King Xavier, Rhode Island MC pioneer, "went through the grind before any of you knew about the grind." He views hip hop as a culture and a lifestyle that encompasses everything he does. His group, The Magical Four, pressed the first record in Rhode Island hip hop history. He earned his name "King" as well as respect from some of the top groups of the 80s. He currently uses his extensive knowledge of the hip hop industry, which he learned out in Los Angeles, to consult MCs today.
Listen to King Xavier’s story.
Follow our interview notes to go explore his story more deeply.
Rhode Island’s first group to press vinyl [00:00]
- Started as a group together in 1982
- Created and sent out endless cassette demos to record labels
- Independent record pressers and distribution
- Pulled shows of 800-1000 people
Getting the record out of Rhode Island [1:41]
- Boogie Down Productions in NYC (Wikipedia)
- Bill Camero Rock Candy Records
- KRS-One (Wikipedia)
The Record [3:32]
- Recorded album in 86 and released it in 87
- A Side: “Time To Get Ill”
- B Side: “Suckers”
- Still bouncing around as a rare hip hop release
How Xavier Raps [4:18]
We were professionals [5:18]
- DJ Buck
- Our shows were an hour long
- Opened up for Melle Mel and the Furious Five (Wikipedia)
- Sugarhill Records (Wikipedia)
Inspiration Sugarhill Gang [9:06]
- Record
- “They were nothing but thieves… but I loved it”
Middle School [10:02]
- The Magical Three
- United Skates of America (USA Skating Rink)
- Met Al Schell and Mr. Gee
- RJ Lovett from WBRU (wbru.com)
- They played our song
“We were stars” [12:48]
- First song we put on the radio, “Ready To Rock” 1982
- Based off of “Smerphies Dance” (YouTube)
- WDOM (Providence College’s radio)
- Song “The Big Beat”
- Song ”I Would Have Been Gladder”
- Emancipation Day at Roger Williams Park
In RI all we had were college radio stations [15:18]
“We had a good run” [15:55]
“This wasn’t the place for me” [17:08]
- Friend in a group Portrait in California (Wikipedia)
Returning back home [18:51]
- 106.3 RI Radio Station (hot1063.com)
- DJ Buck on BET
“We went through the grind before any of you knew about the grind” [21:55]
- Going to radio stations in other states
- Going to real studios
- Reel to Real Recording Studio Inc
- Played a show at The Civic Center, Providence
- Narcissis Show in Boston, opened for Doug E Fresh (Wikipedia)
You don’t do hip hop, you live it [25:50]
- ‘It’s a culture”
- Rap music is part of hip hop
- ‘There’s some hip hop music that wasn’t rap”
- Lisa Lisa, Stevie B (Wikipedia)
King Xavier’s Style & Fashion in hip hop [28:47]
- Sneakers, Lees, Prep Shirts, “Always had a Kangol”
- Danbury Hats
- Big fat gold chains
- Sweatsuits
- ‘If you look up the classic hip hop B-Boys dressing, that was me”
- ‘You’d be late for school. Your laces had to be perfect.”
- “You can get dressed in the winter” bombers, sheepskin hats
- Cristal boycott (today.com)
- “We’d rather look good and be broke.”
Commercialization of hip hop [34:07]
- “I think that we’re getting a bigger piece of the pie now than we ever did.”
Hip hop music today [35:45]
King Xavier’s favorite artist ever [37:09]
- Kool Moe Dee (Wikipedia)
- KRS-One
- Rakim (Wikipedia)
- Big Daddy Kane (Wikipedia)
How Xavier got the name King [38:05]
- Super Lover C
- Sticky Fingers
Another album? [38:58]
We were the first to do what we did in RI [39:33]
- The Ferocious 2, Danny Sykes and Brooksy B – Dis track
- Bad Lad, Bold Island Troopers
Pulling out guns [41:33]
- RSO, Ray Benzino (Wikipedia)
