Roughly 104 miles north of the Bronx—the New York Metropolis borough that birthed Hip-Hop—lies Philadelphia, residence to DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Contemporary Prince, Bahamadia and The Roots.
It’s additionally the place DJ Money Cash honed his expertise as a prolific turntablist. A 1988 DMC World DJ Champion, Money Cash didn’t simply good scratching, he invented a completely new option to execute the artwork type (also known as “battle model”), pioneered a number of scratching strategies (together with the Transformer), impressed a technology of DJs to observe go well with and helped put Philly Hip-Hop on the map. He was additionally the primary DJ to be inducted into Technics DJ Corridor of Fame.
Regardless of all of his accolades and contributions to the tradition, DJ Money Cash nonetheless doesn’t get the popularity he deserves—nor does Philly for cultivating so many proficient Hip-Hop artists. However Money Cash is aiming to alter that with a “Philly Hip Hop Legends Present” that will spotlight fellow Philly artists Schoolly D, EST from Three Occasions Dope, Marvelous and, in fact, himself.
“At one time, we have been recognized,” Money Cash explains to AllHipHop. “There was a handful of us in Philly that broke the door down. That’s type of the explanation why I wished to start out doing this ‘Philly Hip Hop Legends Present.’ You have a look at Schoolly D and what he’s accomplished. He influenced Ice-T, who influenced that complete gangsta rap style. The issue is Philly simply doesn’t respect its personal. There was a niche the place no person was speaking about Philly in any respect. Like Philly wasn’t even talking about Philly. After which impulsively The Roots got here up and began doing their motion.”
Whereas Money Cash says Philly is a “stunning metropolis,” he’s generally upset by the shortage of respect the Philly Hip-Hop pioneers get.
“It’s not the folks, it’s these so-called gatekeepers that maintain all people again,” he says. “It’s actually unhappy as a result of we now have accomplished a lot, however you wouldn’t even understand it. When you concentrate on the historical past of Hip-Hop, it goes to New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Philly is nowhere round. What’s loopy is at the moment, the one cities actually pushing Hip-Hop on the radio have been New York and Philly. All these guys have been touring in Philly. The entire Juice Crew was on a Philadelphia label as a result of they couldn’t get a deal in New York.”
Apart from the Philly Hip-Hop showcase, Money Cash and Biz Markie’s longtime DJ/good friend Cutmaster DJ Cool V are engaged on ending their documentary about Money Cash’s indelible impression on the tradition. In 2023, they launched a 20-minute teaser of the movie that includes interviews with DJ Spinna, Child Capri, Biz, DJ Rob Swift, Kool DJ Purple Alert and GrandWizzard Theodore, amongst others. However they’ve run into a number of obstacles.
“It’s positively monetary, as a result of after we have been doing this, the entire pandemic factor occurred and simply crushed every part,” he says. “After which the man that was filming it, he used to work for BMW, so this was his aspect factor, however I feel he misplaced his job there so issues have been a bit of tight. That’s why it’s been on maintain. If I can’t jumpstart it myself, I’ll search different traders.”
DJ Money Cash’s huge affect on the tradition must be laid out for individuals who could not perceive simply how precious it’s. Even the title Money Cash Data could possibly be loosely traced again to him. Producer Mannie Contemporary will seemingly be the primary to confess it.
“Mannie used to check me,” he famous. “He mentioned our information have been huge down in New Orleans. And he was like, ‘Money, we used to make use of your intro for all of our reveals.’ I couldn’t consider it. I by no means knew that. To me, that’s the most important excessive for me while you’ve influenced somebody and also you don’t even know that you just did it.”
As explored within the documentary, DJ Money Cash was an idol to aspiring DJs and stays a beast on the 1s and 2s.
“I’m a cosmopolitan determine,” he says with confidence. “I’ve influenced the entire DJ tradition. I’m the blueprint to every part. I inform folks on a regular basis, it’s like there’s tiers: Grandmaster Flash, GrandWizzard Theodore and DXT, they made all DJs change and made the turntable into an instrument, proper? I took what they did to a complete completely different degree. So now you’re getting all these loopy kinds and sounds popping out of my fingers.”
DJ Money Cash is urging his followers to nudge their native promotors and reserving brokers to e-book the “Philly Hip Hop Legends Present” in hopes of touring in 2025. Severe inquiries solely right here.
