“It was college for me. My professors have been Shawn Gee, Angela Nissel, Questlove, Donwill.”
That is how Rob Cave Jr., one of many first Okayplayers, in addition to a graphic designer and rapper, summed up his time having an integral hand on the planet of OKP all through the late ‘90s and early ‘00s.
Rising up in Brooklyn, he’d in the end make his approach to Philadelphia after getting accepted to the now-defunct Artwork Institute of Philadelphia. However it’d be his time working on the Okayplayer places of work there — first as an intern with every day duties encompassing ordering sandwiches, serving to construct the OKP web site, designing tour merch and plenty of, many, many different obligations, earlier than being introduced on full-time — the place he’d get a hands-on studying expertise in contrast to some other.
It was showing at a video shoot for Lifeless Prez’s “Hip Hop” on the Masonic Temple in Brooklyn — after which a Black Lily occasion later that day in Manhattan hosted by The Roots — that led to Cave studying about Okayplayer and in the end working for it. His time there would put him on recreation to how the music and leisure industries work. But in addition as a supporter, it allowed him to work together with artists he was (or would turn into) followers of. He’d get an early take a look at D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Really feel)” music video, in addition to work on web sites for different artists like Talib Kweli and Dilated Peoples.
He’d also have a barely awkward encounter with a then-up-and-coming Jill Scott, who he was unaware was already accustomed to The Roots crew when he didn’t let her within the aspect door of a venue previous to a Black Lily occasion. (He didn’t wish to upset late Roots supervisor Wealthy Nichols who, earlier that day, had claimed that the road workforce Cave was part of was letting folks in with out paying, telling Cave’s boss, “Your [team is] letting in all these motherf**kers in right here without spending a dime?”
“In a while that evening, The Roots are on stage like, ‘Make some noise for my lady from Philly, Jill Scott.’ And he or she tore the shit down. I am standing there with my f**king face on the ground, like, ‘Oh my God, I slammed the door on this lady’s face,’” Cave recalled.
His time with Okayplayer additionally led to longtime friendships courtesy of OKP’s message boards, the place he’d meet Von Pea of Tanya Morgan and Che Grand. This additionally culminated within the creation of The Lessondary, a collective named after “The Lesson,” a subforum on the message boards, that features Cave, Von Pea, Che Grand, Donwill and Elucid.
As Cave shared, this expertise got here at a much-needed time. He met a lot of the Okayplayer workforce again then shortly after his dad died (his mom had additionally handed just a few years prior), and their help and steering set him — a then-high college senior about to embark on faculty — straight.
Quick-forward to now, and he’s achieved design work for the NBA, Def Jam, Christina Milian, and he not too long ago launched a brand new album, Kairos.
In honor of Okayplayer turning 26, Cave spoke with us about how he got here to be taught of Okayplayer, his time with OKP and the way it impacted his life, a few of his fondest recollections from working with OKP, and extra — together with how he not directly coined one other identify for Okayplayer’s web site that solely actual heads know: “That Web site.”
Shared in as-told-to format, flippantly edited for size and readability, right here’s Cave.
Rob Cave: [Angela Nissel] was the webmaster; she would give me my activity record for the week, just about. And it was a number of that. I believe the primary featured artist [I built a website for] might need been Talib Kweli for the Reflection Everlasting album. That was the very first thing I did utterly alone. Earlier than that, Doug [Muir] did a lot of the websites, and I did a lot of the upkeep on the websites.
After I did the Reflection Everlasting website, Kweli got here into the workplace to test it out, and once I confirmed him one thing, he didn’t know the way to use a pc. He form of poked the mouse prefer it was going to do one thing. He moved the mouse with one finger, and I used to be like, ‘No, you bought to carry it, and transfer it round.’ It was humorous.
My favourite factor most likely must be the Dilated Peoples web site we did. It was like a recreation. You needed to discover a token, after which get right into a prepare station and discover s**t. It was very, very interactive. It was within the heyday of [multimedia technology] Flash. It was the most effective Flash website I believe I’ve ever seen.
I really feel actually proud [of being a part of Okayplayer’s history]. Not solely did they settle for me and push me with graphic design, they accepted me and pushed me in music too. And when my curiosity in changing into a MC reared its head, Shawn Gee actually began getting on me in regards to the enterprise of it. Let me provide you with an instance. After I received down after a few months, I am like, ‘Yo, I am really considering I’mma begin rapping.’ So, I am considering, all proper, I’mma make a demo. Cool. I received to f**king Ahmir, I am like, ‘Yo. Oh, you bought beats? I believe I’mma make a demo, I’m attempting to get some beats going. You bought some beats for me?’ And he’d be like, ‘Certain, positive, we about to go on the highway, however after we get again, holler at me.’ I am like, ‘All proper, cool.’
They get again, I am like, ‘Yo, what’s up Questlove, you bought some beats for me, you bought beats?’ He is like, ‘All proper, yeah, yeah, yeah, maintain on.’ [He] leaves, after which Shawn Gee calls me into his workplace. He is like, ‘Come right here, man. You may’t be asking Questlove for beats, what are you doing? What do you’ve gotten? You do not have a factor.’ He is like, ‘What’s it value to him to provide you a beat? Cease doing this, you are being annoying, that is not what you are right here for. Do your job, cease asking for f**king beats.’
I am like, ‘Oh s**t, I am in bother now.’ I believed he was going to fireside me.
So, [The Roots] had a present in New York. I come to New York to assist them and I am nonetheless considering I am in bother, so I am additional on my P’s and Q’s, and I am serving to Questlove unload his drums, and he is like, ‘All proper, so Malik B ain’t coming to the present, so on this tune you are going to rap as an alternative of his verse.’ And this was the Hammerstein Ballroom, it is like 5,000 folks. So, I am like, ‘Phrase?’ If I made a mistake they would not simply write me off. They might present me the appropriate factor to do after which give me an opportunity.
Are you aware why Okayplayer is known as ‘That Web site?’ It is, like, not directly my fault. After I left Okayplayer and moved again to New York, me and my boy Ben [Detrick] began a file label/journal referred to as Loosie. Loosie had message boards as effectively, and just about all of our customers have been simply New York Okayplayers and Philly Okayplayers. Throughout that point, there have been some technical difficulties — I believe they have been rebuilding the boards on Okayplayer — so they’d crash each now and again. And every time they’d crash, our boards would get flooded with utilization. These have been folks from Okayplayer, and they might simply come on our boards and discuss shit about Okayplayer till the boards have been mounted. Then, they’d all go away. It was like a mass exodus each time.
So, I received pissed off, and I am like, ‘Do not come over right here simply to speak shit about Okayplayer. Simply do not do this shit. It’s corny. If you wish to come right here, keep right here, we received good discussions, we received various things to speak about, come and revel in it. However do not simply come right here, discuss shit about them, after which go proper again after they get mounted.’
On the time, the moderator of our board was Desus Good, and [he] made Okayplayer a banned phrase on our web site. So, when you really typed in Okayplayer on our boards, it could change it to ‘#thatsite.’
