“DJ Buck” Collins

"My life, man. It's one big record."

DJ Buck is Rhode Island's first DJ. On top of being in The Magical Four, he was the go-to producer in the 80's and 90's, from Providence to Pawtucket and beyond. Now, as the Program Director of Connecticut's hip hop and R&B radio station, Hot 93.7, Buck reflects on his life in Providence and music.

Listen to DJ Buck’s story.

Follow our interview notes to go explore his story more deeply.

First memory of hip hop [0:00]

“King Tim III” by The Fatback Band (YouTube)
Spoony Gee (Wikipedia)
The Fearless Four (Wikipedia)
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (Wikipedia)

Hip Hop was different than sports and existing music [1:05]

Loves reactions of people to music
Jimmy Spicer (Wikipedia)
Sold bass for two turntables
“The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (YouTube)
Hip hop was about expression

South Side of Providence [3:05]

Tough neighborhood
Buck skirted around trouble through hip hop
Never smoked, drank, or did drugs: against the stereotype of hip hop culture

Start of the Magical Four [4:19]

Was on his own doing parties
Used drum machines for parties over real songs
[ringing phone at 4:58]
King Xavier knocked on Buck’s door after seeing him at parties (RI Hip Hop)

Secrets of good hip hop tracks [5:32]

The secret of hip hop was all about “taking ten seconds of maybe the worst record you heard in your life and turning it into something that’s magical.”
Doing your record research and making those short moments into great hip hop beat

How DJ Buck learned to DJ [7:05]

Listen and watch guys like Grandmaster Flash
MTV
Make your equipment work until you can buy better equipment
Invented new ways to do things: play a record backwards with a spool of thread
“Paul Revere” by The Beastie Boys (YouTube)
“Sucker MC’s” by Run DMC (YouTube)

The beginning of blends/mash-ups [9:20]

DJ Buck was doing it before or at the same time as the NYC DJs
Either put acapellas over different beats or made new beats under acapellas: always thought his beats were better than everybody else’s
Sold mixtapes with blends
Used music theory/math to make the best blends
Always wanted to set himself apart and be part of the future of music

Hip hop music is still the same [11:28]

4 bars, bass, snare, hi hat
Structurally the same, but the sounds are different

As a program director of a radio station, needs to be open and understand music now [12:23]

Listeners expect different things than listeners expected back in the 80s
Hip hop is a lifestyle, it’s everywhere now.
Used to be just available for the people in your neighborhood to see it, now everyone can see it and believe it
Music used to be more compartmentalized because there was less racial integration than there is now.

Fusing hip hop with other cultures [15:45]

Wu Tang Clan
That’s the climate now

Just DJed, liked to be the one everyone listened to while they danced or graffitied [16:10]

“Planet Rock” by Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force (YouTube)
Had to see Buck for your music back then
DJed first house party for a pack of Oreos

Full story of the Magical Four [17:07]

Played beats for Al Schell, Mr. G, Mo P, and King Xavier to freestyle over
Played shows at Rhode Island College, South Side Boys’ Club (RI Hip Hop)
Flawless routines
Talent show with Gang Starr (YouTube)
United Skates of America in NYC: Salt-N-Pepa, Marley Marl (Wikipedia)

“Suckers” by The Magical Four [19:43]

Legendary Providence hip hop track
“Time To Get Ill” by The Beastie Boys (YouTube)
Lyrics about Newport scene

Unreleased Magical Four record [21:30]

“Give The People What They Want” by The O’Jays (YouTube)
“Give The People” by EPMD (YouTube, Wikipedia)

End of Magical Four [21:56]

Mo P left because he had problems
Magical Force
Xavier went to jail, had to break up, was never the same
Magical Four was so good because they were all from different worlds: Al Schell and Mr. G were the top of their class at Classical High School, Buck went to Central High, and Xavier was from the streets

Buck produced for other artists [23:35]