WEBVTT 00:00:05.940 --> 00:00:08.359 Welcome to another Deep Dive customized just 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:10.740 for you. This time we are exploring the fascinating, 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:13.560 accidental genius of Nucleus, the pioneering 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:16.480 1980s Brooklyn electro and old school hip -hop 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:19.160 group. Discover how a parody track meant as an 00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:21.620 anti -hip -hop joke transformed into the legendary 00:00:21.620 --> 00:00:24.789 billboard hit, Jam On It. We unpacked the group's 00:00:24.789 --> 00:00:27.309 Bedford Stuyvesant block party origins, the literal 00:00:27.309 --> 00:00:29.609 family ties that bound them, and the hilarious 00:00:29.609 --> 00:00:32.909 1970s DJ battle insult that inspired the iconic 00:00:32.909 --> 00:00:35.670 WikiWiki hook. Plus, we trace their profound 00:00:35.670 --> 00:00:38.329 footprint across cop culture. From early video 00:00:38.329 --> 00:00:40.310 games to the sequencer line that fueled Snap's 00:00:40.310 --> 00:00:43.250 monumental Eurodance anthem, Rhythm is a Dancer, 00:00:43.450 --> 00:00:45.850 perfect for fans of music history, electro boogie, 00:00:45.950 --> 00:00:47.969 and behind -the -scenes industry tales. Join 00:00:47.969 --> 00:00:49.829 us to find out why sometimes the greatest art 00:00:49.829 --> 00:01:01.789 happens completely by accident. Welcome to another 00:01:01.789 --> 00:01:05.060 deep dive customized just for you. I'm your host, 00:01:05.260 --> 00:01:07.579 and today we're exploring a concept that I just 00:01:07.579 --> 00:01:10.420 find endlessly fascinating. I'm thrilled to be 00:01:10.420 --> 00:01:12.819 here as your resident expert. And yeah, today 00:01:12.819 --> 00:01:15.140 is really all about the accidental masterpiece. 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:18.480 Exactly, the accidental masterpiece. You're digging 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:21.180 into some incredibly comprehensive source materials 00:01:21.180 --> 00:01:24.579 today, ranging from historical retrospectives 00:01:24.579 --> 00:01:28.060 to deep biographical archives to bring you the 00:01:28.060 --> 00:01:31.790 full story of Nucleus. The pioneering 80s. Brooklyn 00:01:31.790 --> 00:01:34.450 Electro Group. Right. Old school hip hop royalty. 00:01:34.670 --> 00:01:36.709 I mean, you definitely know their beats, even 00:01:36.709 --> 00:01:39.450 if you don't instantly recognize the name. But 00:01:39.450 --> 00:01:41.890 our mission for this deep dive is to unpack how 00:01:41.890 --> 00:01:44.349 a track that was originally conceived as a parody. 00:01:44.569 --> 00:01:47.290 A completely cynical anti hip hop joke. Right. 00:01:47.430 --> 00:01:49.689 Somehow bypassed its own irony to become the 00:01:49.689 --> 00:01:52.560 foundational billboard hit Jam on it. It's a 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:55.900 remarkable case study in intention versus reception. 00:01:56.120 --> 00:01:58.439 You set out to satirize a specific trend and 00:01:58.439 --> 00:02:00.500 the energy of your satire accidentally builds 00:02:00.500 --> 00:02:02.840 a pillar for that exact same genre. It's wild. 00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:05.579 And the roadmap for this deep dive is going to 00:02:05.579 --> 00:02:08.719 take us through some really rich territory. We'll 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:11.939 unpack their origins in late 70s Brooklyn, look 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:14.620 at the literal family dynamics that insulated 00:02:14.620 --> 00:02:18.580 them and analyze the highly specific DJ battle 00:02:18.580 --> 00:02:21.310 insult that gave us their biggest hook. Plus, 00:02:21.430 --> 00:02:23.789 we will trace their architectural influence on 00:02:23.789 --> 00:02:26.930 global dance music and pop culture decades later. 00:02:27.150 --> 00:02:29.370 Okay, let's unpack this. Starting right at the 00:02:29.370 --> 00:02:33.389 beginning. 1977. Right. in the Bedford Stuyvesant 00:02:33.389 --> 00:02:35.409 neighborhood of Brooklyn. Bedstush, to really 00:02:35.409 --> 00:02:37.770 grasp what Nucleus was, we have to look at their 00:02:37.770 --> 00:02:40.789 precursor. Jam on Productions. Yeah, Jam on Productions, 00:02:41.129 --> 00:02:43.409 which was basically just an organic grassroots 00:02:43.409 --> 00:02:46.169 group of teenagers centered around Ben Sinek. 00:02:46.289 --> 00:02:49.189 Who operated under the name Cosmo D. Right, Cosmo 00:02:49.189 --> 00:02:52.090 D, and his cousins Monique and Pierre Angevin. 00:02:52.189 --> 00:02:54.610 Though Pierre usually went by P. P, yeah. And 00:02:54.610 --> 00:02:56.810 they started out just by hauling their equipment 00:02:56.810 --> 00:02:58.810 out into the streets and playing block parties. 00:02:58.909 --> 00:03:00.729 And this is where the geography becomes really 00:03:00.729 --> 00:03:03.050 important. Because when we talk about 1977 in 00:03:03.050 --> 00:03:05.930 New York, the historical focus is almost always 00:03:05.930 --> 00:03:09.650 on the Bronx. Cool Herc, Grandmaster Flash. The 00:03:09.650 --> 00:03:12.569 parks, the Bronx River houses. That's the mythology. 00:03:13.250 --> 00:03:15.830 But our sources specifically highlight that Jamon 00:03:15.830 --> 00:03:18.210 Productions was operating simultaneously in Brooklyn. 00:03:18.509 --> 00:03:21.430 What's fascinating here is the concept of parallel 00:03:21.430 --> 00:03:25.250 cultural evolution. The Bronx gets the lion's 00:03:25.250 --> 00:03:28.030 share of the historical credit, and rightly so 00:03:28.030 --> 00:03:30.150 for originating the architecture of hip hop. 00:03:30.349 --> 00:03:33.810 But Brooklyn, in the late 70s, had this fiercely 00:03:33.810 --> 00:03:36.069 independent, highly competitive scene of its 00:03:36.069 --> 00:03:38.009 own. And it was somewhat isolated, wasn't it? 00:03:38.069 --> 00:03:40.990 It was. In Bed -Steady, the sound system culture 00:03:40.990 --> 00:03:43.270 was vital, but it was slightly geographically 00:03:43.270 --> 00:03:46.909 removed from the Bronx pioneers. And that isolation 00:03:46.909 --> 00:03:49.310 gave crews like Jamon Productions the breathing 00:03:49.310 --> 00:03:52.330 room to divide develop really idiosyncratic tastes. 00:03:52.830 --> 00:03:54.430 So they weren't just copying what was happening 00:03:54.430 --> 00:03:56.689 up north. Exactly. They weren't just mimicking 00:03:56.689 --> 00:03:59.629 the Bronx breakbeat formulas. They were integrating 00:03:59.629 --> 00:04:02.150 heavier synthesizers, different funk records, 00:04:02.250 --> 00:04:04.569 and this distinct flavor of early electro that 00:04:04.569 --> 00:04:06.729 would become their signature. Building an empire 00:04:06.729 --> 00:04:09.370 block by block. Entirely outside the gaze of 00:04:09.370 --> 00:04:11.889 the Bronx mythology. It makes total sense that 00:04:11.889 --> 00:04:14.129 physical distance would breed a different sonic 00:04:14.129 --> 00:04:17.529 palette. And as they're developing this localized 00:04:17.529 --> 00:04:20.790 bed -stooey sound, the internal structure of 00:04:20.790 --> 00:04:23.189 the group shifts. In a way that's incredibly 00:04:23.189 --> 00:04:26.329 rare for a musical act. Really rare. By 1979, 00:04:26.689 --> 00:04:29.910 the core lineup settles. You have Cosmo D, Yvette 00:04:29.910 --> 00:04:32.930 Cooke, who goes by Lady E Monique Angevin, and 00:04:32.930 --> 00:04:35.889 Bob Crafton, known to everybody as Chili B. And 00:04:35.889 --> 00:04:37.829 this isn't just a crew of neighborhood friends 00:04:37.829 --> 00:04:41.170 anymore. No. Cosmo D ends up marrying Lady E. 00:04:41.370 --> 00:04:44.170 And Chili B marries Monique. which fundamentally 00:04:44.170 --> 00:04:46.610 changes the entire dynamic of the crew. It does. 00:04:46.709 --> 00:04:49.529 You have two married couples forming the creative 00:04:49.529 --> 00:04:52.350 and logistical core of a hip hop production crew. 00:04:52.910 --> 00:04:55.430 The level of trust, the shared financial realities, 00:04:55.629 --> 00:04:58.069 the communal living, it completely insulated 00:04:58.069 --> 00:04:59.810 them. They didn't have to deal with the usual 00:04:59.810 --> 00:05:01.870 industry drama. Right. They didn't have to navigate 00:05:01.870 --> 00:05:04.029 the ego clashes of four different teenagers, 00:05:04.089 --> 00:05:06.910 all seeking individual fame. Their ambitions 00:05:06.910 --> 00:05:09.029 were collective. Which directly inform their 00:05:09.029 --> 00:05:11.680 identity. The sources point out that this literal 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:13.600 coming together of families is what prompted 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:17.060 the name change. To Nucleus, spelled N -E -W 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:19.740 -C -L -E -U -S. Because they recognized they 00:05:19.740 --> 00:05:22.300 had formed a nucleus. They were a self -contained 00:05:22.300 --> 00:05:25.399 atom. And this familial insulation is critical 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:27.959 to understanding their later clashes with the 00:05:27.959 --> 00:05:30.120 record industry. Because they had that unshakable 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:33.000 foundation. built on profound personal bonds, 00:05:33.259 --> 00:05:35.800 not corporate contracts. They approached their 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:38.920 art with uncompromising authenticity. They were 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:41.220 making music to entertain the people standing 00:05:41.220 --> 00:05:43.019 right in front of them in their neighborhood. 00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:45.860 Completely unbothered by commercial aspirations. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:47.959 At least at first. Right. Because then we hit 00:05:47.959 --> 00:05:51.319 1981 and there's a severe ideological pivots. 00:05:51.379 --> 00:05:53.899 They rebrand themselves as positive messenger. 00:05:54.100 --> 00:05:56.490 Positive messenger. Yeah. And the sources indicate 00:05:56.490 --> 00:05:58.889 they wanted to pivot away from just making party 00:05:58.889 --> 00:06:01.810 rocking beats. They wanted to focus on messages 00:06:01.810 --> 00:06:04.850 of love, faith, and the socio -political conditions 00:06:04.850 --> 00:06:07.610 of the world. Which is a huge shift. By the sudden 00:06:07.610 --> 00:06:09.670 seriousness. What prompted that? If we connect 00:06:09.670 --> 00:06:12.370 this to the bigger picture of the early 80s, 00:06:12.670 --> 00:06:15.189 the cultural atmosphere in New York was shifting. 00:06:15.189 --> 00:06:18.790 Much heavier. Much heavier. The initial exuberance 00:06:18.790 --> 00:06:22.250 of the post -disco era was giving way to a sober 00:06:22.250 --> 00:06:25.720 reality. Economic disenfranchisement in the outer 00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:28.019 boroughs was severe. And musically, things were 00:06:28.019 --> 00:06:30.980 changing too. Exactly. Groups like Grandmaster 00:06:30.980 --> 00:06:33.160 Flash and the Furious Five were on the verge 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:35.879 of releasing the message. Which permanently altered 00:06:35.879 --> 00:06:38.649 the trajectory of hip hop. by injecting stark 00:06:38.649 --> 00:06:42.089 realism into the lyrics. Cosmo D and his family 00:06:42.089 --> 00:06:44.329 were already feeling that undercurrent. They 00:06:44.329 --> 00:06:46.790 looked around bed steady, assessed their platform, 00:06:47.149 --> 00:06:49.769 and felt a moral imperative to use their voices 00:06:49.769 --> 00:06:52.290 for social elevation. They didn't just want to 00:06:52.290 --> 00:06:54.149 be an escape anymore. They wanted to be modern 00:06:54.149 --> 00:06:56.810 -day griots for Brooklyn. That is a highly ambitious, 00:06:57.050 --> 00:07:00.610 deeply earnest goal. But as often happens, earnest 00:07:00.610 --> 00:07:03.430 missions encounter friction. Usually from within. 00:07:03.750 --> 00:07:05.790 Yeah, in their case, it came from a guy in their 00:07:05.790 --> 00:07:09.459 broader crew. DJ Salvador Smooth. The catalyst? 00:07:09.699 --> 00:07:11.819 The sources note that Salvador kept pestering 00:07:11.819 --> 00:07:14.000 Cosmo D to just make a standard, commercially 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:16.199 viable rap song. Just give the people what they 00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:18.980 want on the radio. But Cosmo D was deeply resistant 00:07:18.980 --> 00:07:22.680 to that idea. Why? Because Cosmo D was a purist. 00:07:22.860 --> 00:07:25.660 His sensibilities were forged in the crucible 00:07:25.660 --> 00:07:28.819 of unrecorded live street battles. The raw culture. 00:07:29.300 --> 00:07:32.199 Exactly. To understand his resistance, you have 00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:34.259 to understand the dichotomy of hip -hop at the 00:07:34.259 --> 00:07:37.639 time. There was the live culture, which was spontaneous, 00:07:37.879 --> 00:07:40.319 highly aggressive, dependent on crowd interaction. 00:07:40.540 --> 00:07:42.699 And then there was the emerging recorded culture. 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:45.839 Right. By 1981, rap records are starting to get 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:49.199 radio play. But to a battle -tested veteran like 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:52.300 Cosmo D, those radio tracks sounded sanitized. 00:07:52.139 --> 00:07:54.360 They were too clean. Structured, predictable. 00:07:55.060 --> 00:07:57.959 They prioritized catchy novelty over raw skill. 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:00.819 He viewed the commercial rap of that specific 00:08:00.819 --> 00:08:03.680 moment as an inferior, watered -down imitation 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:06.139 of the genuine culture he lived and breathed. 00:08:06.180 --> 00:08:08.319 So for him to make a rap record for the radio 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:10.339 would basically be selling out the purity of 00:08:10.339 --> 00:08:12.560 the block party. He viewed his positive messenger 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:15.899 project as high art, or at least smart with profound 00:08:15.899 --> 00:08:18.879 integrity. To stoop to making a generic rap track 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:23.279 just to satisfy Salvador Smooth felt But he eventually 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:26.240 caves. He does. Albeit in the most cynical way 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:29.019 possible. He doesn't sit down to write a masterpiece. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:31.959 He sits down to write a caricature. A parody 00:08:31.959 --> 00:08:35.059 jam. Just to get Salvador smooth off his back 00:08:35.059 --> 00:08:38.370 and to mock the state of rap radio. This raises 00:08:38.370 --> 00:08:40.429 such an interesting question about the psychology 00:08:40.429 --> 00:08:42.990 of the creative process. It really does. When 00:08:42.990 --> 00:08:45.429 an artist removes the pressure of earnest ambition, 00:08:45.909 --> 00:08:48.110 when they stop trying to be profound and operate 00:08:48.110 --> 00:08:51.169 purely on sarcasm or irony, they often bypass 00:08:51.169 --> 00:08:53.830 their own intellectual filters. They stop overthinking 00:08:53.830 --> 00:08:56.929 it. Exactly. Cosmo D was sketching a cartoon 00:08:56.929 --> 00:08:59.529 of a genre he felt lacked authenticity. He didn't 00:08:59.529 --> 00:09:01.950 labor over the sociopolitical weight of the lyrics. 00:09:02.230 --> 00:09:05.570 He just tapped into this raw, infectious, ridiculous 00:09:05.570 --> 00:09:07.929 energy. Which brings us to the anatomy of the 00:09:07.929 --> 00:09:10.570 joke itself. The focal point of this parody track. 00:09:11.090 --> 00:09:12.909 The element that would ultimately define their 00:09:12.909 --> 00:09:15.860 entire career. The famous wiki wiki hook. The 00:09:15.860 --> 00:09:18.200 anecdote Cosmo D shares about where that phrase 00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:20.320 came from is just incredible. It wasn't a random 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:23.120 sound. No, it was a deeply specific insult from 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:26.539 a 1970s DJ battle. Jam On Productions had just 00:09:26.539 --> 00:09:29.299 defeated another crew. Right. But the losing 00:09:29.299 --> 00:09:33.320 DJ, trying to salvage some pride, confronts Cosmo 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:36.019 D and delivers this very precise critique. He 00:09:36.019 --> 00:09:38.039 says, yeah, you guys are bad, but you can't do 00:09:38.039 --> 00:09:41.629 this. Wiki wiki wiki wiki. We all know that WikiWiki 00:09:41.629 --> 00:09:44.269 is the onomatopoeia for a record scratching. 00:09:44.490 --> 00:09:46.450 But why would that specific sound be an insult 00:09:46.450 --> 00:09:48.929 if Jam -On had just won the battle? It reveals 00:09:48.929 --> 00:09:52.129 a fascinating transitionary period in DJ culture. 00:09:52.690 --> 00:09:54.789 In the earliest days, battles were often won 00:09:54.789 --> 00:09:58.009 based on the sheer volume of a crew's sound system. 00:09:58.049 --> 00:10:01.269 Or their record selection. Exactly. The exclusivity 00:10:01.269 --> 00:10:04.330 of the obscure funk breaks, they found. Jam -On 00:10:04.330 --> 00:10:07.110 productions excelled at this. Formidable system, 00:10:07.350 --> 00:10:09.759 great taste. But things were evolving. Pioneers 00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:12.299 like Grand Wizard Theodore and Grand Mixer DST 00:10:12.299 --> 00:10:14.980 were elevating scratching. It went from a basic 00:10:14.980 --> 00:10:18.019 cueing technique into a highly complex rhythmic 00:10:18.019 --> 00:10:20.440 percussion instrument. Technical finesse was 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:22.759 becoming the new benchmark. Right. So by mimicking 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:25.820 the scrap sound, the defeated DJ was highlighting 00:10:25.820 --> 00:10:28.700 a glaring technical deficit in Jamon's repertoire. 00:10:28.820 --> 00:10:30.960 He was basically saying, you have the speakers, 00:10:30.980 --> 00:10:33.759 but you lack the cutting edge turntablism. It 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:36.600 was a surgical strike at their credibility, a 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:41.009 raw nerve. So years later. Cosmo D is begrudgingly 00:10:41.009 --> 00:10:44.149 cobbling together this parody rap track, and 00:10:44.149 --> 00:10:46.950 he digs up that old, highly specific insult. 00:10:47.090 --> 00:10:50.029 He weaponizes an old wound for the sake of satire. 00:10:50.169 --> 00:10:53.269 He decides to use wiki -wiki -wiki -wiki as the 00:10:53.269 --> 00:10:55.809 central hook. He pitches up the vocals to make 00:10:55.809 --> 00:10:59.190 them sound like cartoon chipmunks, leaning entirely 00:10:59.190 --> 00:11:01.809 into the mockery. And the casual nature of its 00:11:01.809 --> 00:11:04.009 creation is so obvious when you look at how he 00:11:04.009 --> 00:11:06.909 handled the physical take. Right. The tape filler 00:11:06.909 --> 00:11:09.690 detail. He was actively shopping his serious 00:11:09.690 --> 00:11:13.029 positive messenger demos to labels. He had this 00:11:13.029 --> 00:11:15.750 reel -to -reel tape filled with earnest, socially 00:11:15.750 --> 00:11:18.169 conscious tracks. But he had some blank space 00:11:18.169 --> 00:11:20.809 left at the tail end. Rather than waste the magnetic 00:11:20.809 --> 00:11:23.889 tape, he simply dumps the wiki wiki parody jam 00:11:23.889 --> 00:11:26.309 onto the end of it as filler. He wasn't even 00:11:26.309 --> 00:11:28.190 planning on showcasing it. Not at all. But then 00:11:28.190 --> 00:11:30.210 they actually test the track out in the wild. 00:11:30.460 --> 00:11:32.759 The sources note that when Cosmo D played this 00:11:32.759 --> 00:11:34.879 cynical joke track at their local parties, it 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:36.740 absolutely demolished the dance floor. The crowd 00:11:36.740 --> 00:11:40.460 went crazy for it, which presented a severe ideological 00:11:40.460 --> 00:11:43.019 dilemma for the group. They were pouring their 00:11:43.019 --> 00:11:46.019 souls into being positive messengers, trying 00:11:46.019 --> 00:11:48.100 to enlighten their community. And the community 00:11:48.100 --> 00:11:51.320 is basically saying, enlightened is cool, but 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:53.820 we want to dance to cartoon voices imitating 00:11:53.820 --> 00:11:56.759 a turntable. The empirical evidence of the dance 00:11:56.759 --> 00:11:59.440 floor was undeniable. It's the ultimate reality 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:03.139 check. The audience decides what resonates. And 00:12:03.139 --> 00:12:06.360 to their credit, the family listened. They demonstrated 00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:09.659 a remarkable lack of ego. They shelved the positive 00:12:09.659 --> 00:12:13.120 messenger concept, embraced the absurdity, leaned 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.460 into their synthesizer -driven electro sound, 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:17.940 and fully committed to the name Nucleus. They 00:12:17.940 --> 00:12:20.320 allowed the accidental creation to dictate their 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:22.879 trajectory. And that trajectory accelerated fast 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:25.600 once the right ears heard that piece of tape 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:28.019 filler. Record producer Joe Webb. He hears the 00:12:28.019 --> 00:12:30.710 track. recognizes the kinetic energy, signs them, 00:12:31.070 --> 00:12:32.970 and puts it out as their first official single 00:12:32.970 --> 00:12:36.490 in 1983 on Mayhew Records. Retitled as Jam on 00:12:36.490 --> 00:12:38.830 Revenge, the WikiWiki song. And suddenly this 00:12:38.830 --> 00:12:41.389 inside joke is charting. It broke into the top 00:12:41.389 --> 00:12:44.129 40 on the U .S. R &B chart. It's competing for 00:12:44.129 --> 00:12:46.929 airplay alongside established, heavily funded 00:12:46.929 --> 00:12:49.370 acts. And it proved to be a foundational stepping 00:12:49.370 --> 00:12:52.610 stone because their follow -up single in 1984, 00:12:52.889 --> 00:12:55.830 The Absolute Anthem, Jam on It, it eclipsed it 00:12:55.830 --> 00:12:58.870 entirely. Yeah. Jam on it right round in number 00:12:58.870 --> 00:13:02.210 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. For an independent 00:13:02.210 --> 00:13:05.129 electro hip hop track in 1984 to cross over to 00:13:05.129 --> 00:13:07.850 the mainstream Hot 100 is staggering. They followed 00:13:07.850 --> 00:13:09.990 it with Computer Age, Push the Button, which 00:13:09.990 --> 00:13:12.470 also hit the R &B Top 40. They were producing 00:13:12.470 --> 00:13:15.029 undeniable hits. Yet this string of ubiquitous 00:13:15.029 --> 00:13:17.769 singles masks a deeper structural conflict they're 00:13:17.769 --> 00:13:19.830 about to encounter. The music industry machine. 00:13:20.129 --> 00:13:23.409 Exactly. When we examine their full length output, 00:13:23.669 --> 00:13:26.149 specifically the albums Jam on Revenge in 1980, 00:13:25.960 --> 00:13:30.320 and space is the place in 1985, a stark contrast 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:33.320 emerges. Despite having these monumental singles, 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:35.419 the albums themselves suffered commercially. 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:38.320 They did not move units at a volume commensurate 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:40.440 with the success of the singles. Which is confusing. 00:13:40.919 --> 00:13:42.720 If millions of people are losing their minds 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:45.179 to Jam on it, why aren't they buying the Jam 00:13:45.179 --> 00:13:47.980 on Revenge album? It exposes a fundamental friction 00:13:47.980 --> 00:13:50.399 between the culture of electronic dance music 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:53.259 and the corporate economics of the 80s music 00:13:53.259 --> 00:13:56.120 industry. The major label apparatus was optimized 00:13:56.120 --> 00:13:59.740 to the LP. The long playing record. Rock, pop, 00:14:00.179 --> 00:14:03.039 soul artists were expected to deliver cohesive 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:06.340 45 minute albums. Labels allocated marketing 00:14:06.340 --> 00:14:09.259 budgets based on projected LP sales. But hip 00:14:09.259 --> 00:14:12.860 hop and electro were cultures rooted in the DJ. 00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:15.860 and the club. The primary vehicle of consumption 00:14:15.860 --> 00:14:19.500 was the 12 -inch single. A DJ didn't need a sprawling 00:14:19.500 --> 00:14:22.539 concept album. They needed an extended, heavy 00:14:22.539 --> 00:14:24.759 -hitting beat. To mix in and out of a live set. 00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:26.980 Right. And consumers just wanted the specific 00:14:26.980 --> 00:14:30.000 track driving the party. Nucleus was inherently 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.360 a singles act, engineered for the dance floor. 00:14:32.759 --> 00:14:34.720 But they were forced to operate within a corporate 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:37.200 structure that exclusively measured success. 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:39.940 by album sales. So the label is looking at them 00:14:39.940 --> 00:14:42.200 through the lens of a rock band fundamentally 00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:44.700 misunderstanding the consumer behavior. And that 00:14:44.700 --> 00:14:47.799 misunderstanding leads to genuine industry interference. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:49.860 They eventually sign with Sunnyview Records. 00:14:50.059 --> 00:14:52.139 And we get the specific incident regarding the 00:14:52.139 --> 00:14:54.720 song Where's the Beat. The sources state that 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:57.240 Sunnyview insisted on putting Where's the Beat 00:14:57.240 --> 00:15:00.500 onto the 1984 Jam on Revenge album. Which was 00:15:00.500 --> 00:15:03.919 a massive overreach. If the label knew Nucleus 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:06.200 was already capable of producing massive hits 00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:09.240 from within their own family unit, why risk ruining 00:15:09.240 --> 00:15:12.279 that chemistry by forcing outside music onto 00:15:12.279 --> 00:15:15.490 the debut album? It stemmed from that LP -centric 00:15:15.490 --> 00:15:18.029 corporate panic. The executives at Sunnyview 00:15:18.029 --> 00:15:20.230 likely looked at the track list, worried there 00:15:20.230 --> 00:15:23.110 wasn't enough crossover pop appeal, and decided 00:15:23.110 --> 00:15:25.769 to hedge their bets. So they just bought a prepackaged 00:15:25.769 --> 00:15:28.429 track. Where's the beat was entirely foreign 00:15:28.429 --> 00:15:31.129 to Nucleus. Cosmo D and his family didn't write 00:15:31.129 --> 00:15:33.309 it, produce it, or play the instruments on it. 00:15:33.370 --> 00:15:35.470 It violates the very premise of the group. They 00:15:35.470 --> 00:15:38.169 were a tight, self -contained unit. That was 00:15:38.169 --> 00:15:41.500 their magic. It is a textbook example of A &R 00:15:41.500 --> 00:15:44.220 overreach. It demonstrates how executives view 00:15:44.220 --> 00:15:47.720 artists not as autonomous creators but as brands 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:50.039 into which external content can be plugged. You 00:15:50.039 --> 00:15:52.600 cannot manufacture the wiki wiki magic in a boardroom. 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:55.919 But despite that interference, the sheer architectural 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:58.200 strength of the music they composed from their 00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:01.600 own weird instincts proved unstoppable. It survived 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:04.240 the 80s and infiltrated entirely different genres 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:06.789 in subsequent decades. Which brings us to the 00:16:06.789 --> 00:16:09.250 ripple effect. Let's talk about the musical DNA 00:16:09.250 --> 00:16:11.850 and how foundational ideas travel across time, 00:16:12.129 --> 00:16:14.149 because you highlighted a connection that is 00:16:14.149 --> 00:16:17.309 just mind -blowing. The snap connection. Snap, 00:16:17.570 --> 00:16:20.610 as in the 1990s German Eurodance project. The 00:16:20.610 --> 00:16:24.190 group behind the 1992 monster anthem Rhythm is 00:16:24.190 --> 00:16:27.149 a dancer. How does an early 80s Brooklyn hip 00:16:27.149 --> 00:16:31.039 hop crew connect to a 90s Eurodance track? featuring 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:34.120 Thea Austin and Turbo B. The connection is direct, 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:37.299 structural, and deeply embedded in the technology. 00:16:37.700 --> 00:16:40.960 In 1984, Nucleus released a track called Audermen, 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:43.080 which was overshadowed by Jam on it. Definitely. 00:16:43.480 --> 00:16:46.000 But within Ottoman, Cosmo D programmed a very 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:48.879 specific synthesizer sequencer line. Okay. Eight 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:51.759 years later, the producers behind Snap in Germany 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:54.340 heard that exact pattern. They lifted that precise 00:16:54.340 --> 00:16:57.159 melodic and rhythmic sequencer architecture and 00:16:57.159 --> 00:16:59.460 used it as the foundational backbone for Rhythm 00:16:59.460 --> 00:17:01.720 is a Dancer. That is wild. When you say they 00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:04.220 programmed a sequencer line, why is that so easily 00:17:04.220 --> 00:17:07.420 transferable? It's the shift from analog to digital. 00:17:07.849 --> 00:17:10.509 In the early 80s, artists were using equipment 00:17:10.509 --> 00:17:14.289 like the Roland TR -808 drum machine or the TB 00:17:14.289 --> 00:17:17.250 -303 bass synthesizer. So you aren't physically 00:17:17.250 --> 00:17:19.430 playing an instrument. You program a sequence 00:17:19.430 --> 00:17:22.609 of notes into a machine, dictating pitch, timing, 00:17:23.109 --> 00:17:26.230 rhythm. It creates a highly rigid, mathematically 00:17:26.230 --> 00:17:30.109 precise loop. It's basically data. Exactly. That 00:17:30.109 --> 00:17:33.599 pattern is stark and highly translatable. The 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:36.079 German producers recognized the driving momentum 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:39.579 of Cosmo D's sequence, adapted that exact mathematical 00:17:39.579 --> 00:17:42.880 pattern, and dressed it in 90s Eurodance production 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:45.539 values. Building an international empire on a 00:17:45.539 --> 00:17:48.500 Brooklyn foundation. It proves Cosmo D was operating 00:17:48.500 --> 00:17:50.839 on a level of structural genius. Writing the 00:17:50.839 --> 00:17:52.980 base code that later generations would use. And 00:17:52.980 --> 00:17:55.160 their pop culture footprint was incredibly diverse. 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:57.259 Spanning highly disparate forms of entertainment. 00:17:57.460 --> 00:17:59.539 On the prestige end, you have Frederick Wiseman. 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:02.119 The documentary filmmaker. In 1986, he released 00:18:02.119 --> 00:18:04.779 a film titled Blind, documenting the Alabama 00:18:04.779 --> 00:18:07.500 Institute for the Deaf and Blind. During a Halloween 00:18:07.500 --> 00:18:10.079 party sequence, the track driving the scene is 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:13.220 Jam on it. To go from high art documentary cinema 00:18:13.220 --> 00:18:16.660 to a quintessential Hollywood comedy is quite 00:18:16.660 --> 00:18:21.839 a leap. But in 1998, Jam on, it shows up in the 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:23.960 Adam Sandler movie The Wedding Singer. Which 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:26.319 makes perfect sense for cultural curation. The 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:28.980 Wedding Simmer is hyper -specific 80s nostalgia. 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:32.000 If a music supervisor needs to instantly communicate 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:35.240 the feeling of a vibrant mid -80s party, jam 00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:38.220 on. It is the undisputed shorthand. And it extended 00:18:38.220 --> 00:18:40.960 into interactive media, too. Video games. You 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:43.319 have Computer Age providing the soundtrack in 00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:46.759 Matt Hoffman's Pro BMX. And jam on. It integrated 00:18:46.759 --> 00:18:50.079 into rhythm games like Dance, Dance Revolution, 00:18:50.200 --> 00:18:52.799 Ultramix 2. Where physical movements are dictated 00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:55.269 by the beat. And it even appeared in DJ Hero 00:18:55.269 --> 00:18:58.309 2. Which is the most poetic, full circle irony 00:18:58.309 --> 00:19:01.089 imaginable. The WikiWiki hook was born from an 00:19:01.089 --> 00:19:03.670 insult about lacking turntable skills. And decades 00:19:03.670 --> 00:19:06.230 later, kids are using plastic peripheral turntables, 00:19:06.390 --> 00:19:08.569 trying to simulate scratching, playing a game 00:19:08.569 --> 00:19:10.789 set to the exact track born from that insult. 00:19:10.890 --> 00:19:12.930 You couldn't write a better resolution. It highlights 00:19:12.930 --> 00:19:15.609 the physical reality of the music. The physiological 00:19:15.609 --> 00:19:18.349 response to those beats remains universal. But 00:19:18.349 --> 00:19:20.930 history is rarely a constant upward trajectory. 00:19:21.339 --> 00:19:24.079 We have to examine the complexities of legacy, 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:26.960 exploitation, and reclaiming their narrative. 00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:29.039 The initial run of the group concluded around 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:32.279 1989. Right. The hip hop landscape was evolving, 00:19:32.859 --> 00:19:35.240 moving away from electro boogie toward golden 00:19:35.240 --> 00:19:38.700 era, sample heavy. Boom Bat production. But what 00:19:38.700 --> 00:19:41.359 happened in the years after their hiatus reveals 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:44.440 the darker side of Bat catalog economics. We 00:19:44.440 --> 00:19:46.640 talked about Sunnyview forcing tracks onto their 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:49.740 album. That lack of respect seemed to metastasize 00:19:49.740 --> 00:19:51.940 once they stopped releasing new material. During 00:19:51.940 --> 00:19:54.579 the 1990s, several albums were released bearing 00:19:54.579 --> 00:19:57.759 the nucleus name, but they weren't nucleus records. 00:19:57.859 --> 00:20:00.420 This is a deeply cynical practice. Producers 00:20:00.420 --> 00:20:02.559 and labels who acquired rights or found legal 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:05.720 gray areas began releasing material branded with 00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:08.180 the nucleus. name to leverage consumer recognition. 00:20:08.440 --> 00:20:10.700 And the most egregious example was the fake live 00:20:10.700 --> 00:20:13.680 albums. I need to break down how audacious this 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:16.619 scam was. Please do. How do you fake a live album 00:20:16.619 --> 00:20:19.740 for a group that isn't touring? You utilize the 00:20:19.740 --> 00:20:22.750 original clean studio tracks. the recordings 00:20:22.750 --> 00:20:26.390 everyone knows. Then in a studio, you overlay 00:20:26.390 --> 00:20:29.609 an audio track of generic pre -recorded crowd 00:20:29.609 --> 00:20:32.829 noise. Just canned cheering. Cheering, clapping, 00:20:33.150 --> 00:20:35.369 whistling. You mix them together, package it 00:20:35.369 --> 00:20:38.869 on a CD, and market it as a live concert version 00:20:38.869 --> 00:20:41.950 or a rare live recording. That is effectively 00:20:41.950 --> 00:20:45.009 consumer fraud, a blatant cash grab. Offering 00:20:45.009 --> 00:20:47.609 zero artistic value, but beyond the financial 00:20:47.609 --> 00:20:50.069 deception, it actively corrupts the historical 00:20:50.069 --> 00:20:52.480 record. For a crew built on genuine Brooklyn 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:54.940 block parties. Having their legacy simulated 00:20:54.940 --> 00:20:57.099 by corporate producers adding canned applause 00:20:57.099 --> 00:20:59.980 is profoundly insulting. It floods the market 00:20:59.980 --> 00:21:02.720 with inauthentic artifacts. But Cosmo Dee fought 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:05.799 back to regain control of the narrative. In 2005, 00:21:05.980 --> 00:21:08.099 he orchestrated the release of Destination Earth. 00:21:08.279 --> 00:21:11.380 the definitive nucleus recordings. The word definitive 00:21:11.380 --> 00:21:14.000 is crucial. It was a legal and historical declaration 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:16.339 of ownership. He wanted to supersede the inferior 00:21:16.339 --> 00:21:18.839 compilations, particularly a widely distributed 00:21:18.839 --> 00:21:20.960 one released by Rhino and Atlantic Records called 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:23.559 Jam on this. He wanted to establish a pristine 00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:26.420 document. And the technical care they put into 00:21:26.420 --> 00:21:29.980 it is staggering. They restored and remastered 00:21:29.980 --> 00:21:32.319 directly from the original analog master tapes. 00:21:32.460 --> 00:21:35.299 Bypassing the degraded copies, it was a comprehensive 00:21:35.299 --> 00:21:38.180 reclamation project. They partnered with the 00:21:38.180 --> 00:21:40.460 German label Dominance Electricity to release 00:21:40.460 --> 00:21:44.160 definitive versions on 12 -inch vinyl. Re -establishing 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:47.059 their presence in the DJ ecosystem. And the packaging 00:21:47.059 --> 00:21:49.339 was brilliant. They commissioned the legendary 00:21:49.339 --> 00:21:51.839 illustrator Bill Ray to create the cover art. 00:21:52.059 --> 00:21:54.339 For those who don't know, Bill Ray is heavily 00:21:54.339 --> 00:21:56.859 associated with the surreal, expressive art of 00:21:56.859 --> 00:21:59.619 the Ren and Stimpy show. Why was a Ren and Stimpy 00:21:59.619 --> 00:22:02.400 animator the right move for an 80s electro group? 00:22:02.579 --> 00:22:04.579 Because it perfectly aligned with their sonic 00:22:04.579 --> 00:22:07.160 identity. The pitched up, cartoonish vocals, 00:22:07.460 --> 00:22:10.279 the sci -fi synths, their music possessed an 00:22:10.279 --> 00:22:13.319 animated, absurd energy. Bill Ray's distinctive 00:22:13.319 --> 00:22:16.220 style was the exact visual equivalent of Cosmo 00:22:16.220 --> 00:22:18.319 D's audio production. It was a triumphant moment 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:20.579 of taking their history back. But within this 00:22:20.579 --> 00:22:22.839 narrative, we also have to acknowledge a somber 00:22:22.839 --> 00:22:25.059 reality. The family unit suffered a monumental 00:22:25.059 --> 00:22:28.940 loss. On February 23, 2010, Bob Crafton, universally 00:22:28.940 --> 00:22:31.420 known as Chili B, passed away from a stroke. 00:22:31.500 --> 00:22:34.420 He was only 47 years old. Tragically young. And 00:22:34.420 --> 00:22:35.960 when you look at the architecture of this group, 00:22:36.460 --> 00:22:39.420 cousins, husbands, wives, losing Chili B is not 00:22:39.420 --> 00:22:41.759 like a standard rock band losing a bass player. 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:44.759 It's the fracture of a family pillar. His specific 00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:47.660 contributions were indispensable. Cosmo D was 00:22:47.660 --> 00:22:50.140 the architect of the sequencers, but Chili B 00:22:50.140 --> 00:22:52.839 provided the heavy undulating bassline grooves. 00:22:53.140 --> 00:22:55.480 He grounded the electronic blips. He gave the 00:22:55.480 --> 00:22:58.579 music its undeniable funk. He was the anchor. 00:22:59.140 --> 00:23:01.460 His passing was a profound loss for the wider 00:23:01.460 --> 00:23:03.920 electro boogie and hip hop communities. Without 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:07.099 Chili B, the nucleus doesn't hold together. He 00:23:07.099 --> 00:23:10.119 was essential to that bedstady magic, which brings 00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:12.559 us to the end of a truly staggering historical 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:14.819 arc. Let's look at the totality of what we've 00:23:14.819 --> 00:23:18.480 unpacked today. We started in 1977 with teenagers 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:21.220 wiring up sound systems to street lamps in Brooklyn, 00:23:21.799 --> 00:23:24.660 evolving parallel to the Bronx. We saw them consolidate 00:23:24.660 --> 00:23:26.900 into a tight family unit, pivot toward earnest 00:23:26.900 --> 00:23:29.559 art as the positive messengers. And then the 00:23:29.559 --> 00:23:32.039 ultimate inversion of intent. Right. In a reluctant 00:23:32.039 --> 00:23:34.960 effort to appease a DJ and fueled by a desire 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:37.579 to mock commercial rap using a highly specific 00:23:37.579 --> 00:23:40.299 wounded insult. They record a cynical parody. 00:23:40.519 --> 00:23:43.680 They relegate it to the blank tail end of a demo 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:46.259 tape. And that tape filler forces them to abandon 00:23:46.259 --> 00:23:48.799 their earnest messaging, rebrand as nucleus, 00:23:49.259 --> 00:23:52.140 and accidentally revolutionizes electro hip hop. 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:54.880 Spawning Billboard hits and providing structural 00:23:54.880 --> 00:23:57.900 DNA for Eurodance empires a decade later. It's 00:23:57.900 --> 00:24:00.000 a testament to the unpredictable nature of art. 00:24:00.500 --> 00:24:02.539 And before we close out, I want to leave you, 00:24:02.619 --> 00:24:05.000 the listener, with a final thought to ponder. 00:24:05.559 --> 00:24:08.000 This narrative raises a crucial question regarding 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:10.980 the canonization of art. We often view cultural 00:24:10.980 --> 00:24:13.859 milestones as the result of agonizing labor and 00:24:13.859 --> 00:24:17.220 calculated intent. But if one of the most structurally 00:24:17.220 --> 00:24:20.059 important tracks in electronic history, a track 00:24:20.059 --> 00:24:22.359 that embedded itself in global dance movements 00:24:22.359 --> 00:24:25.140 and cinema, was created literally as an inside 00:24:25.140 --> 00:24:27.980 joke and a blank tape filler, how much of the 00:24:27.980 --> 00:24:31.420 broader culture we revere as genius today was 00:24:31.420 --> 00:24:34.099 actually born simply from someone, somewhere? 00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:36.779 deciding not to take themselves too seriously. 00:24:37.019 --> 00:24:39.660 It completely reorients how you listen to a masterpiece. 00:24:39.980 --> 00:24:41.880 Thank you so much for coming along on this deep 00:24:41.880 --> 00:24:43.940 dive with us today. It's been a privilege to 00:24:43.940 --> 00:24:46.279 unpack these hidden corners of history with you. 00:24:46.599 --> 00:24:48.700 Remember to always question the origins of the 00:24:48.700 --> 00:24:52.039 art and the music that moves you. You never know 00:24:52.039 --> 00:24:54.900 what bizarre accidental history is hiding right 00:24:54.900 --> 00:24:57.640 beneath the surface of a drum machine. Until 00:24:57.640 --> 00:24:58.920 next time, keep digging.