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Monday, November 05, 2007

Mister Ken Sport
Aka Been There, Done That

Mass X Ken Sport:
I Contact The Man To Join The Corporation
For Blessing Us With A Lesson
He Told Me That He Don't Do Mixtape Anymore
But Blessed me With An Interview
Ken Sport Is A Man Who Definitly Understand The TRUE philosophy Of Hip Hop
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can you introduce yourself to the readers who (most of )don't even know who you are(what a shame)?
where you from?

I'm from The Land Of The Rising Sun.

where did you get that name: the original shogun assassin?

My name "Ken Sport" was given by My Mentor & Soul Brother, Legendary Artist Clothing Designer "Alyasha", Peoples in the Industry know his name
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(Alyasha Named and Designed "Phat Farm", "Mecca Usa", among others classic hip hop brands)
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Some Of You might know a 70's Album called "Hustlers Convention" 's by lightnin' Rod
to me it's still one of the best albums of all times.
well on this album there is this song about a Character named"Sport" that's where ken sport came from actually
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and Original Shogun Assassin came from the movie
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how long have been in the game and more specifically in the crates diggin' game?:


I never been in no game.

It's my LIFE, I hate peoples playing games so I don't call it a game.
That's one of the reasons why Music Bizness is Wack and Screwed up!
Kids nowaday talking about game, game this, game that!
Play ur playstation or nintendo in ur Crib if you wanna play games!

To Me it all begans in the Early 90's when we started hang out at SOUL KITCHEN, one of the legendary Party of NYC.
(everyone who were involved in hip hop at that time would go to that party at S.O.B.)
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When It Comes To Diggin' Life, I Take It more seriously.
It's a Journey of Discovery & Enjoying Good Music.

My everyday life was just diggin',diggin', diggin' in the 90's period!
I remember that I used to Rent a Car & Drove down to South just to dig
I will cross over the USA, Flew to CALI,do whatever it takes to get records
It Was All About Diggin'

Me & and my other Mentor "Dev Large"
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(Who basically put me into Diggin' Life, He Taught me about Good Music, he is one of the best MC, Producer & DJ in Tokyo)
we Drove to Chicago & Michigan even in the Snow in the early 90's,we would go anywhere just to find records.

Once I dug up "Hustler's Convention" Original copy with Inner Sleeve mint condition for $5.00 at Detroit's Salvation Army!
and I found a mint copy of "JADE" in North Carolina.

Big up to MY otha Brotha ELI, HE Showed me all the secret spots from the south back in the 90's.

I Also used to hang out with my Partner in crime FUSION, he showed me many spots, and we used to go RECORD CONVENTIONS together
I would say HE has the Best Producer's Record Collection in EastCoast!
and of course DA DON BENI BRONCO (abb records) who has the Best West Coast collection.
we found a lots of stuff in South.

Also My Man Yasushi who taught me & gave me many Incredible Records! People in the Music BIZ know what i'm talking about......Yasushi collection is in Mint Condition!!!!!!!

I wanna give A Shoutout to All The Real Diggers :
Fusion, Beni B, SoulMan, Spinna, Dev Large, San, Yasushi, Bobbito, Stretch, Eli, Ski, Fanatic, Itruth, Tahleim, Marlon B, Buckwild, Lord Finesse, Premier, Pete Rock, Amir, Beatnuts, Q TIP, DJ ELI.
Mad Props They are True real Diggers!

It Was Just About Diggin' For Us In The Nineties


when did you started doin'Your tapes, the 'original' serie who used to be available only in a few selected shops in new york, in sneakers shops like union and bobitto footwork i think ?

and what give you the idea to do this type of tape?

I started making Original mixtapes Naturally!
It Was All About Passion and Love of Music, Original Music, period
It was just between My friends and circle.
Back in early 90's I was a Clothing Buyer, Fashion Designer and met Soul Brothers like Alyasha, John Forte, Dj Itruth, Dj Tahlim, Eli, Ski, Fanatic, Bobbito, Stretch, Dj Marlon B, Dev Large, Yasushi, Dj Etcha Sketch, Joe(Former Union), Chris (Former Union), Camella, Jeff Staple, Lord Sear, Vaz, Eli Esco, Riggs, Dau Yi, Hawai Mike, Beni Bronco, then peoples started asking friends, on and on, and started to sell at our spots such as my Favorite Shop "UNION" Thanx to Marian.
and One of Best Koolest Spot in NYC ever Legendary "Bobbito's Footwork". Staple Design, and Japanese Best Records Stores "CISCO Music"
Thanx to Mr Sato & Mr Kajimura.

The Most important part of it, was that it was only for Cool People who loves music!

I had some offers from other Stores, distributions, but I didn't do it.
Nahhh I should say "Fuck You!"

I always liked the idea to produce Limited series from the beginning,
I didn't started this ,Because i wanted to make money out of it,
I understand that it's all about the money nowadays,
But To Me it Has Ever Been about Art, Music
The LOVE of music


how many records do you own (if you're still able to count them)?


I'm not sure of How many records I own.
But I used to own a lots, lots of records, and I sold a lots of them in late 90's and early 2000, at Bobbito's Footwork,(most of The Used Records Sold in the store were from my Collection). also some friend sold a lot of them for me on internet.

It's not about how many records you own, it's about quality of music, and what you like,
You might have Zillion Records but most of them are Ceap!
or you have a few Thousands records and ALL are Good Music & in MINT condition!
everyone has a different collection, it's all about your style.
and Endless Music!


you're still in contact with dj fusion another pioneer in the original breaks mixtape game,

do you stay in touch with any other fellow djs
like soulman (another true pioneer)?

Of course I'm Still In Touch with my partner Fusion,
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we were talking about doin' The next Come Into Knowledge Mixed Cd.
(volume 4)

Oh Soulman...
He is the Original Mixtape King!
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I would definitly say he is The Real True Pioneer & King of Diggin' Original!


what do you think of muro claiming to be the king of diggin'?


Muro is A Super Star in Japan, and Also A Great Businessman.


what's up with the japanese and the crates diggin' madness?

even some of your tapes are still on sale in japan on yahoo auction?

I have no idea about that.
is someone sellin' my tapes on Auction? Let me know about that!!@#$%^&*



what is your favorite record of all time (you can name Five if it's too hard to pick up one)


No Question,
Any James Brown Record
All Roy Ayers
All Quincy Jones
All Curtis Mayfield
All Donny Hathaway
All Kool & The Gang
All Barry White
Hustlers Convention
All Marvin Gaye
All Dewolfe
All KPM
All Bruton
Dr Dré
Jay-Z
Anthony Hamilton
Scarface
Gang Starr
D.I.T.C.
Pete Rock
D.P.G.
Stevie Wonder
Ahmad Jamal
Leon Ware
Bob James
Cal Tjader
There are way Too many!
I could Continue Like This For Ever
I Just Love Music


what is the weirdest place you ve ever been to buy records?


I went to The Illest Places to Buy Records All over the USA,
Crack Head House,
Storage in the Middle of Nowhere at Night,
No Light , Can't see anything, but Diggin', Keep Diggin'
that was somewhere in Virginia? or Washington?
oh And also One of DOLO Record's Dealer in Maryland.
his Basement was like Our Drug Store!

Have you been selling records to producers, And If Yes can you name us a few of your buyers?

I don't really sell Records to producers,
but I hook 'em up on a lot of Samples.
Trade it, or somethin', I Used to take Hot Samples from my Jersey City APT to SKI's Crib in BK Everyday,
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when i was working with him for ROC A BLOK RECORDS.
and SKI would chop them up and put it together.
He showed me a lot of things about Music Equipment and Producing Music.

but The First Person to teach me how to use The MPC60 was My Brother JOHN FORTE
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how did you hook up with jeff staple for the original future tracks mixes?


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Jeff Staple is a Great guy & Genius Business Man in Fashion Bizness.
I don't remember how i met him, but I know him for a long time,
he used to come around, when i was working at 555soul store as A Store Manager in The 90's.
and we started some Tees first and at that time time I talked to him of my idea of makin hot tapes and we just made it happen.
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Staple Prescription One
Staple Prescription Two

but my first collabo mixtapes was with UNION,
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Union Mix Part One
Union Mix Part Two
YOU MUST DOWNLOAD TH TWO PARTS TO GET THE WHOLE MIX

and The First mixed cd was with Mecca USA.
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what's the present and futur of ken sport aka kenneth de wolfe ?
how does it goes now that you re a producer?

I'm working on some new project for my friends.


your mixes are still available (well some of them) in secret spots on the internet,

you're the most mysterious of all the djs,
it s like nobody really knows your face
it s almost impossible to googlize you (unless you speak japanese)
but still for the crates mix lover like me you're definitly a legend how do you feel about that?

I should be mysterious or whatever.
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why you have to be famous?
what's the point? I just live my life & do what i do,
and love music, if peoples know me that's good,
but i don't care how many peoples know me or how famous i am...

It's Just About Good Music & cool Peoples around, Living The Good Life is the only thing that matters to me.

and Let me know who is selling my tapes on internet?
where and what site?
I should know them right???

do you think you ll ever quit diggin for records?

I haven't diggin as much as i used to nowadays, but
i will be diggin' till i Die for sure!
Why?
Because I LOVE MUSIC!

One Last Word?

Peace to all SOUL BROTHERS!

13 comments:

Mike Dikk said...

Great interview. I've read about Ken Sport before but never saw an interview with him. Great job at snagging this.

nes said...

dope interview Mass, definitely cool you linked up with him for an interview, big up Ken Sport all day.

Anonymous said...

hey... ken sport is a very humble man... ALL of us who were diggin' and doing the mixes back in the 90s are the kings IMO, and nobody is more of a king of diggin' than the one and only Ken Sport. if you are reading this, ken, thanks for the mention. ain't seen you in about 15 years, homeboy... hope all is well

Anonymous said...

Snicka says- thanks for the interview, good to finaly know the truth, I knew he was Japanese but I thought he was down with JazzySport and that's where he got the name!
peace
snicka

Mr Mass™ said...

Thanx
Snicka For Hookin' Me Up with The ken Sport Staple 2 Tape,I Gotta Confess You're The Man

Unknown said...

Awww man this article brought me back, those Ken Sport tapes are fire!!! I remember being mad religious with the releases going to check Union or 555-Soul (the Ludlow days, y'all know what I mean)

You gotta respect his dig skills and the fact he never listed what they were (Premier considered track listings as blasphemy)

Mr. Mass thanks for the article...

Can you post # 3 or #9? I lost them in a move.

alley al said...

thanks, mass. i'm a nj rep, so ken sport is familiar in my vocab. not sure he's the best as diggin' as soulman implies but he's up there. he's definitely mysterious, tho.

great interview. weird how it sez he don't do mixtapes anymore, but he's working on one with fusion.

btw, soul kitchen was held in different spots like nell's on 14th and tilt on varick/7th ave aka culture club. you betta aks somebody!! what an awesome 'mobile' party. speaking of which, anybody remember "sheets and pillows"? recognize and realize, bitches!!

Mr Mass™ said...

After BlastMaster Krs One
Here Comes Alley Al The Teacher From New Jersey!

alley al said...

nah it ain't like that.
these parts of the early-mid 90s was very much my stompin' grounds.
the great thing about soul kitchen and similar parties like GIANT STEP was that females were equally present. it was just a great vibe. i used to do mad drugs, but going to these parties were a natural high. no wall flowers. no mean muggin. and if any of the old fogies remember, we were allowed to smoke weed etc. in the clubs in those days. somewhere down the line, we weren't even allowed to have cyphers/circles for friendly battles. the bouncers came to break it up. i think i credit that to guliani.

great interview, mass. i wonder what else you got up your sleeve.
stay up!!

thebeathunters said...

hi mass master

thanks for the interview and fabolous mixes.
to your knowledge, was ken sport the first to cut the mix by slowin' or stoppin' the tracks?
kon&amir are doin' this a lot, more in a selector way than proper hiphop mixing

Anonymous said...

Mr Mass,
I wanted to send you some pingback, if I only knew how!
Now we are glad that you have found us!
I'm definitely digging your site and it's fantastic to hear Prescription #2-tape, since I've lost it.
You are always welcome at our place, bringin' the fun into funk!
Cheers,

Chris aka Jackie Treehorn

Dashaun From Brooklyn said...

This was a dope interview. I've had the pleasure of meeting Ken Sport once in my life. It's because of one of his tapes that I absolutely love Heatwave's Star Of The Story so much.

TrueScienceDesign said...

thank you first of all, great interview and great uploads!

i notice u had more kensport tapes that are no longer posted?
any chance of getting those re upped?

man i cant get enough of this funk!
anything you got for me would be appreciated, even similiar style djs that i may not know about...?
thanks man!!
much props!

 
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