the era it represented.
Unfortunately, as Watson and Young geared up for the screening they didn’t know they would have to transform the event into a memorial for someone who is considered by many to be the Russell Simmons of St. Louis n his name was even Russell too.
Russell Todd Malloyd, a.k.a Pretty Russ n one of the founding fathers of the St. Louis hip-hop movement n passed away last Saturday (Oct. 18). Next week’s showing will allow those who were a part of the initial kick off of the St. Louis scene to say thank you and goodbye to a local original.
Hip-hop was just a baby back in 1985, with Russell Simmons attempting to nurse it. The film n written by Ralph Farquhar and directed by Michael Schultz, but inspired by Simmons’ struggle to develop rap into a musical institution n was one of the mainstream entertainment industry’s first introductions to the culture. Few realized then that it was destined for global domination.
When the film was released, Simmons was far from his current entertainment mogul status. He was just a young guy trying to create success for himself and his crew by way of something they believed in and that other young people could relate to as well.
The St. Louis scene was on the come up in a similar fashion when Krush Groove came to theatres, and the film served as an inspiration to the young rappers and DJs who were ignored by mainstream audiences and promoters.
“When Krush Groove came out, we were already exposed to hip-hop,” Watson said. “Hip-hop was alive in the streets and that movie being on the big screen n and, you know, that was it. That was like a defining moment for everybody.”
As Simmons worked to build a brand with Def Jam, Pretty Russ, Pretty Boy and other young people in the U. City rap scene were simultaneously operating to create the same foundation here. But the difference for Pretty Russ, Pretty Boy and the others in the STL was that they were barely teenagers.
“We were putting out records,” Watson said. “We actually released materials when we were 13 years old, and we actually had records in the streets.”
Watson’s eyes and voice lit up as he reflected on the film.
“It was like the first hip-hop movie that focused on the rap side,” Watson said. “This was the first time you saw legends as they were becoming legends with no acting experience.”
The film featured the Fat Boys, Kurtis Blow, Run DMC, Sheila E. and other urban entertainers and changed the game with respect to creating the cross-marketing techniques adopted by the hip-hop industry.
Krush Groove was the foundation for the raptor (rapper turned actor) n before that, rappers could barely get recognition. The film changed the paradigm with respect to rappers becoming full-fledged entertainers.
The movie captured Simmons’ tooth-and-nail battle through the ups and downs of the music business. It could have easily been scripted to depict the same journey in the STL several years later.
“We started going after it professionally in 1992 n this was pre-Nelly, pre-Chingy pre-any of these guys,” Watson said.
“We moved to Atlanta in 1995 with the group Old Skool n who was signed to Keith Sweat’s label. They in turn introduced Russ to Keith Sweat, and Keith put Russ on his song ‘Twisted’ and it sold five million records!”
While Pretty Russ wasn’t the first St. Louis rapper, he was definitely in the first wave and he was the first St. Louis rapper to be featured on a platinum-selling project.
“That’s not to be taken lightly n it’s a big deal,” Watson said. “He was doing interviews on German radio, doing drops for DJs in Italy n and that was unheard of back then.”
Now the starving artists in the films are household names, and Russell Simmons is a millionaire several hundred times over. The infancy of hip-hop seems light years away. It is now a globally saturated institution that generates billions of dollars every few months.
And with artists like Nelly, Chingy, Jibbs, J-Kwon, Murphy Lee, St. Lunatics and Watson, Young and other producers having experienced mainstream, nationwide success, the St. Louis hip-hop scene has become a cash cow in its own right.
Just as Simmons is credited by many for bringing hip-hop to the forefront of the industry, Watson believes that Pretty Russ deserves the same recognition from locals.
“I want to make sure that folks see his face and what he meant to us and the hip-hop community in this town and what he meant to us,” Watson said. “He does have a legacy that should be remembered.”
Krush Groove will be screened at the Tivoli on Thursday, Oct. 30 (promptly) at 7 p.m. Visit http://stlhiphop.ning.com/events/event/show?id=2007964%3AEvent%3A11651&xgi=7DOzhp8 for more details.
