Talking With The Cast Of WE’s Growing Up Hip Hopby Brad Balfour
January 7, 2016
It’s been more than 35 years since the first hip hop singles emerged on the New York streets; those singles such as “Rapper’s Delight” were able to spread the experience of the live deejays and rappers who appeared in the Bronx and Brooklyn starting late in the ‘70s. What appeared to be a fad to some has not only become a lucrative institution, but it has also spawned various movements and permutations — old school, gangsta and more — as well as a whole generation of stars who have sired a new crew of hip hop royalty.
These “kids” are now producing creative work of their own and though they may not have “street” experience, it’s fascinating to see what several stars of hip hop and rap accented R&B have wrought.
Somewhere along the way, a light bulb went off and someone thought, “Why not make a reality series that offers a look into this new generation who all know each, and interact with each other. Why not give audiences a chance to have an inside look.” What a fascinating idea.
So Music legends Damon Dash, Rev. Run, Russell Simmons, Master P, El DeBarge and Pepa — key players for many year — engaged their kids to further the concept. They christened the show, Growing Up Hip Hop, pulled together Egypt Criss, T.J. Mizell, Angela Simmons, Romeo Miller, Kristinia DeBarge, and Boogie Dash to show the dynamic between this group of well-known hip hop legends and their next generation for an insider view.
“Growing Up Hip Hop” premieres Thursday, January 7 at 10PM ET/PT on WE tv.
The series follows the next generation of hip hop royalty as they attempt to step out from the shadow of their famous families.
Formerly known as Lil’ Romeo, musician/actor Romeo Miller is not only son of Master P, he’s on track to take over the music empire his father built. Along the way, he leans on close friend Angela Simmons — the daughter of rap pioneer Rev. Run and niece of Russell Simmons — for guidance and support. A hip hop socialite, model and fashion designer of Foofi, her own line, Angela hopes to translate her fashion success into a career independent of her father’s fortunes.
Namesake of his father, Roc-A-Fella co-founder and media mogul Damon Dash, the younger Damon “Boogie” Dash is like father like son. But “Boogie” is also an entrepreneur having co-founded Chipz Cookies as well as a record label and NYC art gallery.
Kristinia DeBarge is the daughter of James DeBarge from the legendary yet troubled group DeBarge, and a singer/songwriter in her own right. With her father currently in prison, Kristinia leans on her uncle, hip hop legend El DeBarge, as she grapples with family and fame.
Daughter of two rap icons — Salt-N-Pepa’s Sandra “Pepa” Denton and Naughty By Nature’s Treach — Egypt Criss is actively pursuing a solo music career.
Stepping into his father’s shoes as a DJ, TJ Mizell — son of the late Run D.M.C. DJ, Jam Master Jay — spins at events and venues around the world, yet is haunted by his father’s mysterious and still unsolved murder.
With their work lives intertwined with their overprotective families always nearby, these friends each face challenging and sometimes surprising situations as they strive for independent success.
In two different sessions — one with Egypt Criss, T.J. Mizell and Angela Simmons — and another with the other three, Romeo Miller, Kristinia DeBarge, Boogie Dash, it felt like being in an episode of the series which included “the conversation with the interviewer.” Maybe it will become a reality in a future taping but for now here, is the actual conversation before you. These sessions took place at the London Hotel near the year’s end.
What did you learn of the music’s history — was it just by being there or did you actually grill your parents and go, “Come on, I’ve heard about this, tell me the inside story.” Or did you go, “Wait a minute, I don’t know anything about this, why don’t you tell me about what you saw?” or they didn’t want to talk about it?
Romeo Miller: For me, it’s always funny because you get the inside scoop on those stories. When I was watching the NWA movie, and my pops was right there, “This is what it really went down…” He was like, “I walked in the room five minutes after, and this is how it went down with me.” So you get to see this cool inside scoop that other people don’t know, [when] all these legendary people were around.
My dad has stories about 2Pac, one of his famous stories, people don’t understand — my dad from the South, and it was all about the East coast and west coast back in the day, and when he went on tour — he was on tour with 2Pac — they announced him as a country singer, like you’re from the South, so you must be a country singer, right?
So, they announced him the first time as, “Country singer Master P” and nobody was really cheering for him or nothing, and my dad said there was just one fan who was just ‘bout it, ‘bout it, and that just inspired him from there. So, it’s kind of cool to get those insights that other people, they have no idea.
Kristinia DeBarge: Um, man, I’ve heard tons of great stories from my dad.
So they do tell the stories?
KD: Yes, they do. My dad told me some really great stories of him and Michael [Jackson], they were very close at one point. Yes, he said that they used to dress up as each other and go out in really, really ugly cars, like a Pinto or something, and drive around town and dress in costume and incognito and just have fun, and that they were like brothers. They would play basketball.
Boogie Dash: We should do that!
KD: Yeah, we should!
RM: You want to dress like her?
BD: No, I’m going to dress like you, man. Nah, come on.
RM: When you said, “We,” I was like…. That’s a two-people thing.
BD: My dad told me a lot about a lot of people, but mainly who sticks out right now is Biggie Smalls. They used to have a lot of fun. They were homies, for real, for real. And it was kind of touching to watch the movie and then like — apparently, he was my homie.
When I was a baby, when I used to run around, he was like, “Oh, Boogie, yo come here.” I didn’t know that. And I was like, “Damn, I wish I had remembered that.” Because, that’s a legendary moment. But then the other stories I can’t talk about on here. You can put that down. There’s a lot, a lot of stories, but good times.
RM: Off the record, we’ll get on those.
Were there situations where you’ve seen pictures and there you are, as little babies and you’re photographed. Was there one scene where one of you was in a video — there’s the little baby, and it’s you. Has anybody ever told you, “Oh we saw you in…”
KD: My dad said that I was in a lot of sessions with him and DJ Quik, him and — he said 2Pac, we have a picture together when I was a baby. He was like, “Everybody knew you, Janet’s family loved you; everybody knew you as a little baby.” So I was like, “Okay, cool.”
RM: It’s kind of cool, you go back to some of my dad’s legendary videos, one of his biggest ones — “‘Bout It, ‘Bout it” — I was a little kid in there with a baseball bat, imitating my dad. So, it’s cool to go back and enjoy that moment, relive it.
BD: It’s always funny, when I go outside, and this happens literally every time I go outside, somebody comes up to me like, “Oh, you’re Damon’s son, I remember you when you were this big.” I still don’t know how to respond to that, “Oh yeah, now I’m this big, it’s what happens.”
In talking to the other three of you, it’s clear this isn’t one those “Housewives of Beverly Hills” reality shows where everyone fights with each other. It’s more about reinforcing a community where everybody gets deep with each other in a way that they didn’t expect.
RM: I think our show is introducing this generation to the past history. You know, we live in a generation where I feel it lacks respect, and a lot of the kids, they don’t want to know about the history, it’s about now, you know? You see Vine kids, they’re becoming famous, YouTubers for doing crazy things. And back in the day like, our families are a big part of hip hop, you know.
KD: Real talents.
RM: Everybody on this show, they got real talent, it’s something. And we’re here to make our imprint on the world and I think it’s cool to just see the whole family dynamics of everything and all the situations we go through. I think that’s what makes this show a lot different from the other ones.
KD: Absolutely, and we all support each other. You know, we all are here to help each other out and you know, me and Boogie, I won’t get into spoiling everything, but we did…we definitely — he has his own cookie company, so we do some stuff together on the show you’ll see, and then Rom and I do a lot of stuff together too on the show. So, we’re all just — it’s like a community, you know, it’s like a family. We all help each other out, we’re all supportive. It’s not supposed to be about drama.
BD: Did you tell him about our marriage on the show? Nah, I’m playin’.
RM: Don’t spoil everything!
I thought you were coming up with a new cookie recipe.
BD: Yeah! [Laughs]
Have your parents supported you or have been surprised to see that you’re cooking, or that she’s doing fashion? Are your parents telling him to come over and cook for them [laughs]? How does bringing in your own insights and direction add to the mix of what your parents have done; and what didn’t they know about you?
BD: This is a great opportunity for all of us, and me personally, I never wanted to do what my dad did, and I told him that, “I don’t want to do what you did, I want to do something different,” because I’m just different like that. So I started the cookie company with my partner, and he was all for it. And you know, he’s a diabetic, so it kind of worked out for him. If his sugar’s low, he eats some cookies. He’s the biggest supporter. He eats the cookies all the time, and he’s not fat.
So you’ve got a good role model to demonstrate. And how about for yourself? Your father was such a mellifluous singer and a little different from some of the others here, so he brings in a whole different aspect. So, have you been alike or been different from him?
KD: Well, we’re both pop. We love pop music and rhythmic and R&B. My dad and I, we’re a lot alike as people in general. I have the same genetics as him, there are times when my mom is like, “Oh my God, you are such your father’s child.”
KD: Stubborn. I always get that one. No, but I would say that how we’re different is–well, first of all, I’m a female. So, you know, a lot of things are different in that aspect, but we just–my dad lived a very hard life growing, and I didn’t live a very hard life growing up. You know, I was on welfare at one point with my mom.
Really?
KD: Yes, but it wasn’t like, very hard. There wasn’t a time where she couldn’t feed me meat. At one point, my dad was eating bread for like, a week straight when he was a kid, and wore the same shoes for years, got in fights all the time.
Oh yeah, they literally went from rags to riches. So, with me gradually, they started to… My mom started to make more and more money as she and I grew together. I’m grateful for the opportunities that he’s put in my life, that the people that have believed in me. I was signed to Babyface at 14 years old, so I worked with him up until I was 20, and he actually helped me put out my first album with Elliott Reed on Island Def Jam. I had a lot of help from my dad and my uncles. They went through a lot to get to where they needed to be. So, it definitely wasn’t an overnight success for either of us.
RM: I think that the biggest misconception that a lot of people from the outside looking in with celebrity families, I think they think that the parents force the kids to want to follow in their footsteps, and I think it’s actually the opposite. The parents actually give you more freedom to kind of whatever you want to do. And sometimes they don’t want you to take that same exact route, because this business is a vicious business full of sharks, a lot of monsters in there.
Especially when they know you’re the kids of… do they go, “Oh, you think you…”
RM: Exactly, people want to look at you to see what they can get from you. You know, when our parent started, it was more of a passion, people who worked with them, it was for passion, they believed that they could do it.
So, when people want to work with us because they’re like, what could they get out of us, I think that’s the thing that sucks. But for me, you always want to make your own name as well. That’s the thing when you’re in the shadow of that family name, that legacy, you want to make your own name. The cool thing with this cast, like all of these kids are making their own name. Whether it’s the business side, music, acting, you know, I just finished filming seven films, so I’m making my name in the acting world.
What were the films? You can plug them here.
RM: [Laughs] Yeah…
BD: Some of them are on TV already!
RM: Yeah, I’ve got a film with Megan Goode called Grace, I just did The Royal Family, that was on TV, one of the highest-rated movies on TV, we’ve got Jarhead 3 coming to theaters next year, a horror movie called Little Dead Riding Hood.
It’s the horror version of the fairytale that everybody knows. Let me tell y’all, in my contract, I’m the black guy who survives in my movies [laughs]. That’s in my contract. We are changing this old saying. We switched it up.
That’s one thing you learn from the past, right?
RM: That’s the thing that’s cool, though, because my pops encouraged me to just go out and make movies. He’s the big music mogul, but I’m making a name in acting as well, and he encouraged that.
Do you find you are all collaborating in one way or another? Obviously there’s been some collaboration before this thing happened, but now you’re collaborating even more, and is it encouraging that, are we going to have a movie about your cookies, you can star in the video, and you’ll sing the music?
KD: He actually also produces music too.
BD: I think we need to collaborate a little more, to be honest. That’s just how I feel.
RM: With time, you know as things go, you’re going to see a lot of what’s mixed in to all of our talents.
BD: And the spinoff.
You’re being put under this label, which really isn’t entirely true because of course you’ve got an R&B singing tradition, and you have an entrepreneurial nature as much a part of your history as it is hip hop. You could be growing up entrepreneurial instead of hip hop. Do people ask you to define hip hop or what you think is hip hop because you’re having this label put on you? Or do you feel you have an idea what it is and what you would call it. How do you react to that question?
BD: I don’t get that question too often. People know what I do, and they don’t really associate me with hip hop. Nobody said nothing, but when people acknowledge me in the street, they’re like, “Oh, you’re that cookie!” or, “You’re that DJ!” and it’s just like, yeah, that’s me.
RM: I think for me, it’s self-explanatory. People know who my father is, they know the imprint that he left on music, so it’s like, I never really go that question where they’re like, “Yo, what is hip hop to you?” You know, all I say is: We are hip hop. You know?
KD: I would just say it’s a form of expression… It’s a genre, a lifestyle, an outlet — it’s us.
RM: We’re the new generation of hip hop.
But you’re really beyond hip hop in a way.
KD: Yeah, that’s not just all we are.
Well, if we could call it “Beyond Hip Hop,” too.
RM: I like that.
KD: Okay, Season two. “Beyond Hip Hop”.
You were talking about collaborating. Are there things that you’re thinking about? You have an opportunity to do so — is this inspiring you to do something together, maybe more in the fashion world? Or maybe you’ll take up cooking, or designing. Is this something that’s already there or is this experience encouraging you to go further?
KD: I think that we’re all building our own empires and as we go further, we can discover what it is we need from one another. As of right, there’s a couple different projects we’re all working on. So, we’re trying to find a way to integrate one another in them, but it’s just we all have crazy schedules, we all live in different cities, but I’m more than positive that we all will be working together very closely.
RM: I think that’s the cool thing with us. It’s like, everybody has their vision, their dream, and everybody’s chasing that and they’re doing their best to take it to the next level. Just because Boogie makin’ cookies, I’m not like, “I need to get in the cookie business.” I might be like, “I need some cookies,” but it’s cool to see everybody on their journey.
KD: You know, for your foundation, you know what I mean.
You could have it in the movie.
RM: Yeah, exactly.
Product placement, come on!
BD: Yeah, come on man.
KD: We’ll all utilize each other’s relationship.
RM: I’m actually working on a new project, it’s called Fighting Monsters, it’s coming out January 7th as well. I may need to get you on the hook. You a genius man, making it all happen, I see what you doing here!
KD: We’re both putting EPs out on January 7th.
