The Roof. The Roof. The Roof is on Fire. We don"t require no water, allow the mutha f--ker burn.It"s an Old college Hip-Hop chant the permeated popular culture, yet it to be a slow-moving burn. Exit by Rockmaster Scott and the Dynamic three in 1984, "The Roof Is on Fire" was originally the B-side of their song "Request Line." year later, the hymn started showing up at George Clinton/P-Funk shows and anywhere else there was a literal meaning or figurative regulated burn. It to be sampled by The Orb, ironically extended by the Bloodhound corridor (as "Fire Water Burn"), and used in the movies secret Men, Head the State and also Euro Trip. It even shows up in the center of Nelly"s "Hot In Herre" video. The Dynamic 3 were the Bronx rappers Charlie Prince (Charles Pettiford), Slick stack (Richard Fowler - not the brother rapper that did "Children"s Story"), and also Master Blaster Greg (Greg Wigfall). They released just three songs, but did acquire their name on the credits, which come in handy once the royalty checks started coming because that "Roof." In this interview, Greg take away us back to the block parties and also tells the story behind their famed song.

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Carl Wiser (invernessgangshow.net):Were friend a rapper as soon as this began out?Greg Wigfall:Yes. Yes, ns was.invernessgangshow.net:Tell me around how the whole thing started.Greg:Well, rap began in the Bronx, more than likely in the late "70s. And at the time i wasn"t rapping. I started rapping probably in 1981, "82, through the group Rock understand Scott and also the Dynamic Three. Over there were four of us, we had a DJ and it to be myself and two various other rappers. And ago in the Bronx, we did it for the love that rappin". We called it rhyming.We ran into our promoter, which was Jerry Bloodrock, earlier in 1982. He took attention in our details group, and also we started recording ~ above vinyl, on 12 inches. Our an initial single was a track called, "It"s Life (You Gotta Think Twice)," i beg your pardon wasn"t a bad song. It to be a positive rap song. Us made that track in 1983, and also a year later we come out with an additional 12-inch, and it to be the A-side the "The Roof is on Fire." that was referred to as "Request Line." and also "Request Line" was a huge song because that us. Years later on they started playing "The Roof is top top Fire," however that was the B-side on "Request Line."And together I speak now, "The Roof is ~ above Fire" is still playing. ASCAP keeps document of "The Roof is ~ above Fire" as it dram on radio, and also it"s been in a couple of movies. Therefore it"s a track that I think may outlive many of us. In 2006, we obtained an ASCAP award because people room constantly remaking it. This Spanish Group dubbed Kumbia Kings, remade "The Roof is top top Fire," and I assumption: v in the Spanish ar it went platinum or gold. And also because us were the writers of the song, we obtained writers credit for it.invernessgangshow.net:Greg, tell me around writing the song.
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Greg:Back in the early component of "83, together a group, we came together and also we put the tune together, wrote the lyrics and everything. And that was it. It was a real simple song. It wasn"t a complicated write. invernessgangshow.net:Well, the big difference with that song that sets it apart from every the other rap songs in the era is the chant. I deserve to understand exactly how you guys would gain together and you"d think of your verses and also come up v those. However how did you come up v "the roof is ~ above fire"?Greg:Jerry, that was ours producer, had a lot to perform with it. Jerry and one the the other rappers, Charles Pettiford, had a many to perform with the chant. As a team we wrote various other lyrics to it.invernessgangshow.net:Was there any concern end the cursing in it?Greg:No.invernessgangshow.net:Was the always part of the - "let the motherfucker burn"?Greg:Always. Yes. From the start that was component of the lyrics. Afterwards, we did come in and also we recorded one more song, we called it "Scratching ~ above the Roof," wherein the curse part of it was scratched out. So if we want to do it or if radio play it, many of the moment they"d play that version, through the "We don"t require no water, allow the... Chchch" and also they"d scrape the lyrics out so it can play on the radio.invernessgangshow.net:Have you males done various other versions that that tune since?Greg:I didn"t.invernessgangshow.net:So something that us hear past that is some type of remix the somebody put together?Greg:Yeah. I"ve never ever been earlier in the studio and did a work again, please again on the song, and also I"ve remained in Connecticut now since 1985.invernessgangshow.net:So you thrived up in the Bronx?Greg:I remained in the Bronx, yes. That"s whereby I prospered up. It to be going down in the Bronx.invernessgangshow.net:It"s terrific that girlfriend actually controlled to obtain some royalties for this song, because in many situations that didn"t happen. A lot of males somehow gained screwed out of it.Greg:Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Large time back then. Nowadays, friend know, the rappers are collecting from the million dollars the Jay-Z makes and 50 Cent make, for this reason they come in in ~ the right time. Yet when rap first started, we acquired nothing, quite much, with these songs. And sales reports were not done best to store royalties down. It"s a whole lot better now for rappers in collecting royalties and also making a tiny bit of money.invernessgangshow.net:One point I noticed is that Rock understand Scott doesn"t have actually a credit on this songs. For this reason he didn"t technically write any kind of of that, huh?Greg:No. He didn"t.invernessgangshow.net:It"s his surname on the group out prior there.Greg:His name is mark Scott. What occurred was Scott was the end DJing and also like we simply talked about, there are specific things that taken place with a many the groups that we just didn"t know. It was more than likely the beforehand "90s as soon as I found out that Scott wasn"t receiving any kind of credit because that anything, due to the fact that we never ever looked in ~ the record, we never saw his name pointed out on the record. We were young in ~ the time, and we payment no fist to that. And no, he was never offered credit because that anything. He to be our DJ. And also we made use of Rock master Scott. And see, the surname Rock grasp Scott came about because Jerry Bloodrock was our manager and producer. Scott"s name was master Scott. Therefore what Jerry did was he took the rock from Jerry Bloodrock and also attached it come the understand Scott and also that"s when he came up v Rock master Scott. That wasn"t simply Scott. However it to be Jerry Bloodrock, note Scott and the Dynamic Three. Therefore he referred to as it Rock understand Scott and also the Dynamic Three.invernessgangshow.net:Were you males out performing this songs?Greg:Yes.invernessgangshow.net:How did that go down? friend hear about these block parties and what was going ~ above in the Bronx. Phone call me around what it to be like as soon as you would do these songs.
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Greg:See, in the Bronx when our songs come out, us did many of our performing in various other states. Us did a most traveling at the time. Yet the block parties the went down in the Bronx, they were DJ parties, we would certainly take increase blocks. Ns remember taking a block and also the DJ would plug his device up, utilizing the strength from off of a pole, and also they would certainly rope every little thing off and also the police didn"t stroked nerves us. The party started at that point. With few of the projects they had actually a backyard area, the basketball court. Someplace not in the street, however on the basketball court in the playground area is wherein the DJ would certainly come and collection up your ropes and also their speakers, and then the MCs would go behind the ropes and also entertain the people that were the end there. Many block parties taken place at a park referred to as Echo Park, choose in the Bronx ~ above Tremont Avenue. Echo Park to be a location where a whole bunch of local rappers that never ever made that performed. They to be celebrities in their very own neighborhood, but just never acquired the break that we gained with do the songs and also doing what us did.invernessgangshow.net:How numerous songs would you typically do at one of these sets?Greg:Well, us would carry out the three songs that we made. Us would begin off with "It"s Life (You Gotta Think Twice)." we would do "Request Line," and also we would constantly end our reflects with "The Roof is ~ above Fire." Now, in in between the songs, we would certainly freestyle rap to what we called ago then beat Music. The was other people"s music - instrumental beats in the song - and then we"d come in with ours. Therefore we"d placed the present together the way.invernessgangshow.net:And it was constantly just you men with your DJ, the wasn"t a parcel deal where then one more DJ would certainly come in and also play and other rappers would come on?Greg:Everybody had their very own promoter. There were other world on the show, but they were not attached to us. Like, Run-DMC may have been top top the show, we"ve done reflects with Kurtis Blow and a pair of various other people. However they had their own booking agent the booked lock on the same present we were on.invernessgangshow.net:Back then, it was a many hyping the DJ, wasn"t it?Greg:Absolutely. That"s why Rock grasp Scott led in the name. Because back then you had actually Grandmaster Flash and also the Furious Five, Rock understand Scott and also the Dynamic Three. It was the DJ"s name that led the second name, which to be the rapper, and that"s just just how we walk it earlier then. We always led v our DJ. There were plenty of times us did shows and nobody also mentioned the Dynamic Three. We were dubbed Rock understand Scott and also that was it. For this reason we would certainly go places and also that was our name, Rock master Scott.invernessgangshow.net:It sounds choose Bloodrock to be the man that was coming up v your beats and also you men were comes up through the raps.Greg:No. Scott had actually a lot to carry out with the beats. Jerry had actually input and also so walk we. So when it came under to the beats and also stuff, we all had some input through it. Jerry Bloodrock was our management, ours producer, and he played that role. But he did have actually some say when it came under to us through the beats that we were placing together. Scott play a large role v that, also.

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invernessgangshow.net:Tell me around writing "Request Line," exactly how you came up through that song.