ROX-TV stays on the grind and continues with performances by Dayton Family, Project Born, and Blahzay Roze
Welcome back to the ROX-TV website. This article is a continuation of the ever expanding coverage we devoted to the Gathering of the Juggalos 21. I have found that when my articles get up to around 2,500 words or more, shit starts to break down like a 1979 Ford Fiesta with a stock engine. For this reason, I’ve been ending the articles within the word count. I’ve gone higher in the past and I’ve also lost a lot in the past. As you may remember, the devilish Willy Wonka series had pushed the limits resulting in a brief crash, costing me hours of work.
I learned my lesson and choose to fly slimmer these days, which results in more breaks in the action than I would normally care for, but nevertheless we push on. For those of you who have been following the roll out since the end of the Gathering, we have currently come to the part in the story that touches on Friday night. If you are just tuning in, thanks for joining us. You can continue reading or if you want start at the beginning. I’m not one to follow or enforce the rules really, so do whatever suits you. Lets get back to the action….
We left off after receiving news that the Project Born set would be going down at the Luv Rising Stage. There had been some issues with noise and authority, so it was decided to move locations in order to play loud. Project Born adjusted course and the move was made. We were able to set up the merch on a table near the front of the stage and Project Born started getting ready for the performance. I was going to be filming the entire performance for some projects we have in the works and was getting what I needed together.
Mostly I was just making sure everything turned on when I flipped the switch. The set was slotted to run for about forty minutes and I was excited. A week earlier we had been at the studio with Gozza, getting the show tape together (actually flash drive, with a cd backup). It was a fascinating process to watch. I had never seen anything like that go down and thought it was cool to see Frank Nitty and Polk D aka Lil Polk, work through ideas and put together what would eventually become the set.
I had been to Gozza’s lab before and had interviewed him for the “Forever in the Jects” book which dropped July 7th (available now on Amazon and www.therealprojectborn.com). A week or so later, we were backstage at the Luv Rising portion of the GOTJ. I had travelled with Project Born to other venues including the ICP Big Ballas Christmas show at the El Club in Detroit and also Indiana for the ICP Prom Night Massacre Show. I knew that Project Born would blow the flaps off the circus tent and steadied myself for the task. The circus tent began to fill up and by 12:10am it was nearly time for some action.
12:20am Luv Rising Stage: Project Born with special guest Blahzay Roze
At the said time, the lights went dark. The show was starting and I was ready to capture the very essence of the Flint Town sound. Juggalos were excited and packed up against the metal fence blocking the stage from the crowd. I started rolling the camera although I had a hard time seeing anything at all. All of a sudden, the music slowly started to play and the sample was unmistakable. I knew the “Children of the Corn” movie song from anywhere. You know the part where the kids are singing in haunting voices with a spine chilling music number to go along with it. If your a fan or horror movies, than you had it from the get go. I sure as hell did (although it helped that I was present in the studio when the show tape was made, even so, I would have recognized that shit no matter what…it’s was a great fucking sample)
As the opening theme came to a close another familiar voice started to boom over the speakers. “And that’s why I feel the best thing is not to be born, but who is as lucky as that, to whom does it happen, not to one among millions and millions of people”. The affect resulted in goose bumps on my arms. I knew this intro very well and so did thousands of other Juggalos who know their history. It was the intro off the legendary “Born Dead” EP released by Psychopathic Records in 1995. As the Juggalos all know, Project Born was the first ever act signed to the label and the start of the “Born Dead” series, which to date features four releases, with the last dropping on Halloween in 2020. I’ve spoken about it in the book and in my opinion, there isn’t another series in the underground rap universe that features so many banging drops, except for the Insane Clown Posse’s jokers cards.
As the music continued to play, Frank Nitty took to the stage engaging the the crowd. “Juggalos what’s up” he spoke into the microphone and the crowd swayed to the music. This was what I had been waiting for. The night was taking off. After forty seconds or so (estimate) Polk D aka Lil Polk jumped onstage and Project Born got to work. They were dressed in dope ass red Dickies jumpsuits, which only added to the vibe that was already threatening to explode. I’ve seen these guys perform in the past and one thing I can say without a doubt is that they always bring the amped up energy and ferocious stage presence. It’s like they feed off of an unseen source of adrenaline that only seems to rise as the show continues. Being in the game for as long as they have, their sets should be something that the new school study and model. Be your own person, develop your own sound, but look this way when you want to see how a show should go.
As the songs continued, I managed to post up on the stage, near a fan and some stage lights for the best angle to record the show. When I tell you that the whole experience was surreal, you have to believe me. I’m a fan from way back. I remember listening to “Losin It” on tape at my homie Wayne’s house in the early nineties. I remember when the ICP fan club sent me a newsletter saying that Project Born had been signed to Psychopathic Records, I saw them perform at the Gathering of the Juggalos in Novi back in 2000 as a fan, and now I was on stage recording their performance at the 21st annual Gathering of the Juggalos in Thornville O-H-I-O.
It’s hard to describe the emotions and feelings that were zipping through my body like a bump of the marching powder. I had gone from being a first generation fan of the group, to becoming good friends with them, writing their story “Forever in the Jects”, and now sharing a small two foot section of the stage with them as they dazzled the Juggalos and Juggalettes with their Flint Town gritty grime, street reality sound. As a fan and a true old school Juggalo, this really was living the dream while wide awake.
Enter Blahzay Roze
The set was rolling like a freight train on ecstasy. The Juggalos were showing PJB mad love as the music bumped into the night. Towards the end of the set, the group had a surprise for the crowd as Blahzay Roze made her way to the stage to perform “Don’t Switch” off of the Born Dead 3 album. The energy was red lining as the three performers rocked the Luv Rising spot.
I continued to take in the scene and record the performance for some upcoming things we have in the works. There are moments in time when I wish I could hit the pause or loop button, so that the experience lasted forever but unfortunately I don’t have a remote that works like that. As the set came to an end I was happy to have been in attendance and proud of the Juggalo world. A good night with dope artists and family is really all I need to make it all worth it. Before I knew it the set was over and we were climbing back down into the darkness. Mission accomplished.
Dayton Family
To be so far from home and to hear music from my area is really cool. The 810 was being repped to the fullest and two of the finest banner carriers for the City of Flint were in the house. The Dayton Family took to the stage and the crowd was ready for some more Murder City music. As a kid I grew up with the sounds of Dayton Family and will never forget the first cassette I heard by them.
Someone had made me a mix tape of the group release “What’s on my mind” and I used to keep it stashed in the basement under a couch cushion. I would invite friends over to listen to it and we would get a small boom box and play that cassette at low volume. I loved the music but probably the best song for me was the track called “Flint Town”. To hear local rappers talk about the local area was really exciting and it seemed that no matter where you went in Genesee County, everyone knew the Dayton Family and if nothing else, could at least reference “Flint Town”.
When I got a little older and started hitting clubs and bars in Flint, the song followed me and was a favorite among the patrons whenever it was played. I used to hang out at a bar called Maxies or Maxy’s (it’s been a long time and I really don’t remember the spelling and it doesn’t matter anyway, if you remember how to spell it you weren’t fucked up enough) on Hill Road near the Meijer’s and US23. In the early 2000’s that place was pretty live and it would get packed up to the brim on the weekends. When this song got played, the spot would go nuts. There used to be a spot in Fenton down on North Leroy Street that was a cool spot for a bit, and it was the same reaction every time. “Flint Town” became an 810 anthem for anyone living within a hundred miles of Flint.
“What’s on my mind” was released in 1994 and again in 1995. I remember some of the lyrics from my copy changed a bit on the following releases, so I knew I had an earlier copy, but beyond that I was just a fan, no expert. I knew where Dayton was and people that really loved the song would cruise the road made famous by the Dayton Family and the song. The area is no joke and that’s a fact. In 1996 the group released F.B.I. and kept the machine rolling. By then, Ira Dorsey aka Bootleg and Matt Hinkle aka Backstabba had both been sent to prison. The legal problems slowed the group down some and it would take a minute for things to recalibrate.
In 1999 Ira Dorsey and Raheen Peterson both released solo albums. Bootleg’s album featured the Flint Town Legend MC Breed and an updated version of “Ain’t no future in your frontin” which put Flint on the map. This was another huge song and could be heard all through the 2000’s in most night clubs and cool bars in Flint. Just like with “Flint Town”, this track would set the place off like a bomb. The whole joint would start pounding drinks and singing the lyrics in unison on the dance floor. It was a great time to be alive in the 810.
After some more solo releases, the Dayton Family was signed to Psychopathic Records subsidary Hatchet House in 2010 and released the “Pyscho” EP in February of 2011 which features Insane Clown Posse on the track “The gathering”. The album “Charges of Inditement” was released in June of that same year on Hatchet House.
Ira Dorsey aka Bootleg made a guest appearance on the Project Born “Born Dead 4” release in 2020, on the track “Who am I to judge”. When the Dayton Family took to the stage they really set it off. The engaged the Juggalos who were showing serious love to the group during their set. One of the most pivotal moments of the night came when the Dayton Family performed “Cocaine”. The crowd went word for word and was a pretty dope thing to witness.
Perhaps my most favorite part came when they played “Chevys”. I used to have a banging system in my car and when I bumped this song while ripping through the city, I felt like six million dollars. I would let this shit pound while I cruised the streets with a brown bag forty ouncer in my lap and a cigarette hanging off my lip. In the summer time cruising down Grand Traverse to Teasers, or rolling downtown to the tattoo shop on Kearsley Street…it was on and this song was blowing off the trunk.
I was proud to be from the 810, with two of the biggest names from the City of Flint, destroying the stage in O-H-I-O. Project Born and Dayton Family are living rap history legends in Flint Town and I give them both mad respect and props for partially creating the soundtrack to my childhood. May their music live on for a thousand years damn it. After the show ended. I chilled with Project Born near the merch spot. We decided to give away the raffle basket I had made up of rare and impossible to find Project Born memorabilia. I reached into the Halloween bucket and pulled a red ticket from the bottom. The winner was a kid named William H. who was at the Gathering with his father. It was dope and proof that this shit will continue to live on through our kids. The culture is alive and well. I remember selling him and his father four tickets for the raffle. William was wearing his father’s Project Born shirt and I thought it was really cool. I texted him that he had won and to come on down to the front of the stage for his big time victory. They showed up a few minutes later and I unloaded the goods on them. I explained where I had gotten each piece and the history behind the items. I congratulated them on a stunning win and wished them the best. I had the 1995 framed poster of Born Dead 1 (released by Psychopathic Records and drawn by 2 Dope) in my car, so they got that the next day. All in all, it was a great night and ROX-TV was there to take it all in.
Signing Off,
Mike Shepard
ROX-TV Head Writer
kidvicioius810 on IG
shepard2909@hotmail.com
